80/20 hindged panel bed advice

Need some advice. Im in the process of building an 80/20 panel bed. The last 2 feet will be on a hinge. The curved sides of the van are 67 inches across when in bed position and 63 inches across when in flip up mode. I'm toying with the idea of making "slide out" pieces (green in photo) that will rest on brackets (yellow in photo) when in bed mode. I was thinking about using a knob that you could tighten/loosen for this to work.
By doing this I can keep the brackets from needing to protrude more then an inch from the wall. Any suggestions on the Best way/sturdy way to do this with 80/20? Thanks
Dave

I would use the spring loaded pin side of 2053 latches and drill hole in the brackets attached to the wall. I used 2 of these latches to lock my sofa bed in the seating position. This one is very easy to use, it latches on open position by rotation and snaps back to latching with pin rotation.

For ultimate strength you could use 5370 stanchions with 1" round tube and wall brackets with 1" diameter holes. I used 2 of these for the movable headboard on my sofa bed.

A simple bar like on your drawing will work as well.

George.

Thanks George. Great idea on the stanchions. I'll mull those over. I really like those deadbolt latches, but I need 2.5-3 inches of movement.

Curious if you anyone experience with these?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/8020-Inc-St...882?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf8012c12

Could be a fairly clean solution to thread a 2 foot section into the extrusion. Put a handle on it so that you can slide it back and forth. Effectively doing what the stanchion would do, but cheaper and cleaner looking.

Any idea of how I could find the strength of this? The bed is up high so not concerned with lots of people sitting on it, more just the point load of getting in/out of bed. If the bed breaks the wife will kill me. ha . Thanks for any help
-Dave

This is carbon steel, should work within maximum distance between Al extrusion and wall bracket and applied force. http://www.speedymetals.com/information/Material35.html

You could use this T-nut material as just a long T-nut and have stronger Al bar to latch with wall brackets.

You can use triple T-nuts with Al bar as well.

I would recommend to use some plastic washers or a strip to prevent Al extrusion from surface damage form the bolts.

I'm interested in what you come up with. I'm thinking of making a frame from 80/20 and hanging it from the ceiling then lowering it down into position. This way I can keep seats in the van and always have the bed made. Post some pics of what you come up. I'm subscribing to this. Thanks.


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Another idea:

Use a full width continuous aluminum hinge without holes from McMaster for hinge. Drill some holes where you want to bolt hinge to 80/20.

Bolt a short piece of 1/4 x 1 1/2" SS flatbar to face of 80/20 (on driver side of swinging 80/20 when bed is down) at each end of extrusion. Two holes in each with two knobs in end holes in each flatbar. Use a 3 hole economy nut for the slide inside the extrusion to prevent binding. A rubber pad on wall angle to prevent rattling.

Graphite Dave said:

Another idea:

Use a full width continuous aluminum hinge without holes from McMaster for hinge. Drill some holes where you want to bolt hinge to 80/20.

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Click to expand...

I like the continuous hinge idea.

That seems like pop rivets would be worth considering as a fastening method. The Erector Set fastening design of the 80/20 may not always be the best choice depending upon the specific application.

vic

Got the hinged panel up and running. Been testing it the last month and it works great. I ended welding stops at the bottom and stops at the top.

I used 80/20 as a slide with a threaded knob that I bought from McMasters that tightens into an 80/20 plate

To go from bed to travel mode, I simply loosen the four threaded knobs, slide the bar in, raise the hinged platform, slide the bar out to catch the upper stops and tighten them.

Photos explain this better

Hi Camping,

Looks like maybe you got a crew then put in an extra attachment point for the seat 1 slot back. If so can you comment on how involved installing an extra seat attachment point was?

I am thinking about doing something similar. I would try and put the bed platform a little lower than you have to try and create enough space above t he bed to sit up. Can you sit up in your bed system?

ddunaway-
I started with a cargo and purchased the seat from a forum member. I spent a lot of time under the van looking at the frame to find solid points. There are a few spots where the frame has holes. Then figured out the furthest back the seat could go, but still allow me to put bikes in the back under the bed. I then drilled through the floor and frame, cut out the wood floor for the seat brackets and used grade 8 bolts to secure it. Under the van the bolt goes though a custom 1/4 thick steal plate that I used as a bracket and then a washer nut to tighten it all up. It took some patience and time, but it was less daunting then I thought it would be.
As far as the bed headroom space, I can mostly sit up (im 6 feet) my shorter wife can completely. Really though I just sleep in the bed. More comfortable to hang on bench or swivel seat. With my system I must remove headrests for the bed to fold down. Again, I put the bed the lowest I could make it while fitting bikes underneath. For me, that distance was above the bench seat, but below the headrests.