Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I know crank up bed frames have been discussed before, however I do not recall if a workable plane was developed. So, I have a 7X14 trailer with a rear ramp door, which is used to load two Honda Ruckus scooters. The bed frame (see picture below) sides back and fort to load the scooters and then slide over the scooters, to b e slept in. As you can see the bed frame is very high, a box is used to step up on to climb in to the bed. I would like to be able to raise the bed to load the scooters and then lower the bed just above the scooters so that the bed can be slept in with the scooters in the trailer, then when the scooters are out of the trailer the bed frame can be lowered to a regular bed height.

I know there are electric raise and lower bed frames that can be purchased but they are very expensive.

I would like to build a raise and lower bed frame at a reasonable price.

Any ideas?

Johnnie

Have you seen this thread? Check out his bunks on page 3 it's epic!

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=59243

k1hog, Howdy;

I saw one on here that used garage door springs and a pulley system, and it was fairly recent ...
Perhaps someone can remember better than me...

hank

I used Etrack to make our bed adjustable and to evolve into a lift bed using the top rung of the track but it works well enough that I have procrastinated instead

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2ea-HD-5-VERTIC ... 95&vxp=mtr

I used these for the bed to sit in
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-E-TRACK-WOOD ... fd&vxp=mtr

and plan to use these to hook the cables to at the top of the track

http://www.ebay.com/itm/x4-E-Track-Fitt ... 92&vxp=mtr

You could find an old Winnebago and grab one of these out of it...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WINNEBAGO-OVERH ... 50&vxp=mtr



Here's a NOS one...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kwikee-Overhead ... 18&vxp=mtr

Unistrut is also your friend. It's how I built mine as it's infinitely adjustable

I guess it all depends on how easy you want the bed to deploy. If it was just me having to deal with it, I can deal with unistrut and a ratchet, lift here, hold with one hand tighten up the bolt, jump to other side, check level tighten this one and so on. However if I told my wife to deploy the bed with such a system, I would shortly be alone at the campsite with no tow vehicle because she left.

Lets start with some basic info.
What size bed (in inches)?

How many people in this bed, and roughly how much weight are we talking?
A beanpole middle schooler will require a lot less support than a couple of bulging adults. No dig intended, just facts that are required.

Is this bed going to be supported on one wall, two walls or three? IF three, does any wall ever move (is it the ramp door)? What level of "fiddly bits" are you and or your partner willing to deal with?

What height is available, and how high do you want the bed to be when in sleeping position? You still need to get the toys under the bed when it is in travel position.

Is weight an issue (if you are at the edge of safe tow weight with your toys, is adding a hundred pounds of steel going to be unsafe)?

It looks like you have a 2x4 wood framed bed now, do you want to keep that or maybe go to a steel frame>?

Uni-strut sounds like a great idea, I'm going to go fiddle in the shop...

Glen

So I did some thinking, and came up with a couple ideas. Then I went to a Farm and Fleet type of store called Agri-Supply, which I now see has a web presence, so you can mail order. I was looking for some springs to make pins to latch the bed in position, but in wandering around I found some that really just need to be screwed to the frame in the right place. Unfortunately, I don't yet have a trailer that I can install this in, but I did pick up a couple pieces and intend to build at least a mock up.

[url]http://www.agrisupply.com/B-Spring-Latch-Assembly/p/45434/&sid=&eid=/[url]


Together with a winch like this one:


Well. Those pictures are going to cause problems. I don't have any re-sizing apps available though.

Some wire rope and pulleys, and either Unistrut or the E-track that everyone is using (and I was so proud of myself for thinking I had 'invented' using it in such a manner ) and a well built bed frame should allow you to set your bed to any height you desire, limited only by the adjustment of the holes in whichever track you choose. Assuming that you intend to support the bed on two opposing stationary walls. What I have in mind will also require that your walls are fairly close to parallel as well, I don't know how far out they typically are. Some amount could be adjusted for with shims, and Unistrut would be more forgiving than the E-Track.

I'm outta town, so I can't build the mock up right now, but I'm fairly sure this will work. Challenges I envision are that the winch crank needs clearance, which can be overcome by mounting it sideways or using a cordless drill to do the adjustment.

What I see is 4 posts of track carefully mounted to the trailer sides. Assuming a bed frame size of 80" by the width of the trailer, the tracks would be mounted approximately 70" apart and on each wall. Care should be taken to get them plumb and parallel. Vertical E-track will be easier to mount, but provide larger steps between adjustments. Unistrut should be mounted with the holes facing into the trailer rather than the channel. The bed frame should be built such that it will fit between the metal uprights, with a guide piece fitting between the outside edge of the bed and the wall between the uprights. A spring pin as shown above should be firmly mounted UNDER the frame so that when extended, the pin goes into a hole in the track. These pins have a feature that allows them to remain in the retracted position by turning them 90 degrees while pulling back.

A rope (I would suggest steel cable, but good nylon would work if you can be sure Junior wont decide to ride the bed up and down) gets attached to the frame or the spring pin, through a pulley in the top of the post, and then to the winch. The winch should be mounted in a handy place that allows access regardless of where the bed is or what gear is loaded. The winch pictured above has a web strap, but also has a ratchet mechanism that ratchets in both directions, and a free wheel position.

Crank the bed up, release the spring pins into the the top holes and the bed will stay there. Retract the pins, crank the bed down to what ever hieght will work with whatever gear is below, then release the pins. The bed can now be used. If you don't feel that the 4 pins will provide enough support for sleeping, a more permanent stop or leg arrangement could be screwed in at the designated sleeping position.

It's late and I need to get up on time in the morning, I will try to get a better description if necessary.
Glen

Thank All of you for the input. I plan on studying the post at length.


Johnnie

What about a 12v winch as opposed to a crank?

I'm thinking of doing the same thing, suspending the bed, but I'm thinking of using U-shaped "track" at each corner with some sort of wheel inside the track to act as a guide. Push the UP button and left the winch do the work, push the DOWN button and gravity will do most of the work. Stops at the top and bottom secure the bed in place.

At least that's the plan. The proof will be in the pudding as they say.

CoventryKid, Howdy;

Use some garage door type springs and a counter balance ...
save your battery for more important stuff...

hank

I used unistrut and garage door springs for my bed system. If you go this route, make sure you spread out the cables to the four corners, this will help the bed from twisting while pulling or pushing into position. This set up works very well for me. pictures are in my Signature.

Here are a couple of additional lift bed examples. They are commercial, but you might get some good ideas from them.

This first one is my favorite. Dune Sport's Hydraulic lift bunk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzFkdpFrAaA


And their double electric beds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er0X0ysACqA#t=39