Murphy Bed Mod

[blderman]

I love the Murphy bed in my 23MBH but there are a few things about the way Jayco designed it that I didn't like.

- The lack of pass through storage in the front of the trailer.
- When the bed is in the sleeping position it blocks too much of the entry door.
- Cold air seeps in through the front baggage doors and comes up right at your face. It results in an uncomfortable sleeping temp as the rest of the bed is warm but the head area is cold. This was most noticeable when temps were below freezing.
- The little storage compartment at the head of the bed was barely good enough for pillows which resulted in it being unused and a lot of wasted space.

So, to solve all of those issues I took the front storage compartment out, cut the bed frame in half, added wall cleats and slid the entire bed 12" forward. It now hinges at the half way point which only works with a foam mattress but that was fine with me cause the Denver mattress was terrible. The entry isn't blocked now and their is a ton of pass through storage space in the front of the trailer. And because the front half of the bed frame rests on wall cleats the cold air is now sealed off from the head of the bed.


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[JJMan44]

What mattress did you use with this and how well does it fold up? It would be nice to gain all that front storage

[blderman]

Originally Posted by JJMan44

What mattress did you use with this and how well does it fold up? It would be nice to gain all that front storage

I used a 6" memory foam mattress from Amazon. Folds up just fine and recovers in about 5 minutes when unfolded. Just used the trailer this weekend and the new setup is so much better. The extra 1ft of floor space makes a huge difference.




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[JJMan44]

I was wondering how your mod has been working out after some use?

[blderman]

Originally Posted by JJMan44

I was wondering how your mod has been working out after some use?

Works great, I wouldn't want to go back to the factory design. It's great having the large pass-thru storage up front and sealing out the cold air has been a major comfort upgrade. I can't think of any negatives to share.



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[JJMan44]

I've been wanting to do this since I saw yours. I was wondering if the mattress would break down from being folded. Have you noticed any of that? Also did you reinstall the shocks to help lift the bed?

[jasum]

Wow that makes my back hurt just looking at it..........

[blderman]

Originally Posted by JJMan44

I've been wanting to do this since I saw yours. I was wondering if the mattress would break down from being folded. Have you noticed any of that? Also did you reinstall the shocks to help lift the bed?

Nope, memory foam can be folded thousands of times without damage. I haven't re-installed the shocks but it's on my list. It's not hard to fold it up without them though.




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[blderman]

Originally Posted by jasum

Wow that makes my back hurt just looking at it..........

Why, what part???


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[JJMan44]

Thanks for the help!

[paul42]

This looks awesome. I can't quite make it out on the top picture, but is the base connected by a piano hinge, or just wall cleats as you mention? Have any links for the parts you used?

The hinge on our stock murphy bed separated from the cabinet in our 1st summer of use, disturbing considering the number of screws in that thing. I love the trailer, but the design of the stock murphy bed has always left me a bit leery. Yours looks a lot better.

Thank You.

[blderman]

Originally Posted by paul42

This looks awesome. I can't quite make it out on the top picture, but is the base connected by a piano hinge, or just wall cleats as you mention? Have any links for the parts you used?

The hinge on our stock murphy bed separated from the cabinet in our 1st summer of use, disturbing considering the number of screws in that thing. I love the trailer, but the design of the stock murphy bed has always left me a bit leery. Yours looks a lot better.

Thank You.

Paul,

I moved the aluminum frame wall forward 12" so I could reuse it for the hinge point. I threw away the tiny little screws the factory used for the hinge and pre-drilled installed 2.5 decks screws. As far as parts all the factory parts were reused except for the deck screws and the 2x2s I bought for the wall cleats. This is still by far my favorite mod that I have done to the trailer. Adding heat to the bathroom is 2nd.


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[paul42]

I had to go back and look at your pictures again, much clearer now. I see where the 2x2's are, I was overlooking them before - very ingenious design. I think what you have here is probably much more reliable, and useful, than what Jayco created - their entire bed is suspended from that hinge, and it can be pretty violent in there going down the road.

That little half height "wall" that the piano hinge is originally connected to is aluminum framed? Didn't know.

Last question; did you find it worthwhile to remove the couch during this project, or could you work around it? Thanks for the idea - I think this was just added to my list.

[blderman]

Originally Posted by paul42

I had to go back and look at your pictures again, much clearer now. I see where the 2x2's are, I was overlooking them before - very ingenious design. I think what you have here is probably much more reliable, and useful, than what Jayco created - their entire bed is suspended from that hinge, and it can be pretty violent in there going down the road.

That little half height "wall" that the piano hinge is originally connected to is aluminum framed? Didn't know.

Last question; did you find it worthwhile to remove the couch during this project, or could you work around it? Thanks for the idea - I think this was just added to my list.

Thanks Paul, I like to think it's how Jayco should have designed it to begin with.

Yes, it is aluminum framed to withstand the motion of the Murphy bed.

I left the couch in place, in hindsight I would have removed it as it was a lot of climbing over it. I will take some more pics this summer of the front storage area. It's huge now and much more functional.




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[dewey405]

How is it supported at the base? Ours has a footboard that folds up with the bed, it doesn't rest on the couch.


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[blderman]

Originally Posted by dewey405

How is it supported at the base? Ours has a footboard that folds up with the bed, it doesn't rest on the couch.


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It rests on the couch. I will probably modify it at some point to have its own support but for last 30 times of use the couch hasn't shown any wear.




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[dewey405]

Originally Posted by blderman

It rests on the couch. I will probably modify it at some point to have its own support but for last 30 times of use the couch hasn't shown any wear.




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Hmmm, guess they changed that in the 2016 version. Not sure how much room I have to move mine back.


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[blderman]

Originally Posted by dewey405

Hmmm, guess they changed that in the 2016 version. Not sure how much room I have to move mine back.


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I have a 2016, what part are you referring to moving back?


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[blderman]

Originally Posted by dewey405

Hmmm, guess they changed that in the 2016 version. Not sure how much room I have to move mine back.


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I see what you are asking now. I removed the fold out base and threw it away. When the bed is moved forward the couch works perfectly for supporting it.




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[dewey405]

I figured out why your 23MBH looks so different, I have the Jay Feather. Damn because alot of yours looked really good but I can't make them work.