The Bed
We understand how important comfortable sleep is, very probably the most thing. If you are only on the road for a few weeks or months you can put much less then optimal sleeping arrangements. But since this will be our only home for years to come we need to bed to be ideal. This bed design will be a stand out feature of our van.
We like sleeping outside in the fresh air and the idea of always sleeping inside the closed up van didn't appeal. We considered carrying cots and sleeping bags but that's a lot of extra stuff, not a comfortable as a real bed, plus extra set up and tear down time.
So to meet these key points the current plan is to mount the bed platform on slides so it can slide out the back doors. Using 80" slides we can have the bed fully extend out for that authentic sleeping under the stars feeling. The bed articulation will be electric so retracting it (even with us in it) is a simple matter of pushing a button. And like a lot of vans the bed will also hoist up so we can use the space beneath for lounging. And as almost a byproduct I can make the bed auto leveling which has a huge convenience factor. We believe this will make the bed ideal for how we prefer to camp.
The bed frame will be lightweight aluminum tubing with some heavy duty slides. The articulation will be custom built for both the extension and hoisting. It's important that the actions are quick, 30 seconds is too long to raise a bed for my liking. Another requirement is that we drive with the bed down for lowering the center of gravity but we will have storage that is only accessible with the bed raised. So it may be going up and down more than once a day.
If one of us is sick the bed can be set at a mid raised point allowing for someone to be in the bed and still have access to the seating below
When the bed is extended out our heads can be at either end. So there well be a system control touch panels mounted on both ends of the bed that allows control of the lighting and other systems of the van from either location. Also there will be storage/charging for phones and other stuff.
The bed determines many of the other build aspects of the van from the size of the van to the placement of the interior fixtures. But we feel very strongly that this is one of the features that will make this lifestyle much more enjoyable over the long haul.
Things figured out at this point.
Bed frame
It will be tube frame using 1x2 thin wall tubing. This gives the best weight to strength. I did some FEA on it and think I have the number of cross members figured out though I might seek out some professional help on this part of the design
Mattress
The thickness will be a custom 4-6" latex foam mattress. The mattress thickness needs to be kept minimum to allow more headroom under the bed when it's raised. No gel mattress or topper because gel it gets very hard when cold. We will likely sleep out when the temps are down near freezing and any part of the bed that's not warmed by our bodies will get hard. Individual electric heating pads will be install at our feet to help with cold feet conditions
Slides
https://chambrelan.com/guide/e1012/ - Using these large heavy duty slides will give us about 78" of slide with a weight capacity of 882Lbs.
Articulation
To raise and lower the bed we are using ball screws with some good size closed loop stepper motors
Auto Leveling
Since we are already adjusting the height of the bed it was a small step to add the capability to adjust each corner separately. All that needed to be added is privets between the ball screws and the frame.
Random Notes
Below here are just a collection of notes and represent my thoughts and ramblings and any information should be vetted by yourself. This information will be updated as the design process moves along.
Look into welding up a frame
bedjet.comBed button functions:
At the foot of the bed -
Up/down button 1=up 2=down 3= mid hold=e-stop
Slide 1=in 2=partial out 2(when partial out)=full/out hold=e-stop
On the bed headboard -
Up/down button 1-down 2-partial up hold=e-stop
Slide button - 1-in partial 1-again full in. 2=full out hold=stop
On slide actuation check rear door status
Lighting under bed off when bed is down
Lighting above bed off when bed fully up.
Both functional when bed midway
Bed light control on bed. Light under bed near seats
Bed lighting modes (when bed is down):
Sleep-all interior lighting off
Potty Break-triggered late night slide partial
Reading
TV watching
General use
Happijac bed lift $3000
Heavy Duty Slides chambrelan.com
Linear Actuators www.venturemfgco.com
Bed
Make bed reclining for movie watching or use pillows or foam
Electric blanket to save heating energy
Bed sliding out back door and raising
When bed is down must be able to sit in bed upright comfortably
Queen size bed 80x60, lengthwise especially
This sets the size of the seating/garage area
Bed design
Need to mount the bed raisers to the top of the rails. This will help prevent the rails from rolling to the side
tpa-store.com/dss43-fully-telescopic/
Possible alternate slide source
Enclosed bearing slides tpamotion.com/tlr-telescopic-linear-guides.html
Roam Rest mattresses