I recently completed (well, 95% anyway) a project that I’ve been thinking about for about a month.
In our TT, a 2012 Springdale 179QB, for sleeping we have the queen (short) bed and then the converted dinette. I am 6’4” and can sleep in the short queen (barely) diagonally. My son is 6’ and when he tries sleeping on the dinette he either sleeps with his legs bent or with the legs on top of the raised section behind the one seat. Very uncomfortable. Since the raised section is a raised part of the rear storage and is not easy to use and can’t be accessed from inside, I decided to make the panel behind the seat back removable and put a floor in the section back there. That way he or I can stretch out. We tried it when we camped last week for 3 days and my son said it was much more comfortable.
Before the mod the length of that “bed” was 5’11”. After, it was 7’ 8”, almost a 2 foot increase. As you can see from the attached pictures I made a rectangular frame to hold up a piece of 11/32 plywood by the access door.
I also put in cleats to hold the sides of the plywood for strength.
Because of the way they mounted the seat back, there is about a ½ inch or so height increase for the new section. I have yet to get some foam for the new floor.
Original bed
Extended bed
I was able to replace the original seat back panel and it holds in place well enough by friction alone. If needed, I can use Velcro. I did drill two 1” holes near the bottom to help with removal.
With the dinette seat back panel and cushion in place it looks like the original setup. And now if we don’t need the dinette bed, there is a separate, floored compartment that is accessible from the inside and which is somewhat hidden. The floor plywood is not fastened down. It is just laid on top of the frames so far and can be easily removed if a taller area is needed in the storage compartment. With the plywood removed, it also allows access from the inside.
It took most of a day to do this, but it was being engineered on the fly. Total cost, without the foam padding was about $15 for a 2’ x 4’ plywood panel and some screws. I got the wood for the frame and cleats from miscellaneous pieces I already had.
It is not a difficult project, but it does take some thinking and planning. I hope this gives some ideas that can be used. I know other posts have inspired me.
Mike
In our TT, a 2012 Springdale 179QB, for sleeping we have the queen (short) bed and then the converted dinette. I am 6’4” and can sleep in the short queen (barely) diagonally. My son is 6’ and when he tries sleeping on the dinette he either sleeps with his legs bent or with the legs on top of the raised section behind the one seat. Very uncomfortable. Since the raised section is a raised part of the rear storage and is not easy to use and can’t be accessed from inside, I decided to make the panel behind the seat back removable and put a floor in the section back there. That way he or I can stretch out. We tried it when we camped last week for 3 days and my son said it was much more comfortable.
Before the mod the length of that “bed” was 5’11”. After, it was 7’ 8”, almost a 2 foot increase. As you can see from the attached pictures I made a rectangular frame to hold up a piece of 11/32 plywood by the access door.
I also put in cleats to hold the sides of the plywood for strength.
Because of the way they mounted the seat back, there is about a ½ inch or so height increase for the new section. I have yet to get some foam for the new floor.
Original bed
Extended bed
I was able to replace the original seat back panel and it holds in place well enough by friction alone. If needed, I can use Velcro. I did drill two 1” holes near the bottom to help with removal.
With the dinette seat back panel and cushion in place it looks like the original setup. And now if we don’t need the dinette bed, there is a separate, floored compartment that is accessible from the inside and which is somewhat hidden. The floor plywood is not fastened down. It is just laid on top of the frames so far and can be easily removed if a taller area is needed in the storage compartment. With the plywood removed, it also allows access from the inside.
It took most of a day to do this, but it was being engineered on the fly. Total cost, without the foam padding was about $15 for a 2’ x 4’ plywood panel and some screws. I got the wood for the frame and cleats from miscellaneous pieces I already had.
It is not a difficult project, but it does take some thinking and planning. I hope this gives some ideas that can be used. I know other posts have inspired me.
Mike
