hanging beds

[campinwi]

So, I have this idea for making beds in my 6 x 10 trailer. The idea is to hang a piece of plywood using chains or rope, from the metal bars that go across the camper to support the trailer roof. I would have to find a way to put the bed up and down, so we could sit under the bed during the day. The reason for doing this, is to give us two beds that measure 48 x 68. The bed would be used by the teenager, who weighs about 160 pounds. My question is, does anyone know how much weight those metal bars can hold, and has anyone ese done anything like this?

[goldcoop]

Hammocks have been used in Scotties for years!

http://www.nationalserroscotty.org/reso ... mmock.html

They used 1 1/8" diameter maple closet rod dowels & metal closet rod cups.

A piece of heavy duty nylon or canvas with a couple "sleeves" sewn in.

Simple, easy to remove and light.

Cheers,

Coop

[campinwi]

I figured someone had found a way to hang a hammock. thanks for the ink. do you know how much weight they can hold?

[caseydog]

Look at some of the toy-haulers out there on the market. They all have beds that stow away to make room for the ARVs and such that they are meant to haul by day, and allow comfortable sleep at night. You can probably borrow some ideas from them.

[csgmtu]

check the manufacturer, the will probably have a max weight allowed on the roof (for ladders etc). This will give you an idea for the max weight that can hung from the ceiling.

Have enough hanging ropes or chains to evenly distribute the load along the bars in the roof. The more hangers you have the less on each bar. I would go with more than four.

If you know an engineer (I am one) you can figure out the strength of the roof by knowing the material and the thickness of the support members/ A fairly competent engineer (or student) can calculate the max weight of the person sleeping in the bed with a safety factor.

[edcasey]

We've been considering building a 5th wheel cargo conversion to replace our current conversion. We plan on building a twin size bed against the rear door for our son that lifts up to the ceiling like those used in many toyhaulers. Most use a system sold by Lippert that has tracks mounted to the side walls and an electric motor to raise and lower the beds. http://www.lci1.com/OwnersManuals/misc/EZBedlift-Web.pdf.
We plan to do something much simpler because the Lippert system is a little pricey. Maybe a set of 4 u-channels mounted to the walls that the bed frame could slide up and down in. The bed would be held in place with pins. I would build the bed frame out of aluminum so it would be lite and easy to lift. Some of the early toy haulers used a simple manual system like this.

Here is a picture of the Lippert system:

[Dagny]

They used 1 1/8" diameter maple closet rod dowels & metal closet rod cups.

I have a Little Guy Silver Shadow, what would be the best way to attach the metal closet rod cups? I don't want to mess anything up. I was planning a hammock above our feet, near the hatch end.

I have some great decorator canvas, 60" wide. I was going to fold the fabric in half, sew a sturdy french seam creating a 28" tube of fabric, sewing two 3" pockets for the rods ending up with 22" of hammock width. My son and daughter each weigh 50-60 lbs, my youngest 28lbs but she would rather sleep by me. I would have the bigger ones trade off sleeping on the bunk. Anyone see any problems with my plan?

[goldcoop]

do you know how much weight they can hold?

Hard to say what would fail first....

The screws attaching the closet rod cups

OR

The dowel rods

I think attaching the closet rod cups to the walls would be stronger than hanging something off the roof. Plus you risk roof leaks if you penetrate thru the roof surface.

Here's the thing... Attach the cups to the wall, attach the rod & HANG on one rod... Should hold you (think a chin-up bar).

Good Luck!

Cheers,

Coop

[rebapuck]

My tiny trailer came with a childs cot. Could make it bigger for your teenagers.


the bracket. Other end the same

[InternetPilot]

My parents Argosy travel trailer had bunks that were held up by brackets on the wall and two metal cables from the ceiling. They were pretty stable and held each of us four kids well into our older teen years. I'm not sure what a cargo rib can hold though....

[Dagny]

Well, I bought 5' birch closet rods and hardwood closet cups that screw in. Hard to find birch but had them ordered by my local lumber mill and ordered the cups online.

My TD has 7/8" thick birch walls. Looking for advice on screws. The ones that come with the cups, I would imagine will be too long. Any recommendations?

[GregB]

What is the depth of the cups? If they are 1/8" I would use a 3/4" - 1" (with a small washer) #10 screw. The force will be primarily in shear, so a fatter screw is better. Ideally, the screw should have a smooth shank where the cup will be resting, but I'd be surprised if you can find a smooth shank in a screw that short.

After further reflection, since most cups are quite shallow, I think that deflection of the rods leading to unseating in the cups would occur before the cup screws gave way. I would try to make sure that my "cups" were at least 1-1/2" deep. As always, YMMV.

GB

[Darren]

Well, I bought 5' birch closet rods and hardwood closet cups that screw in. Hard to find birch but had them ordered by my local lumber mill and ordered the cups online.

My TD has 7/8" thick birch walls. Looking for advice on screws. The ones that come with the cups, I would imagine will be too long. Any recommendations?

Just a thought but maybe you could make brackets out of wood that run from the floor up. Notched at the top for the dowel rods. That way the weight isn't supported buy the wall but goes to the floor. It would be kind of like the second photo that rebapuck posted but running vertical.

[Dagny]

Thank you, Greg and Darren. The link to the cups is below. My largest kid right now is 54 lbs. My youngest is 28 lbs so the weight in the bunk will be low for quite awhile. The vertical supports sound doable. (We have a handyman that works for us that I could have make them. My DH is handy but not so much with wood.)

http://www.caldowel.com/Closet-Pole-Socket.html


If they work, I had to buy 10 prs and only need 2 prs. I would be happy to share with anyone else who wants to try it. I really wanted them to blend in and be almost invisible when the bunk is away. I love the birch interior of my Silver Shadow/Lil Traveler. I don't even want to cover it up with pics. The bunk will be towards the tongue end over our feet, next to the cabinet doors. There is a sunken area above the cabinets where the bunk could lay when not in use and you wouldn't see it. It is a handy spot where you can lift it up a couple inches, pull towards you and set into the cups. I'm even thinking the bunk will be a good place to place my laptop for watching movies.

[devigata]

Here's a link to metal flanges, which may be stronger, and you only have to buy a set or two...

http://www.buyrailings.com/pd-productid ... ge_set.htm