Lester

Picnic unit bolts to "L" extrusion, in turn attaches to runners just like the seats using the seat bolts. Seats under a blanket in the garage, can re-install given 30 minutes if, ah, necessary .... Picnic van, really, not a sleeper. The unit could slide. I'm planning to provide for 4 bolts that'll thread through the unit floor and push the tabs down, then can be unscrewed and stowed with the unit in a new position. Just the essentials, really: Big fridge. Portapotti. Coffee machine. Side tables which mount on bosses bolted in the tracks. Picnic Unit - Vellfire (onemetre.net)

I had a long look at (a) swapping the runners and (b) swapping the seats, turning by 180 when doing so. On (a) it wasn't clear how the runners would be removed and re-introduced into their tracks. It looked like the entire track would need to be lifted from the floor. Didn't get any further. On (b) the seats do indeed swap over, left to right rotated 180, but only when a little angle grinding work removed a small part of one side of the locating rear boxes. Seat sliding mechanism no longer mated, so the runners ideally needed to be in position before moving the seats. Did all that and the result is more permanent than is convenient. So have removed the middle row entirely and now have a very roomy 5-seater (smile). I put the picnic unit onto the runners which were moved completely forward and that worked a treat.

In case they are useful, a couple of snaps of a Thule roof bar fitted to my AYH30. The 30 Series is the first Alphard / Vellfire version which will take clip-on third-party roof bars as far as I can see, due to the re-design of the sliding doors which allows the clip to seat. The Thule foot pad to suit the 30 Series is standard in the catalogue but is a special order in the UK, mine took 3 weeks to arrive following the request from the local dealer. I went for the Wingbar Evo Bars x2 | 711500, the Evo Clamp Feet x4 | 710500, and the Kit to fit feet to 2016 Toyota Vellfire | 145194. I set the gap between the bars at around 105 cm, seems fine although the Thule instructions suggest 78 cm or so. I wanted as large a gap as possible to fit a 2.5 m long Thule 3200 awning in due course, the choice dictated by the availability of a Thule 3200 adapter kit for roof rack mounted awnings | 301925 to suit the WingBar Evo. I really do not want to drill holes in the roof .... (smile) Clearance calculations suggest that the Vellfire roof height is around 6', 1.83 m; then with the Wingbar the height at the front is more exactly 6'3", 1.91 m, and at the rear 6'5", 1.96 m; and then with the Thule 3200 cassette fitted, height at front around 6'6", 1.99 m and at rear 6'8", 2.04 m. So, careful attention for those signs which give a height restriction as 6' or even 2 m.

I was looking to rotate the middle row seats in my AYH30 for when we're parked up having a picnic. I removed the offside seat, and took some snaps, to see what was what. There is a base which fits onto the runners, and which in turn supports the seat. The base shows the "cups" in each corner which fit onto the runners. At the top of the cups are the bolts securing the seat to the base. The runners have a tab which, when depressed, allows forward and back movement. It seems pretty clear that a turntable or swivel plate will not work. One reason is that the cable-activated forward and back tab contact cannot be rotated. Another is that the mechanism for the Ottoman leg rest would foul the corner of the base if rotated. So Plan B is to find a seat which has a built-in swivel and which can be mated to the existing runners. Variant 1 of the plan is to ask if anyone is having their 30 Series Alphard or Vellfire converted into a camper and wishes to dispose of their swivelling middle seats. Variant 2 is to ask if anyone knows of a third-party supplier of a captain's chair which could be adapted to fit. In either case I'd be very pleased to hear from you!

