suggestions for trailer with walk around bed?

Last Train wrote:
I'll add another vote for the Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS.

And even though this is a relatively small trailer (22 1/2' hitch to bumper), we wanted to divide the interior sleeping area from the living/galley, so we installed draperies to allow one of us to sleep in while the other might be up earlier.

My wife seems to sleep in fine without a curtain even when I'm banging around making my early morning coffee but I still think it would be an improvement so if you have any pics I wouldn't mind seeing them! :)

SoundGuy wrote:

My wife seems to sleep in fine without a curtain even when I'm banging around making my early morning coffee but I still think it would be an improvement so if you have any pics I wouldn't mind seeing them! :)

Ha! We all make our adaptations, don't we? Glad your sweetheart can endure your coffee making!

So after seeing your request, I took a quick stroll from the house out to the rig in our woods to grab a few shots. Captioned below . . .

Here is the view of the sleeping area with the drapes pulled back and kept in place by the fabric hold backs that came with the original curtains (which my wife replaced with some she made). They can be out of the way and never interfere with our movements inside.



Here are two views on each side showing how they remain in place when moved to each side.





We installed a low profile ceiling channel to support these drapes. The key was to get the geometry correct so that the drapes would fully enclose the full size queen bed from wall to wall and yet have adequate support in the very thin ceiling material. So we curved the normally straight channel by starting with mounting points in the ceiling in the middle - where there happens to be a wood truss above the aft side of the ceiling vent. Once we were able to mount with the three screws secured in that wood truss, we were able to gently bend the channel in an arc on both sides to a termination point at each wall. It was a little tedious, but after about a year of running around the country, it all has stayed secure.





Here is a view from the opposite end of the interior with the drapes closed.



And just for fun, I crawled in bed and took this view as if I were sleeping in and my wife might be on the sofa either watching TV or reading early in the morning. Very little sound is attenuated, but enough light is blocked so that you actually can snooze away while your spouse is already up and around. For this shot I left on the LED lights above the galley sink and over the sofa. Hard to tell the effect, but it actually works for us.



We bought these drapes at Hobby Lobby and my wife hemmed them to allow for a custom fit. They are necessarily light weight since we knew that supporting much more than this might present a challenge to the integrity of the ceiling.

At any rate, we've enjoyed them when we've used them. I'm quite sure that lots of you folks out there are a lot smarter than me and could do a much better job and/or be more creative. If so, let us know, because there's not a lot of pride of authorship in this little project!

Too funny - we don't have Hobby Lobby in Canada but my wife dragged me through one in Niagara Falls, NY this past summer as we were returning from a trip down to Allegany SP so I actually know the store! Thanks for those detailed pics, I never thought about using 2 curtains but that's a great idea. I may find the install a little easier as our 2014 doesn't have a ceiling vent in that area so I may be able to run the curtain rod straight across - I'll have to look at that. I agree, not much sound attenuation but the curtain certainly would allow me to turn on a couple of lights in the galley area while keeping the sleeping area dark. Our 192 is stored for the winter now so it'll be spring before I can look at this but judging from your pics it's a worthwhile mod. :B

You may want to check out the Bullet Premier 19FBPR. Walk around queen bed, 4300lbs dry weight.

Best of luck!

Regards,
Mike

The Starcraft Launch Outfitter 21FBS is quite similar to the Coachman Freedom Express already mentioned here. We have been very happy with ours for the last two years. So maybe another option to consider.

Addy15 wrote:
The Starcraft Launch Outfitter 21FBS is quite similar to the Coachman Freedom Express already mentioned here. We have been very happy with ours for the last two years. So maybe another option to consider.

Friends with whom we camp frequently have a 2015 model of the Starcraft 21FBS and are generally quite happy with it and especially like the 8 cu ft fridge. What they're not happy with is the too short 12' awning which doesn't cover the bedside window on the campsite side and IIRC the too short 74" queen bed. Ours has that too but I managed to extend the bed platform to a full 80", new versions of of the 192RBS now have a full length 80" bed. What I don't care for is it's rather limited cargo carrying capacity compared to our FE's 2000+ lbs of CCC. Perhaps all this is moot though as the OP seems to have left the building. :S

TheGriz wrote:
You may want to check out the Bullet Premier 19FBPR. Walk around queen bed, 4300lbs dry weight.

Best of luck!

Regards,
Mike

I can second this. It's a nice unit. The only reason I don't own mine anymore is that it isn't built to do much off pavement stuff. It fit me, a friend, and 2 dogs for a 2 week trip to the southwest with no trouble.

Last Train, VERY nice!

TurnThePage wrote:
Last Train, VERY nice!

Thanks Turn . . . Very kind of you. But frankly it was one of those "necessity is the mother of invention" kind of deals. My wife deserves more credit than me.

So not to totally hijack the OP's thread, our project really just illustrates in a small way how many of us do lots of things to our trailers to make them work for us. He/she have had numerous very good recommendations for trailers in this thread. They just need to spend lots of time crawling in and out of and around the multitude of configurations and figure out what works for them. Took us a year of doing that to arrive at our decision. The result has been a rig that matches our Ridgeline very well and is a great home away from home for us when we arrive at our destination.

SoundGuy wrote:

Addy15 wrote:
The Starcraft Launch Outfitter 21FBS is quite similar to the Coachman Freedom Express already mentioned here. We have been very happy with ours for the last two years. So maybe another option to consider.

Friends with whom we camp frequently have a 2015 model of the Starcraft 21FBS and are generally quite happy with it and especially like the 8 cu ft fridge. What they're not happy with is the too short 12' awning which doesn't cover the bedside window on the campsite side and IIRC the too short 74" queen bed. Ours has that too but I managed to extend the bed platform to a full 80", new versions of of the 192RBS now have a full length 80" bed. What I don't care for is it's rather limited cargo carrying capacity compared to our FE's 2000+ lbs of CCC. Perhaps all this is moot though as the OP seems to have left the building. :S

Yes, it's not perfect, but it's good for us right now, and it's what we could afford at the time we purchased. I'm not even sure we came across the Coachman in our looking; we'd probably have given it some consideration if we had. Yes, it would be nice if the awning came across the window and yes we'd like a longer bed. Well, DH would anyway; I don't really care. We've temporarily solved that problem with a bolster at the head, but we have thought about extending the platform and getting a full length mattress. We'll see...maybe we'll just move up to a fifth wheel... ;)