Nigel: Adjustable Bed

Hello,
Here is a very brief overview of how we made our bed adjustable for height and angle. The main reason for bothering with this was so that we could adjust the bed so that it would be level (for sleeping) when the van was not level. A good example of this is if you were parked on a suburban street where the road slopes towards the gutter (or curb if you prefer) for drainage. In our conversion, this meant your head becomes lower than your feet which, is not the best for a pleasant night sleep. With the 6" actuators, we have a little over 3 degrees of angular adjustment. It might not sound like much but it makes a huge difference to comfort

Start with 4 of these:

and 4 of these:

We then mounted one actuator (with ball head rod-end attached) on each corner of the 2.5"x2.5"x3/16" angle iron bed frame. Each Actuator was rigidly mounted to the sidewall of the van using 8mm Nutserts. I do not have any great images of this as it was -15 degrees Science (+5 degrees Fake) when I was fabricobbling this together and my phone kept shutting down.

In practice:
Two actuators are extended (e.g. two that are on the end of the bed where your head goes)
As they both go up, the ball head rod-end allows for the change in angle of the frame between the moving end (head end) and the non moving (feet) end. Still with me? I just read back what I typed and realize that it is difficult to comprehend and I built it and have seen it work!

Here is a picture taken looking at one of the head end actuators when it is down. In this position, the bed is parallel with the van floor

and with it up/extended. In this photo, you can see the angle. The head end of the bed has now rotated +3 degrees away from the van floor

here is another picture trying to show the angle change that the ball head rod-end has taken up with the actuator fully extended

Depending on which direction the van is listing (down hill, up hill etc) you can extend any of the actuators to eliminate the unwanted bed angle


So, after all that..... was it worth the effort?
I'd say yes. It has been a nicety but certainly not a necessity. Being able to make the bed level for sleeping without having to level the van has been very handy, especially at trailheads or suburban streets. The added bonus is that by extending all 4 actuators, you raise the entire bed 6" which makes accessing the underside of the bed (for battery or water system maintenance) just that bit easier.
Would I do it again?
Probably, yes. I had a bit of time to ponder the van build as a Calgary winter forces you to down tools more often than one would like, especially when you can only work outside. This gave me time to think and (perhaps) let my imagination run free. Once I thought of it, I had to give it a go!

I hope someone understands what I am raving on about....