Murphy beds?

[ekirkland]

My wife and I are looking for a TT and had previously not considered one with a Murphy bed but after seeing one in a Jayco Whitehawk 23MBH, I must say I'm intrigued. Anyone have a murphy bed? How do you like it? Is it that much of a pain going from bed to sofa and vice-versa?

[Mike_Up]

Yes, the Jay flights are built a bit better with a real floor and walls opposed to glued laminated walls. But if you like the smooth wall look, you can get the laminated side walls on the Jay Flights while still keeping the joist built floor that's not available on the White Hawk line.

Interiors are the same but Jay Flights have taller ceilings.

Heres the standard Jay Flight model. It has a lot of upgrades over the swift and the White Hawk, and is still the same price as the White Hawk 20MRB. It is 460 lbs heavier than the 20MRB though.

Each to their own as the White Hawks are an Ultra light brand and Jay Flights are a standard weight brand.

[Copper_Penny]

@Mike up
what I actually wrote in my previous post was the 20MRB is a 20 foot trailer but with the hitch it is 24 feet which is true and the comparison you gave is also true it is cheaper but your also comparing a Jay Hawk to a Jay Flight, not the same trailer just look at the aluminum siding on the Jay Flight, its in a complete different line but I do see where your going with it though.
as we both have said, different strokes for different folks its all a matter of taste and what you can afford I guess.

[Mike_Up]

Copper Penny wrote:

to a comparable trailer with the same layout but with a Queen bed in front. you have a lot less trailer to pull. this one 20MRB is only 20' and with the hitch 24' and only weighs 4400lbs.
the closest I see comparable in Jayco is the 24RBS which is basically the same weight but is 28' long

Your right, it's all about taste.

That 20mrb is actually a 24' trailer, not a 20' trailer. For only 2.5' more in length, you can have this 248RBS with not much more weight, taller ceiling, cheaper price and much more room.

This plan has quite a bit more space with none of the inconveniences of folding up your bed every morning and trying to stuff the pillows and blankets behind it. Sounds like a lot of inconvenience.

I know a lot of people don't like having to fold down and fold up their dinettes for people to sleep on, or the loss of use when it's being slept on. We setup our dinette bed for our playpen, so the daughter has somewhere safe to sleep. I know I miss it even when we eat outside. I would hate to wake up before my wife and not be able to stretch out on the sofa.

5' or 6' is a big difference when it comes to campsite size, but 2.5' is just insignificant. If it's for a tight spot to store at your home, it's understandable, but 2.5' isn't going to make or break it with a campsite. Seems the older state parks either have super small campsites or large, so a 24' trailer isn't going to fit anyhow.

Here's the 4400 lbs, 24' Jayco White Hawk 20MBR


Here's the 4760 lbs, 27.5' Jayco Jay Flight Swift 248RBS

[Copper_Penny]

Mike Up wrote:

SkiMore wrote:
The murphy bed looks pretty cool to me. What you loose in storage you gain in floor space when the bed is up.

Compared to what?

to a comparable trailer with the same layout but with a Queen bed in front. you have a lot less trailer to pull. this one 20MRB is only 20' and with the hitch 24' and only weighs 4400lbs.
the closest I see comparable in Jayco is the 24RBS which is basically the same weight but is 28' long

so I guess it all depends on taste and what you like, personally I like towing a smaller trailer which allows us to go to some places that wouldn't allow us to go with a big trailer and in my experiences 4' or 5' makes a big difference.
just my 2 cents of course.

[SkiMore]

Mike Up wrote:

SkiMore wrote:
The murphy bed looks pretty cool to me. What you loose in storage you gain in floor space when the bed is up.

Compared to what?

It takes less floor space than a permanent bed when in up position and the same when in the down position.

[Mike_Up]

SkiMore wrote:
The murphy bed looks pretty cool to me. What you loose in storage you gain in floor space when the bed is up.

Compared to what?

[SkiMore]

The murphy bed looks pretty cool to me. What you loose in storage you gain in floor space when the bed is up.

[ekirkland]

Thanks for your thoughts. I really didn't pay much attention to the storage, glad you pointed that out.

[kknowlton]

No seam in the Rockwood Murphy beds either. Seems there are a variety of opinions about Murphy beds. Pretty cool idea, IMO, but I can see the problems with lost storage. Not being able to use the couch while the bed is in use would have been a dealbreaker for us too.

[Mike_Up]

Copper Penny wrote:

Mike Up wrote:
They look nice but you lose so much. I don't like that you lose storage space above and below the bed, and then you lose the use of the sofa when the bed is in place. You save maybe 2' or 3' which isn't worth it IMO. The mattress will have to have a seam where it folds and many hybrid owners complain how uncomfortable the seam is. That also means it's a foam mattress and not an inner spring mattress.

1.i agree you do lose storage space
2.if you look at this Jayco model 20MRB the mattress does not have a seam it is an actual mattress that just folds up out of the way. it is not foam.
3.we actually looked at this model and loved it but not too much storage, might still buy it though it's still on our short list.

We had the 2008 Jayco Jay Flight 19BH here. Great floorplan with lots of sleeping and sitting area for a short 22.5'. BUT it lacked storage. While it's nice to have a queen bed with nightstands, we love all the extra storage even more. More kitchen cabinets and the extra 2 wardrobes in the queen bedroom along with the ceiling dressers (cabinets). On top of that, all the extra room underneith the bed and nightstands. We pack more now and it's all hidden, off the floors, in dedicated storage areas. Hek, there's so much storage room, we don't even need to pack stuff under the sofa and dinette benches anymore!

The night stand is a big benefit, as the 19BH with it's corner double bed didn't have a place for a CPAP machine. So I did without it. Now I don't use it anymore as it did more harm than good (IMO) and now I have a place for it. :S

Having a walk around queen is useless IMO. It's a waste of space and to cramped. I'd rather have a corner bed with a bigger walk space on one side to dress and MOVE in. But some people find it hard to crawl over their spouse so the walk arounds will likely dominate.

[Copper_Penny]

xteacher wrote:
Is there room for a piece of memory foam on top when it's folded up? We've never had a camper bed that didn't need a little help in that area.

that is a good question.
I didn't look at that to tell you the truth, what I did do was measure to see if the 74" mattress can be replaced with an 80" mattress (normal size) and the answer is NO there is not enough room when you fold the bed up which is too bad for tall people.

[Copper_Penny]

sorry, I forgot too add that this model 20MRB would be a great trailer for empty nesters, just my opinion of course but I think it's a nice size for two people, light easy to tow, etc.

[xteacher]

Is there room for a piece of memory foam on top when it's folded up? We've never had a camper bed that didn't need a little help in that area.

[Copper_Penny]

Mike Up wrote:
They look nice but you lose so much. I don't like that you lose storage space above and below the bed, and then you lose the use of the sofa when the bed is in place. You save maybe 2' or 3' which isn't worth it IMO. The mattress will have to have a seam where it folds and many hybrid owners complain how uncomfortable the seam is. That also means it's a foam mattress and not an inner spring mattress.

1.i agree you do lose storage space
2.if you look at this Jayco model 20MRB the mattress does not have a seam it is an actual mattress that just folds up out of the way. it is not foam.
3.we actually looked at this model and loved it but not too much storage, might still buy it though it's still on our short list.