making a bigger better bed.

I made the first bed in our van earlier this year, and soon realized that it was way too short. it looked cool,and neat, but just didn't fit our needs. so, I decided to make it bigger.
my plan was to make it to be able to fold out of the way, so I can carry my guitars and amps, and other things when needed.
here are a couple before and after pics of me and my son doing the work this morning.




here it is before. nice and clean, but way too small, and the cushions are very uncomfortable, but were free from the rv dealership I work at. as were the cabinets.



my helper, and some of the supplies. also from work. a piece of a bed that was too small for the customers. so we made them a larger one.



making the removable support. it secures to the base with 4 carriage bolts and wingnuts.



here it is attached to the new, fold away base. the base attaches to the smaller bed with a 48'' piano hinge.



the hinge installed, and folded up. the brace is removable, as I mentioned  before.



folding,



looking much more comfortable already.



the base is all done. now for the larger, more comfy cushions.



the larger cushions are 31'' wide and 69'' long each. there are only two now, instead of 4 before. they are about 2'' thicker, and made out of denser foam. they also came from work. we can now lay front to back and not be cramped up. my legs will hang over an inch or two, but no big deal.

Looks a lot more comfy now. That's great that your son helps out too. Cheap labor! LOL. Thanks for sharing your ideas. Will Come in handy when others are trying to figure out theirs.

Yes..thanks for sharing. That actually answered one of my questions. Being almost 6 foot tall, I want a bed that I can stretch out when I need to and not have my knees bent up and not be able to walk the next day. And when folded up you still have half a van left for open space. I like it.

yeah, me and the wife found out how impractical the 5'6'' bed was at our first truckin back on mothers day weekend.i hardly got any sleep and couldn't walk the next day. so, I rigged up a board over our cooler at the last one, and used an extra cushion on it. we slept front to back on that, but it was very shaky and uncomfortable.
the hinged extension just makes perfect sense. this way, I can still use the center section for hauling, as this is my daily driver. and , I can spin the new cushions sideways and they will squish in between the walls and stay out of the way. theyre only 3'' longer than the van is wide, but laying front to back, and being able to stretch my feet over the edge, makes all the difference. I cant wait for the wife and I to try the new bed out. . . . maybe get a little sleepin done too.   

I think it looks good to. That's one of the reasons I haven't done the "nest" thing in back.

Could mount the brace closer to the edge so that when it folds up it forms a bench seat.... Just an idea. Of course the foam would have to allow that.
Looking good and a lot more comfortable!

that bench thing is a pretty cool idea. I just made it removable with 4 wing nuts. I also wanted to keep the brace towards the middle of the extension, so it would take some stress off the hinge, and so I could still slide coolers in between it and the doghouse.