Van projects

[JhnBssll]

This will look totally the opposite to what I mean, but I had half an idea about boarding a van out to use for stealth camping on occasions, and having somewhere to sling the bikes, but the detail you're going to has started to put me off, as what I would do would feel very shabby in comparison.

I do hope you take that as the positive compliment it's meant.

EDIT: And thanks for sharing, it's really interesting to follow your progress.

Honestly I'd be doing the same but for two details. Firstly my wife caught wind of what I was up to and decided she might like to use it for an upcoming festival she's attending with a friend, which raised the finish level required for the interior Secondly, I'm well known for over engineering things out of sheer boredom. You should absolutely go ahead with your plans, you'll have a great time making and using it Some of the best micro campers I've seen have been made out of old pallets!

 

[JhnBssll]

Yesterday was spent working on the house mods, so after a rest this morning the afternoon was reserved for van mods 😄

Im decided to get the welder out and weld some brackets on to the bike rack. It went as well as I could have hoped really, pretty it ain't but seems functional which also sums the van itself up rather well

Once the brackets were welded on and the rack mounted in the van I added the fork mount and rear wheel mount...

And then it was time to fling a bike on All things considered it's come out rather well, I'm pretty pleased with my afternoon's efforts

I suspect it will need some tweaks once I start using it but its good enough for now

 

[Gunk]

My only concern would be that the sliding tracks will rattle

 

[JhnBssll]

My only concern would be that the sliding tracks will rattle

I think they're going to, yeah. If it's too annoying I'll take it out when it's not in use, one of the benefits of it being held down with the threaded knobs 😊

 

[Gunk]

I do like a threaded knob!

 

[JhnBssll]

I do like a threaded knob!

I rather enjoyed typing it

 

[JhnBssll]

I spent some time this evening thinking more about the folding seat/bed arrangement. I've mentioned it before, but the general idea is to have a folding frame permanently mounted that can fold flat against the wall to maximise space, fold out in to a seat, and fold out further to form a bed. The likelihood is the van will be set up with the seat folded out and the bike rack bolted in most of the time but it would be useful to be able to use as much of the cargo space as possible on occasion without having to store a sofa bed in the garage Equally it'll be used overnight on occasions, so a decent size bed was preferred.

Anyway, I had a few ideas that were worthy of creating in 3D to check out further and I think I've largely cracked the folding geometry... Here it is in seat form...

Here it is in bed form...

and here it is fully folded up...

It should fold to approx 65mm thick if it works out as intended, but there are still some details to work out such as brackets and legs so it doesnt have to float in mid-air for example It's essentially made of two assemblies - the lower assembly has 2 sections of bed that fold together to make the seat base, and the upper assembly swings out to form either the seat back or the third bed section 😊

Once I've got more detail designed and am confident it'll go together ok and work I'll order some steel and get welding 😊 Should be good welding practice if nothing else

 

[neil_merseyside]

You might still need a sheet material as base for a mattress, so how about just making the folding bed from ply?
Folding bed could be sheet(s) of ply cut into 3 leaves with 3 piano hinges, first leaf has one hinge at bottom to fold down from wall, the other end is hinged to the second leaf that is also hinged to the final leaf.
Loose end could locate onto a batten on the opposite side, a shallow rebate in centre of each leaf for simple plywood leg strips.
Hinge 1, batten and legs to suit height of bed base above floor level, either just tall enough to clear bike rails, but definitely only as high as sitting up on a mattress allows or blood might spill, rude words uttered.
You'd need catches on the leaves to stop them rattling/deploying mid bend...

Seat would be just the initial leaf folded out, but would need a smaller support to allow for the stacked leaves thickness, and could be mounted on a 'hinge 4' near end of leaf 3 (so it doesn't stop end being located on the far batten).
Leaf sizes are adjustable and not necessarily just van width divided by three.

Custom z-fold mattresses can be bought from caravan upholsterers in various thicknesses and density, bulky folded though.
Sorry no drawings. Easy construction with just a circular saw and tape measure, but not as much fun as playing with a MIG or stick welder.

 

[JhnBssll]

Yeah I've investigated a lot of options but none of them did quite what I wanted. Part of the fun is designing and making things, so screwing a few hinges to some ply was never going to cut it I do intend to use ply attached to the frame though, so there will at least be some circular sawing

 

[bikingdad90]

@JhnBssll where is the 3D printing in this design? I am disappointed!

 

[Drago]

I still use a fag packet and the stub of a pencil!

 

[Milkfloat]

Are you planning on having people use this seat whilst you drive? If so, I guess you need to think very carefully about seat belts and rigidity in a crash. Many moons ago I had a transit and created a false floor with a mattress underneath. The false floor could be taken out and slotted in place higher up the van to allow space to sleep and then have the floor 2 feet higher to hold all the junk and have a seating space. If I was not planning on sleeping then the floor went back down in its low position to give maximum load space.

 

[JhnBssll]

The seat is definitely not intended to be used whilst driving I did think about a false floor but even with this being a high top model the headroom is very limited. I'm really trying to optimise the geometry in each position, it's quite the balancing act

 

[DRM]

The seat is definitely not intended to be used whilst driving I did think about a false floor but even with this being a high top model the headroom is very limited. I'm really trying to optimise the geometry in each position, it's quite the balancing act

If using ply you need to drill holes in it to prevent condensation under the mattress, all caravans have slats under the mattress to prevent this nowadays

 

[JhnBssll]

If using ply you need to drill holes in it to prevent condensation under the mattress, all caravans have slats under the mattress to prevent this nowadays

That's great info, thanks - I wouldnt have thought of that I'm sure I'll drill lots of holes in that case, it will also make it lighter to fold in and out 😊