Has anyone considered / seen / built a "side-dinette" SMB? By this I mean one where the dinette is on one side of the van, and converts to a lengthwise bed.

Think a "dinette W" turned sideways...

Seems to us that this would allow a lot more flexibility with a dinette, otherwise it pretty much has to go in the rear of the van, no matter what else you might want to put there.

Attached is a PDF of an EB Chevy layout along these lines. It would also have a Cruiser II top with bed, so there are two sleeping areas at night. The 6' x 3' (+/-) area where the table is centered would be the dinette space. This layout allows either of us to use the toilet or kitchen at night without disturbing the other person, plus has great access and ventilation for the kitchen with a rear door open.

Thoughts?

Attached Files

EB Chevy with side dinette and Cruiser II top.pdf (128.1 KB, 129 views)

For some reason I can't open the .pdf, so I can't see exactly what you have proposed, but I would wonder whether the curvature of the van's sides would interfere or make it less desirable (?). My SMB does have a bed along one side - and it's also a couch and so gets sat upon - however, the couch back does hold one out from the wall a ways. I guess I'm just wondering how much "extra" space you might need in order to not have the walls' curvature play a part.

Here's a jpg of the kind of thing I was thinking about:

Attached Thumbnails

 

I have this set-up in a custom Ford EB floor plan, and love it. It is two facing bench seats (about 4 feet long) behind the driver's seat. It allows for forward facing seating while driving and a more open floor plan with an isle when camping. Let me know if you want more info or pics.

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Resurrected 2002 E-350 EB Quigley 4WD SMB
2003 Kawasaki KLR 650

Thanks, a pic or layout of your interior would be very helpful. My main concern is clearance between the end/corner of the rear bench and the stuff on the opposite side of the van. I don't see how I could get 4' benches and still be able to get by without having nothing opposite.

In case you haven't seen them, that orientation seems to be standard for slide-in pop-up campers (e.g. Four Wheel Campers, Hallmark, etc.). Those floor plans may give you some insight regarding how it may fit into a van.

Thanks for the update. This is actually a thread from a few months ago. The answer to my original question is, you can't get a 48" wide side dinette in a SMB mounted up front if you have any cabinets adjacent to the sliding door -- the best you can do is a twin-sized side dinette (36" wide or less) and even that only leaves you a bit over a foot of clearance.

The only way you could do 48" is to leave the door-side area empty until much further back in the van.

There is a topic from "SPOOLING" with his Duramax Van that found a shop that does the dinette fold up/ bed configuration as well as the couch bed fold down.

He recommended an "interior customizing shop called "Relaxed Customs in Thousand Oaks. Not sure how much of a mark-up I had to pay for it but I paid $795 for it"

I happen to speak with Phil the owner and they are going to hopefully do one of the fold down dinette units in my Van. I you want more information on the shop and owner simply PM or email me and I will get it over to you.

I think the dinette cost is about $550 or so and the labor must be the difference or so....

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1994 SMB 7.3 with Quigley and Agile offroad goodies
1982 Wanderlodge Blue Bird FC33