The Best/Easiest DIY Electric Bed Lift for Cargo Trailer, RV, or Camper Van
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- Опубликовано: 26 авг 2024
- Had a lot of people asking for a better video walkthrough of the electric bed lift so here it is!
There are a lot of other options out there for electric bed lifts, (winch, linear actuator, chain and sprocket), but after trying looking into all the different methods, a worm gear motor with a shaft and some straps is by far the best way of doing it while still being easy and cheap. .
I also do a walkthrough of the cargo trailer conversion build for those who’ve asked.
Parts list and 3D sketchup model;
3dwarehouse.sk...
My sprinter has a very similar setup. Couple key differences: I used a harbor freight atv winch with wireless remote. It is mounted inside the bed frame, replacing your worm drive. The winch spool is replaced with the bar coming straight out of the winch. Completely hidden. It has an auto locking brake which is nice. I also used automotive seat belt webbing for the straps, thin and slick while very strong.
Sounds a great design. Do you need two winches? Will appreciate if you can share more details and possible a video? Thanks!
@@fengguo8575 I used one winch motor (rated for 2500 lb. ) It is installed inline with the rod that winds up the straps. The rod projects straight out of the winch where the spool used to be. I actually modified the winch spool so that it could attach to a rod. My entire bed system is made to be light weight. A bed doesn't need to be very heavy to support up to two people. My whole bed system, which includes the mattress, bedding, frame, winch and strap winding system weighs less than 110 lbs. It is not using the other kind of winch system which has pulleys and cables everywhere. This winch is simply replacing the worm drive motor shown in this video.
Just finishing up my lift bed. THANK YOU, simple and it works wonderfully.
This is a game changer for my cargo trailer/toy hauler build.❤
Hey, what are the specs of the motor? How much load does it take? Do you have a link? Thank you and have nice travels!
@@beatrizgraca9333 its a .8 HP mini tarp motor I purchased on eBay.
Can you make step by step instructions for us beginners? LOL. I’m going to do this in my truck. Just a little nervous because I’ve not done anything like this before. Thanks!
Great video, was seriously considering linear motors. Totally changed course, going with straps. Probable going with tracks and straps for the lift. Keep up the great work!
You my friend are a McQuiver type out of the box thinker. Very nice work thanks from the community for sharing your idea.
Thanks for posting this video. Your build is awesome! I have a camper van that I want to add a cross-length narrow twin bed with a lift, so I'm exploring options. This design certainly looks viable for my van.
Love the mini-split box, the shower walls & the kevlar countertop!
This is one of the best builds I’ve seen. Amazing work! I’d love to see the finished project! Just a quick run through if you able to share with us. Amazing work!
I think you have the best design for the price. There are ways to make your design even better.
Very good job. I have been searching youtube for this type of design. Simple & strong. Looks great, operates well. Your design has saved me days of planning, trial & error. Thank You
This looks like a realistic alternative to the happy over the moon setup.
A really nice build! Thanks for the information.
I want mine exactly like this. Perfect. Great. Not only the bed lift. Everything is the way i want it.
Would love to see a walkthrough of the finished product now that it's been a year. Lots of great ideas in here, I also like the way you mounted the AC outdoor unit.
Believe it or not, I actually haven’t had a chance to use the trailer because we’ve been busy building a house, but now that we’re finally done, I’ll try to get one soon
Perfect. It’s inexpensive, aesthetically easy on the eyes, and it does everything you need to do. Thanks for sharing!
Btw your system is practically identical to euroloft system.. I bet at a fraction of the cost! Thanks again for the explanation
Yeah that’s where I got the inspiration! This is basically a cheaper diy version since I think that one was still well over 1k$ when I checked if you can even buy it
Try $3000
I'm building a cargo-conversion that's super similar in design -- thanks for the tour of yours! I hope mine looks as nice as yours & took notes on your implementation details to save me troubleshooting-time when I start on my bed-elevator 😃
That's the best DIY bed lift i've seen, Thanks for the info.
