Murphy Bed Option

[propchef]

Hello everyone

My wife and I are narrowing our choices down and I have a question for the more experienced here. We're looking at a Lance 1995 and we both like the Murphy bed option. The dealer we're working with is happy to order it that way but was a bit surprised when we asked, and said the 1995 is rarely ordered with the Murphy bed. Any particular reason? Are there cons that I'm overlooking? The only real objection I've read comes from folks who find it too much trouble to set up and take down.

It's just the two of us and it won't see use beyond 5 days in a row.

Thanks in advance everyone!

[mr_andyj]

I don't understand how this is a question even. It folds as fast as you can move your arm up or down almost...
You can fold it up as you are raising your arms up for that morning yawn.
I don't have to walk around a giant bed during the day.

The only drawback is I like to leave the bed down so the bedding can dry before folding it up, so I leave it down a few minutes. (your body loses water as you sleep but that water vapor ads very little dampness to the sheets.) On mine I can actually fold it and have it a few inches open so air can still circulate but it is just as out of the way. There is a hook for travel that closes it all the way too.

When ready for bed I drop the bed down, which takes about 3 seconds.

Murphy bed allows you to tow a smaller trailer but have more room than a bigger trailer with a fixed bed.

I am all in for the Muphy bed.

[Tin-bender]

Everybody has their opinions,
But here is another vote for the Rockwood Mini Lite with a Murphy bed.

We looked at the Lance with a Murphy bed, didn't like the "unmade bed" look of the bed when put away, though you do have the front window at all times. The price also caused some hesitation.

We love our Mini Lite and the Murphy bed setup. With the bed up and the slide extended there is a huge amount of room for a small trailer. The pass through storage was a major concern for me as well but we found that every bit of our storage stuff from our 24 foot Cougar fit with room to spare.

We also think the Mini has the largest kitchen and bath counters available in that size trailer. (Rockwood Mini Lite 2507S)

Down side. The bed has to be put up or the slide won't come in. The dining table can be a bit of a hassel to put up or down, we leave ours up.

Never thought we would but we really love the outdoor kitchen, heally handy and all the cooking smells and heat stay outside.

Tinbender

[Boomerweps]

Not having to move the bed, added storage was the reason we said NO to mr. Murphy.
That said, my wife & I have developed a strong dislike of our bed east west configuration. Night time potty calls are a Major PITA with both people being awake for one to go. Since I removed the upper bunk and replaced the lower bunk mattress, I was happy to sleep in it when my granddaughter wanted to sleep with meme the only time we camped during covidarama. More roomy than my sub bunk in an officer’s stateroom.
It was Murphy or east-west bed for the BH trailer chosen to be towable with our Explorer. I’ve now paid the TT off and bought an F150 but after all the modifications I’ve done to the TT, I want pay down the truck before buying a new larger trailer. And if I ever do buy another TT, the grandkids will not play as important a part in choosing.

[propchef]

snowedin wrote:
Everything is a compromise, Murphy Bed or Regular Bed is too. One consideration on the Lance might be whether or not you are limited to keeping the factory mattress, can you replace it with something else. I would suggest that you spend some time practicing with the Murphy Bed setting it up and down. Not sure about Lance but most of the mattresses that come with these campers are not comfortable and a lot of folks replace them with something that is. Is the Lance mattress a 2 or 3 piece affair that folds?

Thank you.

The Lance is really more of a convertible bed than a true Murphy. It's a folding (one fold) Queen sized pillow-topped mattress. It can be replaced with an inflatable. It's a standard size. Unlike the Murphy in other campers, this one can be left in either position for towing. Most have to be locked into the down position. The other nice feature is the front window remains unblocked with the bed in either position.

The loss of storage on this unit is minimal between the two configurations and there is a very generous pass-through (we're ordering with the sliding bin) as well as a generator locker. We're also ordering a configuration that eliminates the standard oven and uses a convection microwave under the cook top, and where the standard microwave usually goes will be additional storage.

It's been interesting to read all of the opinions and I thank everyone for sharing! On the Lance Owners forum they're overwhelmingly in favor.

[ppine]

I have a Rockwood ultra light at 24 feet with a Murphy bed. I like it a lot. Folded up the bed becomes a useable couch. I have had a lot of different RVs.

Most TTs with a decent bed and a couch are at least 26-27 feet or more. The bed saves a lot of room and is easy to convert.

