sleeping crossways?

[RODAT]

Has anyone built their bed across the van,as opposed to longways? Obviously not 6ft long ,but did it get though the DVLA requirements,and whats it like to sleep on?
Also has anyone thought of or found any novel way to make the van wider at the bed fitting point?

[Seriously Limited]

Some of our BBC outside broadcast wagons had extending sides to make a bigger production area. Might be a bit awkward to implement on a Transit though.

Has anyone built their bed across the van,as opposed to longways? Obviously not 6ft long ,but did it get though the DVLA requirements,and whats it like to sleep on?
Also has anyone thought of or found any novel way to make the van wider at the bed fitting point?

[RODAT]

I didnt think to do a search before I asked this question,as there is some discussion on it in other threads. Yeah,I thought the side could maybe extended if the bed was built higher up above the waist line of the van. When closed,it could be a feature something like a blanked off window with a reverse scoop or whatever on it. Trouble is you'd need more than the width of one window area,and that would mean cutting out one of the uprights!So thats a non starter then!

[weseeyou]

depends on your height and the width of your proposed bed but you could get a few extra inches just sleeping at a slight angle

[FreddyVan]

We had a campervan built on a Transit. We slept across at all times but as we are both around 5'6" we had no problems at all. Also meant we could leave the infill cushions at home saving room.
The bed in the one we had was at the front so we slept with our heads away from the sliding door.

[FFMan]

you need to be careful if you intend to reregister your van as motor caravan with dvla as they specify a 6 foot bed, and I couldn't make that work cross ways.

[weseeyou]

you need to be careful if you intend to reregister your van as motor caravan with dvla as they specify a 6 foot bed, and I couldn't make that work cross ways.

can you not even squeeze it by temporarily removing the internal lining each end of the bed section ?
I'm just asking the question because I cannot find a reference to the exact internal width between the actual panels between the struts at the height the bed would be at.

[RODAT]

I measured it the other day,but cant remember exactly,I think its about 3" short of 6 ft between the inner panels. I think by the time the length of a pillow is added ,even my 5ft 6in height would be touching the other side with my feet.Given that a 'normal' house bed is 6ft 6in usually.there doesnt seem any other way than sleeping lengthways in the van for comfort.

[madbri]

mine is done across the back of the van and i sleep great im 5ft 7.
1 way around of getting a 6ft bed is to lay ure passenger seat down and have a cabenett or seat behind that i do for the kids on eather side the passenger side is 6.4 but the drivers side is shorter due to the steering wheel

[madbri]

hers a photo when i used the drivers side 5ft 10. now done passenger side the same easy 6ft

[RODAT]

Good idea,but another thing Im trying to get around is having to assemble the bed everynight,as that really p****s me off. Looks like the only way with the minimum of hassle every night is to pull out a extension from the front of a side facing seat,like lots of folks do (slatted base that slides together).That will give something like a 6ft long ,(or whatever you make it to) by 4ft wide bed,with the base and back cushion of the seat as the mattresses. At least that maximises the space in the van during the daytime use.Not that we intend to spend the whole day sitting in the van,especially when touring Spain or France,but it would be nice to have some manouverability in there!

[madbri]

is ure van a hightop?

[weseeyou]

I measured it the other day,but cant remember exactly,I think its about 3" short of 6 ft between the inner panels. I think by the time the length of a pillow is added ,even my 5ft 6in height would be touching the other side with my feet.Given that a 'normal' house bed is 6ft 6in usually.there doesnt seem any other way than sleeping lengthways in the van for comfort.

normal bed sizes are 6'3"
If the VOSA insist on measuring 6'0" could you not remove the inner panels when they measure ? that would might give you the 6'0" you need between the OUTER panels at bed height.

To be honest the best layout for a Transit van is the Autosleeper Duetto which most of which have two single beds (either side) and the double running front to back. Take a look at the Duetto vans for sale on ebay .
Once you have changed the V5 to campervan you can change the bedding any way you like including vertical I don't see the problem you are creating for yourself.

[weseeyou]

Good idea,but another thing Im trying to get around is having to assemble the bed everynight,as that really p****s me off.
!

do you have a plan of your van ?

Is it a SWB or a LWB ?

Do a search for transit duetto on ebay and look at the interior layouts . They might give you some ideas .

Autosleepers have been making hundreds of campervans in Transits for over 25 years you can be certain there is no better layout than the one they have evolved.

[duvet]

I have a 5'9" double which was described as a 6'+ single on the reregistering (measured from corner to corner) AK did the same and his bed is high up so even smaller than mine.