Need Cushions For A Folding Seat/Bed

[wantahertzdonut]

I've decided to make a converting seat/bed for my van. I've been hunting for conversion van seats but haven't had much luck finding anything nearby, and what I do find seems to be for all vans not GM, and they're usually whorehouse red. (I have a Chevy Express with grey interior) I don't think the conversion van seats will work anyway because this will be my second row seat and not way in the back.

I have a pretty good idea what I want to do for a frame but I'm having a hard time coming up with a cushion material. I would like to go with something dual layered but have no idea where I can get foam in bulk in person. I've found outlets online but I have no idea if a particular foam is too stiff or too soft for my use.

What do you guys use? Do you buy a pre-made cushion or make the cushions yourself? This will be primarily used for a bed but will have occasional short use as a seat, so I'm fine with the material being flat instead of having the curved contours of a seat.

 

[North]

I used Foam Factory. Called them up, explained what I was doing, and they made a recommendation. I believe I used HD36, 4" thickness, queen-sized mattress that I cut up. Very comfortable both as a bed and a seat. They advised against a dual-layer setup, mostly because in their view at 4" thickness it wouldn't make a difference.

I also purchased a "Millard Tri-Fold Mattress" from Amazon before buying my bulk foam to test the 4" thickness (my build was veeeeerrrry tight on headroom). Seemed like a quality product. Works awesome for standard sleep in the back of the truck setup.

 

[wantahertzdonut]

Cool, thanks for that. I'll look up Foam Factory and call them up. I also didn't think about the folding mattress idea, I'll see if that may work as well.

 

[Mxkutch]

I bought a 6” queen sized memory foam mattress on Amazon for 140$ and then cut it to fit.

I love it and my back does too.

Zinus Ultima Comfort Memory Foam 6 Inch Mattress, Queen https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005G5SIRG/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_pKB8AbP3J1T0C


7.3 E350 Ujoint 4x4

IG: @The_Vanabonds

 

[Bikersmurf]

For cutting foam the Black OLFA blades last longer. Or a bandsaw

My 2c

 

[Corneilius]

Memory foam gets real firm at lower temperatures, lots of roof top tent guys find that out the hard way.

 

[Bikersmurf]

X2

The ‘Sunmate’ medium memory foam on my 40s driver seat could leave bruises at freezing temperatures. The softer foams aren’t as bad.

 

[wantahertzdonut]

I've been away from this for a while again (been biking a bunch). But I figured I should come back this before I completely forget...

Thanks for the heads-up about memory foam. I doubt we'll be camping in temps below 50 but you never know. I prefer softer beds anyway.

I have no concept of a "softness rating" of foam and how it would compare to a mattress or couch cushion which is what makes this tricky. Going by feel is easy if you buy in person but I haven't found a place near me that sells stuff like this in any variety. I'll have to dig a little harder.

In the past week I came across a discarded but good condition loveseat with a pull-out bed frame that I removed. I'm thinking about making this into some sort of contraption in hopes it'll save me some fabrication work but I'm not positive on that yet. I'd like to find some way to incorporate this into the second seat but the easiest manner in which to do so would require the second seat to be backwards-facing and I'm not sure I want that. I have some other ideas but I may not be completely sold on using this thing. It was free so it's no loss.