Making the pull out bed part in a high top.

[Jonnyb416]

Hi all, I'm hoping someone could help me out with a few ideas here please or maybe a few pictures to help me with the construction of a pull out bed for my high top roof.

I currently have a Sheldon high top roof and I need to make the part of the bed that pulls out to extend the sleeping area. It will be for my 2 girls aged 5 and 8 to sleep on for the next few years.

So it will need to be strong; I read a post a while back about material used for the strength/weight of this piece. Mine will need to be made from wood unless anyone has another idea that means using metal/aluminium would be easy.

I suppose it will need to lock in place when both as a bed and stored away whilst driving/living in.

I've seen ladders used for dual purposes; getting up there and holding back the bedding in the roof.

Has anyone made this from scratch that could share some helpful pictures please?
Could I copy a factory made one?
Are they often available second hand?

Any help/ideas/pictures are appreciated. Thanks, Jon.

[scoobydrew]

Hi Jon,
We put a Sheldon on ours last year and done this with out too much problem.
What type of Sheldon roof do you have? (there are two similar shapes)
Do you have the wooden outer frame that sits inside the roof?
Do you have windows in the roof? We had to feed the wood in through the windows.

I can take some pics later with measurements.

[Jonnyb416]

Pictures and measurements would be brill mate cheers. But no major rush.

Not sure which Sheldon roof it is but I will put some pictures up in a bit.
There isn't a wooden outer frame as my van is an empty shell but I think I know what you mean so may be worth putting something like that in if it helps with future interior mods.
There are 2 windows which are soon to come out to make way for new seals. Not really thought about getting the bed section up there yet!

[Jonnyb416]

Here is the roof type. There seems to be just enough room to sleep two small kids up there.

[Jonnyb416]

Here's where the roof meets the roof line. Is this where the wooden outer frame would be?


From another angle....

[scoobydrew]

Yours is the slightly lower one than ours.
Your halfway there with that rear platform.
If you run a thick wooden frame from the platform to the front of the van going under the windows, you can then use a roughly 2 foot piece of ply that slides out and rests on that.
To stop it moving when in bed position I screwed a wooden block under each window at the sides.
I would sort the bed before you do the window seals though, we didn t and had to remove one of the windows which now leaks after we put it back in, so another new seal needed.

[scoobydrew]

Jon,
Here's some pics.








The back part of the bed is 52 inches wide by 46 inches long and the front part 51 inches wide (to allow for the movement back and forth to form bed) and 24 inches long. This makes a bed of 70 inches.
We used one of the telescopic ladders from Maplins to get in and out. We also used this to fill the gap at night time to stop the grandkids falling out.

Hope this all helps.

[Jonnyb416]

Thanks Andy, those pictures have given me the inspiration to crack on with this. I've been out today having a nosey and come up with a few ideas. Great advice about fitting this whilst the window is out, so I will hopefully make it next week. I will put a few pictures up once I've started.

[scoobydrew]

No problem Jon.
Yes pics would be good, always nice to see before, during and after shots.

The carpet on the roof is fun as well, we insulated ours with bubble foil and then carpeted over with Megavanmats carpet and glue.

[937carrera]

Is this the sort of thing you are looking for.



The rear portion is fixed in place, the front portion simply lifts above the cab area for day use. If this is what you want to do I'll take some more photos for you

[Jonnyb416]

Is this the sort of thing you are looking for.

The rear portion is fixed in place, the front portion simply lifts above the cab area for day use. If this is what you want to do I'll take some more photos for you

It's ok ta. Got what I need I think. Mines a hightop so a bit different to that.

[Jonnyb416]

The carpet on the roof is fun as well, we insulated ours with bubble foil and then carpeted over with Megavanmats carpet and glue.

I've decided I'm going to use the stretch carpet from them. I got some kids play mats from Aldi last week so going to try that as the insulation as it's closed cell material which I believe is good. Planning to glue the batons on next week whilst I'm off work. All in preparation for the windows fitted then I can crack on without fear of leaks (hopefully)

[scoobydrew]

Jon,
We didn't use any batons, just glued straight into the roof with the foil and the carpet, saves a bit of valuable space inside, although ours had no batons when we took the old carpet off.

[Jonnyb416]

Mine didn't have battens either when I removed the old carpet. Did you use the mega stretch material from megavanmats?

I suppose I may not need battens. I could glue to mats on then the carpet straight on top.

Windows came out today and going back in early next week so should have the bed built by Monday!

[scoobydrew]

No we didn't use the stretchy stuff, we used the normal.
it does give a bit, but cant compare to the stretchy stuff as never used it.
The high temp glue though is brill, nearly a year on and nothing has come unstuck.