Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Have any of you built one of the pull out slat beds? I think that would be the bestbuse of my available space, but I can't find any plans or dimension lists. Lots of "how to videos", but they don't actually tell you how.

I just kind of blundered into the process. I saw quite a few people with vans doing the bed/couch thing. I knew I was going to be using a full size futon mattress and started from there. Since I welded my framework all out of steel, My build dimensions and process probably won't be of much use to many. But I do like the ability to easily put the bed away and have a couch. The down side to these things is trying to reach any under the couch storage while the bed is out. Good luck, looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

My Bed Build

Take a look at some of these and you'll get some good ideas. The concept is pretty basic. I did a U shaped seating area with a slat slide out to fill in the middle and turn it into a bed.


https://www.pinterest.com/explore/pull-out-bed/

This was kinda cool. Found it in the pinterest links above. It is cut from one single sheet.

Icon - That slat set up is cool. Probably not for me on this build though.

Beachguy - Thanks for the link. Pinterest makes me crazy. I see something I want to look at, but very seldom can I get to the original site where the info I need may be.

Post a rough idea of what you want to end up with and I'm sure we can find something more specific to your needs.

I'll do that. Great idea, thanks

Try searching for “gaucho bed” plans. I recall seeing some on an airstream renovation site.


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I searched out gaucho beds and the are some pretty nice set ups out there. Seems that most were from or based on Airstream's set up. I actually found a slat bed article that shows how they built it and dimensions. It shouldn't be difficult to adjust their sizes to what I need. Thanks to everyone for their help. I'l post some pics of the build after I get a little farther along.

jwh92020 wrote:I searched out gaucho beds and the are some pretty nice set ups out there. Seems that most were from or based on Airstream's set up. I actually found a slat bed article that shows how they built it and dimensions. It shouldn't be difficult to adjust their sizes to what I need. Thanks to everyone for their help. I'l post some pics of the build after I get a little farther along.

I was out of town on my first reply and was going to provide additional information when I got back but it seems you were able to find it. This is the article I had seen: http://vintageairstream.com/sofa-beds-gauchos/. Here is a snapshot of the dimensioned drawing:

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Take care,
Tom

aggie79 - I saw that particular Airstream bed and it's pretty cool. I found an article on building a slat bed and it actually gave dimensions. They built it for a van, but it should be too difficult to adapt it to a CT. This is the link if you want to check it out.

https://www.rei.com/blog/camp/diy-vanli ... g-platform

jwh92020 wrote:aggie79 - I saw that particular Airstream bed and it's pretty cool. I found an article on building a slat bed and it actually gave dimensions. They built it for a van, but it should be too difficult to adapt it to a CT. This is the link if you want to check it out.

https://www.rei.com/blog/camp/diy-vanli ... g-platform

Very cool! I had not seen that one before. I'll file that in my "hope to some day built a CT conversion" file.

I’ll be using a pine futon frame in mine for day sofa / night bed.
I have some old furniture store dealer stock if anyone wants one, I’m happy to sell a few. Been taking them apart and using the wood for projects.




Bunch of OneWheel stands.


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cantsitstill - Do you have a picture of the futon frame? I imagine shipping one would be cost prohibitive.

aggie79 - I found this during one of my Google adventures. It is a math heavy formula to figure out slat sizing. I changed the frame materials to all 3/4" and adjusted the numbers accordingly, and it worked! I made a mock up using 2 fixed and 1 sliding slat. Used his formula, plugged in my numbers and when it was done, I had a 54" wide "platform" (which is what I was going for). You might add this to your "someday" file.

https://imgur.com/zhKPPIC

John