Answers

Fixed bed or bed lift in a van?

A fixed bed is simpler, cheaper, lighter and always ready. A bed lift gives the space back during the day, at the cost of weight, money and a more involved install. If the space under the bed is mostly a garage for bikes or boards, a fixed bed usually makes sense. If you want standing room or a lounge in the back during the day, a lift earns its place.

Start your buildSee the example plan

What it depends on

  • Your height and the roof. Measure the interior height where the bed would go. A high roof gives you the choice; a low roof mostly makes it for you.
  • What goes under the bed. Bikes, boards and bins need a certain clear height. That height sets a fixed bed's platform, and the platform sets how much room you have to sit up.
  • Which way you sleep. Sideways (east-west) saves length but needs enough width for the tallest sleeper, and some vans are too narrow for that. Lengthwise (north-south) works in narrower vans but uses more floor.
  • How you use the back during the day. Work, rainy days, cooking inside, or a second seating area all favor a lift.
  • Weight and cost. Lift rails, mechanisms and motors add both. Check the kit's listed weight against your payload.
  • Install. Lift rails fasten into the van's wall structure and carry the bed plus the people on it. A fixed platform can be framed off the floor and walls in simpler ways.
  • Two people. Who climbs over whom, and how high is the climb.
  • Electrical. A powered lift needs a fused circuit. A manual one doesn't.

Worked sample (planning estimates)

A high-roof van. Interior height where the bed goes: 76 in (sample number, measure yours).

Fixed bed over a garage

  • Gear needs 36 in clear underneath, plus 2 in of platform: top of platform at 38 in.
  • 6 in mattress: top of mattress at 44 in.
  • Room above the mattress: 76 − 44 = 32 in.

Sit on the floor against a wall and measure from the floor to the top of your head. If that's more than 32 in, you won't sit up straight in bed. Lower the platform and you lose garage height.

Bed lift

  • Raised during the day, the bed sits near the ceiling and the space under it becomes standing room, a lounge, or a dinette.
  • Lowered at night to whatever height is comfortable to climb into.
  • Garage height is gone while the bed is down, so gear has to live somewhere else or under a lowered bed that sits high enough.
  • Weight: a lift system adds more than a simple platform. Plan with the kit's listed weight, not a guess.

Same van, same mattress. The fixed bed keeps 36 in of garage full time and gives up sitting room. The lift gives you the floor back during the day and gives up full-time garage space.

Check before you buy

  • Interior height and width where the bed goes, measured, not from a brochure.
  • Clear height for your actual gear.
  • The lift kit's documented anchor points for your van and its listed weight.
  • How the bed's position affects windows, insulation and wiring behind it.

When to bring in a professional

Lift rails carry the bed and people and fasten into the body. Follow the kit's instructions for anchor points. If the kit doesn't document anchors for your van, or you'd be drilling new structural mounts, have a fabricator or upfitter look at it first.

Ready when you are

Work through your own bed and layout tradeoff in Vansembly, one decision at a time.

Start your build

Have your van's make, length and roof handy if you know them.