You nailed this. Super quality in depth information and excellent build. Seriously, thank you!
This is great! I like the toilet and I'm def going to do this bed design if I build another trailer!
Very ingenious lift mechanism! I may steal this idea for my RC Plane trailer sometime in the future. Thanks for sharing!
RE: Sweating and plywood bed base. You can cut 3 or 4 inch diameter holes in the plywood (all over). It lets mattress breath and lightens the weight of the plywood--even though 1/4 inch plywood is already pretty lightweight.
Yep that’s the plan!
Super dope,tight & clean setup. I went on a rv van site today and they are charging $3-4k for this type of bed on staps.
Love this design light weight and low cost. I am modifying your design to work with my Toyota Coaster
This was brilliant - thankyou 😃
You, your build, and your explanation are absolutely top tier!
I can’t wait to check your sketchup file, but I won’t have access for a couple of days yet.
Two questions I’m hoping you can answer easily; 1) what is the volume of the worm motor (how much space does it take up)? 2) how would it affect the design to be mounted either within the frame, or on say the left wall right at the ceiling?
I’ve been looking for this solution so I’m probably going to follow your design, but I think I’d like the motor to be more hidden.
Great info! You brought up several good points I haven't seen yet on other elevator bed builds.
wow ... amazing idea.. i love it.. it will do well in. my van. thanx so much .. this is the best i seen so far and im looking trough a lot on YT. i will hide the belts thou. thanx again
You could ventilate the mattress by using quiet computer fans hidden within the base. Once lowered they could be plugged in to 12 volt receptacles within the wall for power. Great design BTW.
On my Cross Alpha series trailer (+12" height) I have a good ten inches between the ceiling beams and the roof. I will be putting all components in the rafters. Thanks for the info.
Lots of great work here!! Nice designs and much thought to do things right but not break the bank! Well done!!
I really like how fast and quiet that is.
I love it. Great job.
Now 2 yrs later are there many changes you have made or things you would do differently? I'd love a follow up video!
Man I’d love to see a video or get some more information about how you put in your mini-split unit! Great job!!!
This is exactly what I was looking for!! Thank you so much for posting this!!
Hi, use the coiled wire that stretch such as what guitar uses.All the best
Bro, thanks for this. Good info.
Plz post some more videos as you continue to work on your trailer.
Also...plz share your DIY install details ref the mini split A/C.!
I add envisioned just such an arrangement but with the straps from front to rear - I had even looked at the same style tarp motor. I think I like your arrangement better. I think I will try to put the adjusters inside the bed frame, accessible from a hatch above, IF there is enough “travel” available. To secure the straps to the shaft without having to drill or slot the shaft, I was thinking of using a slightly larger I.D. pipe and split it lengthwise to make a “clamp” and just capturing the strap (might increase the starting diameter too much though). Maybe make the frame from 3/4” Baltic birch ply (or 1/2” laminated to yield 1” thickness) and use “spring slats” to support the mattress for a little “give” and air circulation. Will try to source small rollers for the straps to ride on.
Great video, Thanks for showing off your camper!
Thank you for sharing your design.
Listening to your discussion of the “alternatives” it occurred to me that the take up shaft/motor could actually be mounted on the floor with straps going over a roller at the top and down to the floor. The take-up strap could be hidden in the wall. And the motor would be solidly mounted and out of sight.
only thing to keep in mind you whould double the load on each of the 4 point in the seling.
@Rusty72501 I really like this idea, but are you thinking to put the motor/shaft in one corner of the floor, run the straps for the far side up the wall, over a roller in the top corner, across the ceiling to another roller, then down to the bed frame? Because that would be a really long strap, with a lot of opportunities for problems. Or did you have another idea?
Very good overall design!
One thing I think I would do different is mount the motor and pipe up on the ceiling so you don’t have the motor going up and down and having to figure out how to deal with the cord.
