Our bed design for van (2018 Ford Transit)

[IGBT]

Just thought I would share the design we chose for mounting a queen size mattress in our 2018 Ford Transit mid roof, 148 inch WB, non extended van.   This should work in most any van however.

First we mounted two six foot sections of aluminum L-track using 1/4" stainless steel 1" flat head bolts with washers and nylon locknuts.   The L-track is very cool stuff and you can position all sorts of things along it with great ease and holding force.   Cost was $50 per track.

https://www.uscargocontrol.com/Airc...71K83HPblL2Qiz-3G9t88ZSlBmDKG0QxoCfUUQAvD_BwE

Next we bought a 16 foot length of 1/8" thick angle aluminum with a 2" x 1" profile for $25 from a local steel/aluminum dealer and had it cut in half for hauling home (1 free cut per purchase!).   I could have done it outside with my cordless skill saw but hey!

We then cut each piece down further to 73.5" which happens to be the length alongside the wall from the sliding door to the rear door.  I didn't want anything sticking out into the sliding door area.

We drilled five 13/32" holes 1" from the long edge at 2", 19", 36", 53", and 69".   We then used 3/8" L-track studs to mount these aluminum rails to the L-track.  (expensive buggers, $55 for 10 from Amazon, but sooooo easy to use and so strong, overkill)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CREBAQE?ref_=pe_2640190_290165290_E_304_dt_1

Next we set seven Skorva rails on the lip of the 1/8" aluminum on each side of the van.  Skorva rails are just an amazing deal from IKEA.   $10 each, super strong and they expand to fit a wide range of width.   Again, seven was probably overkill, but we ain't lite.   $9.99 in shipping....IKEA has to be losing money on this purchase.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90124534/

And that is it!   Simply toss on the mattress of your choice.   If you want to use the van to haul cargo, lift out the rails and collapse them, unbolt the aluminum angle and you can then use these tie downs anywhere along the L-track for holding your cargo:

($0.99 each! and they can hold a ton (literally) )

https://www.uscargocontrol.com/Double-Stud-Fitting


Here are some pics of our setup:

 

[IGBT]

We just test fit the 8" memory foam mattress and here is a picture of it.   It easily supports both of us, super comfy and it does not sag between the rails so no need for boards on top of the Skorva rails...win!

 

[travelaround]

Nice work. Thanks for explaining how you did it.

 

[IGBT]

We took the van camping the past week with some friends.  They had tents (which we normally also do) but wanted to try out the van bed.   Three nights of thunderstorms later and kind of glad we did 

I must say it was some of the best sleeping I have had...the rain hitting the van roof is soothing and a 8" thick queen size memory foam mattress beats the heck out of a sleeping bag on a tent floor.

 

[WanderingRose]

Great idea, and so nice to be off the ground during thunderstorms!

You might put boards over those rails, anyway, as they will likely cause some distortion of your mattress over time.

 

[IGBT]

Great idea, and so nice to be off the ground during thunderstorms!

You might put boards over those rails, anyway, as they will likely cause some distortion of your mattress over time.

I thought about it but I looked under the rails while my wife was on the bed and I didn't see any of the memory foam squeezing down between them.   Perhaps with a thinner or normal type mattress it would be more of an issue?   The 8 inch thick memory foam seems to just stay in shape.

 

[IGBT]

Oh, and also have to give a shout out to the Goal Zero YETI 3000.   When we first got to camp our friends made fun of me for bringing that and a Keurig coffee maker.   45 cups of 45 second-to-make coffee and two mornings of rain later and they were trying to get a cell signal so they could order one.

And the YETI ended the trip with still over 50% charge available.

 

[MrNoodly]

It looks to me like you could've skipped the L-track and just bolted the 1x2 angle aluminum directly to the walls.

 

[IGBT]

It looks to me like you could've skipped the L-track and just bolted the 1x2 angle aluminum directly to the walls.

Yes, you can do that.   The L-track is just so cool though and I thought we might want to use it for tiedowns when we carry our motorcycles or something.  It wasn't horribly expensive to do it this way but would be dirt cheap to do it the way you suggest...just a $25 piece of aluminum and 6 or 7 of the $10 Skorva rails from IKEA.

 

[poot_traveller]

I also built a platform bed like yours but I used wood because those aluminum rails aren't available in my country. I reckon platform beds are the way to go because these leave a wide open storage area and look better than beds with leg support.

I don't know how comfortable memory foam is but I'm going to use a Queen-sized bedroom mattress which I currently sleep on (in a house). Having a comfortable bed is important, I don't know how some people can sleep on single mattresses.....but each to their own.