Van Life | Automatic Bed Lift Using Electric Linear Actuators

Here’s a more detailed explanation of my remote controlled electric bed lift. This is a more reasonably priced method of having a hideaway bed in a camper van or toyhauler. I found the company Progressive Automations, and they make something called Linear Actuators. Essentially think of a gas strut, except these are electric so they never lose strength over time and can operate remotely. It’s important to understand they have an almost endless variety of actuators for size, strength, etc. so you can use these for all kinds of projects. They are currently used in projects like car doors and trunks but if you’re creative you can have cool one-of-a-kind projects like mine.

I used the PA-04 linear actuators with the Hall effect. What that means is that I can hook up 4 actuators to a single controller, the model I used was the FLTCON-4. Then all of your actuators operate simultaneously and to the exact same lengths. The bed raises to the ceiling with the push of a button. The LCD controller allows 4 manual presets for height. So I programmed “#1” to be lowered all the way. “#2” is 10” higher than that. “#3” raises the bed 17.5”. And “#4” brings the bed to the ceiling at a height of 22”. If the bed is at the ceiling I can push #1 on the controller and walk away and a minute later the bed is ready to lay on.

The website to check out these products is
Progressiveautomations.com

For a 10% Discount on your order use code THEBIKEDOG