Pop Top folding bed for maximum standing room

mrsa111

Observer
Since I'm redoing the whole pop top on my van, I figured id find a better way to fold up my bed for standing room during the day. Mine used to be the multiple board style where you just stack the boards when your not using them. but i'm looking for something that just gets the bed out of the way and you dont have to think or deal with it during the day. ideally it'd be nice to not have to redo blankets and all that, but not a deal breaker.

my pop top is the style that lifts higher on one end. the problem with that is that even with no bed, i hit my head on the fiberglass roof when im moving around in the forward part of the van. I'm installing hinges that'll lift that end higher, but even then, the bed itself may take up a good 6-8+ inches so i need to either get the bed completely out of the way of the front of the van, or have it super snug against the top and hope my new hinges get the front up high enough (they should)

what ive been thinking would be to have the bed all one piece that sits on the lip of the roof, and you'd have latches that would secure it to the roof so when you raise your pop top, the whole bed comes with it, then you undo the latches when its time for bed. Could even use gas struts instead of latches to raise the bed up with the roof?

I'm mostly just looking for some ideas, builds, photos, etc for inspiration. this doesnt seem like something thats covered very much.
 

wuntenn

Adventurer
Can you show us some photos of your conundrum and maybe that will help visualise what solutions are possible.
 

Trestle

Active member
Check out Andrew White on youtube. He has a 4wd channel on there somewhere. He has built out two troopy land cruisers seperately. In each he has a nice setup where the bed moves up and out of the way without any fuss. He worked with a company out of South Africa to make them, as he had a working relationship with them doing product development or some such. Either way, you will see the idea there, in video, and get to see it in action.
 

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