There’s a several reasons not to do that:
First, if you do that, you have the shaft with straps wound up above the bed/mattress which prevents you from going all the way up. You have to leave room for the straps to spool and the motor. So you loose about 3-4 inches.
Second, you would then have to mount the motor and shaft to the wall/roof which means more hardware, you would have to have some wall mounted bearings and a motor mount.
You would have to mount it in the center overhead, otherwise it would be in the corner so you would have 90deg pulling angles instead of 180 (which counter each other). 90deg pulling angles wouldn’t negate eachother so you’d have to get a much stronger shaft.
Also that would mean if you ever needed extra room, you couldn’t easily disconnect the bed and remove it.
Lastly if your battery died with it down, you couldn’t use the strap mounts to lift the bed up and spin the ratchets to lock it to the ceiling.
…a lot of thought went into all the pros and cons. I assure you there’s method bending my madness 😅
@@bren5279 well I have plenty of room and height so that’s no concern, this is a dedicated camper build so the bed will stay permanently.
My thought was to build a small box along the ceiling to cover shaft and motor, I am not the first to think of this I am sorta copying a build that was done .
My truck has an 18’ insulated box and is 8’ wide around 7’ high inside.
@@bren5279 as far as the loads on the shaft, this is an easy thing to address, it just needs a support bearing in the middle so the loads are not just on the ends of the shaft.
@@bren5279 I don’t follow you when you say if the battery died I couldn’t use the strap mounts…..why couldn’t I? I would think it would be better if the straps were both fixed to the ceiling, only for my design I am going to incorporate a manual back up, probably with a drill…..
@@bren5279 here a link to an example of what I was talking about. Seeing as how I have yet to build anything maybe you could look and give me a bit of feedback?
Thanks.
ruclips.net/video/BzIKehEFsVk/видео.html
Can someone screenshot the parts list for this? I tried to download it but it doesn't work! Great build!
Awesome video, and super explanation! Thank you!
Thanks for sharing. Great information
you have my follow for this walk through
That's what I was looking. I love your strap elevated bed. Thank you
Oh BTW did I miss you share the length width height of your rig. It’s the perfect size! Hello from BC 🇨🇦
Beatiful job, you said you put fill which. Is the nice black look, you you explain what kind of filler you put on it and where you got it. Thanks for helping your amazing. John Erickson
Drive pipe on the ceiling with a belt to 2" output with 2-4 infinite movable snatch block pulleys could lift or pull everything you could fit in there for about $1500, 2500 with remote control and limit switches
Thank you very much for making this video.
I was just going to throw an air mattress in there, but THIS one i really want to build
Great build, thank you! Would be interesting to know if you could do this with separate smaller front and rear motors, able to work independently, to enable leveling the bed without leveling the whole van.
Great bed lift. You might not be happy with plywood as a base..... most bases are slats or something so they breathe (your body sweats moisture into the mattress, slats allow it to shed that moisture so you don't mold). If you aren't spending a lot of nights in it there probably isn't a problem.... but if you are going to live in it or stay a lot in it, it COULD become problematic.
I am thinking something along these lines, but just going to power it with a cordless drill with pins to lock it in whatever position I need. I'll just use the same drill I'll use for the levelers and the motorcycle loader.
Yeah we’re going to use a holesaw to add a grid of ventilation holes
@@bren5279 I'm sure that'll work great. Pretty sure moisture will vent through a hole just as well as slots. Of course it's been a few months so now I need to re-watch your vid 😀 to remind myself your exact setup.
About the strap fixing, you actually dont need to have 2 parts, you can keep a slit and have one strap go from one end, through the slit to the other end. easier to 'calibrate' as well. when rolling up, the 2 straps just roll on each other in a single reel
Nice work friend. Ty for sharing.
I really enjoyed the video. Can we get a look at the finished product as well as anything you learned from then to now about it?
