Bed Change

[rainman]

I am new to the forum and was wondering if I could get some help/advice on changing the sleeping arrangements in my AS. We have a 29' Excella and love it except for the two single beds in the rear of the trailer. I would like to change over to a double, or a queen. I am wondering just how much is involved and where do you buy the bed. I have seen major appliance for sale but have not seen a bed listed with any of the dealers. Is this something I have to call and special order? Anyhow, any advice or "do not do's" would be greatly appreciated.

[Goin camping]

If you have rear single beds why not just lay a piece of plywood across the rear? If you have a nightstand between unscrew and remove. You can buy foam in any thickness or size so get the right size piece and have a king size bed.

[rainman]

That sounds like it would be the easiest fix, I was just trying to get the larger bed and not lose the use of the under bed storage. Thanks for the suggestion, it may be the best way to go.

[Goin camping]

DOn't forget you will have the area between the beds for a new storage area.

[Waynon]

That sounds like it would be easy, but there is a nightstand/dresser in between the beds and it would have to come out. And then the ends of the beds would stick out and not look right. Someone said there was an old thread where someone has already done this and posted pictures. The poster even wrote me that the pictures were posted, but I can't seem to find them. The twin beds are just TOO narrow , and they have to go.

Waynon

[panabax]

The PO of my 1984 34' limited did a REALLY POOR twin to queen conversion. The originallity was gone, the quality sucked, it looked like crap and so forth. Although some original parts remained, they were in unusual places.

I gutted the rear bedroom and built an aluminum frame for an RV sized queen bed (75" x 60"). Because the back and sides are curved, there is a "shelf" which surrounds the bed in the rear (actually the side of the bed) and on the left and right sides (the foot and head). I then built an aluminum frame to go accross the top, with 1/4" plywood topper. This is hinged at the rear to the frame and uses gas charged springs (like on the back windows of your SUV) to allow the bed to lift right up exposing a huge storage area underneath.

The floors were replaced with cork, so the "shelf" surrounding the bed is covered in a similar cork material.

It really turned out great and looks as good as anything else in the coach. It is permanent, but I have no desire to have rear twins, so that is OK with me.

If you like, I can post some pictures as I am sure my explanation was not very good.

Construction was easy. I used aluminum 1x2 and started at the rear. I just built a short frame (14" off the ground) far enough from the back of the coach to get 78" accross. I then came out 55" from there and built the same frame accross the front (the bed overhangs the frame in front by about 5"). The front is quite a bit wider than 78", so I built up the frame at the rear and cam straight forward to the wall of the mid bath on the curb side and the night stand on the street side. This side frame is about 12" above the top of the lower frame. I then did the same accross the back and made the hinged base out of the same 1x2 and 1/4" plywood. The base, hinged at the back, lifts right up.

You can get the short RV queen mattress from PPL motorhomes and probably from other on-line sources as well. You can then cover the exposed portions of the frame with whatever you like.

Panabax

[panabax]

Here are some pictures. They really don't do the conversion justice, but they are the best pics I have right now.

Panabax

[panabax]

Here's the head.

[panabax]

Here's the foot.

[panabax]

Here's the gas charged spring which makes opening and closing a snap.

[Foiled Again]

Think long and hard about the glories of a queen bed. It's a helluva lot harder to make than the twins. EVEN with a light weight mattress. The "walk around queen" in my 25ft FB must have all of 5 inches on the front side. Of course I'm not married... so that is an issue... but a twin should be big enough for spooning ... then send him to his own bed!

Seriously, the underbed storage under a queen is huge, but not terribly easy to get to even with the gas lift shocks. There are tradeoffs either way.

Paula Ford

[Goin camping]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

Think long and hard about the glories of a queen bed. It's a helluva lot harder to make than the twins. EVEN with a light weight mattress. The "walk around queen" in my 25ft FB must have all of 5 inches on the front side. Of course I'm not married... so that is an issue... but a twin should be big enough for spooning ... then send him to his own bed!

Seriously, the underbed storage under a queen is huge, but not terribly easy to get to even with the gas lift shocks. There are tradeoffs either way.

Paula Ford

Do the gas shocks on your bed have a release? I lifted my bed and it would not go down. Of course this all happened at 1:00am so I unhooked the shocks and went to sleep.

[rainman]

Wow, thanks for the pictures they help a lot. That looks very much like what I had in mind. Sounds like you are pretty happy with the outcome. I am going to start pricing the stock material and mattress. Thanks again for all the input I really do appreciate it, now the work begins....

[Waynon]

Hey Panabax -

Looks like you've done EXACTLY what I want to do. The shelves are a great touch and look nice. I'd sure like some more information about how you built them. When you use the aluminum tubing, how do you join it? How did you make the pattern for the shelf top? What kind of material did you use?

Also, did you lose the under (twin) bed storage access from the exterior on the one side? What did yo do about that?

