What's under the 20FB Bed?

[vanderwielen]

I've got an order for a 2022 20FB to be delivered in October. I'm planning a solar upgrade. So, the question I can't seem to find an answer is ... what is under bed in the 20FB and is it feasible to install the Solar components there, verses under a set in the Dinette. If anyone has done a conversion, you get extra credit for pictures.

[Carl n Lynn]

Originally Posted by vanderwielen

I've got an order for a 2022 20FB to be delivered in October. I'm planning a solar upgrade. So, the question I can't seem to find an answer is ... what is under bed in the 20FB and is it feasible to install the Solar components there, verses under a set in the Dinette. If anyone has done a conversion, you get extra credit for pictures.

Tons of storage space!!!!

[Iron Buckeye]

Originally Posted by Carl n Lynn

Tons of storage space!!!!

Waiting for mine to be delivered too.... Can the storage space be accessed by lifting the bed/mattress or only through the tiny access door?

[OTRA15]

Welcome to the forum, and to the great 20FB floor plan. Patrick Botticelli at Colonial Airstream in New Jersey does good "walk-through" videos, and the following 2020 model should be similar to yours:
https://youtu.be/KGHAUVOneKY

We have a 2014 FC20' with the same general floor plan, so the following "20-footer" thread may also be helpful for your research.
https://www.airforums.com/forums/f54...rs-127845.html

Good luck, and have fun!

Peter

[SYC2Vette]

Originally Posted by Iron Buckeye

Waiting for mine to be delivered too.... Can the storage space be accessed by lifting the bed/mattress or only through the tiny access door?

I converted mine (2017 20' FC/FB) to tilt up and here is a partial view of available and occupied space under the bed. I don't think this has been changed in newer models. Not really clear in the photo but there is enough room to put a storage bin like those shown sideways in front of the 2 bins and then slide it all the way to the left.

[Malia20]

Since its on order, one never really knows, but the front of the 20' has not changed in a long time. The battery leads come into the 20' at the forward wall under the bunk just street side of center. The positive/negative buss bars are there. In my '17 the converter is there but not sure about newer years. The solar pre-wire (yellow and green wires) comes in there as well so under the bunk is probably the best place for solar controller. See thread https://www.airforums.com/forums/f44...se-212545.html for a discussion of an install in a 2020 20' Bambi. I believe that Stephen had the top of the bunk lifted. I did it the hard way via the small door, great fun.

Good luck!
Fred

[Iron Buckeye]

Thanks for the photos! Looks great and that lift modification just jumped to the top of our list.

[PB_NB]

Our 22FB is similar in storage.

I used some of the space at the very front to install my big 250 ah Lithium battery and on the road side space, I put my 1500W inverter and battery monitor. I lost the space for 1 of the 4 plastic bins that came with the trailer.

Overall, this seems to be a great canvas to create your own upgrades around the space.

[Saluda372]

Originally Posted by Carl n Lynn

Tons of storage space!!!!

Agree. Love it !

[Jay22]

We have a 2020 Caravel 20fb. Under the bed is the ‘rat’s nest’ with the inverter and the DC load center and the subwoofer is on the other side. For my electrical upgrade I just removed the mattress and the two plywood panels that support the mattress. I cannot even imagine working in there via the small access door.

[SYC2Vette]

Originally Posted by Jay22

We have a 2020 Caravel 20fb. Under the bed is the ‘rat’s nest’ with the inverter and the DC load center and the subwoofer is on the other side. For my electrical upgrade I just removed the mattress and the two plywood panels that support the mattress. I cannot even imagine working in there via the small access door.

Just a hint for those doing that. If you remove the narrower panel first it makes it much easier to get the larger panel out of the way and removed from that area as you can tilt it down into that location to maneuver it out.

[Ryan S Bible]

Originally Posted by SYC2Vette

I converted mine (2017 20' FC/FB) to tilt up and here is a partial view of available and occupied space under the bed. I don't think this has been changed in newer models. Not really clear in the photo but there is enough room to put a storage bin like those shown sideways in front of the 2 bins and then slide it all the way to the left.

Do you happen to have any photos, videos, or instructions for your modification? We're waiting on our 2022 20FB to arrive and this is the first order of business.

[SYC2Vette]

Originally Posted by Ryan S Bible

Do you happen to have any photos, videos, or instructions for your modification? We're waiting on our 2022 20FB to arrive and this is the first order of business.

If you do a search, there are also lots of other posts on tilt up conversions, so you might find something helpful by doing a search.

Best as I remember:

-Remove mattress

-Draw a line on the large panel along the left hand storage bin. You will need to cut the panel along this line, but slightly offset to ensure you have clearance to the bin for the full travel when it lifts. The one on the right should have enough clearance as fitted, but you may need to trim it slightly.

-Remove the left side storage bin.

-Remove all screws holding both panels in place.

-Remove the forward small panel.

-Remove the large panel by tilting one end down into the space below where the small panel was, being careful not to scratch any aluminum panels or any other interior parts. You will have plenty of clearance if you orient it correctly.

-Check everything now exposed. It will at least need vacuuming up of construction debris. In my case the Inverter was not attached to the floor and had obviously been moving around, so I added mounting screws. I also removed the subwoofer as my wife and I consider subwoofers to be annoying in an RV.

-Cut the left end off the panel (the area that was under the storage bin).

-Reinstall that small piece and the storage bin.

-Check the fit of the large panel between the bins and make sure you have enough clearance. You will probably need to trim a very slight amount off the overall width. Also check everything for “squareness”. The edge of the panels is where the piano hinge will go so it needs to be 90 degrees accurately to the bins. Also measure from the panel edge to the wood support above the access door on both sides. If something is not square figure out why and how it might affect the operation of the lift.

