Replacing The Twins With A Queen

[JLD1942]

Hi. We are thinking about replacing our twins with a queen. We have a '76 31' Sovereign with twin beds in the back. It is a good size space. Problem is we haven't the $$$ to have it done. I will have to do it myself. A friend built a Queen for his bedroom by creating a Queen box on top of a frame. It is a lot like the old waterbed frames some of you may have built in the '60s. Opps, I am dating myself. It works well and looks good in his bedroom. The box springs box is made of plywood and 1 x 4 that rests on top of the frame. The mattress is on top of course. I have questions about adapting this idea to the trailer.

1. I will secure all parts to the floor and each other, but does the box springs and mattress have to be secured as well?

2. If so, how do I secure them?

3. The vanity has to be moved to provide room along the far side of the Queen. Did anyone move it to the side near the foot of the bed by the door or extend it up and turn it into a closet?

4. The '76 Sovereign walls are padded. Will this have to go or can they stay and look O.K.? I don't plan to build a headboard or foot board.

5. (Probably should have been first ) Can you get a Queen mattress into a '76 Sovereign and then down and into the bedroom? If not, do we have to settle for a full size or two twins together? Is there room for two twins?)

6. The '76 Sovereign has lights over the head of each twin bed. Did you leave these, take them out, replace with other lighting, splice into the wiring and move them (that's what I would like to do but are both lights tied into one fuse )?

Last. Did anyone do something like this and manage to shift the under-the-bed bins provided in the '76 Sovereign to under the new Queen so the storage was not lost? Was that hard to do? Is it worth the trouble?

Thanks so much to anyone who takes the time to answer any or all of my questions. If anyone has done something like this, would you share pictures of your finished project? I would greatly appreciate it. Joan

[craftsman]

Hi Joan,
I had a 31' 76 Sovereign. I removed both twins and all the frame work with plans to do the same, but before it was completed I got an offer that I couldn't refuse. You can get a Queen mattress in but to keep any storage you're going to have to build it into the new bed frame, and I don't think you would have access from both sides. The padding around the walls in mine was attached with screws, so if it's old and unsightly you can take it down and make new. The backing was nothing but cardboard. I think you have to determine just how much space you have, layout everything to scale on paper and think through the building process. A simple frame joined at the corners is one thing but to build something that allows storage and access is going to take a lot more work. That's a lot of storage space just to lose. On the newer models the whole Queen bed is hinged at the head and lifts on gas filled struts as well as having drawers on each side.

[empresley]

Do a search for "bedroom conversion". It is a short thread with discussion you might gleem something from.

Also includes my photos: http://www.airforums.com/photos/brow...0&userid=14471

Send pm if you need details.

martin.

[JLD1942]

Thanks to you both. I will check out the site you mentioned emp. It sounds like I might lose more than I gain and open a whole can of worms. Wow, that new Queen on gas struts sounds incredible. Not something I am likely to turn out. :0)


thanks again Joan

[JLD1942]

Hi again. Just returned from your site empres and was impressed. Seems like a whole lot of work. I had invisioned something simpler. Your work looks very professional. I think I will stick with repairing the single I have so there is not so much cold air coming up from the bin under my bunk. Since you did all that work on a sovereign I am sure you are aware of the bin and the open hatch on the road side of the trailer. I have about a two inch gap between the wall and the bed. I have actually lost my paperback down into the hatch and had to get out of the trailer in the middle of the night to get it out. Lost my cell phone that way as well. It can get mighty drafty. I don't know why it happened. Who knows. Maybe the Jolly Green Giant slept on my side and warped the hardboard that serves as a surface for my mattress. I've tried sliding it back against the wall, but it fits fine at the end and won't budge at the head. Any ideas? Right now I roll up an extra blanket and stuff it into the space between me and the wall. Joan

[Caboose]

I own a 76-31 footer and this past summer I removed a full-size bed setup and built in a queensize matress. I followed some well documented posts on this forum and the job went well. The unit is now at home in Tennessee so I can't send any pictures. This past Saturday I took some pictures of the full-size bed set-up and planned on listing it in the classifieds as a freebie. The big problem is that this stuff has to be picked up fairly soon. If you're interested, you've got first dibs.

[smily]

You could use same approach for a Queen, I used a full size mattress.
The benefit of this approach is re-using exisiting compnents and matching the decor or hardware.
See below

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f46/...tory-7160.html

[ctalley316]

My husband and I live fulltime in our 25 ft Safari LS.
We have twins in the back and had the "gap" and "cold" issue as well.
We went to a Lowe's and purchased "Duct" insulation that is covered with silver on one side and sticky on the other and lined the compartment (outside) that is under our beds. Then we sealed the bottom of our beds with thin roll of cloth and then put a tape over that. We don't have to use blankets now to seal the drafts. It is quite cozy! We are in Upstate NY right now and are staying toasty warm.
Cindy

[windstream]

I did the opposite to my '75 AS SI when I removed the regular bed to get at a bad floor: I built twin beds, using much of the salvaged material. I solved the drafty, dusty hatch problem back there by building a plywood "cabinet" around the door. The port-side twin then was built over the cabinet. I installed hooks and a 12v light inside the cabinet and sunk a small, plastic toolbox into the floor. It's pretty handy, and I store all that I ever stored before inside.
The attached photo shows the cabinet work and bunk in progress.