LEts make more space

Van Murphy Bed system installation 

Pre installation notes: 

● The Van Murphy Bed system is designed to be flexible and easily modified by the end user to give them more options throughout the installation of your build

● The installation of the system requires some intermediate skills like using a square, drilling through steel and using rivets 

● Walls can be finished prior to installation of studs 

● Sides of the ceiling should be open and available to install the top plate before the ceiling is finished 

● Important aspect of the stud installation is that the stud is square to the floor and plumb the adjacent stud. (keep in mind a level will not tell you this because your vehicle will not be level) 

Installation of top plate: 

Top plate will be installed on the ceiling body ribs, parallel to the side of the truck. Top plate can be installed approximately 2 to 4 inches from the side of the truck. This distance will vary based on the model of truck and your needs. 

With most installs the top plate will “float”(extend past the last rib) at the back of the truck and you will install your back L bracket and stud in that area. The top plate can extend up to 12 inches past the rib and support the stud and L bracket with no difficulty. 

1. - Hold the top plate up to the van ceiling ribs ( magnets work great to hold the plate in place) and mark two rivet hole locations on the top plate for every van body rib. Take care not to mark any location where the van rib has a pre-existing hole, as the rivets won’t work. 

● We use Applied Magnets® 2" x 1/4" (50.8 mm x 6.35 mm) Strong Neodymium Disc Magnet Grade N4 magnets from Amazon to help position the top plate and mark holes. Another idea we use is to assemble the stud, lower foot and L bracket and use that as part of the support to mark your top plate. Here’s a trick for the magnets, take 2 inch gorilla tape and cover the magnets leaving a 2 inch tab so they’re easier to pull off and easy to clean. These are very helpful in the entire building of your van. 

2. - Drill top plate holes, 17/64” bit, 2 holes at each rib location of the top plate. (deburr and paint each hole) 

Installation of top plate co: 

3. - Take your pre-drilled top plate, put it in the location you have marked and “tack” it up temporarily with 2 or 3 self tapping screws to hold it in place while you mark the rivet hole locations on the ribs. Drill 17/64” holes in the ribs based on the top plate template. (deburr and paint holes) 

● Be careful not to drill too deep and puncture the exterior of the vehicle!!!! 

4. - You’re now able to install the top plate with the provided rivets. Remove the temporary screws, drill out the 2-3 holes, paint and rivet. 

Attach L bracket to top of stud: 

1. - Rivet the “L” bracket to the backside of the stud with provided rivets, lining up the pre-drilled holes in the stud and bracket. 

● (as a option, you can re-drill and place the L bracket up to 1” down from the top, if necessary) 

● (as a option, you can install the L bracket to the face of the stud, if necessary)

2. - Install the adjustable foot into the base of the stud using the ⅜”x ⅞”-24 bolts provided, leaving the bolts loose for foot adjustment. Make sure to install the provided lock washer and then a flat washer on each bolt. 

Attach L bracket to top of stud continued: 

“L” bracket attaching to stud 

“L” bracket to top plate installation: 

The location of your studs determine the length of your bed. 

● Generally studs are 5’ to 6’ apart 

● Since you will be providing your own bed deck for this project, it’s important that you choose quality material. We prefer 9 ply Baltic birch or bamboo, but high-quality ¾” material is important! 

● Your bed deck can hang over the bracket arm as much as a quality material you choose will allow, typically 4” to 10” is acceptable 

1. - Hold “L” bracket in the desired location, clamp it in place and making sure the bottom bracket is clear from any obstructions 

● While determining the location of your stud against the wall, keep in mind it’s a good idea to leave some space between the stud and the finished sidewall (⅛”-¼”). This will ensure they’ll be no squeaking from movement. 

2. - Using the “L” bracket as template, drill (2) 17/64” holes in the top plate, deburr and paint. (see photo next page) 

3. - Install rivets. 

Lower bracket location and installation: 

1. - With the top of the stud fastened, you can now mark and install the bottom adjustable foot. 

● The bottom of the stud must be perpendicular to the top plate and should be at a 90° angle to the floor in both directions. 

● The most important part about this step is that the two studs are parallel to each other on their side of the van and the stud is square to the floor. 

● Keep in mind levels will do you no good in this particular installation, the truck is never level. 

● Always double check the areas you’re drilling into to be sure you’re not going to hit anything important, like water lines or power wire 

2. - Use (4), 2½”x¼”-20, ⅜” drive self-tapping screws, to secure the foot to the floor.

3. - Remove the ⅜” foot to stud bolts, put thread lock on each bolt and reinstall. Tighten the bolts to at least 40 foot pounds. 

4. - Repeat this process for all studs 

● Studs on opposite sides of van do not have to be directly opposite each other during installation

Murphy bracket and arm assembly: 

1. - Fastened the brackets to the desired stud height with the 5/16”x1¼”-18 bolts and 5/16” lock washers provided. Brackets on the same side of the van must be the same height. Repeat for all brackets. 

● You will use a 9/16” socket with at least a 9 “ extension to reach inside the bracket. usually ⅜” drive works best because of the thickness of the socket. 