Could you just flip the 2x4 brackets upside down and not run a 2x4 between the walls for enough support for the catches? Awesome build!
Ok, if you could do a run through of the mini split. I'd appreciate it. Thanks
I just built an almost identical system but i used 4 independent motors near the floor under a cabinets the straps come up to the roof over rollers i have a slat roof so its all hidden in the roof and wall.
My bed frame is 1.25in x 0.75in steel tubing with expanded steel mesh on the bed side and stainless on the bottom. I use a 3.5in high density latex mattress in side a protector.
I'm using 4 nema 23 steppers with 50:1 gear boxes and encoders. The brains are a esp32 with 5 buttons for up down and 3 presets.
Also made is work with home assistant and has a simple web interface the lets you tilt the bed..
Sounds really interesting, would be good to see a short video of it on your channel if you ever get the chance in future 👍
Hi Bren, great video! I have one question about how to securely attach the end of the nylon webbing to the shaft. Greatly appreciated!
Thank you for the great video & all the valuable information. One question why no a dry compost toilet?
Excellent Video 👍. Thanks!
Great build, thanks a lot for sharing! Can you please provide some insights into how durable the construction turned out (for you)? My particular area of interest would be: 1) worm gear/drive; from specs this seems to be a well-picked motor, but max. load is limited AFAIK 2) drive shaft; diameter doesn't look that big to me, does synchronization of the 4 strings stay well over time? 3) Frame, in particular wether it twists (or doesn't).
I really like the layout of your camper and smart thinking with mounting the tanks underneath, could you possibly give a run down of how you've got the water setup sorted ? Pumps and lines ect, explain how the grey water works and stuff, seems this part always goes amiss on videos, your video is awsome ! I love the table design you've got for your sink, nice dude !
Thanks. You're a legend for making this 👌
Great info, I just wish I mounted my 4K TV in portrait mode. 😢
Fantastic build
I think it's the best project, thanks for the 3d model and parts list. Unfortunately the amazon list is almost empty. I think the biggest problem with the system is how to safely block the straps from slipping and protect them from threadbaring. It would also be better to ensure more ventilation to the mattress. Anyway, nice work!
Yeah sorry every time I update it the items change so it’s impossible to keep it always up to date. It’s all reasonably easy to find stuff.
I haven’t had any problems at all with the straps, and I ended up adding small track hooks for stops. Yep need to add holes for ventilation for sure
@@bren5279 great video! Will you do another video soon? Thank you for sharing!
Perfect system. Thank you
That's pretty slick 👍🏾👍🏾
Look at IGUS cable chain for cord management.
Thanks for the video, looks like a great job, I'm wondering could the webbing be a single line running through a slot in the bar? Then the motor would wind it up... It would be doubling the webbing in the coil so maybe not possible. Im In the middle of a van conversion and thinking about the euroloft but the bank balance is getting tighter and tighter!
Super nice solution for the bed, but I'm not 100% sure on how you made the holders on the wall. Did you only cut away the handles? I like that you was able to bolt them straight into the wall and keep the strap adjustment
FINALLY a proper video of how to do this. I do have a question. I'm a huge fan of Rhino products but am unable to find Rhino brand by the foot or yard. Do you have a source for Rhino by the foot or yard? Or did you buy straps and disassemble them? Thank you.
Yeah you just use the regular whole straps and use the ratchet part to mount to the wall (taking it apart to remove the handle)
This is awesome, this is exactly what I want to do in my van. Thank you for providing all the information. Especially with the Worm Drive. I was wondering how many RPMs to use. 50 RPM seem right. Thank you
Yeah the 50rpm is a hair on the slow side, but once you put the weight of a mattress and blankets on it, that’s probably about as fast as you’ll go without stepping up to a bigger heavier motor. If you wanted to go faster you can also use a slightly larger shaft to start.
