Wooden Rock & Roll Bed

Hello all,

So I have been building a micro camper out of a LWB high top transit connect, but to make this a legal camper in the UK DVLA require a 6ft bed that can either be in one position or pull out to bed.. hence to rock and roll bed! The main problem i found was the price of buying one; crazy money!

I decided i would make one. Due to no experience with metal work i decided to make one out of wood which worked a charm!

Ill try to keep this short and sweet!

Tools I used

• Jigsaw
• Handsaw
• Circular saw
• Drill
• Staple Gun
• Tape measure
• Pen
• Ruler

Step 1: Frame Work

So i made this in 4 parts due to the way it folds.

Width = anything you want it to be

Length = 1.5ft

In this first step I simply measured out the width of my van and what room i had between one wall and the kitchen then that gap would be the width of my bed (Minus a few mm so i can move)

Each length had to be 1.5ft long to meet the dvla requirements (Can make it longer if you want)

Also make sure you add supports just for that extra strength!

Now that the frame work is made, you now need to add your hinges (4 gate hinges and 2 cupboard door hinges) The 4 gate hinges go on the seating frame and attach to the back rest frame (2 on each side). The cupboard door hinges go on both back rest frames at the top!

Step 2: Fitting Into the Van

Now that you've made the top half of the frame work, its time to fit it into the van. To do this you need to make some legs (and frame out the bottom assuming you want to utilise the space and turn into cupboards) The legs can be made to what ever height you want to sit and sleep at.

The way i fitted the rock and roll bed into the van was very simple. The back of the bed does not move when being folded down so that can be screwed to the floor, walls or where ever is best for you! but to stop the front moving and folding when driving was tricky until i thought of something... I got two small L shape brackets and simply screwed then to the floor, one in front of the frame and one behind so the so the wood beam that's resting on the floor can slot in between. when you wasn't to use it as a bed, simply lift up the front of the bed/bench and pull forwards.

Step 3:

Just some more strengthening beams

Step 4: MDF/PLY Lining

Because i wanted to to attach foam and then custom fabric to this bench i needed a base to attach it too aswell as to stop the person sitting or laying to fall between the wood frame!

To do this I got a couple sheets of MDF and measured out the top of the frame (assuming you've cut it all correct it should be the same size for all 4) I used a jigsaw to cut this out, but you can use a normal hand saw. once cut out i simply used wood screws to attach it to the frame.

Step 5: Foam & Fabric

I went on to ebay and ordered myself so 3" medium foam which i cut to shape using a Stanley knife (would of looked better cutting with something abit sharper but abit late now!) To attach the fabric, i used a staple gun and wrapped the fabric around the foam to the wood underneath and simply stapled all the way round! worked like a charm. Same applies for all the other seating panels.

Step 6: Stoarge

Now that you've done all that you'll have all the room underneath for storage! but remember only the back doesn't move so i recommend butting heavier items there rather than the front. (I've decided to use that as my storage for water, grey water tanks along with my batteries).

Step 7: End

Sorry its not well explained and not to many photos, but i didn't think I would create and instructables post! Lol

Any questions you do have, just ask and Ill go into the best detail I can!