● Notice that there are four holes on the backside of the bracket, this allows an additional 1” of movement flexibility. 

2. - Insert bed deck arm with curved end of arm down, matching the contour of the bracket edge. Insert the provided ½” stainless steel pin. Repeat for all brackets. 

Bed deck and stiffer bar installation: 

● The size and shape of the bed decks may vary according to the end users preference. Example; if you would like to have the end of the bed designed to fit the contour of the van door. 

● Keep in mind that as you move the bed location up/down, that will change the bed deck configuration and you may not be able to use the lower deck in the upper positions. 

● We suggest if you are going to move your bed up and down to make it so it fits in the highest position then it will always fit in the low position as well. 

● This is a picture of a bed deck that’s contoured to the back door of a sprinter truck, notice the handle, you can use this to pull yourself into the van easily, when the bed is in the up position.The other opening is to have access to the door lock when the bed is down. 

● Beds over 85” may require an optional third stud to accommodate longer lengths or loads of over 400 pounds. 

● We recommend at least a 2” gap between the bed decks, when they are in the down position, to help mitigate pinching. 

● The gap also allows you to fold up the other half of your bed while you’re sitting on one side, just makes it easier.

Measuring for bed deck: 

1. - Measure the width with the arm in the flat position from the location you want the beds coming together to flush with the front face of the bracket, again leave room between the two beds to make it easier to operate and not pinch fingers. Your mattresses will fill in that space and you won’t feel any gap below when using a 2” gap. 

● We generally round off all of the edges of the bed deck and filler deck, wood surfaces 

Example; on a Sprinter with a bed deck up to 26” off the floor, a good width is about 23½”. That leaves about 2” between the opposite bed deck. 

2. - Measure for the filler deck board that sits on top of the Murphy bracket.

● This board fills in the gap and is 2¼” from the outside edge of your bed deck; that gap is designed to allow the bed deck to fold up and overlap into the storage position; this is an important measurement. 

● On the top of the bracket, there is a 2” x 3¾”“ flat surface. Measure from the front edge of that surface to the wall of the van leaving about a ¼” gap between the wall and the board, approximately 8” depending on your stud installation. 

3. - Cut your decks 

4. - After you cut the filler boards, you can then mark the locations to notch out the board to fit around the stud. After you notch out the filler deck, you can mark out the hole for the welded bolt, this is the angle adjustment for the bracket and is used to level the bracket as it is installed higher onto the stud. We usually use a 1¼” hole to allow room to adjust the bolt as needed. 

Attaching the bed deck to the arms: 

Fasten the bed deck to the arms with the Provided 2”x ¼”-20 furniture bolts. 

● After you cut and bevel the edges of your decks, clamp everything down to make sure everything is square before drilling the deck and installing the furniture screws. 

● Drill (3) holes for each arm in the bed deck. Use a 5/16” drill bit, be careful not to blow out the top surface of your bed deck material. You may consider using a pilot bit ⅛” first and then drilling from the top with the 5/16”. Install the ¼”x ⅝”-20 T-nut in each hole, from the top of the bed decks. Repeat for each arm. 

Installing stiffener bar: 

● After the two arms are mounted to your bed decks, you will install the stiffener bar. This bar is designed to stiffen the bottom of the deck and minimize deflection. We generally install this bar within 10 inches of the center of the two queen beds. The bar is designed to sit on the ¾” side (vertical), but can also be installed (flat) on the 1½” side. The bed will deflect a little more when the bar is installed flat. 

● The stiffener bar has holes every 6 inches and we generally use every other hole (we’ve furniture bolts and T-nuts for this process). If the arms of your bed are further apart, simply center the bar between the two arms to install. If the arms of your bed are narrower than the stiffener bar, cut it to size, so it fits between the two arms. 

● Once the stiffener bar location is determined, repeat the installation process for the T-nuts, utilizing the first, last, and every other hole. Use 5/16” bit.

● Tighten all T-nuts until the flange pulls down flush with the top of the bed decking 

Install narrow filler deck: 

● This is the narrow piece of wood that fills in the area on top of the bracket next to the sidewall of your van. We do not use any kind of stiffener bar on this part of the deck because there’s no weight that stays on this section. If you find you’d 

like a stiffener bar for this area, one can be provided at additional charge .

● Fasten the filler deck to the top of the bed bracket, using the two provided holes in the top of the bracket or a magnet with a counter sink hole in the center of it. We bore out a countersunk hole the thickness of the magnet (in the underside of the filler deck) then screw the magnet to the filler deck. We do that if we’re going to move the decks in different locations or access things below that filler deck. 

Gas Shock installation: 

1. - Install a gas shock ball joint in the arm and bracket, in the welded nuts. Attach the gas shock to one of the brackets/arm. 

● These gas shocks are important to help with the weight of the bed deck from dropping down quickly. 

● Stronger gas shocks are available upon request and will be an additional charge.

● One gas shock per bed 

● The black painted cylinder part of the shock needs to be mounted to the arm. The rod portion is mounted to the bracket. 

CAUTION- these gas shocks are there to help slow the drop of the bed, but they will not control it completely. That is up to the end user to allow the bed to come down softly to help avoid injury