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.
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.
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I have a loaded Airstream trailer and I'm not afraid to use it!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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I have a loaded Airstream trailer and I'm not afraid to use it!
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....
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?
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Bed change 
, and they have to go.
... then send him to his own bed! 
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