I looked at using my 2nd row for sleeping as well. Tried one of the air beds from Pittman but blow ups can lose air and my son was complaining about sliding off.

If you have swivels, I really like what @Campervan Man shared in this thread.

In the end, I built a bed across the front seats. Really happy with the decision because it keeps the 2nd row open and tucks my son out of the way in the front. We can walk around in the van and also access the sliding door if needed. Bed is 60" so great for smaller kids.

Anyway, not exactly what you were looking for but some different ideas that you might be able to adapt.

 

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah that is definitely an alternative which I've seen people do and make it be comfortable as well.

I guess I'm really wanting something out of the transformers that slides forward and then somehow folds out towards the slider. Again pretty sure I'm dreaming here but maybe someone has built a table or something with these types of folds before?

 

I really like your design when you posted it for a folding table.

We tried both something like what you have on a trip where I was building the van up until the night we left and it worked out ok. The bench I tried to fill the gap between the 1st and 2nd row didn't quite work in the short period of time I had so we used these expanding plastic stools from amazon and plywood. We also did it with the swivels turned and spanned the gap between the front and second row, again it worked out ok. But what was a pain was the setup and tear down in a small space along with storage of all the parts. Now we are considering a hanging bed from the ceiling, over the top of the 2nd row along the driver side wall. I'm thinking about straps that can be used to raise the mattress to the roof while driving, so setup would be quick, but I'm not sure how well it will work yet. We thought we might do this for a single bed for one child and then figure out another option below.

Another design we considered was doing the swivels, and then utilizing a strong material like what is used in a hammock to span the gap and strap it through the middle of the seat to the floor anchors and do the same through the front seats. So it would created a hammock, but I think if you used a 4" mattress the kids would be able to sleep side by and it wouldn't fall into the gap. The appeal of this method was that it would fold up into nothing and should be quick to deploy. It would requiring some heavy duty sewing, but seems possible. We may still explore this one too. Thinking about it again, maybe just attaching straps to the mattress and pulling those through the seat and attaching to the floor would be enough to keep it tight within the gap.

 

As far as functionality what I have now works and is actually pretty comfy as well as allowing even I who is about 6ft to sleep in that area. But to your point it is a pain to setup in a small space and then carrying and stowing the folding table as well as the folding mattress takes up space.

Interesting idea about the hammock. If you could get it to secure properly then stowing it would take up a small amount of space so thats a plus.

I was even thinking of doing some sort of folding piece attached with a piano hinge to front side of the seat so that it swings up and having a sliding piece that can slide out towards the slider. It would seriously be like a transformer of sorts. But you'd still need legs to support it by the slider. And the mattress foam would still need to be lugged around.

There is also the idea of totally remaking a bench in that area using an RV trifold pair of brackets. IDK

 

Agreed on it being comfortable. On one of our stops after traveling for 20 hours my wife and kids slept on the big bed and I slept on the converted 2nd row and had no problem getting comfortable or sleeping.

I did find that I didn't need something going over the seat with the 4" mattress, just a platform in the gap and think the right sized folding bench would work (we just happened to get one that was too long and I didn't have time to cut it down). That would reduce the materials needed

I think the platform bed is a fine place to store the kids mattress, but it should would be nice to have it up and out of the way.

I will let you know what I end up doing. We have several other more important projects to get done before the end of the year (to get RV titled), so this one is taking a bit of a back seat. I'll be on the lookout for your updates too

 

Agreed on it being comfortable. On one of our stops after traveling for 20 hours my wife and kids slept on the big bed and I slept on the converted 2nd row and had no problem getting comfortable or sleeping.

I did find that I didn't need something going over the seat with the 4" mattress, just a platform in the gap and think the right sized folding bench would work (we just happened to get one that was too long and I didn't have time to cut it down). That would reduce the materials needed

I think the platform bed is a fine place to store the kids mattress, but it should would be nice to have it up and out of the way.

I will let you know what I end up doing. We have several other more important projects to get done before the end of the year (to get RV titled), so this one is taking a bit of a back seat. I'll be on the lookout for your updates too

Yes please let me know what you end up coming up with. If I do come up with something else, I will surely post it up on here too. Thanks!

 

Has anyone ever tried to modify the disco-o-bed kid bunk to fit? It's 65" long and 32.5" wide. I've got three kids so maximizing space to have them sleep 2 deep sounds good.

 

Thinking more about the hammock concept during lunch I was thinking maybe a heavy duty cargo net could work. Strap it through the front and 2nd row seats and make one attachment point on the passenger side wall to span the distance to the slider. I think I might give this idea a try as it would be the least amount of work.

 

I just watched this youtube video. Single or Double hammock bed review.

 

Thanks for posting.

I've seen that product before. IDK I'm not 100% sold. Seems like it could work OK for smaller kids but I think the claustrophobic level would be too much for my kids (on the bottom bunk).

 

I'm thinking about trying this cargo net:

Amazon.com: Gladiator Cargo Nets - Heavy Duty Truck Cargo Net - Small (SGN-100) 4.75' x 6' ft. : Automotive

Amazon.com: Gladiator Cargo Nets - Heavy Duty Truck Cargo Net - Small (SGN-100) 4.75' x 6' ft. : Automotive

www.amazon.com

If it works I might forget about the hanging bed and just go back to the kids sharing the 1st row / 2nd row bed.

It could also double as a cargo net to keep things in their place in the garage when traveling.

 

In my old Ford Econoline passenger van I used two of the folding tables, shown in the first picture, to make a sleeping platform behind the back passenger bench seat. The tables were very strong and light weight. I had two pieces of 3/8" plywood, connected by a piano hinge, that I laid on top of the tables. That made a sturdy bed platform and it only took a few hours to build.