I did a similar mod. I bet you noticed a difference in the mattress, less sag in the middle? We did. Also I reinforced the two side "false" bottom panels at the head of the mattress, left/right with simple 1"x 1" screwed and glued rails underneath.(attached photo). Accidentally tried to push myself up in bed and my hand weight blew out the panel. Poor design by mfg. IMO.