Greyhound Express needs a bed

[kudzu]

Short version: Help! I need to put a temporary bed in the back of my Express passenger van.

Long version:
Greetings. I'm not a vandweller. Didn't even intend to camp in my van since I've got a little Aliner. However, it seems when I make big plans for trips out West, we always end up taking along extra people. This year for my big trip to Yellowstone in September, I upgraded, or downgraded if you think of carbon footprint, from a Transit Connect to an AWD Express passenger van. Suddenly it seems that with the extra space we've gained two extra passengers, my sister & my 80-something dad! Am excited that Dad wants to join us. It's the kind of road trip he dreamed of doing with us when we were kids & had a VW bus, but somehow that trip never happened. However, this means BF & I will be turning over use of my Aliner to our guests & we'll be bunking in the van.

Now we need a bed for the van. We've already camped in the van once, along with four Greyhounds, and we all slept on the floor. That worked OK for a weekend but none of the rear seats were in the van at the time. This time we're leaving the dogs but carting around extra humans plus more gear.
Here's we we need in the van for our "Go West, Young Man" trip. (The young man being my dad.  ) :

• seating for 4 people
• room for gear like luggage, cooler, water, daypacks, first aid, "in case we breakdown" tools, everyone's electronics, etc.
• bed for 2 people
• a bicycle  (BF is pretty set on his bike riding inside the van rather than on a rack. Would like to accommodate him, if possible. Note: My recumbent trike will be on a rack attached to the Aliner.)

Initial thought is to have bed set up lengthwise behind the second row, bench seat with gear storage underneath. The bike will be next to the bed. Since my van is the passenger model with plastic wall panels covering the rear heat/AC ductwork, we just don't have enough space to sleep crosswise. Well, I could but I'm 4'10.5". Suppose we could still do that if I made BF sleep in the fetal position.  

Current plan for bed construction involves repurposing items I already own. Would use parts from a 48" wide wire shelving unit rated to hold 600 lbs per shelf, max of 3600 lbs. http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-48-i...ommercial-Shelving-Unit-6T60184872C/100655787 Would set it up as 3 separate units, approx. 10" apart. On top of those would be corrugated plastic, tongue-in-groove panels that would run lengthwise, spanning the gap between the shelf units. The plastic panels are from the foundation of an old Select Comfort bed so designed for this purpose, sort of. Those would make up a 48"x75" foundation for bedding. Would need some way to secure slats to both each other & the shelves. Done properly, it would also hold the shelf units in place. Ideally this would be some sort of frame work that would keep bedding from slipping off the edges of the slick plastic & hopefully extend the width a bit.

Question 1:  What do you consider the minimum amount of headroom in a bunk for sleeping? We don't need space to sit comfortably but do need space to crawl in & out of bed.
Question 2:  What is the narrowest width for a 2 person bed? Was thinking we could manage with 48". Though 54" would be ideal, I don't think we'll have the space with the bike inside.
Question 3: What do you think is the lightest lumber I could use for the framework?

We did a test of setting up the shelves & a couple plastic panels. It's a really tight fit but seems doable for a couple weeks. My thinking was to use 1x3's for outer perimeter, but am not sure if we could just secure those directly to the edges of the wire shelves or if may those would attach on outside of 2x2 framework which would then attach to the shelves. In theory, the shelves & plastic slats take the weight load, except for a little spill over of bedding & a stray arm or foot.

My hope is to make something that little ol' me could set up & take apart by myself. The set up would likely be reused on future trips with friends & family along. Between trips though, it needs to come out to make room for dogs, hauling hay for the horse, carrying bikes, recumbent trikes, kayaks, etc., etc., and on and on.

If you made it through all that, thank you! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Laura

 

[mayble]

Just curious, and maybe I missed it above -
Assuming you'll be staying in campgrounds with your Aliner, wouldn't it be simpler to just bring a tent for extra sleeping room?

 

[kudzu]

The tent suggestion is reasonable, but it doesn't seem as practical for my purposes as the van. Primarily, my body doesn't like tent camping anymore. We'll be doing more than just Yellowstone & staying in multiple campgrounds. To me, the idea of just sliding into a bed already set up in the van seems so much nicer than doing extra set up & take down of a tent & related gear. Since the bed will be used on future trips it seems like the effort for design & construction will be well worth it... theoretically, hopefully... um, maybe?