Nice looking build, and bed is sweet! Think i might try it with 2"+ wide straps? Any issues with heat if the bed is in up position and ceiling lights are on? Seems this powered lift bed is the way to go!
My magnum opus design is exactly like yours, except the bar is on the ceiling on one side instead of underneath the bed. I'm going to have a huge skylight in the ceiling that will let me sleep under the stars in winter, so it has to raise the bed with me and one other person in it. I was always scared of getting my fingers caught in the rope as its rolling under the bed, so the top has to remain stationary in comparison to the bed. This design requires the location of the bar to be attached to the box instead of the bed.
Great Job!
please update the description with links to the parts used!
I have several times, the problem is Amazon links quickly go out of date or change :(
Really nice. thanks.
Do you have a link to the motor?
Happy Jack is less than the bed lifts you can buy similar to the ones that go in the Revel vans, believe it or not! Up to 3k US. And they're on backorder!
I've been trying to source the same motor you're using in Ireland, but can't seem to find anything that will ship to Ireland, at least for a reasonable price.
From a close up in the video I see the details are:
Model: ZD1633R
Power: 100W
Voltage: 12V
Rated Speed: 50RPM
Rated Torque: 8N.m
Reduction ratio: 61:1
If anyone may be able to link me to something similar from any European based site it would be greatly appreciated!
Excellent! Can I please ask how you attached your bolts to the top of walls? Thank you in advance.
Great bed lift system - this is what I’ve been looking for
Thank you
do you have a link to the motor or the specs?
Great job did you say what size worm drive ? , if so I did not catch it , do you have a link to it , thanks
What Shaft and Motor do you use exact? Could you share the spezifications?
Thanks for sharing,
Does the motor lift the bed easily with the mattress on it, how much does your bed weigh?
Where did you purchase the motor. Is the motor rated 8 NM
A MUST to CHECK OUT......
DIY Van Bed Lift for $1,000! | Elevator Bed Electronic Lift System
I am copying your design, but I used 15 series t-slots because I couldn't find your same 80/40 sized t-tract you used on the outside of your frame anywhere that wasn't immensely expensive. Turns out the 15 series is a lot heavier than i expected. Do you have any feel for how much weight the motor you used would lift? I would estimate that my frame would end up weighting somewhere in the neighborhood of 100# Thx
Well Done! Can you share where you had your tanks made?
I had them made at BlueGrey plastic fabrication in NC. They did a fantastic job. But if it’s too much to have them made and shipped or too far away to drive you may be able to find some plastic weld places locally.
Great job using that T-Slot
Where did you find the lengths of it (8ft ??)
I’d love to make mine out of it but can’t find it locally
Any help would be greatly appreciated 👍👍
Can you tell me how you bolted the modified ratchet strap to the frame of the trailer please?
This was amazing could you share the parts list and where you got them? Do you have a video of how the made this bed as you made it and what you learned as you were making this. This is exactly what I want to build, you are genius and a perfectionist. Again the parts that you got for this I have never seen so would really like to know. Thanks so very much.
Thanks! Unfortunately my computer crashed and I lost the actual detailed parts list, but if you click the sketchup link, there’s a general parts list in the description. You can use the sketchup 3D file to get all the exact measurements of all the aluminum Tslot and order it off Misumi. That or just build whatever bed frame you want (wood steel aluminum etc) and just mount the motor and shaft part to that.
Just wondering if you have a updated parts list?? The Amazon one has one part on it
Could you use an impact gun? weld to lug nut to shaft? Something along lines of scissor jack? Or ratchet all the way up no tension but tied off with some sort of safety line?
I date the big girls so I would still have a vertical e-track and 2x4s for the bed platform support..
Great work
How have the straps held up long term, the ones ive looked at here in the uk all mention thete not designed to lift load so i just wondered if uve had any problems in the last year.
I wonder how the bed can stay in position when you stop the motor? Is it a feature of the motor gear?