Homemade solution for a sofa bed

[maricard]

I'm having a lot of problem to get a sofa bed for my camper project here in Canada. So I'm trying to make one by myself. I need something safe for my children. All the base could be in steel (not showed)

What do you think about it?













If you have any questions feel free to reply

Thank

[dhally]

Depends how safe is safe enough. OEM folding seats typically have steel structure and heavy latches to connect everthing to the floor. Personally I am a bit fatalistic about camper van safety. I figure if I have a big crash it's lights out in any case...

[BajaSportsmobile]

Whatever you do, think twice about the seat height!

I sat in one notable build and broke my glasses that were sitting on my head. The seat height was too high for most passengers, especially when bouncing around off-road or crossing a speed bump.

I look at pictures of builds all the time and compare the seat height to the front bucket seats - many are way too high. Easy mistake to make.

[maricard]

small video......

[maricard]

Originally Posted by BajaSportsmobile

Whatever you do, think twice about the seat height!

I sat in one notable build and broke my glasses that were sitting on my head. The seat height was too high for most passengers, especially when bouncing around off-road or crossing a speed bump.

I look at pictures of builds all the time and compare the seat height to the front bucket seats - many are way too high. Easy mistake to make.

The higher seat height is 18 inch (under knees).
Do you think that is too height?

[Herbie]

Originally Posted by maricard

The higher seat height is 18 inch (under knees).
Do you think that is too height?

It would be in my van, but I'm on a different chassis so I don't know how much headroom your van has. The height from the floor is semi-important, but the height to the roof is more important.

The VW Rock-n-Roll mechanism (which mechanically is very similar to what you've drawn) can facilitate both rearward rake as a seat and a flat bed, but it has a nasty side-effect whereby the bed surface ends up about 4" higher than the seat surface (due to how the hinges sweep through their arc). It looks like yours is similar. This means you eat into the headroom when deploying the bed, or your seated height is very low. On my (very small) van, it would have been very hard to build a rock-n-roll bed that allowed me to sit up in bed! VWs have relatively tall rooflines, so they get away with it by just having the bed be relatively high from the floor. Your van might also, but you'll want to measure carefully.

I suggest taking a bunch of measurements - sit on the floor near a wall or doorframe and have someone measure to the top of your head. This will give you a basic minimum for headroom above a seat/bed.

BTW, Bus Depot here in the USA re-sells the Reimo Rock-N-Roll hinges. If they won't deliver to Canada, drop me a PM, I have a set from them sitting in a box that I didn't want to eat the re-stocking fee on. I'd be willing to sell them for what I paid.

[Herbie]

For reference, here's the hinges: http://www.busdepot.com/98553

Lots of VW guys just build the boxes/beds out of wood (lots of examples online, if you need). I didn't feel comfortable with that, so I was planning to build a frame from steel, like you. In the end I went with another solution primarily due to my aforementioned headroom issues.

[mgmetalworks]

Originally Posted by BajaSportsmobile

Whatever you do, think twice about the seat height!

I sat in one notable build and broke my glasses that were sitting on my head. The seat height was too high for most passengers, especially when bouncing around off-road or crossing a speed bump.

I look at pictures of builds all the time and compare the seat height to the front bucket seats - many are way too high. Easy mistake to make.

Sometimes there are things outside of your control that dictate the height of a seat in a custom build... You can't always design around someone's "must haves" and come up with something that fits every body type. It isn't necessarily a mistake, it is a compromise.

Seat design is tricky to begin with. When you start adding in all of the things around it that can affect fit, form and function, you're left with no choice but to do the best you can for all factors involved. I'm pretty convinced that if you set out to design the perfect seat for one of these vans, you'd have a great seat and a ton of unusable space around it. If you want the most versatile van, you'll have to budge a bit on how perfect your seat turns out.

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by maricard

The higher seat height is 18 inch (under knees).
Do you think that is too height?

Find a box or bucket or stool that is 18" high and sit on it in your van......then see if your head hits the roof and that you can see out the windows.

[tj4861]

i'm very interested in this build. i'm in alberta and can't find one for my van either