Hi Chris, I don't know your NSZN-Z66T system, so can only offer a process that worked for me with my Alpine head unit. -- Find and download the original Japanese PDF user manual. -- Using a free online tool, cut and save the manual into files smaller than 10 MB each. I found chunks of around 80 pages usually fine. -- Submit each file to Google Translate (which will reject files larger than 10 MB). -- The resulting text-based translation should be good enough so that when you search for the word "english" you can understand the surrounding information. -- But the translation will not translate the contents of images or pictures, so you may need supplementary image-based translation. -- In the car, when faced with a promising but incomprehensible screen, ** Set your (Samsung - I don't know about Apple) mobile phone to take a text extraction photo (click on the "[T]" icon) ** Tap on the resulting region of highlighted text to translate it into English ** Some effort may be needed to achieve adequate general interior light levels yet without glare or reflection. ** You probably need 2 smartphones and 2 tablets (!), so bring a friend. One tablet showing the original PDF manual because the pictures will show you what you are looking at in the car. One tablet showing the translated PDFs to get some idea of the context and what you are looking for. One smartphone to take text extraction snaps of the car screen(s) and head unit buttons. And one smartphone to take supplementary text extraction snaps of the images in the original manual as displayed on the first mobile..... Supplementary translation of the images or pictures in the original user manual is done with your mobile phone (as though you were in the car looking at a screen) by taking a text extraction photo of the page or image in the manual, either when printed or on the computer screen. Good luck!

Hi Dan, worked fine! Rear bumper comes off without trouble, a piece of black plastic under-trim is sensibly left out at re-assembly rather than being cut up to make room for the bar. The slightly tricky step is getting the 'nuts' in place for the bolts. The 'nuts' are not nuts (!), instead are drilled and tapped rectangular chunks of steel designed to stay in place while the bolts are located and tightened. Loctite recommended. The mechanic spot-welded a stiff wire to the 'nut' so it could be inserted into the narrow opening and then kept in place while the bolt found it, the wire twisted off afterwards. The electrics were very easy. A universal by-pass relay kit has plenty of room in the auxiliary 12V battery compartment conveniently located in the rear, and there are already openings to the outside underneath the bumper for the wiring. Two comments. One is that the towbar sits below the rear floor, and so takes up 5 cm of available ground clearance. No problem on-road, but aggressively formed speed bumps or off-road require a little more attention. The other is that the attachment and locking mechanisms for the detachable ball, while perfectly secure, do have a little play. If I was towing a caravan or trailer rather than simply mounting a bike rack, I would shim the lateral play out.

Found a manufacturer in Thailand, and via a Thai friend have received their towbar kit for our 2017 Vellfire hybrid. Their website (Google it) is navigable in English. Costs were around £200 for the tow bar kit (no electrics), £250 courier (27 kg, DHL Express, 5 days), and £50 customs tax. The local garage says they'll be able to fit it, fingers crossed. May be worth noting that it seems a good courier service was money well spent. DHL had to re-package the box, it would not have made it across Bangkok never mind to the UK, the contents had zero packing support. The original box was more or less destroyed in transit, only the copious DHL parcel tape kept it sufficiently intact.

Would like the two second row seats to swivel when we are parked up for a picnic. They have integrated 3-point seat belts. Can't find any UK converter, or UK or Euro turntable manufacturer, who will give me the time of day, the car isn't in their catalogue they say, so No Can Do. I'm thinking of just buying a pair of turntables and drilling the required holes myself as Plan A. Any suggestions, please, on the turntable I should adapt? Just go for the common "VW T5/T6 Passengers Turntable/Single Seat Swivel Base", say, or perhaps the "General Purpose Heavy Duty Truck Seat Swivel"? Both give 28~30 mm rise, no problem, there is lots of head room. Plan B is to remove the seats and fit a pair of after-market captain's seats to the existing track on the floor. Similar problem (no one has anything in their catalogue to fit an AYH30), not so easy to solve because of the required compatibility to the 17 mm / 5/8" T-track on 381 mm / 15" centres. But any suggestions on possibly compatible seats most welcome! Many thanks!

Lex-Tech have serviced my Alphard hybrid and now Vellfire hybrid expertly. They are based in the Southampton / Portsmouth area, web site https://www.lex-tech.co.uk/.