When I started on this project over a year ago, one of the first questions I asked was, how long does it take to build a camper van? Today I understand that there are so many variables involved that it is an impossible question to answer. Big variables include things like how much money do you have to throw into your van, and how many hours a day are you willing or able to work on it? But even more than that are all the decisions (and to a lesser extent, mistakes) that are made along the way.

Case in point: the bed.

I don’t know how long it took me to build my first bed. For weeks, I toiled over what style of bed to make. Should I build a permanent bed, or one that, in some form or fashion, needs to be converted every night. I had to decide if I wanted the bed to run sideways, or front to back. Did I want something with storage underneath? Should I make it lift up, on hinges? I finally decided on one of those “slide out” or “slat” beds that extends from a bench to a bed. (You can read the post and watch the video HERE) I watched a hundred videos on how to make one. I even designed one on the computer, just to make sure it would all work. I then spent at least a week trying to decide what type of mattress to order. The first one was too firm, so I added a second, less-firm topper. I eventually built it and slept on it multiple times until, last month, it broke. The biggest reason it broke was because I built the entire thing out of 2×2 lumber with 1×3 slats.

Lessons were learned.

That’s why the question about how long it takes to build a camper van is so difficult to answer.

On Sunday, I built what we’ll call Bed 2.0. I found some plans for a bench made of 2x4s online, and just altered the dimensions to turn it into a bed. The bed turned out to be heavy — almost too heavy. It’s probably 80lbs worth of 2x4s, which in all honesty is too heavy for many vans (mine’s a 3/4 ton cargo van so I’m not too worried about it).

But where the first bed took months to make all those decisions and do all that planning, this bed took a day to build. Less than a day, really. I bought the wood at Home Depot, built the bed, and installed it all on the same day. So that’s why I never know what to say when people ask how long it takes to build a camper van. It probably takes a lot less time to build your second one.

This time around, I decided not to build a sliding/slat bed and instead I wanted a solid, stationary “bench.” Why? Because not once have I ever pulled out the slide on my old bed. I have always enjoyed the feeling of sleeping on a couch, and that’s essentially what I want to build. The expansion idea was in case my wife ever went camping with me in the van, but to date that hasn’t happened so instead of designing a bed for a scenario that might never happen, I decided to go with one that made the most sense for me right now. If she ever decides to come along on one of my adventures, we’ll throw a cot in there.

There are thousands of books and websites with free plans on how to build furniture out of 2x4s. I search Google Image Search for “2×4 bench” and this one on MoreLikeHome.net was one of the first ones that came up. It’s a really simple design that’s easy to build. I think I used five power tools (my chop saw, drill, impact driver, and router) although you could build it using basically any saw and a drill.

With the knowledge that a 2×4 stud is really 3×5″ by 1.5″, I did some simple math and modified their plans to make my 6-foot by 30-inch bed. My first plan was to scale the bench up to 6′ long, but the front leg of the bed would land where my fuel intake “bulge” is (see below). So, essentially what I did was build a 5′ long bench and with 6′ long 2x4s on top so that they would extend six inches over both edges. I’m neither a carpenter nor a scientist, but my official thinking here was “my head and feed don’t weigh that much.”

Using bench on MoreLikeHome.net as a guide and knowing the dimensions I wanted, here’s what I came up with:

Four Legs @ 9″
Four “front to back” supports @ 30″
Two Long Supports @ 54″
Seven top boards @ 6′

If you watch the video closely you’ll see I accidentally wrote down 46″ for the long supports instead of 54″. I mistakenly subtracted 3.5″ for each 2×4 there instead of 1.5″. I didn’t realize the mistake until I began putting the top on and realized how far they were sticking over each side. To fix the problem I recut two longer pieces, unscrewed everything, and put it back together. Oops.

After my last disaster I wanted this thing to be sturdy, so I went with 2x4s on top. I’m not sure this was the right decision. Don’t get me wrong, this thing is sturdy — you might be able to park a car on top of it. The trade off is weight. Using Google and Calc.exe, it looks like a 2×4 stud weighs 1.125lbs per foot. The top of my bed has 42′ of 2x4s (7 @ 6′) for a total of 47.25lbs. I looked up 1/2″ thick plywood and found it’s about 1.5lbs per square foot, so 6’x2.5’x1.5lbs = 22.5lbs — about half the weight, and probably just as strong. The price between the two options is negligible so, eh. Sometimes you just gotta pick a direction and start running.

As I mentioned in the video, to make the gaps between the 2x4s completely consistent, each one should have been 0.91″ apart. If you have watched a single second of any of my videos you know I never could have pulled that off. Instead, I used a strip of wood that was about 3/4″ thick (or .75″) and used it as a spacer. The last 2×4 has a slightly wider gap which is hidden behind the vertical cushion I lean up against. No one will ever see it and it doesn’t support any weight.

I’m planning on using this exact same design for my table/workspace, which will go across from the bed/bench. I’ll be using plywood for the top and the shelf to make it a little lighter.

If you want to check out the original plans, here’s a link to the MorelikeHome website. They have lots of cool plans and designs that look nice, are simple to build, and are completely free. Check them out! Link: https://www.morelikehome.net/2012/10/day-9-build-bench-with-2x4s.html

Here are the tools I used to build the bed. Again, I am not sponsored by Ryobi, I just bought into their battery system and none of their tools have let me down. They are inexpensive and non-intimidating. Also, that yellow color makes them easy to find in my messy workshop.

Ryobi Impact Driver (PSBID01): https://amzn.to/47gSwz7
Ryobi Drill (P215BN): https://amzn.to/3STuJB8
Ryobi Router (P601): https://amzn.to/423TKu5v
Ridgid Dual Miter Saw: https://amzn.to/3QOzJ7q
3M WorkTunes Safety Earmuffs: https://amzn.to/3Rckt5J

I think that’s it. If the question is how long does it take to find the right bed to build, that answer could be months. if the question is how long does it take to build this specific bed, the answer is one day.