Rising bed in van conversion.

pandos

Has anyone ever come across a rising bed, like in an A class over the cab, in a van conversion. Or perhaps, more importantly has anyone ever devised or fitted one.

If so how are they operated and why are they so rare. ??

After all a four foot bed with a proper mattress and no fussing with making up cushions and bits of tables at night would seem to be the holy grail of van conversions.

Aidan_M_M

Yeah they're in them alright . We had one in a Merc van all of 15-18 years ago! My Dad (Pat Horan) and George Drew (Glen of Aherow Campsite) built it , worked well .
It's still in some new vans , including some of the Adria van conversions .

unfit2006

Hi Pandos,

I constructed and fitted a "drop-down" bed in a Ducatto conversion nearly 15 years ago. It worked on a cantilever design. It was rather heavy and therefore I included a spring assisted system to help raise it back up when not in use.
It provided a full double children's bed over the cab with excellent headroom.
The construction of the bed itself was simple but the brackets and swing-down lever system required some thought.
I recall that I fitted the mounting plates onto the top strengthening brace that was built into the interior side panels of the Ducatto. Those mounting plates had the cantilever arms attached. They measured approx 16" from their centre pivot point. That allowed the bed an overall drop-down movement of 32" from its raised position to its lowered position. Headroom was almost four foot when in the down position.The bed then simply "swung" back up into place very freely when not in use.

regards,

Unfit.