SWB or LWB

[ASBakes]

Hi,

Looking at the SWB or LWB caddy, I am 5ft 6 and want this as my main car and a weekend stealth camper. What are your thoughts? I was thinking putting a rock and roll bed into the van so i can use it in all cases.

[gixxerjim]

always preferred the swb look, but I have a maxi, and to be honest I would always go for a maxi.

seats in back, (touran) - still loads of room behind those seats, take the seats out and it fits my bike in (fireblade) perfectly.

just really usable with a lot of room.

[Montana]

newb here , how easy it is to fit a 3rd seat behind the fronts, is it possible only with maxi or swb too?

[SnoWhite]

+1 for LWB. The maxi models are brilliant and you will kick yourself with a SWB the first time you need to carry anything large and find it just won't fit. Best choice is to go for a life model - normal car speed limits with all the load carrying versatility of the vans whenever you need.

Add a roof box and a maxi life can comfortably carry 7 people plus luggage. Throw out five seats and we can put our two motorbikes inside for long haul runs from the Alps to the Isle of Man TT - unload the motorbikes loading ramps and service tent and it then doubles up as a camper. The running cost difference between the SWB and LWB is marginal and the maxi still fits standard parking spaces.

I have yet to see if the latest Caddy Maxi in the flesh to see if it will be my next purchase. Photos suggest that rear tailgate opening looks smaller, so even if the inside is every bit as tall as earlier models - if that opening is now too low and we can't get a motorbike safely through the tailgate opening then I guess we will have to look elsewhere.

[gixxerjim]

newb here , how easy it is to fit a 3rd seat behind the fronts, is it possible only with maxi or swb too?

Both. Loads of examples on here and Internet in general
Touran seats

[corroded]

I bought a SWB as a 6ft tall bloke, planning to use it as a part time stealth camper, sometimes.

For climbing trips, some mountain biking and whatnot. Also need the utility for a lot reasonable amount of space to do tip runs and still fill the majority of the space. I did some measuring and I can fit a reasonable sized bed on the length ways, which can slide out further, and all I really need to do is move the drivers seat forward to make a tiny bit more foot space.

I'm a pretty utilitarian person, for short trips I don't need a sink or fridge or anything like that really and it'll likely just be me sleeping in it

I think for a normal person, a LWB would make more sense. But for someone like me who is happy enough with essentially just a metal tent with 12v, I think it'll be just fine.

[stu_b]

@ Snowhite

Can u show me some pics of how you fit your loading ramps to the back of the caddy for your motorbikes
Tia

[SnoWhite]

Sadly no. This is the nearest I can offer. When loading the bikes my focus is on not dropping them so I have never been inspired to try and take photos at least until all safely loaded - such as this one - the folding ramps will shortly be strapped to the cross bars beside the roof box.

My folding ramps have rubber feet on one end which neatly rest against the tailgate lip and bring the top of the ramp level with the van floor level. Each ramps comes with a securing strap so whilst loading/unloading the ramps are tied together and also to the talgate latch and finally the towbar. The last thing you want is the ramps to move whilst wrestling with a quarter tonne of motorbike especially if you find the motorbike is a bit too tall to wheel in whilst upright and you need to tilt it slightly until it is past the threshold.

Where possible use gravity and load with the van facing downhill and unload uphill. Otherwise round up plenty of muscle power.

[PJD]

Get a Maxi if you want to sleep in it.
A rock and roll bed makes good sense if you need to carry passengers and from looking under the van there seems to be good access for the bolts to fix the bed without removing the tank on the larger van. On the SWB that might be an issue.

[rock_it]

I would say LWB.

I love the look of the SWB.. And am slightly biased because I just picked up the LWB.

Looks like there would be ample room to use as a camper in its LWB state, which is one of the things I am also pondering.

[stu_b]

@ Snowhite
Yeah totally understand
If possible n not asking too much, next time you take the bikes out for a blast can u take some pics prior to lading the bikes in the back so I can get plenty of visual thoughts ... I am planning on something similar but for loading / unloading a coffee cart into the back
Cheers mate
Stu

[PeterAFox]

I have a SWB, which we use for all kinds of things including camping.
I think the fuel consumption is about the same with the LWBs, so for me the question is a no-brainer: LWB - that extra space would be great.
Only downside I can think of is parking etc. Maybe also if you have a novice driver in the family - my wife already complains that the caddy is very "big" to drive

[juliang71]

I'd say a LWB for the sheer amount of useable space you get. I was driving a Nissan Navara before getting a Caddy Maxi Life. It's about 50cm shorter than a Navara but the useable space is just nuts.

We do camping and biking and having removed the 3rd row of seats and simply folding the 2nd row forwards we can easily get two bikes in without removing wheels as well as all the luggage two of us need.

We've yet to try camping in it, but again this isn't going to be a problem. Probably just remove the 2nd row of seats as well and that would give ample room for two adults.

HTH

[ASBakes]

Thanks for all your replies, that’s really made me think now, seems to be the LWB, I did some calculations as some do fit M1 tested rock and rolls beds but the space would be very tight. Just putting in bags or bringing food etc.. if the bed is down it would be tight if I needed to use a toilet inside , don’t think it would be possible.

[Daxx]

I have a 2013 SWB and have considered the idea of a removable mini camper "build" (just the bed and possibly some under bed storage).
Since you mentioned your height I can tell you that I measured the inside space from barn doors (closed) to the back of the front seats (moved forward)
and it is roughly 2 meters (6'6"). So it would in theory be possible for you to sleep inside it provided you removed the rear seats and had no need for the extra room offered by the Maxi.