AND ... My evil plan is to ease us into a more mobile lifestyle. We can set up the Aliner somewhere as a home base, work from there & then take off in the van for overnight weekend trips to explore the area without dragging the "wee house" behind us. It wouldn'd be full time, at least not yet, but it would certainly be more interesting than always working from home. shhhh, don't tell BF yet.

 

[ZoNiE]

Just toss a full size mattress on the floor and call it done. It is only for one trip anyway...

 

[highdesertranger]

so you need 4 real seats and a 2 person bed in an Astro Van? did I understand that right. maybe I am missing something but I don't see how that's possible if you want the bed lengthwise. how long from the 2 row of seats to the back doors? highdesertranger

 

[Almost There]

so you need 4 real seats and a 2 person bed in an Astro Van?  did I understand that right.  maybe I am missing something but I don't see how that's possible if you want the bed lengthwise.  how long from the 2 row of seats to the back doors?   highdesertranger

Not far enough!

I had a full post written out on how it won't all fit in the Astro/Safari and then double checked.

We're talking a Chevy Express here.

You'll be able to do it but it's gonna be tight.

You might want to think about having the bed in sections at the foot  end (closest to the second row of seats) so that during the day the seats can be moved back on their tracks to allow adequate foot room for the passengers. At night you can move the seats forward on their tracks and extend the bed far enough to allow for comfortable sleeping.

You're not going to have a whole lot of room for anything else but seating and bed other than under bed storage.

 

[kudzu]

Thanks for the alternative suggestions. To clarify, it is a 2009 Chevy Express AWD, 8 passenger van. It's not a cargo van, nor an Astro. (Though I did consider an Astro during the shopping process.) Whatever set up we go with, it would be used multiple times a year for at least a few years. In fact, my hope is to find a set up we could use even when we don't have any extra people along with us. Hopefully, the platform could be used just behind the front seats as a place for the dogs to ride crated with gear underneath, such as our kayaks. This would be something that should get a lot of use.

There is adequate length to fit a full-size mattress length wise behind the second row seat, but as Almost There points out, it's tight. Under bed storage will have to be adequate. Though the question remains, how tall can that storage area be? How much room do we need above that area for the bed if it's only used for sleeping? Right now I think allowing 18" under the platform would be high enough while still allowing adequate sleeping space above. I think I need to allow 6" for combination shelf & mattress height. Does that sounds reasonable?

Zonie, theoretically just tossing a mattress on the floor should be a simple solution, but it leaves no room for gear unless it's piled on top of the mattress every day & moved again every night. Plus, there is the unfortunate problem of the two steel, seat rails that stick up a couple inches & run the length of the van. As we found in the prior camping experience, those make for a very lumpy bed. We'd need some sort of false floor. While it need not be elaborate, it would have to be more than just laying a piece of plywood on top. In comparison, I'd think it easier overall to build a raised platform before hand & not have to make the bed every night.

Almost There, unfortunately, my tracks rails don't allow you to slide the seats forward & back. You have to pull the seat completely out of the track & carry it back or forward to the next position. Thankfully there's plenty of leg room in the 2nd row & it's better for communication. We're short people & hard of hearing. Your idea of a multi-part platform is still a good one as it offers various options of platform size or even configuration, useful with the varying cargo needs of our many trips.

 

[steamjam1]

Yikes! Four people in a Chevy van. I think it would be totally possible. My G/F and I have always bought Ikea futon mattresses fr our vans and they work great for two people. (approx 55" wide and 75" long) I suppose you can double up and sleep four on a platform and if the front seats swiveled.

 

[drysailor]

Short version: Help! I need to put a temporary bed in the back of my Express passenger van.

Long version:
Greetings. I'm not a vandweller. Didn't even intend to camp in my van since I've got a little Aliner. However, it seems when I make big plans for trips out West, we always end up taking along extra people.
My hope is to make something that little ol' me could set up & take apart by myself. The set up would likely be reused on future trips with friends & family along. Between trips though, it needs to come out to make room for dogs, hauling hay for the horse, carrying bikes, recumbent trikes, kayaks, etc., etc., and on and on.

If you made it through all that, thank you! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Laura

Hi Laura - if you're still thinking thru this project, one option would be to replace the bench seat with a fold-down, and build an extension on to that. Think the VWs were set up that way?

This would leave you with the 2 front bucket seats, plus this fold-down to seat your 2 added guests. At night, you fold the seat down to meet the extension you've built. Maybe add a foam topper to the whole thing to smooth it out.