Upgrading Rock n Roll bed to get more storage underneath

[eppiblue]

Hi

We have a side conversion which looks very similar to this


Unfortunately the bed construction isn't fantastic because it doesn't allow many options for storage. You can jam things in from the rear but when you need to transform it from a seat to a bed or vice versa you need to pull out all the stuff you had jammed in there so the little wheel supports can roll freely... check out some photos below (taken from the rear of the van) to see the design I'm talking about:






and you can see the seatbelt coming up from a floor mount in this shot:




I currently get about 11cm clearance (measured from at the rear) for storage but the 2 sets of wheel based supports get in the way of doing much in there permanently such as putting plastic containers or a strong box (which is what I want).

Ive seen other rock n roll beds that have areas for storage, water tanks, safe boxes etc... and I think I need to upgrade.

Can anyone provide some advice or options? This is a perfectly comfortable design for sleeping on but Im totally missing out on utilising the under bed space.

[peterrc]

Hi we have the same conversion even the same fridge. We found, thanks to the forum, that it is not a 'Rock'n Roll' bed. It is in fact a 2 seater Sofa bed from Ikea but was sold to us as the former.
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/S79849189/
Storage solution :- get a proper 'Rock'n Roll' bed.

[g8dhe]

Ones like this are good, the top section rolls on the "top" of the frame, the two supports at the front don't touch the ground but allow you to mount a kickboard at the front, the lever drives two large pins in thru the frame to hold the entire seating section solidly in place.

[Simon Jones]

Not sure how an insurance company may view a sofa bed being used to carry passengers. It's not really being used for the purpose which it was manufactured for.

[eppiblue]

Ones like this are good, the top section rolls on the "top" of the frame, the two supports at the front don't touch the ground but allow you to mount a kickboard at the front, the lever drives two large pins in thru the frame to hold the entire seating section solidly in place.

Geoff, I like the look of that design. Do you know who sells them?

Our current set up passes MOT but agree it looks dodgy. Usually just two of us in the van most times.

[g8dhe]

No I took a look for a photo on the web that matches ours, I had the above from a previous discussion, but I couldn't locate an image currently I think you would find that any design that implements the two bolts approach is likely to be a pretty rugged layout. On ours the top seat runs on real ball bearing based gliders within a semi-closed channel so they are very smooth and unable to jump out, to release the gliders they have to come out the end which of course is blocked in normal operation, however that helps ensure that the seat is going to meet seat belt requirements etc.

Ours was converted by Free Spirit Auto's in West Sussex, whether he still uses the same style or not currently or not I don't know but might be worth a call to ask ?

The design does ensure that you get just about the maximum storage and when the seat is rolled forward into the bed position we store all the clobber that sits on the back seat under the now empty front section, which also means its out of sight if you need to leave the van for any extended period

[jojay5]

I am having one like this fitted in a couple of weeks by Dave at Cannons Forge. See link http://www.cannonsforge.com/
I went to see him a few weeks back to check them out and they are rock solid and very well built. Really helpful guy too.

[Dodgey]

Here is the one shown above:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROCK-N-ROLL-B ... 4aa3a2493b

I bought a very basic one for mine, circa £130. If I were to do it again I'd buy the above - it uses bearings and has the stoplock built in for a good price. I mode my own locking mechanism which is fine but it's nice to have it done for you.

[eppiblue]

Here is the one shown above:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROCK-N-ROLL-B ... 4aa3a2493b

I bought a very basic one for mine, circa £130. If I were to do it again I'd buy the above - it uses bearings and has the stoplock built in for a good price. I mode my own locking mechanism which is fine but it's nice to have it done for you.

Looks good. What was involved in mounting it to the floor? And also the upholstery?

[Dodgey]

With mine, I lined up the frame as I wanted it, then measure from the frame bottom to the two existing holes in the bongo floor (you find them when you are doing the flooring conversion - think they were belt anchor points, can't remember), then had a local blacksmith weld two plates on with holes so the bed is bolted to the floor.

I bought foam locally, circa £70 then had my mother sew the fabric