Raised Platform bed - what material?

[delphi]

I am going to build a raided platform bed to the rear of my van, It will be about 1 meter high and will support the weight of two adults. My initial plan is to use 20mm box section steel and weld together a frame that fits in the van and then attach some strong plywood to that. Would I be better off with wood though? This unit will be approx 1702cm x 170cm x 1m. It will obviously be a bit harder to make a steel frame, is it worth the extra time and effort?

Thanks

 

[delicagirl]

depends on how much in-house bonking you do :lol-049:

 

[Siimplyloco]

depends on how much in-house bonking you do :lol-049:

I would imagine that a 12mm plywood frame with 20mm longitudinal stringers supporting an IKEA sprung bed slat will support that activity nicely thank you!
IIRC of course....
John
Mind you, 1702cm is about 55 feet, so I don't know where you would get the stringers from.....

 

[n brown]

i've done a number of these in different ways. what van is it ? and how do you want to access the space under it? easy enough to do any combination in wood

 

[delphi]

Van is an LT 35, bonking is minimal. Bed is 170 x 170 x 100, that was a to Access will be from mainly rear (I'm talking about the bed now), but also some access from top and a small cupboard from front.

 

[n brown]

simplest way i know. gripfill or sikaflex or stixall an upright of about 50x50mm ,after working out your heights,to the walls,each side, as near to the hole where the rear door stays go. i assume the walls are panelled.
across these uprights gripfill a length of 30x30 x3mm steel box section. this leaves access to the rear with no centre support.
run a length of 9mm ply across the centre,and fix a length of 44x18mm batten each side of the top with glue and screws .this is now the rear wall of the back locker
make the front out of a frame of 44x18mm or 9mm ply,with a batten support behind the top to support the slats or ply top
couple of bits of batten glued each side to support the ends.
there's a few inches overlap at the rear doors,but not enough to need support

 

[trevskoda]

mr brown knows his stuff,and thats the way im building my bed though left to righ across van 7ft & almost 6 ft width and under it the kids beds running length ways at each side about a foot high so as they will have storage under them.
Is gripfill any good for holding dentures in.:idea:

 

[n brown]

mr brown knows his stuff,and thats the way im building my bed though left to righ across van 7ft & almost 6 ft width and under it the kids beds running length ways at each side about a foot high so as they will have storage under them.
Is gripfill any good for holding dentures in.:idea:

i don't know Trev, i'll chew the problem over and get back to you,but i warn you, the answer might be unpalatable

 

[n brown]

i sometimes wonder if the advice we give in these sections ever gets acted upon,or just dismissed as foolish rambling .every now and again there's a bit of feedback,but more often not.

 

[Siimplyloco]

i sometimes wonder if the advice we give in these sections ever gets acted upon,or just dismissed as foolish rambling .every now and again there's a bit of feedback,but more often not.

I agree, there is very little feedback to our advice or referrals. Is it forgetfulness? Thoughtlessness? Or just plain bad manners?
Perhaps we should have a 'Thank' button like on some of the more dreary forums!
John

 

[alcam]

i sometimes wonder if the advice we give in these sections ever gets acted upon,or just dismissed as foolish rambling .every now and again there's a bit of feedback,but more often not.

I'm sure people are very grateful for what , appears to me , to be well informed advice . Me , I get the bit about rear and top access [who doesn't] but somebody will have to elaborate on the 'small cupboard at the front' . Please keep it clean I'm presbyterian

 

[GRWXJR]

RE: Advice n stuff.

Personally I really like the techie stuff. As a relative newbie with his first home-built camper I'm always tinkering and faffing with it, and even if I don't need the information right now its always good to get you thinking or to help at some future point.

Since I've had my van I've moved walls, re-done the living space floor, added a new cupboard, added extra LED lights, moved the LB, serviced and re-located the Blown-Air Heater, moved the gas bottle, added extra sound insulation, fixed water ingress issues and so on.

I was adding some extra insulation (the heavy stuff with foil facing they put under laminate flooring) under the cab matting and adding extra carpet only this weekend, and I still want to add another roof light (which nbrown has already passed some advice on, that I haven't acted on yet).

