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Old 05-23-2007, 09:17 PM   #1
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Floor Plans and Kids

We've worked up a floor plan we think would work well for us. We have two little kids (2 & 5), who'll be with us for a long time, and two big kids (16 & 18) at least one of whom will be with us at least for a couple more years.

What I'm curious about is how some of the stock floor plans, like the EB-50, work with big families. How many (little) people do you guys regularly cram into your sportsmobiles... successfully?

Any hints of good layouts and features?

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Old 05-24-2007, 12:06 AM   #2
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I was poking around the SMB site and saw a feature you might need:

Quote:
Cab Bed
Fold up bed lays across the cab Captain's seats. Works well for a child.
And my brother got fold out bunks in his Sprinter looking forward to when his kids are teens...

There's also an SMB listed on West Previously owned (the first one currently) that has the 50 in an EB and a 3rd captains chair. You might need to do something like that to get all the seating.
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Old 05-24-2007, 06:43 AM   #3
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Re: Floor Plans and Kids



Velogeo;
Congratulations on Your choice of a SMB.
We have a modified RB15 with the dinette in the rear.
With the dinette seats facing each other, the table stored behind the driver, the four belts allow seating for six.
We often travel short distances, {250 mi.}, with grandchildren.
Travel with the kids is limited by school, sports, and other family obligations.
Of course we also tow our travel trailer on these trips so sleeping presents no problem.
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Old 05-24-2007, 03:21 PM   #4
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We've got a 9, 6 and 3 year old and needed proper seating for six. With the EB-51 layout, the extra captains chair has been the perfect solution. It is easy to remove for extra space, but it is heavy (50lbs I'd guess) so consider that aspect in your planning.
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Old 05-24-2007, 04:00 PM   #5
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I know we'll do the little bed over the front seats, Jage. I am sure (really hope) everyone won't try to sleep in the van every night. Big kids can sleep outside. But for those trips cross country where you sleep in a Wal-Mart parking lot (they allow it, btw. I never knew. One reason to like them), winter camping or the like it'll sure be handy.

I thought about something like the EB-50 with an extra seat, but my wife says having a kitchen more separate from the seating/playing area. It does make sense. Even though we like cooking out but I know we'll be making use of the kitchen in the morning and when it rains -- we live near Puget Sound.

We've come up with a variation on EB-27 that crams in a lot of storage, kitchen space, a marine toilet, and lets us use the benches for singles beds (with some sort of laser wall or barbed wire between them) for the 2 and 5 year old. Plus is gives the 2 more extra chairs for the booster seats (required till 8, I think, in Washington state.)

How big are the captains chairs when removed? I'm wondering where we'll stash them.

Does anyone have the marine toilet? I think we'll be glad we have it. Little kids need lots of potty breaks (lots of flushes), we'll frequently have a fair amount of folks with us, and finding a place to dump the porta-potty every 10 minutes doesn't sound like fun.
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Old 05-24-2007, 08:14 PM   #6
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We have a 15 month old daughter...in fact her arrival is what really motivated us to order a SMB! We found that having a little one and choosing an interior config was a real challenge!

Everyone we spoke to said "make sure you have room for her to bring a friend later on when she gets older, or she won't want to go!"

Taken that advice into consideration, we now have a RB-37 on order at SMB West. A 3rd captains chair is located behind the driver seat with a large bay window so she has a good view of the places we visit. This config allows my wife to look back and see/commincate from easily, too. I have a pelican box (20x22"), which we had a leather ottoman cushion made for the top. this fits in between the drivers chair & 3rd captain chair and adds convenient storage, which is dust-tight & secure.

We opted for the walk-through design over the RB-50 bench seat for our uses. A gaucho is located pasenger side rear, with the galley/sink, pantry a/c & micro drivers side rear behind the 3rd seat. We ordered a 4th captain's seat to be installed in a few years, once we start bringing her friends along.

Storage is a major consideration for any SMB design...and one very limiting factor in the whole vehicle concept, IMO. We ordered an aluminess 9'x5' roof rack with a Yakima box inset. That way we can stash chairs, duffels, surfboards and the baby jogger out of sight/mind until we need them. The ladder offers easy access up there and there is a lot of extra room for stuff.

The beauty of the SMB concept is that the interior possibilities are almost endless.

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Old 05-24-2007, 10:01 PM   #7
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We haven't done it yet, but we're going to have our SMB converted to a Transformer-like configuration. Lots of (forward-facing) seats for everyone, a rear bed platform, the penthouse bed platform, and a small galley (fridge, microwave, sink). No restroom facilities. We figured it's primary usage would be a people mover, with some camping vacations thrown in.

We have a 14 month old son.


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