The common product is called "flares" and is made by Flarespace. I'd start there to see if there are any other products/competitors.

 

A member in CA has some listed for sale

FlairSpace 148 high roof Bump-Outs

Flairspace driver and passenger bump outs with half window sliders and blackout covers. New in box. $2,000 Ford Transit 148" Flares × 1 Flare with Flarespace Half Slider Window (ext. depth) (+$395) / Flare with Flarespace Half Slider Window (ext. depth) (+$395) Regular Length 148...

www.fordtransitusaforum.com

 

Vanspeed Ford Transit Capsules — Vanspeed Shop

www.vanspeedshop.com

VanSpeed also makes a version of Flarespace's flares.

A fiberglass high top company in Southern CA named Fiberine makes a version as well.

Window Pop outs

Those are your three options on the market currently that I'm aware of - Flarespace, Fiberine, and VanSpeed. All three are outrageously expensive to do properly (paint matched, interior trim ring, install, etc.) and gain roughly 10" of east to west sleeping space.

I've installed two sets of Flarespace flares on Sprinters (not my van - I'm not made out of money). It allows you to fit their very expensive, custom cut mattress east to west in the rear of the van. The dimensions are closest to a queen sized bed so the question is - "is saving 20 inches of north to south space in the van worth $4,000?" for some people the answer is yes. Flarespace flares are held to the body of the van with adhesive. 100% adhesive and nothing else. I can't speak to the attachment method of the other two companies that I listed.

Keep in mind that the top-to-bottom dimension of the "flare" gets half way filled up with the mattress and then a pillow on top of that so consider how much room is left for your head while you sleep.

Flarespace is a great company and was great to work with on those two installs that I completed, I just like to make sure that folks that are interested have a good idea of what the final product will feel like before they spend anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000.

Hope that helps!

 

I am 5'-10" and sleep across the back of the van without issues. Have 73 1/2" length between the walls.

The trick is not to fill the window indents with insulation. I have 1" on stiffeners and 1 1/2" rigid polyiso foam on the indents covered with indoor/outdoor carpet.

Walls | Orton Travel Transit (ortontransit.info)

 

Thanks everyone. All very useful info and I have been able to enter the rabbit hole.

 

Glad you asked your question this way. I’ve been on the forum for a while and am only starting to know some of the terms. I love when people share freely their knowledge, but it hurts when people are mean to those of us still learning.

 

Or save a lot of money and make the bed go the other direction.

 

The flarespace flares turn an 80" long bed into a 60" wide bed saving you 20" front to back so that's $200 per inch to support what @harryn suggests!

The cost of flares goes a long, long way in a van build.

 

Flarespace.com

 

The flares for the transit dont stick out the 6 inches you're talking about, only about 2-3 inches on each side. Still worth it but it's not as drastic as the sprinter ones you see

 

Can also go N-S that is front to back with a bed frame that extends by sliding out. Pretty simple to build. Lots of examples if you search around the forum. Also lots of YT videos showing that style. One big advantage of N-S is not having to climb over or be climbed over to get out. It’s a middle of the night old person thing.

 

Slide-out designs need a futon that folds or two separate foam pads with a lengthwise bifold cover. Either way, you'll have a crease in the middle for the full length.

 

There is also a sweet spot for the height of the bed that is max van width.

 

The maximum width is at the height of the window cut outs. You just need to maximize the interior space by installing 1" of insulation and a 1/4" wall panel in that area. Alternately might be able to gain even more space by installing windows in that area.

 

The Vanspeed flares claim a total width of around 83", and can be installed by yourself, alone. The Flarespace claims about 80" and you will most definitely need someone else to help.

 

Just want to add that as someone who has purchased the flarespace kit - their custom mattress for the transit is borderline dishonest. They seemingly go as far out of their way as possible not to show you what the custom mattress for the ford looks like. 38" into the 60" you lose 5 inches at your head and 5" at your toes to accommodate the angle of the trim ring. If you're trying to fit two people on this thing, good luck... Don't think of the bed as actually 60x80.

Additionally, I am over two weeks into trying them get them to send me the correct structural steel sheet metal as I discovered the one they sent was about 3 inches short. Not a lot of confidence in what I assumed was a reputable company in this space.

 

We sleep north/south but needed an odd size mattress so we ordered 3 inch foam from Chair Cushion, Boat Cushions, Replacement Cushions, Patio Cushion and put a 2 inch mattress topper on it. I sleep better in the van than I do at home. We have some shapes around our bump out that we used a knife to cut the foam with

 

... add to all this that a legit queen-size mattress fits inside the rear door opening by quite a bit - depending on where you measure the edge of a flare bed, could be 15" or so. The ultimate space saved with flares is a few inches - not even close to the 20" claimed. Add the option of choosing a legit queen-sized mattress of your choice versus the oddball mattress options and the need to eliminate insulation to maximize head/foot room in the flares, and... 🤷‍♀️

 

This may seem like an overly simple answer, but If you plan to sleep in this van by yourself, there’s no reason you can’t sleep diagonally on the bed and have enough space to where your head and feet aren’t touching anything— even without flares. Save time money and space!

 

Tried that in the Sprinter build and found that to be uncomfortable. Also affects how you compensate for an unlevel parking location. I filled the window indents on the Sprinter build with insulation and that reduced the bed length. Different approach on the Transit build was to limit the insulation to increase the bed length.

 

What Orton said above. I’m 5’11” have 73” between walls. Works great

 

I built what I called “insets” around the sides of the bed, between with ribs. Did not use flares and have 1 inch polyiso behind them.