I've made mistakes, but I'd have made a few more without some pointers from those who have been-there, done that!

Even those who have Coachbuilts feel the need to have a go and fix something or change something, not just daft Herberts like me with a lo-cost cheapy van conversion, so keep em coming I say!

 

[Beemer]

RE: Advice n stuff.
I've made mistakes, but I'd have made a few more without some pointers from those who have been-there, done that!

Even those who have Coachbuilts feel the need to have a go and fix something or change something, not just daft Herberts like me with a lo-cost cheapy van conversion, so keep em coming I say!

It is so frustrating having a coachbuilt, and wanting to change something in it, but realising it is not a good move, as it would de-value the vehicle (especially if you got it wrong!).
Even though we think our latest m/h ticks most of the boxes, it does not tick 'em all, so I am always looking to improve the habitation facilities.
I was lucky enough to be able to spend two weeks assisting my daft Herbert of a brother with his conversion, and really enjoyed the experience, putting into practice a lot of information gleaned from this forum.

So I say... keep 'em coming too!

 

[delphi]

Thanks for this, I am quite interested in what you are describing her but I am struggling to visualise it. DOes anyone have any pictures of this type of construction please?

simplest way i know. gripfill or sikaflex or stixall an upright of about 50x50mm ,after working out your heights,to the walls,each side, as near to the hole where the rear door stays go. i assume the walls are panelled.
across these uprights gripfill a length of 30x30 x3mm steel box section. this leaves access to the rear with no centre support.
run a length of 9mm ply across the centre,and fix a length of 44x18mm batten each side of the top with glue and screws .this is now the rear wall of the back locker
make the front out of a frame of 44x18mm or 9mm ply,with a batten support behind the top to support the slats or ply top
couple of bits of batten glued each side to support the ends.
there's a few inches overlap at the rear doors,but not enough to need support

 

[delphi]

Sorry I cant always access forums, I work quite arduous and long shift, so sometimes I post questions and return a couple of days later. Sorry, I do really appreaciate your help.

i sometimes wonder if the advice we give in these sections ever gets acted upon,or just dismissed as foolish rambling .every now and again there's a bit of feedback,but more often not.

 

[delphi]

The Width of my van is around 170 cm. My kids can sleep accross the width of the van at the moment, but only or a year or so. I was thinking of making it is such a way that an couple of bars can be slid out down the length of the van and then a board placed on top to extend the bed down the van. This would only need to be about 40cm long, obvously this would need to withstand a fair bit of force or it wont last long.

Thanks Again

 

[n brown]

ah ! there you are !
i can't do sketches on this,and don't have photos.
a double bed needs 3 lengthwise supports.if you look at what i suggested,i have one very strong one spanning the back doors,a central one, and another which can have doors etc for the front of the bed. no woodwork skills apart from using a handsaw or jigsaw are needed. no welding,nothing complicated.
sorry if i sounded grumpy !

 

[delphi]

No worries mate, I'm sorry if I came across as ignoring you. Don't like bad manners much myself either!

I think I understand what you are describing , wooden uprights supporting metal cross members. I am really liking the sound of this, particularly the 'no welding skills' bit! It sounds like a strong construction which uses the minimum of space and which is open and accessible.....and no welding! That's a lot of boxes ticked right there. Thanks. What a great forum this is.

 

[Longboard]

Ive built one just as you described - but with more sleeping headroom due to the good width of the Citroen Relay.
I made mine all of wood - but with an upright panel dividing the compartment from front to back (useful for separating 'outdoor' gear, tools etc from clean, dry clothes and so on). This divider adds great strength across the middle of the bed.
Four strong uprights screwed to the walls, then four, 4" deep braces support the bed lengthways and bear on the centre upright panel where they meet.

 

[Longboard]

i sometimes wonder if the advice we give in these sections ever gets acted upon,or just dismissed as foolish rambling .every now and again there's a bit of feedback,but more often not.

Don't be downhearted - I seem to get very erratic notifications of replies to my threads, which could explain why replies/ thanks don't materialise sometimes.
I got no notifications at all about responses to my current thread!