KevinRollin

Whoa, there are extra ones? Like enough to relocate the seat?

Do you mean gaps at the edges? Or voids underneath (above) the headliner?

Brilliant! You mention cutting the two back panels, I presume for width. Did you cut for length too? Or are your front seats far enough forward? I can't quite tell from the block of leftover foam riding shotgun... Also, did you need to put any sort of plank or support on the folded seats? Or just threw the mattress down as-is?

On my van, there were threaded holes everywhere. Some I never found the right size, but there were at least three on each wall, around what would be the windows in your wagon, that fit the same M10x1.5 thread that the cargo tiedowns go into. Yours unfortunately are behind the plastic panels, and I think two of them are where the seatbelts mount. A bed covered two of my tiedowns, so I mounted those to the wall. Grabbed a couple extra bolts from Home Depot to hold more.

Front seat on whichever side the box is installed can slide all the way to the rear. At factory seat height, like on the passenger side shown here, seatback can recline about 3-4 notches. My driver seat is raised 2” on suspension lift blocks, so it reclines even further.

Front two compartments are open from both sides, so longer items will fit. Front two compartments will hold 2x standard milk crates each, and the outboard crates protrude few inches for easy access, but are held in place by the sliding doors. 

Milk crates or Muscle Rack / Insta Crates fit underneath. 5 compartments, usually I have 3 totes and 4 milk crates.

View from front and rear quarters. It’s a mirror image; the box is reversible to it’ll fit on either side. Two sets of tiedown holes drilled.

Some details and photos on the bed platform, which perhaps will help someone trying to visualize their own.

Front seat on whichever side the box is installed can slide all the way to the rear, and recline about 3-4 notches.

Front two compartments are open from both sides, so longer items will fit. Front two compartments will hold 2x standard milk crates each, and the outboard crates protrude few inches for easy access, but are held in place by the sliding doors.

Views above / quarter:

Better photos of the platform inside, from the rear:

Build thread: Construction photos:

SOLD Have to sell my van (moving abroad) and since it might end up at CarMax, I’m offering the bed for sale separately. Built from 22/32 5-layer maple plywood, it is 75”x25” and about 14” tall. Space underneath for milk crates or folding bins. All joints are Kreg pocket screwed and glued. Visible portions painted black, top covered in indoor/outdoor carpet. Handed cut in the ends to haul in and out, or reverse from one side of the van to the other. Holes drilled to use the factory tiedown holes, and I’ll provide M10 15mm hex head hardware to anchor. Available in Washington, DC immediately. You’ll need to pick up, though I drive up and down US 29 in Maryland and could meet along there.

Very cool! Looking forward to seeing more San Francisco craziness! Have you considered building a bed with some storage underneath? Or do you use the whole 4x7’ cargo area sometimes?

Once again using the City Dweller’s Modular Workbench, aka Rolling trash bins, I installed carpet on the bed platform with 3M 77 spray adhesive, and staples.

Photos:

Painted the portions of the box that would be visible, to keep with the dark interior. Top surface will be carpet.

SOLD! Moving abroad and had to sell. Since the forums have been so helpful to me, I’ll continue documenting the build to this point.

SOLD Moving abroad and have to sell... ? 2018 Ford Transit Connect Cargo van, with under 7,000 miles. Yes, under 7k miles - plenty of warranty left. Located in Washington, DC Metro area. Plated in Maryland. I’ve had it less than a year. I’m the second owner. Previous owner added four windows in the rear panels and doors, I added sliding windows in the side doors. Features: Silver metallic paint - something other than white! OEM sport roof rack rails and crossbars. Black bumpers and body cladding. Factory backup camera in dash Factory Bluetooth & SYNC stereo Cruise control Vinyl seats Passenger seatback folds back into tray/desk Other mods (mostly non-permanent) include: Lifted driver seat on 2” suspension lift spacers. Plywood bed/storage platform - can be installed on either side. Mods documented in this work-in-progress thread: Silver road trip adventure van No damage, and a disappointing lack of wear inside, since I didn’t really get to take the trips I was hoping for! It’ll be a great base for a new owner to finish building it out. $20,000. I can send the CarFax I got a year ago to a motivated buyer, or the VIN if you’d prefer to look it up yourself. I have tons more photos from when it was new-to-me, and now.

Especially with larger vans, I see a lot of builds with 2x4 frames, and then plywood on top of that. We’re not building houses! I’m using 3/4” (23/32”) plywood. I may have been able to go slightly thinner, especially if I had more closed-end boxes. Limiting factor may well be how thin a plywood will accept screws. I’m using a Kreg Jig to make pocket holes, and 1 1/4” screws. Probably could have gone with 1” screws. I added a single 1x5 brace spanning the middle cubby for some stability, to keep the bed from “trapezoiding” for lack of a better term. Torsional stability.

Finally going to post some photos of my bed-box project. Ended up with 5 compartments, each holding either a folding tote or 1-2 milk crates.

Vintage Technologies sells many different clamp rings. They can help you calculate the right one based on your insulation. I just went with one that would accommodate the plastic panel, because I don’t envision insulating the upper doors.

Glad it worked out for you! My seat doesn’t adjust up/down at all, so 2” worked for me. If I had the height-adjustable version, 1.25” might be the way to go, but you’re right about the adjustable seats coming forward as they go up - I saw that in other trims that I test drove.