[Johnnydanger]

After planning and measuring over the past week, today a friend and I built some 31.5" tall 3-legged uprights that bolt in using the existing tie down reinforced bolt holes. The legs are all clear cedar 4x4 and with a fir top 2x4. It's a fairly clean way to build a bed support structure. Not only are no additional holes in interior panels or sheet metal required, but each side can quickly be removed in a few minutes returning the van to it's ultra cargo capacity glory. Most importantly, the rails are super sturdy with virtually no flex—even though they're only bolted to the tie down holes at the bottom ends. The 4x4 vertical posts are very stable.

The bed panels are 20"x68" sections of smooth .75" MDO plywood. The MDO is pricey, but it's very rigid and has a smooth splinter free finish. The rear most panel has notched corners to snugly fit around the rear corner posts of the van. 2x2 reinforcement strips were added on each of the long sides of the 20" bed panels for more rigidity. They only measure 61" wide and are centered on each panel so that they snugly fit down between the 2x4 rails. All together the panels are a super tight fit and as such they don't rattle or move around. We lastly added a facing board on the front of the 4x4 and top 2x4 rail that extends .75" above the rail to be flush with the top edge of the bed panels to prevent the panels from sliding forward in case of an emergency stop. I plan to add an underside quick release lock of some sort on each panel to even more securely attach them to the side frame. All in all it turned out nicely and was pretty simple to build with some basic tools.

Total cost was $400 including all bolts and screws, and it took a few hours of planning and 5 hours in the shop—including cleanup. There was some question about how much deflection a 20" wide .75" MDO sheet would have with my large posterior sitting on it. The answer? With 2x2 rails on each edge the total deflection is about .25" when putting all my 230+ lbs of weight in the very center of one sheet. My wife and I laying down on the platforms results in maybe 1/8" to 1/16" deflection when our weight is spread out across multiple sheets. Negligible. And once a matress is on top it won't even be noticeable.

 

[Johnnydanger]

More photos of the finished bed panels.

 

[VanMan]

Clean up time counts, good that you noted that

 

[Johnnydanger]

Hah. I try not to be anything less than detailed. I forgot to add that the temperature in the shop with the door open was a balmy 62 degrees and that I had to take my jacket off.

 

[ilovehotshot]

Awesome. Thanks for all the details and the pictures are great!

 

[PeterR]

The MDO sheet material may not deflect much on its initial loading, but if left in place and loaded with weight, the deflection will continue grow larger I believe. Also the material will probably not (like actual dimensional lumber from trees would) have enough inherent "memory" to bounce back to its original flatness.

The 2x2 stiffeners look like fir or other dimensional lumber (as opposed to sheet goods material), so they will tend to bounce back to original shape post-loading, but probably not enough to overcome the MDO's "new memory" for its deflected shape under load.

You would be well served Johnny, in my opinion, to add small verticals in the centers of your 2x2 stiffeners, if you can, even if these are temporary items you put in place during the camping phase of each trip. Or maybe a small vertical cabinet (or 2, with drawers?) accessible from the back and/or front, which you could install/remove as needed?

Good luck!

Peter

PS -- apologies for the non-technical terms above -- plenty of building and cabinetry experience here though. A humid environment (incl. body water vapor) will also weaken the MDO, so I would advise a few coats of poly/paint to minimize water absorption, and storing the MDO panels in a dry environment, ideally perfectly flat, or vertically so as to minimize more deflection.

 

[Johnnydanger]

Thanks for the input Peter. Time will tell how resilient the panels are. Adding vertical supports would be easy enough by adding a swinging leg to the underside of each platform, but thus far I'm fairly confident in their rigidity. I think there are enough support ribs and the load will be spread out enough that no permanent distortion will occur. Plus the platform is only used for sleeping for short periods of time and won't have large amounts of weight focused on it's center line for extended periods of time. I'll let you all know how it works out.

 

[PeterR]

Sounds good, it's just that MDO sheet material is notoriously weak on the flat in these conditions IMO. Nothing you can't observe and deal with.

Nice shop access to the van BTW, and thanks for the photos! I had an Econoline van many years ago with a similar basic set up, and went all over the country in an economical fashion.

Have fun!

 

[tblake]

I plan to do something similar. After reading all the DIY conversion threads on the Sprinter site, many comment on the need to avoid a rigid platform that is bolted into the sidewalls and also bolted across. If the side supports are bolted to the walls, then the cross pieces should be allowed to "float" so as to allow the side walls to flex to avoid distortion to the walls.

I am not an expert on this issue and wonder what is considered acceptable.

I can't tell for sure but it seems that this design does not have the cross pieces bolted. But the OP mentioned that he made a very tight fit to avoid movement while under way. It would seem that a tight fit from front to back would not be a problem, but would a tight fit from side to side prevent the float needed to avoid wall distortion? How much space on the sides is needed to allow for the desired float?

As for a vertical support in the middle: I have 2 similar but different sized bed frames in my home which use slats to support a mattress, with or without box springs. The queen size (60" span) does not have a vertical support down the middle. The California King Size (72" span) does have a vertical support down the middle with 3 legs attached to a slat running the length of the cross slats. So it would seem that vertical support for a 69" span might be considered.

 

[Johnnydanger]

That is correct, the side rails are only bolted at the bottom into the d-ring holes. They are VERY rigid side to side and front to rear courtesy of the 4x4 uprights. They are fairly snug to the wall paneling (maybe .25" gaps on each side), which means they're about .5" from the actual metal of the van wall. I don't see there being any possible wall distortion since 100% of the load is on the D-ring holes at floor level, and there is never a side load on the rails and platform. I made the support ribs on the panels a tight fit between the rails, but I would change that if I did it again because the 2x2 ends against the 2x4 rail can groan when the panels are flexed. To further secure it all I added 2.75" bolts through both ends of each panel and 2x4 rails that is locked from underneath with a large threaded knob to allow easy removal by hand. That reduces the need for the supports being a tight fit, and ultimately has made the whole platform 100% silent. No creaking or rattling over bumps when driving, etc.

 

[gordonb]

Looks great!

More photos of the finished bed panels.

Looks really nice, how much room in front of bed frame behind the seats?

 

[Johnnydanger]

Quite a bit. ~63". I have a 2-passenger seat out of an old Sprinter that I bolt in when need be and still have enough room for my fridge to open behind the drivers seat.

 

[jhon66]

Nice job.

 

[Hein]

Bed looks uber-stout and like how you bolted the legs to the OEM cargo tie-down locations. Very similar to our 8020 bed frame (below) which sits on the spacers behind the cargo loops. Can you check the dimensions between the tie-downs for me? The distance from the face of the rear door frame forward to the center-line of your front legs bolts would be helpful.You have a long wheel base so the front legs are further forward. We are short enough to sleep across in our 130 and hope to add some width into the walls to increase the usable width. It looks like you are sleeping lengthwise in your 148.