T6 Elevating Bed Kit Recommendation

[mkmatt]

Hello folks. Newbie here. Just bought my first van - a T6 Kombi which has a pop top of unknown make (the seller didn't know). The bed is on 3 removable panels which is suboptimal to say the least. Has anyone got any recommendations for a kit to facilitate a single roof panel for the bed on telescopic arms? A quick Google shows there are kits on ebay and elsewhere just wondering if any DIYers have a recommendation?

 

[drinfinity]

I’m doing mine with poplar ply (Atlantic Timber) and gas rams (SGS). I think I can do it for less than the £600 ish quotes in many places!

Consider doing a bifold - much more useable headroom.

 

[Chris Sherwood]

These people sell folding bed kits. I am thinking of changing mine to a folding one to give me more headroom.

PopTop Roofs

 

[DXX]

The origin of most post conversion squeaks and creaks. I’m considering removing mine and creating a few mm’s more clearance to allow for cushion pads on the sides.

 

[drinfinity]

Pop top roofs did my poptop. Their factory is as messy as their website, and they covered my van in swarf.

All the hardware (rams, struts, fittings, hinges) comes to less than £100. Add in a sheet of ply of your choice and you have plenty of change from £600.

 

[mkmatt]

I’m doing mine with poplar ply (Atlantic Timber) and gas rams (SGS). I think I can do it for less than the £600 ish quotes in many places!

Consider doing a bifold - much more useable headroom.

Thanks, good suggestion about making it a bifold. I'd be interested to see your design and your shopping list. I assume the bifold is held together with something like a piano hinge? What thickness of ply are you going for? I was thinking 18mm.

 

[drinfinity]

15mm Garnica Poplar ply for the board. The bed in the old van is 15mm. I’ll use an aluminium ‘shelf edge’ extrusion on the leading edge for support and to stop the mattress sliding out.

The design isn’t complete yet, so the brackets might change, but this is a draft list from SGS. 120N chosen because I saw a photo of 100N Reimo ones on here, and more is obviously better. Struts will be 6mm stainless rod off Amazon, which I’ll tap at each end for the connections. Piano hinge from local hardware shop.

The position of the rams is defined by the length and extension. Some Pythagoras and a quadratic tells me these need to mount to the flap not more than 183.5 mm from the hinge.

The strut maths needs some more trig, and there are many more variables, so I’m going to put the boards up and use a piece of string to make sure A+B = C+D, so that it goes up at the right angle but also lies flat.

 

[drinfinity]

The original link to SGS came to me from @paddy26

 

[mkmatt]

Dry fitting and experimenting with string for the strut position was about where I was at.