[snowedin]

Everything is a compromise, Murphy Bed or Regular Bed is too. One consideration on the Lance might be whether or not you are limited to keeping the factory mattress, can you replace it with something else. I would suggest that you spend some time practicing with the Murphy Bed setting it up and down. Not sure about Lance but most of the mattresses that come with these campers are not comfortable and a lot of folks replace them with something that is. Is the Lance mattress a 2 or 3 piece affair that folds?

[GrandpaKip]

valhalla360 wrote:

SpeakEasy wrote:

Besides the up-and-down every day there is also the sacrificed storage space that would ordinarily be under a bed.

This is a big one, especially for small trailers. One of the biggest storage areas is under the bed but the murphy option eats up most of that space.

This is the main reason we did not go with a Mini-Lite because all the dealer had was the Murphy bed. Our pass through is large and the storage under the foot of the bed is very nice. Our trailer came with a very accessible 4 basket system under the bed and a space that 2 Rubbermaid containers fit in, one for bed linens and the other as a hamper.
We would not be able to give up that storage as all of it is used.
In addition, I doubt that the mattress is any better than a standard one and you may not have enough room to replace with a better one.

[valhalla360]

SpeakEasy wrote:

Besides the up-and-down every day there is also the sacrificed storage space that would ordinarily be under a bed.

This is a big one, especially for small trailers. One of the biggest storage areas is under the bed but the murphy option eats up most of that space.

[Reader1]

I don't know about a Lance. We bought a Mini Rockwood last year with a Murphy Bed downsizing from a 5th wheel. We love it!! There are just the two of us and because we have a Murphy our 21 ft. TT has a couch also. We fold back the couch and bring down the Murphy. It takes less than a minute. I checked before buying it to make sure our bed could be fully made with comforter before folding and it does. Our mini has so much room with the Murphy and it is as comfortable as any RV bed.

[trailernovice]

google 'josh the rv nerd murphey bed' for a good video of the ups and downs (get it??? the 'ups' and 'downs'???) of Murphey beds in travel trailers

[SpeakEasy]

When we bought our TT we opted for a Murphy bed. The reason? We were towing with a mid-sized SUV, and we wanted to get the most possible trailer with the least possible weight. The Murphy bed option got us a reasonably-sized trailer (for the two of us) and allowed us to have both a "bedroom" and a "livingroom" in the same space. We put it down every night and up every day.

At first, our longest trips were the typical vacation 2-week or 3-week trips. Now that we're retired we're taking longer trips - 6 weeks or so. Putting the Murphy bed up and down is getting old. Plus, we are now towing with a half-ton pickup. We have much more towing capacity than we currently need. So now, I'm thinking it's time to upgrade to a bigger TT, and I won't be going with a Murphy bed.

Besides the up-and-down every day there is also the sacrificed storage space that would ordinarily be under a bed.

Murphy beds are great for certain benefits. But they do have some down sides.

-Speak

[trailernovice]

I'd consider a Murphy if just the two of us.. but have always gone bunkhouse because we have a young son

[Lwiddis]

My Murphy bed converts to a two person sofa for when I have more than two guests at the same time. Otherwise it stays a bed. Do you really need it?

[propchef]

trailernovice wrote:
I guess it'd depend on whether you plan to move it up and down much or instead just leave it in place and want the murphy option for a 'just in case' alternative if you have people join for a meal or something....kinda like what 'Josh the RV nerd' (salesman at a Michigan RV dealership) said about bunk beds...'they're not for the kids...kids will sleep anywhere--on the floor, curled up in a dog bed, outside in the back of the pickup...the bunks are for the PARENTS...so they don't have to convert a sofa or a dinette into a bed every night'

Guessing small camper because either small tow vehicle or (like us) you'll use the trailer more as a way to be where you want to be (while as a bonus using your own bed, bathroom and kitchen instead of a hotel or a family member's house) rather than a 'place to be' in and of itself...we're outside of our trailer 'most all the time except for breakfast (lunch and/or dinner generally bbq) and to sleep...if you plan to use in that way, murphy makes sense to me...if instead you'll actually 'murphy' it up and down a lot, might get tired of that pretty quickly

Thanks. Your second paragraph describes us. As someone else said, we're travelers, not campers.

We can always leave the bed in place (down), since the door is on the other end. Then we can have a couch if desired.