I finally got around installing the bunk bed above the driver’s and passenger seat. This reproduction from JustKampers is probably pretty close to the original which came with Westfalia campers in the sixties and seventies. The bed arrived with brackets, screws and the required drill bit. The four holding brackets have to be attached to the A and B columns, each with two screws. And voila, there is an extra children’s bed! Yesterday it passed the first critical inspection by its target person, our little wonder girl. In three weeks comes the real thing – the 6th Berlin VW Bus Festival where the little one will hopefully sleep happily and peacefully in the new bed.
End user testing the final product.
Attachment bracket in left A column.
Attachment bracket in right B column.
Campervan Crazy 
I was thinking of installing one of these in my van for my dog to sleep on. Do you think it would hold a 30kg dog?
Thanks for popping by on my blog! I belive the weight would not be a problem. But the width of the metal bars and the width of the bed linen are made quiete precisely to fit the width and A-to-B-column distance of the 1970ies Volkswagen bus. And they need to fit quite snuggly, otherwise the bed is not under enough pressure and the baby or dog sinks in too much, and the bars would be to loose in their holding brackets. I believe JustKampers also sell the mounting brackets alone (Just checked – they do, http://www.justkampers.com/mounting-brackets-for-child-s-bunkbed-j11825-in-vw-t2-bay-1967-1979.html). So you could also think of buying just the brackets, and get the crossbars done at a local metal shop to fit your van exactly (not sure how expensive this is), and to sew the cloth yourself, to fit your van. If you wanted to go in this directions, I could send you some more detail photos of the metal bars and how the ends have to be formed to fit into the attachments brackets.
Love your van restoration project, all the best for it!
Thanks for that info. More detailed photos would be wonderful if you can be bothered! (No hurry, resto project very slow, as I’m sure you have gathered). jivebellhouse@gmail.com is me.
The end user is awfully cute!
Isn’t she 🙂
Looks great and I hope your little one is as enthusiastic about it as ours. I’ve often wondered how difficult is is to measure all the brackets so they cot is level. How did you measure?
The bunk bed came with a good two-page manual that explained where exactly the holes for the mounting brackets needed to be placed, including photos. Worked very well for the A column. For the B column I was not really sure whether the stated height was for the upper or lower hole of the bracket. Tried one and was lucky – it looks pretty horizontal.
[…] And the first nights in the bus with our almost two-year-old baby daughter sleeping in the new bunk bed in the front. Which actually worked out very well. With the baby we took it all easy and did not take part in […]
Hi we have just bought one did you use a safety net as our 21 month was trying to jump or um fall off ours…..
We did not attach any net. But our little one started using it only when she was already two-and-a-half and she is not super adventurous, so never really climbed out on her own. We did consider it in the beginning, though. With the weight of the child, the surface of the bed dips down quite a lot, so she would not role out unintentionally in her sleep. Perhaps best to teach your little one how to climb out of it, and build/prepare a safe way, e.g. over the kitchen block? Best wishes, Roman
We have an original 70s front hammock that is in great condition. One issue I’ve encountered, and no fault of the hammock itself, is when someone gets up to use the loo in the middle of the night camping and wakes everyone else slamming that late bay sliding door (’74-’79, pre ’74s are quieter.) I do love the child hammock for storage too, but now I leave the space between the fronts seats free along with the passenger seat to allow my fellow campers egress with ease.
[…] rain, but all doable when there is a dry tent and bus. Wonder-daughter enjoyed her very special bunk bed above the driver’s and passenger seats and discovered two routes to climb up to the roof rack […]
Hi, we have a bus that these already installed- and we want to use it but cannot figure out the seat configuration. Do you need to take the seats out to use this? Thanks I know this is an old post!
Kelly
Hi! Thanks for coming by this blog. In my case, with the seats of a 1970s T2 bus with head rests, I have to pull out the head rests so that the 2nd cross bar for the bed can be hooked into its holders. If your van has different seats installed, can you perhaps fold them backwards? Only works if there is no kitchen block or wall in the way… hope this helps.