1994 International 4700 Conversion Begins

[scooter421]

The picture with 1/2 of the hinge and a piece of aluminum angle is because I needed to support/reinforce the area as the screws ended up being very close to the edge of the plywood on the seat. If it works out and you do a lot of measuring the two halves will lock together when down as a bed. Also, I reused the screws that held on the original piano hinges to mount the new lift off hinges.

Scooter...

 

[scooter421]

If anyone ends up using the same frame from Walmart....the wood stock I got from Home Depot was 1x2 re-sawed and 1x1 stock. I had to sand the 1x2 a little to make it fit easily and tapped in with a hammer. The 1x1 is a little loose but I don't think it will prove to be an issue. Flip flop for reference to the size of the box. It folds up pretty small. The added wood to raise the bed height still allows the parts to fit under my bench seat.



Scooter...

 

[scooter421]

Pro's and cons...

A huge gain was making the bench components removable. In doing so, I was able to move the bed 20 inches to the rear which left substantial space at the front of the box when the bed is down.

The only loss I can figure so far in my decision to build the bed this way is by changing the bench seat foam to 2 inch instead of 3 is that when the seat back is down it no longer sits flat. So, if someone was to sit on the seat back when it's folded down it will probably rip the hinges I just installed off the seat back. However, the seat back was not much of a seat when down anyway.....so I plan to put a "NO SEAT" or "DO NOT SIT HERE" label on the seat back.

Not so much of a loss because the stock foam was pretty stiff anyway but not a gain was the need to stick with the 2 inch foam....It's not a comfortable as thicker foam.

Scooter...

 

[patoz]

Well Scooter guess what, not one of those attachments will open!

Maybe you should try using the forum uploader, and inserting the pictures directly into the body of the text. It's slower because it has to be done one at a time, but generally works and allows you to describe what each picture is about.

 

[scooter421]

Well Scooter guess what, not one of those attachments will open!

Maybe you should try using the forum uploader, and inserting the pictures directly into the body of the text. It's slower because it has to be done one at a time, but generally works and allows you to describe what each picture is about.

Well crap....I did put them in with the uploader. I will try again.

 

[scooter421]

Okay, I edited that post. Hopefully, it works now.

Scooter...

 

[scooter421]

I am sure I've spent more in beer trying to figure out how to make something work for a bed than what the final idea ended up costing. I did not total my receipts but I believe it's around $200 bucks if I had came up with this solution the first go around. I would always run into something which defeated how I wanted/needed things to work. I went through many, many, many ideas before the bed frame.

Scooter...

 

[patoz]

The pictures are working now.

A couple of questions...

1. Once you move the cushions to the bed frame, is the bench area just sitting there wide open, or does it have a top of it's own?
2. How do you store the frame when you go back to couch mode?

 

[transition]

Hi, what's been your experience with the power of this truck ? I was able to drive the truck yesterday for the first time and shocked on how sluggish it was. It has the dt360 and the overhead visor said Allison 500 AT. The trucks been sitting for about 3 years, has 260, 000 miles on it and 16000 hours. I'm sure it will need a full service and inspection but my plus tire mountain bike gets up to speed faster than this thing.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[scooter421]

The pictures are working now.

A couple of questions...

1. Once you move the cushions to the bed frame, is the bench area just sitting there wide open, or does it have a top of it's own?
2. How do you store the frame when you go back to couch mode?

Currently the bench seat storage is wide open. I will recess another board with hinges in the hole to allow for sitting and sleeping a third person. I will need to bring an additional sleeping pad if there is to be a third person.

The frame comes apart very easily and fits underneath bench seat in the storage area.

When I came up with the idea to use a bed frame my wife was at Walmart getting groceries. I called and asked her to see what they had. I figured I would have to cut and weld it to make it work. What she found was perfect, no tool assembly, light weight and very importantly the bench parts sit on TOP of the frame not down inside. It's a tube steel frame which worked perfectly and folds in the middle along the long side. The latch catch on the seat back was going to be an issue with a standard angle iron frame where the box spring sits inside the frame rails and I would have had to cut out for this. I just had to figure out where to position the bench components on the frame and increase the height to my needs. Once I had the frame the rest was easy. The 1x1's at the 4 corners will need to slip out for storage under the seat. The 1x2's are a tight fit but can stay inside the leg for storage anyway.

Scooter...

 

[scooter421]

Pretty sluggish.....but there is hope.

Fluids and filters made a big difference. I stalled on changing fluids because they looked fine, that was a mistake. I spent a lot of time chasing fluid related problems. My brakes were also sticking a lot....smoking and locking up occasionally. I tried rebuilding them but I ended up buying completely new loaded calipers. I also changed all the rubber brake lines. It gets down the road ok for a 15k lb truck now. But the big hills....oh boy. Living in AZ there are some serious climbs to get out of the valley to the mountains and I am lucky if I stay above 35 MPH going up the hills. I also had transmission over temping issues early on.....I did not change my fluids and filters soon enough! The new transmission sitting on the shop floor should help a lot with temperature issues, not so much speed but it might make a little difference. I've accepted the fact it's a school bus and I've never ridden in a fast one!

Scooter...

 

[scooter421]

I am not familiar with the AT500 but if it's anything like my AT545 it's okay for flat terrain and will appreciate clean fluid/filters. I am switching to a different transmission when I get around to it which locks up in 3rd and 4th gear which should help a lot. There are many things a person can do to get a little more kick out of the motor but at the possible expense of shortening it's life. They use these motors in tractor/truck pulls and produce insane amounts of power with throwing in a bunch of money. It can be done, but I am staying pretty much stock. Once I install the other transmission I might take it to someone to dial everything and make small adjustments for a little more kick. I believe Baloo added a manual transmission on his and he said it made a huge difference. I'm lazy, I'm sticking to an automatic!

Have you started a thread on your build? When you do, post the link so I can subscribe to it. I can't wait to see what you come up with. You will get a lot of help from the folks here!

Scooter...

 

[patoz]

OK, I knew you had a solution, just wondering what is was. I'm always looks for new ideas.

Like you, I've spent many hours trying to decide what the best plan is going to be for mine, and so far it's still looking like the slat design is it.

 

[scooter421]

The bed was certainly a challenge; thank goodness for the forum ideas, they sure help! I like the slat idea as well. I was always struggling with putting in supports for the slats because I did not want to take up any interior space. Adding my 3 smaller coolers required the additional height and forced me out of the slat idea because I could no longer go straight across......after many beers it came down to the bed frame.

Scooter...

 

[patoz]

Yeah, I see your point with the coolers, plus you need sleeping space for several people, whereas I'm only dealing with myself and maybe one other at times.

I will probably use aluminum square tubing for the legs on the slat slide-out section, and I'm working on an idea that will allow them to fold into the slat section before it's slid back into the storage position. I'm also working on an idea to angle the bottom up and the lean the back backwards, so that it will be more like sitting on a real couch rather than a church pew.