-Remove the panels and apply several coats of high gloss urethane after sanding all rough edges. When the panel tilts up the mattress slides slightly on the interior portion, so you want a nice smooth surface for that.

-Reinstall the forward panel. If it was exactly square to the bins, then you can reuse the same attachment holes. If you have to shift it slightly use new locations.

-Install a piano hinge along the interface between the forward and main panel. Longer screws are good for the small panel edge, as they go through the plywood into the crossbeam, but you will have to decide on the best approach for the large panel edge as the plywood is not very thick. In my case I counterbored each screw location on the crossbeam and then used screws that went all the way through and protruded slightly in order to get maximum thread engagement, and the counterbores allow clearance for the protruding screw tips. Pilot drill very small hole for all screws to avoid splitting plywood.

-The trickiest part for me was getting the gas struts located so they operated properly. The final result was that it takes just a slight effort to lift with all bedding in place, and then will stay up. With the mattress not in place it would flip up strongly, once it is started, so you need to be careful in that regard. The final location did not match any of the recommended orientations or mounting locations as shown in the strut instructions. I can get some measurements that might help. Other installations I saw on this forum just used a prop stick and no gas struts, that seems like a fine idea.

[Ryan S Bible]

Thank you SO much, SYC2Vette. I rally appreciate your time and the detailed description.

[Iron Buckeye]

Originally Posted by SYC2Vette

I converted mine (2017 20' FC/FB) to tilt up and here is a partial view of available and occupied space under the bed. I don't think this has been changed in newer models. Not really clear in the photo but there is enough room to put a storage bin like those shown sideways in front of the 2 bins and then slide it all the way to the left.

Your conversion looks great. Do you have any information about what kit/parts you used and where you got them?

[SYC2Vette]

Originally Posted by Iron Buckeye

Your conversion looks great. Do you have any information about what kit/parts you used and where you got them?

This is a good source for gas springs and brackets https://www.hatchlift.com/

[miamipanther]

Originally Posted by SYC2Vette

This is a good source for gas springs and brackets https://www.hatchlift.com/

Nice setup!

We are going to get our 20fb in couple of months and would like to install the hatch lift as well. Can you share what length/pound of springs you get?

[SYC2Vette]

Originally Posted by miamipanther

Nice setup!

We are going to get our 20fb in couple of months and would like to install the hatch lift as well. Can you share what length/pound of springs you get?

I can't remember (or find) the exact kit we used. I do remember that the mounting configuration I used was different than the instructions showed though. This page has some guidance
https://www.hatchlift.com/bedlift-ki...t-kit-standard

[LNBright]

As of yet, I'm still just stuffing things through the doorway, haven't yet modified the bed support yet. Even if not for storage, it would make it simpler to access, if I ever do upgrade to lithium and have a battery bank under there, to have the controller mounted there, etc.

[Iron Buckeye]

Originally Posted by miamipanther

Nice setup!

We are going to get our 20fb in couple of months and would like to install the hatch lift as well. Can you share what length/pound of springs you get?

We just did this modification two weekends ago to our 2022 20FB. When it was done, I had my fiancé come into the AS and lift the bed -- she giggled and called it "life changing". Definitely worth doing.

We used the "Queen – Standard Mattress" version of this kit:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We also picked up a piano hinge at our local Lowes, a 1x4 board and screws for the project. More on that below.

We more-or-less followed SYC2Vette's procedure outlined above (big THANK YOU for that). The best I can tell you is this is a mild woodworking project that will take the better part of a day. And you'll definitely want to have two people at least for the early part of removing the plywood deck.

Here's some odds and ends we encountered:

- It took both of us to wrestle the plywood deck out of position and, in our case, we never could get it out of the bed area while it was in it's original size/configuration. (I became convinced AS had constructed our bed "in place" before the wardrobe and dinette were installed). In the end, I ended up having to prop it up in place and cut the left end off the plywood (as SYC2Vette describes) IN the bed alcove. Not fun but doable. Once it was cut shorter, it came out easily.

- Once we had the plywood trimmed and could get it out of the AS, we took advantage of the opportunity to sand all of the edges with sanding blocks. It only took a few minutes (and we only sanded well enough to knock off sharp edges and splinters) but it was worth it.

- There are two bed supports that run front-back and divide the compartment under the bed into thirds. We opted to install the gas struts outboard of these supports to keep the center portion clear of obstructions. This is partially because we're replaced out storage totes with some that are slightly larger and wanted to maximize the space. Doing it this way required cutting a notch in the perpendicular support on the left side of the bed to allow the strut to raise and lower without hitting it. This was an extra step, but I'd do it again.

- We did not use any of the screws or bolts that came with the above kit. By the time we assessed the thickness of all the wood (and wanting to make sure our screws weren't poking through the plywood) we ended up going to the hardware store and replacing virtually every screw and bolt we used.

- I added 1x4 blocking to the "front-to-back" underbed supports to beef them up at the attachment points. There wasn't any indication from the lift kit manufacturer that this was necessary, but I thought having some more heft was wise.

- I also added a 1x4 strip on the underside of the plywood bed platform to stiffen it up. We found that once the project was done, when you pushed the bed down the plywood deck flexed quite a bit. I ran a board left-to-right under the front edge of the plywood to resist some of that flexing.

- When re-installing the left hamper, I learned the hard way that the bottom of the hamper is constructed of very soft wood. Be careful when re-installing these screws as a power screwdriver will drive them right through the bottom of the hamper.


I'd be happy to provide photos and measurements of where we positioned the hardware, but the weather turned brutal around here immediately following our project and our AS is in storage 70 miles from home. I'll post something in the future but can't offer that right now.