Telescoping lofted bed build

It's been awhile since I posted an update on the build.
I picked up some 1/4" 4x8 sheets and some foam from depot and some microfiber material from the fabric store and made some cushions.




You can kind of see from the last picture I ended up adding some holes on the ends of the mattress. This was an afterthought as I realized the mattress kept slipping off the frame as I drop and I realized I needed to secure it. You can see in the below picture that there's a piece of Velcro that wraps around the frame and secures the mattress down. Each mattress secures in all 4 corners so that when I collapse the frame they stay put.

I used the set up for the first time the other week when I went elk hunting. It worked like a charm and was very comfortable!

It even provided a nice place to hang the lantern from!

And best of all it provided some good luck to me

Geek said:

26 gallons.. you were close! Any idea how many miles were on the tank?

Your low-fuel light comes on at 20 gallons leaving yo a 6 gallon reserve.
120 mile range @ 20mpg but only a 60 mile range if you are getting 10

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I can't recall what the miles where at Geek. I do think I was perdy dang close to be gone though!

Looks like the sleeping bag has a good temp rating.

We swapped over to the winter comforter in the stickhouse duvet the other night. Thick and pretty light with something like 850-fill down. Cold feet last about thirty seconds under it.

Some creature comforts are better without wattage.

Dan

Yeah it's an 800 fill 0 degree. Which was good because it was zero in the van the first morning! Time to start insulating!

looks li ke you will fill the freezer

RPG proof

Hello
I read through you build , i love the concept , i have same van as yours and i am looking to build the bed system , i need to be able to use the bed with dirt bikes in the van , i thing your system is best , because when is not in use you can fold up or down, since your build you used it lot ? if you would do it again , what you would do differently? i am looking to build one my self. Much appreciated any info.
Thanks

arpad said:

Hello
I read through you build , i love the concept , i have same van as yours and i am looking to build the bed system , i need to be able to use the bed with dirt bikes in the van , i thing your system is best , because when is not in use you can fold up or down, since your build you used it lot ? if you would do it again , what you would do differently? i am looking to build one my self. Much appreciated any info.
Thanks

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Hi there. I actually sold the van about a year later to purchase a different one that had a full camper/rv build. I would say this system worked pretty well. My two largest complaints were the rattling around from metal on metal. (Any rattle noise as I drive makes me crazy) and the lack of headroom in the high mode. Ultimately since I wasn't needing to use the rig with motos all the time I left the bed in the lower mode most of the time (Ended up being kinda a pain to switch from lower to higher. Not a huge deal but more work than you want to do all the time.) Since the upper mode only left a small amount of headroom when sleeping, the lower mode was where it sat most of the time. I'm not sure if I would do it again honestly. Perhaps. It was a pretty dang good set up aside from those two complaints. Perhaps building something lighter out of wood that I could easily put in and take out would have been preferred.

Funny how this thread was resurrected, Im in the design process on a similar concept. Good to know about head room. With the track bike stuck in the van in the event of a rain storm. The bed height to the ceiling would be roughly 38 inches in high mode.

Cwhite87 said:

Funny how this thread was resurrected, Im in the design process on a similar concept. Good to know about head room. With the track bike stuck in the van in the event of a rain storm. The bed height to the ceiling would be roughly 38 inches in high mode.

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I'm doing something similar but with a LWB van so I have a few more options.

Minimum height for a bed base above dirt bikes needs to be about 1300mm or 52" which can make for a claustrophobic sleeping experiencing depending on your roof height.

My plan is to make a couch bed in the front area which can be used when bikes are loaded but also make a fold down bed at the rear (hinge from both sides) to use when there are no bikes in the van.

daws314 said:

I'm doing something similar but with a LWB van so I have a few more options.

Minimum height for a bed base above dirt bikes needs to be about 1300mm or 52" which can make for a claustrophobic sleeping experiencing depending on your roof height.

My plan is to make a couch bed in the front area which can be used when bikes are loaded but also make a fold down bed at the rear (hinge from both sides) to use when there are no bikes in the van.

Click to expand...

Post pics as you go. Our van is used for going to motorcycle races. Brainstorming ideas for beds as well.