Mini-Van Bed Placement

[Oldwolf]

Good Morning All!
I have a question for the Collective and hopefully some of you will chime in on this.
Is there a "standard" or some logical reason to choose placing a single-person bed either behind the Drivers seat or the Passenger seat?
Most of the pictures I have seen seem to show placement behind the driver.
I just want to make sure I am not missing anything obvious if I place my bed behind the passenger set.
Thanks!

 

[user 423]

Do you have sliding doors on both sides?

 

[Oldwolf]

Yes, that's an important fact that I omitted.
My van is a Toyota Sienna, with two sliding doors.
Maybe the pictures I am seeing are mostly single-door mini-vans. Don't they usually have the sliding door on the passenger side?

Okay, revised question.
On a dual sliding door mini-van, is there any logic one should follow to determine which side for bed placement?

 

[Oldwolf]

  Campsites are usually setup for access from the passenger side too.

Maybe that can explain why we see vehicles backed into campsites now and then.

 

[maki2]

No mystery about it. The way a vehicle is parked in a campsite has a lot to do with where the picnic table is located. For convenience people like to have the sliding door face the side of the campsite that has a picnic table. The terrain of the camp site and the location of things such as trees which can reduce the option for where a table can be placed is often the determining factor for where a picnic table gets located. They are not always placed on the passenger side although that might be the default when there is a choice of putting it on either side. Of course it is not too unusual for it to be in line at the head of the parking space or even off down a little trail away from the parking area.

Plus if a camping space has another vehicle parked closer by on one side of your vehicle then most people will choose to park so that they have the sliding door face away from that other vehicle.

If you were going to be parking and camping often in a city or town along the street then for your convenience of loading and unloading the bed would be along the driver's side for easy entrance from the curb side.

Just apply some logic to your choice of which side makes the most sense for your own personal needs. For many people it is related to easy access from the curb.

I sometimes go camping with a friend whose default preference is to always back into parking spaces. He does not do stuff like cooking with a camp stove at a picnic table when out on his own so does not think about it as a normal matter of course when parking so defaults to his normal habit to back into a space.

 

[user 423]

... in a city or town along the street then for your convenience of loading and unloading the bed would be along the driver's side for easy entrance from the curb side.

And you don't want to groggily exit the vehicle early some morning and have your door torn off by a passing concrete truck.

 

[maki2]

And you don't want to groggily exit the vehicle early some morning and have your door torn off by a passing concrete truck.

woopsie, that was a caseof of my brain intending to say one thing and fingers going onto autopilot and typing another. My apologies I did mean to say you want to exit on the passenger side if you are exiting and entering from a rear sliding door when parked along a curb. Happens a lot more often to me now that am just months away from being 70.

 

[user 423]

^
Oops on my part also. I was thinking of a regular swing out door on the DS instead of a slider. At any rate, you don't want a setup that makes it easy to step out into traffic...

 

[highdesertranger]

almost everything is set up for curbside(passenger side) entry and exit. it's just safer. think about it if you had a swing away hitch carrier or tire carrier, what way would you want it to swing to the curb or into a traffic lane? highdesertranger

 

[GypsyJan]

I have swing-out doors on my RAV4. My cot is on the passenger side as the driver's seat would be pushed too far forward otherwise. I can get to the cot via the right rear passenger door or by crawling over the console from the driver's seat.

 

[Oldwolf]

I am going to start building a bed this week, but honestly, sometimes I think a nice cot would be a lot less troublesome. Anyway, if I put the bed on the passenger side, I realized last night that it would be difficult to swing my legs over the center console to get to the rear if the bed were there. I am getting older, but I can still do that maneuver at this point. Now I am thinking behind the drivers seat may be the better option. We will see.

 

[VanFan]

I am going to start building a bed this week, but honestly, sometimes I think a nice cot would be a lot less troublesome...

Have you considered an inexpensive metal frame in twin size with a foam mattress on top?  One of Bob's videos on mini-van builds shows one.  They are light, provide ventilation underneath, and assemble with just a few wing nuts.  We have a double (which is really just two twins) from Walmart in our full-sized van and love it.  On ours, the head raises and lowers like a chaise lounge, which is a nice feature.

 

[Oldwolf]

Like this one? This one is only 28" wide, which is the width I am thinking to build.

 

[VanFan]

Like this one?

No link here, so I don't know.  This is what we have:  https://www.walmart.com/ip/Modern-Sleep-...s/40120201  You'll want to check measurements carefully to be sure whatever you select meets your needs.  It does need to be high enough to clear wheel wells, for example.

You're going to have so much fun!

 

[pure_mahem]

If it was just me I would use a Cot. I already have one. But with 2 I am now looking to build a frame that will hold a full size mattress. I still have a couple months before I finalize the design. Toyota Sienna so I can remove the 3rd row seats and have some basement space. Currently I'm thinking I will eventually put my batteries and my refrigerator in that space. But may just keep them from now. and build over it til I add those items.

I have debated making the frame so it could fold into a seat. But honestly if I'm sitting up in the minivan it will be in the driver seat. Really just need the sleep area so thinking a solid frame with the ability to lift up the back third to have access to the fridge. I'm thinking to use 32 qt sterilite totes for storage and have my bed frame just high enough to slide them under the bed frame. Of course things may change.

 

[maki2]

if you use a regular bed do measure first so you can be sure your drivers seat will go back far enough and you might also want to check if you can use the tilt back function on the seat(s) with the bed in its normal position.

All minivans are not the same size in the rear area so measure very carefully before you purchase a cot or a bed frame.

 

[pure_mahem]

if you use a regular bed do measure first so you can be sure your drivers seat will go back far enough and you might also want to check if you can use the tilt back function on the seat(s) with the bed in its normal position.

All minivans are not the same size in the rear area so measure very carefully before you purchase a cot or a bed frame.

94" so there's a lil wiggle room if I bring the bed all the way to the back.

 

[Oldwolf]

I limited my bed frame to 75 in long so that I would have space in the rear of my Toyota Sienna to build shelf framing. I want to be able to fit batteries, some cooking equipment, and other supplies in the rear.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[urbankid12]

I have a Honda Odyssey and I put my twin size bed on the passenger side only because I view the driver side of the van as my front yard. I didn’t like the idea of walking all the way around plus I slid up the passenger seat a touch more to allow more space in the back for my bathroom in the back seat wheel well. I like my design however I do kinda want to work on making an “emergency exit” on the passenger side so I could exit in a pinch but I still have the back van open up door. But the passenger door is significantly blocked with my dog kennel and stuff for storage. I say do whatever side feels natural to you. I love it going shopping and only needing to go on one side it just seems to unnecessarily or unnatural to have the bed on the driver side. I think I’m more of the minority in this design debate but you have to live with it and just spend some time thinking of how you want the flow of the van to go. I wanted to be able to go from front to back fast and easily plus I fill the nooks and crannies on the passenger side completely front to back without worrying about stuff falling out while using the doors and that was very important in an odd shape van that is also limited in space. That’s my two cents.

 

[Linecaster]

My reason is that over the years my wife always slept on the left half of the bed and me on the right. Therefore I lie head at back end of the van and always exit the bed on the right side.