Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 08-23-2009, 06:02 PM   #1
Member
 
beernutmark's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 41
Couch/Bed and seat question

I am working on converting a 15 passenger E350 4x4 EB transformer style and have a bed/couch question. What I want is to make a bed platform that is at window height that will go where the last row bench seat is. I want it to go all the way across the van width wise and go up to the back of the next bench forward. I would like to make this second to last row bench fold down so that the bed platform can extend over it (or use the folded bench/couch as an extension).

Does anyone make a bench seat whose back folds down forward to make this work? Preferably a full-width four-person bench like the current back row that would mount to the factory mounts where the next row forward goes.

I know that SMB has a couch that pulls out into a bed but this bed is too low for my desire for lots of storage under it. I really want the rear bed to be up at the bottom of the windows. My plan is to make built-in storage under the bed platform consisting of lots of drawers and a pull-out portable drifta like kitchen but have all this be removable when/if the van is needed for pure passenger duties.

Thanks,
Mark Alston

beernutmark is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2009, 07:33 AM   #2
Member
 
beernutmark's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 41
Re: Couch/Bed and seat question

I found this bench which looks promising if not extremely comfortable.

http://www.rackavan.co.uk/cdata/1514...49_440474i.jpg

I might just endup taking a forward folding bench seat out of an SUV and having it connected to the E350 brackets.

Mark
beernutmark is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2009, 02:35 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: France, Europe
Posts: 617
Re: Couch/Bed and seat question

Hi I have been looking into IKEA folding bed mechanisms and that is where I shall be starting from on my own build... V.2 that is...

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/S09824955
__________________
New ride: 2000 Chevy Suburban 1500 4WD
1998 Chevy Express 2500 past project
+ 1990 Mitsubishi Pajero V6 3.0l
+ 2001 Saab 9-5 Aero Hirsch
+ 1972 Saab 96 V4 (not running)
+ fixed house (Argh)
saabman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2009, 06:42 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: France, Europe
Posts: 617
Re: Couch/Bed and seat question

How about this one too:
http://www.scotseats.com/downloads/BedSeatBrochure.pdf


... although it looks a tad short...
__________________
New ride: 2000 Chevy Suburban 1500 4WD
1998 Chevy Express 2500 past project
+ 1990 Mitsubishi Pajero V6 3.0l
+ 2001 Saab 9-5 Aero Hirsch
+ 1972 Saab 96 V4 (not running)
+ fixed house (Argh)
saabman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2009, 07:25 AM   #5
Member
 
beernutmark's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 41
Re: Couch/Bed and seat question

The problem with all of these for me is that they fold down/back into a bed. I specifically am looking for one that folds forward like a suv rear bench does to allow a higher platform bed to go above it. I am starting to think that a folding forward bench is going to have to be a custom item.

Thanks for looking though. Perhaps a thread with regular couch/bed options is a good idea.

Mark Alston
beernutmark is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2009, 07:34 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: France, Europe
Posts: 617
Re: Couch/Bed and seat question

Somthing like this?

__________________
New ride: 2000 Chevy Suburban 1500 4WD
1998 Chevy Express 2500 past project
+ 1990 Mitsubishi Pajero V6 3.0l
+ 2001 Saab 9-5 Aero Hirsch
+ 1972 Saab 96 V4 (not running)
+ fixed house (Argh)
saabman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2009, 10:20 AM   #7
Member
 
beernutmark's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 41
Re: Couch/Bed and seat question

Edit:[s:1ju4onkx]That looks like it might fold forward.[/s:1ju4onkx] That looks like it would work perfect. Mounted onto a box frame it would fold down and out of the way wonderfully. Is that out of an astro van perhaps. That is the latest lead from the discountvantruck.com guys. Or is it out of your Chevy Express?

I also looked at the brocure from the couch/bed above and that would work also if I took the back part out. It would work as another small jump bed in front/below the platform bed in that configuration. It is not very wide though and it looks like they only make one size.

Mark
beernutmark is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2009, 10:32 AM   #8
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 5
Re: Couch/Bed and seat question

I'm looking at having a friend of mine fabricate a bed seat combo for the back of my regular body E-350. I too have an issue of all the wasted cargo space for a seat I'm only going to use part of the time. We have some rough ideas going so far but here are some of the requirements we are shooting for:
1 lots of useable space under the bed 20" or so clearance beneath
2 somewhat easy conversion to seat mode
3 safety, I want to be able to mount my kids car seats safely to a latch system
4 low tech for ease of removal and lack of annoying rattling bouncing down the road.

as we get the project going I will try and update our progress. we are looking at making a full size wood mock up soon to work out the dimensions before we start cutting steel.
__________________
Carlsbad, Ca
2003 E-350 diesel, salem Kroger 4x4, far from finished
bmcd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-31-2009, 07:42 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: France, Europe
Posts: 617
Re: Couch/Bed and seat question

Hi Beernutmark,

This seat is from http://www.scotseats.com

My Chevy only had the standard bench seats that don't fold, but I guess with a bit of ingenuity one could transform a fixed seat into a folding one...
__________________
New ride: 2000 Chevy Suburban 1500 4WD
1998 Chevy Express 2500 past project
+ 1990 Mitsubishi Pajero V6 3.0l
+ 2001 Saab 9-5 Aero Hirsch
+ 1972 Saab 96 V4 (not running)
+ fixed house (Argh)
saabman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2015, 10:39 PM   #10
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 61
Re: Couch/Bed and seat question

Dragging this thread back from the dead now that it's 2015 does anyone think I could put something like these Chevy Tahoe seats in an E350 Cargo with the proper brackets or have some machined?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2007-2012-OEM-C ... 1155507060
FarmerFrederico is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:53 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.