I have quite a few plans for things in the van I might do, but one thing I’ll need for sure is a bed platform. Today I began positioning the support rails along the sides, and establishing the locations for the three main aluminum cross beams. It will allow for a mattress that is 74” long x 48” wide, with an adjustable side that can increase the size to a full mattress (54”) wide.

For each side, the rails will be attached with 7 screws into rivnuts into the steel side rail. This will require a bit of precision so everything lines up correctly. Even a little bit of drilling and preparing the locations for each hole needs some careful work to catch all the metal shavings, which can cause surface rusting if not captured. It takes longer to tape in plastic sheeting and using magnets to clean up than it does to drill the holes.

Hopefully I’ll have the mostly done in the next couple days. It will be removable so I can still use the van to haul materials. Plenty of work to do in that part of the van so I won’t need the bed for awhile.