DIY Sharan camping conversion version #3

This is my third Sharan camping conversion that aims to improve on my previous versions. My main aim was to have as much storage space below the bed, so I don’t have to move so many items around when ready to sleep. Here is my entire process with pictures.

Remove the boot floor – more storage space + you can use it as the bed platform

My Sharan (2013) has a double boot floor. You can easily remove it and use it as the bed platform – saving you the hassle of building one yourself. As it’s from the same car, it will fit perfectly in between the wheel arches. It has two wings – one bigger in the back and two smaller in the front – these are handy if you want to reach anything underneath.

You can also turn it around (front to back) and have the winds open differently, should that suit your needs more (see images below).

How to remove Sharan’s (or Touran’s) boot floor

It is held in place only by two screws roughly in the middle of the floor. Be careful not to lift and pull it too much, because they tend to snap off (that’s how I learned where they are…). Unscrew those and you can just lift the entire platform up and remove it. Don’t worry about not having the exact tool for the screws – just find a screwdriver that will just about fit the hole and you can unscrew them easily.

Now you’re ready to build a frame that will hold the boot floor as your new bed platform – here are some pics of how I did it.

What are the benefits of using the boot floor instead of the usual plywood?

• you don’t have to pay for it – it’s already in your car – all you need to do is take it out
• it’s already made to perfectly fit your car’s shape
• it’s already foldable – without any hinges, and therefore folds completely flat, creating a solid, gap-free 100% flat surface without any bumps
• it folds in two places – giving you better access to anything underneath it
• it’s already upholstered – and matches the rest of your Sharan’s interior
• it’s much lighter than plywood + it’s part of the car already, so no added weight
• by removing it, you’ll gain much more storage room – especially in the hidden compartment at the back of the boot
• it already has a handle that folds flat too – doesn’t get in the way
• it’s solid enough for screws, so you can fit other things into it if you need to

ⓘ It’s also available as a spare part – just search for part number: 7N0863463A – but of course, you don’t need to as it’s already in your car. Here’s what I’m talking about – the perfect bed platform, ready, just waiting to be used for your camping conversion.

Bed Frame

Whereas my previous conversions were mainly about simplicity – using as little external material as possible, without having to build a frame to hold the bed, this one is all about the bed frame. In order to have more storage below the bed, I had to lift the entire bed by about 10cm. This allowed for standard plastic storage crates to sit neatly below it.

As I have removed the boot floor, I now have even more storage space as the boot extends towards the floor too. My Sharan is on run-flats, so I don’t have a spare tire that would get in the way.

You can build the bed frame out of standard timber, I have used 2x4cm timber for the main frame and 1cm thick timber for diagonal supports (so it doesn’t tilt front/back).

I have also removed this bracket behind the middle row of seats – it was serving as a storage area, but it was directly in the way of the bed frame + you can store more there without it:

Steel brackets hold it together. Don’t forget to attach it securely to the boot floor/chassis, you don’t want it flying around in case of an accident – I have used the leftover holes after the screws that held the storage bracket (above) in place, using leftover steel bits I had lying around (3rd image below). And try not to block any sections of the car you will need to get to – like the AdBlue filler cap.

I use bungee cords on the rear end of the bed frame to keep it in place:

Handy tip – the two brackets at the end of the boot are handy, but harder to get to with the frame in. To make them easily reachable, insert a bigger carabiner into each one. They’ll work the same, but you can find them even in the dark + hooking anything into them is much easier.

Once you have the frame ready, you can put the boot floor on top of it:

As for the second part – the bit over the middle seats (green above), there are multiple ways of doing it. I first tried to build it as a trap door (wing) on hinges, but that was fine when the bed wasn’t made up, but I wasn’t able to close it (to be able to put the seats up) once the mattress was on the bed. And it would block the rear-view mirror too.

Instead, I chose to create three pull-out pieces of timber with legs that slide under the bed when not needed and the plywood platform on top of them slides underneath the rear platform.

Required tools

• A power drill/screwdriver
• A saw/power saw
• sandpaper
• measuring tape + pencil
• screws
• pliers

Video summary

How about seeing the whole thing in action? BTW, the setup is now so easy to control, I can do it single-handed! 😀