Suspended kids bed

Published 23rd April 2018
Updated 15th June 2018

I built a suspended kids bed for our one year old son. It fits the Mitsubishi L300 4WD, but our other campers as well. The bed is sized 50cmx120cm and is protected by a mosquito net.

On “Marktplaats” (the dutch Craigslist/Gumtree), I found an older model Phil & Teds Kiwi Traveller kids cot in a “like new” condition for only 15 euro’s. Probably because they are a pain in the ass to set up. These cots are perfect to convert in a kids bed because they are completely surrounded  with mosquito netting and have a side entrance.

Most of the poles aren’t needed and got removed. Only the horizontal straight poles stayed as they help keeping the roof up. The cot doesn’t come with a floor, so I made a 12mm thick floor. Also, the flimsy matras is replaced by a decent one, 10cm thick.

Mitsubishi L300 and L400 vans have gutters running along both sides of the ceiling. Excellent to hang the bed from. The suspension is made with rubberized hooks and rope. Rope guides on the bottom of the floor make sure the rope cannot slip off. The rope clips make it possible to lift or lower the bed a bit. The ceiling of the vans are a bit wider in front, so you need a bit more rope if you want to install the bed in the front. The sleeves which normally hold the poles are used to tie the top of the tent to the suspension hooks. Finally, all other unnecessary bits are cut off.

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