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Old 12-10-2020, 09:03 AM   #1
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Rock-n-roll Beds feeler post

In my quest for my own Rock-n-Roll bed system I have made initial arrangements with a supplier from the UK. The cost to ship one was CRAZY high which led me to look into becoming a dealer for the US.
( still working on the details) The idea will be to supply builders and the DIY market with a crash tested and certified seat/bed.

With lots of back and forth we determined it would fit the Econoline/Promaster/Sprinter/VW.

I would love some feedback from the forum as to

1- " Do you see a need for these"
2- Size = Single, Double, Triple ( I feel the double will be most popular as it allows room for a RB50 style build.

Check out the seat/beds
https://youtu.be/6SW55M24wkc?t=48

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Old 12-10-2020, 11:44 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmyrig View Post
In my quest for my own Rock-n-Roll bed system I have made initial arrangements with a supplier from the UK. The cost to ship one was CRAZY high which led me to look into becoming a dealer for the US.
( still working on the details) The idea will be to supply builders and the DIY market with a crash tested and certified seat/bed.

With lots of back and forth we determined it would fit the Econoline/Promaster/Sprinter/VW.

I would love some feedback from the forum as to

1- " Do you see a need for these"
2- Size = Single, Double, Triple ( I feel the double will be most popular as it allows room for a RB50 style build.

Check out the seat/beds
https://youtu.be/6SW55M24wkc?t=48

They look really nice! Be sure to set up a LLC or full corporation though if you import them to limit your personal exposure in case anyone gets injured in one.
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Old 12-10-2020, 02:18 PM   #3
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I've been looking at interior options, including their seats. I am not a carpenter so a ready to roll (pun intended) solution would be great.

They list the dimensions for the triple as "1100 × 980 × 1080 cm". First, I'm assuming that's supposed to be in mm. Second, are those dimensions in bench mode? I am looking for dimensions in the bed mode to better understand what kind of space we are talking about.

Edit: the other big question that I don't see in the video - can you use the space under the seat for storage?

I did see the thread on expo about these, glad to see another option opening up. SMB wont sell individual items and the Demonworkz seats are $$$.
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Old 12-10-2020, 04:13 PM   #4
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Brian- Absolutely insurance was todays topic !

B.rock
The space under the seat is usable space. They have in the past offered drawers and even a lift up seat so you can hide a porta potti. This wont be offered initially but have been speaking with the designers about offering "retrofit" kits should somebody want to add these features down the line .

The triple would be about 5'11'' wide and 72'' in the laying down configuration
https://fabworxuk.com/triple/
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Old 12-10-2020, 07:06 PM   #5
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Do you know what crash testing/safety testing standards that the bed was tested to? If it's a British/EU test standard you may want to determine if there is any harmonization with US standards.



There are number of agencies in the US that motor vehicle stuff has to comply with such as FMVSS, DOT, and/or a few others I imagine.
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Old 12-10-2020, 07:39 PM   #6
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Great feedback- I will find out how M1 Crash testing translates into US standards

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Do you know what crash testing/safety testing standards that the bed was tested to? If it's a British/EU test standard you may want to determine if there is any harmonization with US standards.



There are number of agencies in the US that motor vehicle stuff has to comply with such as FMVSS, DOT, and/or a few others I imagine.
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Old 12-10-2020, 08:31 PM   #7
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This is all going to be dependent on pricing, there are already landed in the North America options presently available. Some are certified and pull tested, some aren't.

They range from the low end around 2k to the high end of 5-6K+ per seat. The one I'm looking at is around 5K.
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Old 12-11-2020, 10:15 AM   #8
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If the prices are close to what that are in the UK (on Fabworx's website), I'd be interested.
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Old 12-17-2020, 10:50 AM   #9
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A few years back I too was on the hunt for a really well-built Rock-N-Roll bed. I too looked to the UK, and was also daunted by the cost of shipping.

Rather than pay that amount, I went through the process of fabbing my own, from scratch. Now that I've done that, if I had the need to do it again, I would absolutely buy one from the UK. (Or one of a couple of other "van builder" sources here in North America who are selling similar high-end units.)

The all-in price can seem expensive until you get deep into the details. By the time you've sourced or fabbed the multi-link hinges or sliders, crash-safe latches, and steel, not to mention the foam and upholstery, it is VERY difficult to do significantly better on a price/performance basis.

Yes there's a need. Yes, a roughly-double sized bed is a good choice. The hardest part, IMHO, is not the width of the BED itself, it's the width of the mounting feet on the pedestal. Mounting such a thing in a van can be very easy or VERY VERY hard if the spacing is bad.

The standard-width for an American conversion van rock-n-roll bed, for example, puts the spacing in EXACTLY the wrong place in my Astro - directly over a set of stamped enclosed channels on the body. My options were to cheat the seat to the curb side, or modify the whole structure. Once those holes were drilled in the body to accommodate the junkyard conversion van sofa/bed, it was not hard to build the same pedestal spacing into my new custom rock-n-roll frame, but it would have been better all around of the footprint had been different from the start.
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Old 01-29-2021, 02:07 PM   #10
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I'm definitely interested in this. I've been trying to find an off-the-shelf solution for our E350 RB (looking at ~52" x 72") that would be available in the US. So far, I've only come up with high end models that are pretty pricey and always out of stock:

https://www.travoisusa.com/products/...p-arrives-july

Or something like these combined with a 24" extend-a-bed bench, but I have no idea about the quality, comfort, attachment points, etc. on these:

https://www.discountvantruck.com/spr...intersofas.htm

Any other USA sources folks have seen? Or reviews of seat-beds from places like discountvantruck?

Custom builders seem to be so busy right now they just aren't responding to new requests, so I'm considering to just build a simple platform bed as a temporary solution since we're currently renovating the whole interior.
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