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Thu Jun 13, 2013 9:24 pm

Wow. I can't believe it's been almost 4 years since I posted this....boy number 1 is now in the top bed, boy 2 now sleeps in the cot, he's probably going to graduate to the top bunk at the end of this season, then boy number 3 will move to the cot....then I'll have my own bed!!! Or maybe we'll let my wife and daughter come with us. Hmmm, maybe I can rig another cot below the top bunk but above the lower bed....or maybe not, we do have a few nice tents too.

The cot itself has held up fantastically. I've not had to do anything to it. We've not had issues with water or any other evils sneaking in. No rips or other issues.

I'm glad others have found this useful.

Brian.

Thu Jun 13, 2013 10:42 pm

Agreed I like the OP design too...

Welchmaster wrote: I'll chime in....

Just made two of these. It's awesome. We will use for gear until the little is big enough to sleep on it. Thanks WestiCoast for the idea. Inexpensive too...

Fri Jun 14, 2013 7:58 am

Thanks again brother...who knows how many people you have inspired :D

Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:44 pm

Quote: Thanks again brother...who knows how many people you have inspired :D
One more. Baby Adelaide will be in there soon enough. Awesome idea + design. Thank you!

Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:32 am

Welchmaster wrote: Agreed I like the OP design too...

Just made two of these. It's awesome. We will use for gear until the little is big enough to sleep on it. Thanks WestiCoast for the idea. Inexpensive too...

Credit to bac914 for the design. My boy loves his. We made ours for cold weather camping so we wouldn't need to pop the top. But we bring it on every trip. My boy like sleeping in it more than the upper bunk. And it hold gear all day when he is not in it.

Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:48 pm

Awww... Now that's a happy little guy :-)

abacus1980 wrote: Thanks for the great idea! this really made our holiday in temagami ontario canada. Consider it 6 month old approved! Elliott slept better in the cot than at home, he let us sleep in regularly. a wool blanket underneath him kept him warm in 7 deg Celcius nights.

now i want to replace the crib :shock:

Wed Jul 24, 2013 3:34 pm

tam_shops wrote: And, finally, remember that person that made a bed right on the seats?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3...p;start=20 Why doesn't that board flip forwards w/ nothing under it.
Well, the original post said:
Quote: Simple screw in leg to give it support - that and sitting on the seats.
However, I've seen them with chains or straps that either go over the steering wheel (seems like it might want to tilt on the passenger side) or from one or two grab handles on the A pillar. Those were in T1 or T2 busses. Can't say that I remember one in a T3 bus.

As for the double decker, I haven't seen one. Seems like there might not be enough height. Claustrophobia!

I have seen a cot that ran front to rear along the sidewall. You had to remove the passenger seat headrest to install it. I'll see if I can find it.

Can't seem to find it. Anyone remember the bus? It was a green bus with a tan (feaux Eddie Bauer) strip on the bottom, bumpers, and top. The guy lived in the north east and would be pretty old by now. He had a webpage up that sort of had a collage of all his bus customizations.

Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:52 am

Hi Everyone!

I ended up finally getting around to building my son's cot for the van. I'm pretty stoked with how it came out. It pulls apart and rolls up well for storage and I tried a different method for holding it up which I'm really happy with.

I used these: http://www.lowes.com/pd/Gladiator-3-in-Gray-Steel-Utility-Hook/3051817

I tied the 200lb test straps to them and wrapped them up in foam and electrical tape and they work beautifully. Best of all, you can still open the doors while the cot is up. It does drop an inch or so for the door frame, but that's fine with me...

I bought some grey canvas and had some help from the mother-in-law for the sewing. She did a killer job and it's really beefy. I wanted it to sag a bit so my little dude doesn't inadvertently roll out and I think we're in good shape.

Here are some pics:

Tue May 30, 2017 11:05 am

Bringing this post back from the dead...

so I am tackling this project and have asked a friend at work to sew the cot for me. Below are the dimensions of the PVC piping:

and of the Cot material:

The person I am asking to sew this though seems to be unsure of the best way to tackle it. As I am not a sewer I am not really sure what guidance to provide. I basically said to over cut the fabric (like an additional 8-10 inches) and roll it around the pipe, mark it where to sew and then sew it, then repeat for the opposite sides (thus sewing all for "pipe-ings").

What should be done though in the corners to prevent tearing?
Also I only am adding an extra "inch" of fabric so the cot isnt taught (tight) instead it will have 1 inch of droop, which should allow some bit of sag for my kid to sleep in to help prevent him from rolling out, but not as much as other pictures of cots posted... but who knows. I figure if 1in isnt enough i could trim down the PVC cross members.

Thoughts?

edit: 8/8/2017 I have the cot all sewed together and installed and working great. I do not think you can get too much wider or longer than the dimensions I posted above for the frame (assuming you have stock seats/steering wheel).
Here are pics of the final product, the frame is "crooked" because I didnt properly adjust the webbing straps for the pic, for i wanted to test it quickly after it was completed)

Tue Aug 08, 2017 8:28 am

Quote: I'm glad others have found this useful.

Useful indeed, thanks to all for your ideas. I recently built one using rough dimensions described earlier in the thread for our 3 year old, and she loves it. Of course, with two little ones, time is short, so I opted for a commercially available option that would be plug and play. I was able to find the Creative Colors cot cover 502R-GY that matched the gray interior of our westy. It's made in the US and available online for ~$20! Add some PVC framing, and here's some photos of the finished product. Cheers!

Rolled up for storage (stowable near upper bed while under way):

Layout and assembly (note drawstring can be replaced with something stronger if needed):

Thu Mar 03, 2022 9:36 am

Hello! Necro!

How has the paint been holding up on the outside of the door? I'm considering buying the BusDepot cot for the front of my van. But I'm "screw adverse" and I also don't know if the B-pillar mounts will interfere with the 3pt seatbelts being added to the rear facing Weekender seats.

Has the PVC damaged the vans at all?

Edit: Too bad that 502R-GY isn't available as posted in the last post above. Pre-made fabric would make this project even sweeter. Anyone have any other "replacement" cot tops that work?

Thu Mar 03, 2022 11:19 am

If you're worried, put a piece of something over the tubes where they touch the paint. GLue some fabric, put a couple layers of duct tape...

Mon Mar 07, 2022 7:15 am

Leaving some info here for future reference. The pre-manufactured fabric posted above (referenced as 502R-GY) is no longer available. I contacted the company regarding it and here is what they responded with:

Quote: We make pet cots & replacement cot covers in our 4Legs4Pets brand. The material is the same fabric except it has more stands which is more durable for pets but they do cost more. The cover is the most expensive part of the cot. Here’s the link to the cot covers page

https://www.4legs4pets.com/product/replacement-lace-up-cot-cover/

– you may order them on our website. Our kids cot brand we used to make in only the 52x22 and 40x22 sizes – so that’s the sizes you’ll choose from. We’re at about 1 to 2 weeks production time + transit time.