Bongo Fury

Hi everyone, im on the road to getting my first Bongo and as such an devouring as much info as possible. ive previously had a couple small campers vans with solid roofs , renault trafic for one with a hitop.

Ive laways fancied a pop up roof as it must be better of fuel economy with no wind drag etc. If anyone has any views or advice re roof for a Bongo please reply, i read about electic roofs, manually elevating roofs, mushroom roofs etc whats work best and why?

thanks in advance for any advice

Furydav wrote:Hi everyone, im on the road to getting my first Bongo and as such an devouring as much info as possible. ive previously had a couple small campers vans with solid roofs , renault trafic for one with a hitop.

Ive laways fancied a pop up roof as it must be better of fuel economy with no wind drag etc. If anyone has any views or advice re roof for a Bongo please reply, i read about electic roofs, manually elevating roofs, mushroom roofs etc whats work best and why?

thanks in advance for any advice

The standard electric pop up roof is well made and great, and post 1997 or so they raise higher to create more roof space. But tthey are definitely a gadget liable to go wrong at some point; mine has cost £500 in fixing fees though I hope now it is sorted. And anyway, one of the key reasons I had to have a Bongo was that electric raising roof - it is just so cool. But Bongos are getting older and trouble must be expected.

All the other raising roofs are manually operated, and some say a little hard to push up if you are frail, but should be fine otherwise. Much less to go wrong, obviously, but the tenting material is not the same tough stuff as the Mazda original, and some people have had quality issues with the mechanism. On the other hand, they are lighter and - retrofited to tintop/non AFT Bongos, as they are - the vehicle should remain lighter, nippier and better handling. Expensive to have fitted though and not sure they are considered as sexy as the AFT (waits to be shot down). the mushroom roof opens sideways and gives full headroom all down the vehicle. But I wouldn't like to raise it when its too windy (mind you its not a good idea to leave any of them up in a high wind, but an AFT with its tail to the wind will handle quite a strong wind).

Bongo is (I think) a lot smaller than Renault Traffic of course!

Aft is the factroy fitted electic roof roof new shape bongo one are a bit higher then the older shape ones when open.

there is a place now put eletic ones on tin tops i think cant rember there name .
high top an manual as well as mushrooms are add to tin van for conversion .
hope that hleps a bit

if you put wqhere you live some one sure to let you have a look at there van or point you to a bongo met where there be a few diffent vans to look at there one in looe on the weekend staring the 14th i think

Furydav wrote: Ive laways fancied a pop up roof as it must be better of fuel economy with no wind drag etc.

Hmmm.... I wouldn't say that was a Bongo's best attribute to be honest. I'm getting around 27mpg, and that's driving it steadily.....

cavey wrote:

Furydav wrote: Ive laways fancied a pop up roof as it must be better of fuel economy with no wind drag etc.

Hmmm.... I wouldn't say that was a Bongo's best attribute to be honest. I'm getting around 27mpg, and that's driving it steadily.....

They are probably comparing it with a fixed Hi-Top, which would be even worse on wind resistance, to the detriment of both mpg and handling in windy weather

And well done for reminding me - the manual lifting roofs one will score better than AFTs as they are very slim and allow a Bongo to still go in multi-storey height limited car parks, as well as minimising wind resistance and the problems that result etc. Still wouldn't be without my AFT though - its a question of pedigree

Thanks for the replies, does one style of roof provide more internal space than an other when elevated? or are they all much the same.

Mushroom roof. There's mush more room up there than with an AFT or a front-hinged roof

Wouldn't change from our AFT though. Like Mike, pedigree

Muzorewa wrote:Mushroom roof. There's mush more room up there than with an AFT or a front-hinged roof

Wouldn't change from our AFT though. Like Mike, pedigree

Also, although the mushroom provides mushmoreheadroom, not sure if it is arranged to provide mushmore than moreheadroom i.e. it might not give mushmorestorageroom

mikeonb4c wrote:

Muzorewa wrote:Mushroom roof. There's mush more room up there than with an AFT or a front-hinged roof

Wouldn't change from our AFT though. Like Mike, pedigree

Also, although the mushroom provides mushmoreheadroom, not sure if it is arranged to provide mushmore than moreheadroom i.e. it might not give mushmorestorageroom

If you keep your porta potti in your trailer will you have toadstools

scanner wrote:

mikeonb4c wrote:

Muzorewa wrote:Mushroom roof. There's mush more room up there than with an AFT or a front-hinged roof

Wouldn't change from our AFT though. Like Mike, pedigree

Also, although the mushroom provides mushmoreheadroom, not sure if it is arranged to provide mushmore than moreheadroom i.e. it might not give mushmorestorageroom

If you keep your porta potti in your trailer will you have toadstools

Not sure, but if you use it in your trailer in winter, you will most likely have hard stools

mikeonb4c wrote:And well done for reminding me - the manual lifting roofs one will score better than AFTs as they are very slim and allow a Bongo to still go in multi-storey height limited car parks, as well as minimising wind resistance and the problems that result etc.

Some retro-fitted manual roofs are lower profile, but some are made the same as an AFT, so you still won't get in a multi-storey with one of those.

I'm only 5' tall and I can manage to push open a manual AFT-style roof on my own, and pull it closed with the aid of a rope on the inside. I can't easily unlock the locks on the outside though, even standing on the door steps, which is a pain when you're out on your own.

Mushroom roof


same headroom all the way down the van


larger hole at the front as the heater vents are removed, we like this as it stops you banging your head as you get in and makes it easier to use the side conversion.



You do lose the storage space at the front when the roof is up but we have hinged boards that we can put down wherever we want to make a flat surface, usually at the back as the rear seat is there so you can't stand there.

Briwy,
Looks like the same JAL conversion that I have. The extra headroom is worth having, for sure.
Just out of interest, does your roof seat well down on the van, on the nearside, when lowered? Mine has a very small gap where the seal doesn't quite reach the roof .
Brian

weebrian wrote:Briwy,
Looks like the same JAL conversion that I have. The extra headroom is worth having, for sure.
Just out of interest, does your roof seat well down on the van, on the nearside, when lowered? Mine has a very small gap where the seal doesn't quite reach the roof .
Brian

No it doesn't Brian. Looking at it from the front the roof isn't quite central (only noticeable if you are looking for it). I think what has happened is that the roof is obviously made from a mould from an original Bongo roof and is put slightly to one side on the Mushroom roof to get the hinges on. I guess with a Skylift roof it's dead central.
Doesn't seem to be a problem, possibly lets any air out as well that's under the roof

briwy wrote:

weebrian wrote:Briwy,
Looks like the same JAL conversion that I have. The extra headroom is worth having, for sure.
Just out of interest, does your roof seat well down on the van, on the nearside, when lowered? Mine has a very small gap where the seal doesn't quite reach the roof .
Brian

No it doesn't Brian. Looking at it from the front the roof isn't quite central (only noticeable if you are looking for it). I think what has happened is that the roof is obviously made from a mould from an original Bongo roof and is put slightly to one side on the Mushroom roof to get the hinges on. I guess with a Skylift roof it's dead central.
Doesn't seem to be a problem, possibly lets any air out as well that's under the roof

Fellas this interests me as im considering buying one with this type of roof. is this lack of seating down likely to become an issue through time/ Do you have a photos ?

ta