Date: Fri, 3 Apr 2015 23:29:53 +0000
Reply-To: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Pass front seat bed or other 3rd bed ideas?
In-Reply-To: <599236599.5310460.1428079426633.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com>
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I put the EV seats in my van,the link to that swap is below. Seat when reclined is not as level and smooth as a bed (see last photo), and does have a bump but is hard to beat for an additional sleeping spot.
https://picasaweb.google.com/bike2vcu/_seatTransplant?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMLb8-q0lvWU0gE&feat=directlink
Stephen
On Friday, April 3, 2015 4:09 PM, Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@YAHOO.CA> wrote:
Here are some pictures of a 180cm (6' thermarest) put in different hypothetical "bed" positions in the front of the vanagon.
Across the seats: With doors closed there's about 150cm (5') between the doors, so this only works for short people.
http://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~jag/Pictures/IMG_20150403_100000_sm.JPG
Diagonally: Still doesn't fit the whole 6' thermarest, but gives a bit more space. Would be a more complex to build a bed base for..
http://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~jag/Pictures/IMG_20150403_095638_sm.JPG
Front-to-back. Here the full thermarest fits.
http://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~jag/Pictures/IMG_20150403_094633_sm.JPG
As I mentioned before another family take out the front seat and made a plywood bed to put here. Then the front seat has to be stored during night, and the plywood bed during trips.
I hope there's some intermediate modification, so that it is quick to put in the bed, and no bulky parts to store.
Thanks for the tip that the Eurovan seat folds flat. Does it fold flat without a "bump"/ridge between the seatback and bottom? Anyone tried if that fits well in a vanagon? (same rail system? Or requires cutting and welding?)
I agree that messing with the Vanagon seatback mechanism could be dangerous. What I had thought of was if there was a way to keep the cam mechanism for driving, but look for a way that the seatback could be popped out of the cam mechanism for folding, them put back for driving. (So not inventing a new mechanism) During assembly, disassembly obviously the seatback is put in place.
Martin
On Friday, April 3, 2015 9:42 AM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com> wrote:
Don't mess with the seat back tilt, that mechanism is structural for safety in a rear end collision. You don't want that seat breaking and launching a passenger backwards. The seat is easy to remove, it just slides off the front of the swivel, so you could build a folding plywood platform with folding legs to put over the swivel. It could run from the glove box to the end of the seat bed if you want.
Put the seat outside under a tarp and you have your bed solution.
The hammock over the seats can also work if you roll down the window and let your feet extend. A friend did that for his son until he was about 14, at least when it wasn't raining!
Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Poppie Jagersand
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2015 8:27 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Pass front seat bed or other 3rd bed ideas?
> My daughter currently sleeps in a hammock across the front seats:
>
> http://webdocs.cs.ualberta.ca/~jag/Pictures/1406GerSwedenSelect/IMG_20
> 140605_074726_sm.JPG That works for a kid up to about 150cm.
>
> Does anyone have suggestions for how to create a longer 3rd bed up front?
>
> I saw a family who each night took out the passenger front seat and
> put in a plywood bed extending backwards partway across the sliding
> door. However, taking out the seat is tedious and creates a storage problem for it.
>
> If the back of the passenger seat could be made to fold all the way
> back flat I was thinking a small extension in the front could make it
> a bed. (Or swirvel the seat and make an extension towards the rear)
>
> Something like appears to have been done here in a small station wagon
> (Mini)
>
> http://caravanlounge.de/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/17d66970-d27c-0130-
> f62a-00163e2e85a5.jpg
>
> So would it be possible to modify the vanagon seat so it folds more
> than 30degrees? The cam mechanism looks non-trivial. Is the seatback
> tilting mechanism the same for 82-84 and 85+?
>
> Thanks,
> Martin
>