Bench seat that folds into a bed?

[Fergie]

Hey all,

I'm running through some different ideas for my Chinook, and I think what I am looking for is common in the camping van world, but I can't find decent measurement or pictures of what I have in my head.

I'm looking for a beanch seat, with seat belts, that can fold flat into a bed for two adults; the biggest is me a 6'-0" and 210 pounds.

Could you all snap some photos of your bench seat/bed combos for me, and list their rough dimensions, both in seat and bed configuration? I'd also like to see their mounting system.

Thanks for the help all.

Gavin

 

[1leglance]

discount vans or something like that is supposed to have lots of cool things like that
I will try to search for some pics of the Sportsmobile setup, but be aware it is a side facing sofa that has the backrest flop over the top to become part of the bed

 

[RocKrawler]

I just found a rear bench/bed that matches my newly installed leather buckets perfectly on ebay - but its way east and seller isnt offering shipping (and would be outrageous even if it could ship) so I'm still looking in a 250 mile radius for mine.

 

[dwh]

In my camper van, along the side, front to rear behind the driver's seat, is a couch that folds down into a bed. It is 6'4" long, and the bottom is 30" wide. The back is 14" tall. Folded out into a bed it is 44" wide. It doesn't have seat belts, but there are holes in it for seat belts.

This van is a '76 Ford, and back in the '70's I had another '76 Ford van that had a similar couch/bed across the back. At it's widest point, my camper is 6 feet, so that one I had years ago must have been 6 feet wide. I'm 6'4" so back when I had that other van and I took it camping, I could sleep on that bed if I slept catty-corner.

I'm actually getting ready to remove the couch from my van and build a plywood box to replace it. The problem is that the seat part does not raise up but a couple of inches, so the only way to get to storage underneath is from the front by removing the cover piece. I remember from my van long ago that that was a PITA and it is on this one too. At least on that other van the couch was across the back so I could also get under it from the rear by opening the doors.

Underneath the couch in my camper is the water tank, the water pump, the water heater and some wiring and I can't get to any of it except by reaching in from the front or undoing the bolts and completely removing the couch. Half the length of the couch is covered by the galley cabinet on the other side of the van, so getting down into the aisle and then reaching under is damned tight.

There is a lot of wasted space under the couch in my camper - room enough even for a couple of extra 12v batteries if I wanted and I can't get to it. So the couch has to go.

 

[4Rescue]

We've got one inthe back of our Long-haul Rafting transport and it's awesome. I forget where we got it but I know it was just in an older High-capacity (you know the REALY long vans they use for Crummy's and transport's) van. It's kind of odd though as it's bigger and deeper then the other seats but with both of them folded flat we can sleep like 4 people in the van and litteraly just pull over to take a nap when the driving days drag on...

I'll ask my buddies if they have any resources on this cause a couple of them have big vans they've kitted out for a sort of "mini-family hauler/RV" of sorts. I know they've had to look hard to find them but they're out there. I find alot of times with old van stuff they've been forgotten or taken out by PO's and alot of times people don't really know what they have is a jewel of a find for those of us using these older vans to travel long distances.

Cheers

DAve

 

[Fergie]

Lance, www.discountvantruck.com looks like it has some "sofa sleepers" like I am talking about; is this the site you were thinking of?

SMB is calling this style of bed a Gaucho, so I'll take a look for something of that nature.

 

[dwh]

This one looks a lot like the one in my camper, except the one I have the back is not quite as tall and mine has a single row of buttons on the seat:

http://www.discountvantruck.com/rvvansofas/dutchessvansofabeds.htm

 

[1leglance]

Lance, www.discountvantruck.com looks like it has some "sofa sleepers" like I am talking about; is this the site you were thinking of?

SMB is calling this style of bed a Gaucho, so I'll take a look for something of that nature.

that is the one I have heard about for years

also make sure to check out the sportmobilefoum.com as there are a ton of homebuilds there

 

[kjp1969]

Gav,
Check out RV shops- the typical RV sofabed mounts on top of a cabinet, and folds flat in a very space efficient way. Ours don't have seatbelts, but that should be easy enough to add.

 

[refried]

I have a sofa/sleeper mounted behind the drivers seat, It's about 5'8" inches long so it's too short to sleep on comfortably, but if I spin the drivers seat sideways it gives me another 20" for my feet making it long enough. It's not very comfortable either but a couple of Thermarest pads really help.

 

[zuren]

Are there any updates to this thread? I'm in nearly the same boat.

I have a 2005 Chevy Express cargo van. I want to install a sofa bed similar to a RB50 floor plan. My primary concern is do I install myself or have a conversion company do it? My criteria are:

• Forward facing
• Folds into bed
• Seat belts
• Safe!

I've seen the lumber home builds but none state that they plan to transport passengers. Today I started contacting van conversion conpanies in my area but most are for handicap conversions so we'll see if they are interested. Discount Van Truck has one of the best off-the-shelf solutions but there are mixed reviews of their customer service and quality, plus the shipping would be a lot. I have also seen the RV bench on top of the cabinet but I never saw seat belts.

I guess my biggest question is if I end up doing this myself, what sort of reinforcement and hardware is needed to do a custom install? Is it a simple matter of srilling a couple holes in the floor or is reinforcement needed? I've been searching and don't find much in the way of instructions or examples.

 

[T.Low]

It's not very comfortable either but a couple of Thermarest pads really help.

I'd imagine the 3" memory foam would go all the way to "comfortable" for that scenario. We use it in our pop top, although it doesn't store nearly as compact as the T-rest.

 

[refried]

I've thought about putting something more comfortable on top of it but we don't really sleep in the van all that much, if the temps are in the 40s or above I'd rather sleep in a tent with Paco Pads and use the van for a place to warm up, have coffee in the morning, and store gear I'd rather not leave outside. The Thermarests fit nicely behind the couch so they don't take up any room and with an extra rectangular sleeping bag opened on top of them and the couch it's not too bad to sleep on. The size of the memory foam was another reason I didn't go for it, There's enough stuff in the van already, Seems like the bigger the vehicle the more stuff "we" need.

 

[nely]

I got my conversion seat from a local junkyard. Fully powered slide and folding. Doesnt match my interior and it doesnt fit with my rear a/c to well. But you can find them. Oh and another thing. Im 6" even and its to short thats another reason i dont like it.

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

 

[RocKrawler]

There are 2 and 3 piece models available, for the tall guys like me I'd recommend looking for the 3 piece setup for the extra length. I found one that matches the buckets perfectly but its on the other side of the country, gotta find one closer