Thanks,
Waynon

[CanoeStream]

An old trick from my kayaking days was to push less frequently used gear far into the bow and stern. I'd attach a rope or webbing strap to whatever sort of bag contained the gear to help me pull it out easily. You could use the same approach with a plastic bin if you don't always want to raise the bed.

[Happycampers]

Hello.. We are in the process of changing out the twins in the rear for a queen bed placed sideways with the head on the curb side.. at the head is the battery box and access to the back of the side bath.. we are using piston lifts for the platform and will build storage under..to accomplish at complete walkaround we shortened up the triple closet to a large double closet to give us the extra room we needed at the foot.. have obtained a side cabinet for curve from another A/S and it fits perfectly in the rear curvature.. our redo is taking us some time because we don't have to have it finished right away... hope to have new floor and bathroom redone and bedframe in next summer so we can try it out.. we measured many times and it will work great with a short queen..

[panabax]

Do the gas shocks on your bed have a release? I lifted my bed and it would not go down. Of course this all happened at 1:00am so I unhooked the shocks and went to sleep.

No release on the gas springs, but I have not had any trouble with them locking. The bed needs a pole of some sort to keep it up. The springs justy keep it from being too heavy to easily operate.

PanaBax

[panabax]

The shelves are a great touch and look nice. I'd sure like some more information about how you built them. When you use the aluminum tubing, how do you join it? How did you make the pattern for the shelf top? What kind of material did you use?

The aluminum tubing is, of course, riveted together. I did use larger (3/16") rivets most places. It is very sturdy.

The shelf was simply made by building the rectangular bed frame and pushing it as far back as it would go. It leaves curved spaces in the rear and on each side. I then used plywood to make the two sides and used 2x4 on the inside to secure it to the floor. I secured it directly to the new bed frame. I attached some aluminum angle to the side wall for a support bracket and then droped a piece of plywood in the top. Some small pieces of 2x4 on the inside of the side wall 3/4" down from the top made the shelf on the bed side so the top could sit right in flush with the side. Then just screw in to the alluminum on the exterior side and the 2x4 on the interier side and cover it with whatever you want.

The rear is done basically the same except the back wall comes up from the top of the bed frame behind where it hinges. The top is secured the same way as the sides. Once you have the aluminum bed frame constructed and in place, the construction of the side walls and shelves pretty much gets dictated by the space that's left. Be sure to leave a little room to tuck in comforter, etc. Also, I covered the side wall with pleather with some polyester filler so I also needed to leave room for the padding as well. I am completely satisfied with the way it turned out.

The patern for the top pieces was made with butcher paper. Very simple once the sides are built up.

Also, did you lose the under (twin) bed storage access from the exterior on the one side? What did yo do about that?

The storage is only accessible by liftiung the top. I considered trying to incorporate the original storage bins (as the PO had) but it would never have been right. I also could have easily made the front to open, but I opted for the single large storage space accessible through the top rather than trying to keep the front access (there is NO access to the sides as the bed and shelves span the complete width of the trailer).

PanaBax

[Bob Thompson]

I converted our Excella from twins to short queen. See Pics here:
http://www.airforums.com/photo...00&userid=3264

If you look close, I have included tape measure dimension in the photo's.

More supporting info here: http://www.airforums.com/forum...ses-15499.html

Enjoy!

[panabax]

The shelves are a great touch and look nice. I'd sure like some more information about how you built them. When you use the aluminum tubing, how do you join it? How did you make the pattern for the shelf top? What kind of material did you use?

The aluminum tubing is, of course, riveted together. I did use larger (3/16") rivets most places. It is very sturdy.

The shelf was simply made by building the rectangular bed frame and pushing it as far back as it would go. It leaves curved spaces in the rear and on each side. I then used plywood to make the two sides and used 2x4 on the inside to secure it to the floor. I secured it directly to the new bed frame. I attached some aluminum angle to the side wall for a support bracket and then droped a piece of plywood in the top. Some small pieces of 2x4 on the inside of the side wall 3/4" down from the top made the shelf on the bed side so the top could sit right in flush with the side. Then just screw in to the alluminum on the exterior side and the 2x4 on the interier side and cover it with whatever you want.

The rear is done basically the same except the back wall comes up from the top of the bed frame behind where it hinges. The top is secured the same way as the sides. Once you have the aluminum bed frame constructed and in place, the construction of the side walls and shelves pretty much gets dictated by the space that's left. Be sure to leave a little room to tuck in comforter, etc. Also, I covered the side wall with pleather with some polyester filler so I also needed to leave room for the padding as well. I am completely satisfied with the way it turned out.

The patern for the top pieces was made with butcher paper. Very simple once the sides are built up.

Also, did you lose the under (twin) bed storage access from the exterior on the one side? What did yo do about that?

The storage is only accessible by liftiung the top. I considered trying to incorporate the original storage bins (as the PO had) but it would never have been right. I also could have easily made the front to open, but I opted for the single large storage space accessible through the top rather than trying to keep the front access (there is NO access to the sides as the bed and shelves span the complete width of the trailer).

PanaBax