[Pajarojo]

You're ahead of me build wise as my van is still on order but one strategy I plan to research more is to buy one of these harbor freight loading ramps, split it into three sections by removing the hinges, and then spacing each of the resulting 15" wide ladder frames with 1/2" birch ply over top to create a ~60" wide queen bed. They would likely need to get cut down a bit lengthwise and then supported with aluminum angle or channel ledgers fastened to the walls of the van.

1500 lb. Capacity 45 in. x 69 in. Tri-Fold Aluminum Loading Ramp

Amazing deals on this 1500Lb Aluminum Tri-Fold Loading Ramp at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[Pajarojo]

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HOORAY!! It works!! Thanks for those images.
Probably a better choice to buy two ramps and use four of the ladder sections than trying to spread three out as I had proposed.

 

[Pajarojo]

Wow. Price has gone up. I paid $79 each for the 2 I purchased 1.5 years ago. (After a 20% off coupon.) I left one up at the cabin, and the other I started using as a ramp, and never got around to using it as a bed frame.

I always search for coupons with harbor freight and I couldn't believe it when I saw that $79 one come up. I have some time so I'll watch for a deal on it and buy a couple.

 

[Pajarojo]

How about something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072HTRVM1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I wonder about those too. It looks like they're bolt together rather than welded so there's a decent chance you could pull one end off, cut it down to the correct length and then put the end piece back on:

 

[Pajarojo]

This is very much a work in progress but I have a bed over dinette situation that I'm building. I'm using 1.25 inch square steel tubes from home Depot (1/16-in wall ). The idea is that the mattress will be the bench seat cushions when it's in dinette mode. You can see on the left side that I've got the left bench seat up on top of the tubes to demonstrate. when we're using the dinette the tubes will be stored in the back of the van vertically as I'm showing with one of the tubes in the photo.

 

[Pajarojo]

Don’t ignore the other side of that bed sandwich—the mattress. A good 4” foam can be just as comfortable as the 8-10” mattresses some people use. When it comes to mattresses, Americans have been sold a bill of goods.

Can you remind me again what mattress you used? I plan on sticking to a 4-in mattress as well so quality is important!