harvwong
Vancouver, BC
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Joined: 09/02/2007
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I've been wanting to make a bunk bed for the camper ever since I've seen INSAYN's Bunk. I really need this extra room as the kids are growing and the dinette really doesn't sleep 2 people comfortably. Unfortunately, our dinette seatback area is a bit different and I had to come up with a different way to support the bunk.
I determined that the top of the seat back would be strong enough to support the weight with a bit of reinforcement. I wanted it strong enough for an adult to sleep up there.
I built the supports to sit on top of the seatback. I used 1x2 & 2x2 fir to make the supports which were screwed onto the stop of the seatback as well as to the back of the walls at both ends. After fitting the support, I determined that it was too short and I had to add another piece of wood to the top of the support to lengthen it.
Bunk support
Dinette seat back - Back end
Dinette seat back - Back end with bunk support.
Dinette seat back - Front end
Dinette seat back - Front end with bunk support.
Dinette seat back - Front end with additional supports to ensure the weight is distributed under the arch and to the floor of the camper.
Back end bunk support installed.
Front end bunk support installed.
The bed of the bunk is 6' by 30 inches and was split into 2 sections to make it easier to put in place and to store inside the camper. The bed is made up of 2x2 pine with supports in the middle. I had to double up on the wood base after testing it as it was bending/flexing too much. The bed top is made up of 1/4" plywood. Currently, the bed is bulky and I will probably redesign it and make it out of aluminum to make it lighter and thinner so that I can store it under the mattress when not in use.
Underside of bed
Top of bed
Completed bed photos:
I used a self inflating camping mat and an old bed rail guard left over from my kid's bed for safety. There is about 22 inches of headroom on the bottom and about 21 inches on top.
Holes drilled through the bed and support allow a removable pin to be inserted to prevent the bed from moving.
Harvey, Helen + 2 kids
2001 Silverado DRW, CC, 6.0L, Torklifts, Fastguns, Firestone Air Bags, ScanGauge II, SeeLevel Gauge,Dual Backup Cameras
2006 Bigfoot 25C10.6E, 4-6V Costco Batteries (44 nights to date)
1992 F150, SAS, 35's, locked
1979 Bronco, 38's
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Eugarps
Hagerstown, MD
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Joined: 09/26/2002
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Man what a nice job and I'll bet the kids love the bunks! Where do you store it, while you eat?
Bill
Current Truck - 2007 Tundra 4x4 DC TRD
1978 27' Southwind MH - Gone
1982 19' Terry Taurus TT - Gone
1990 24' Prowler TT - Gone
TC and different truck coming SOON!
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harvwong
Vancouver, BC
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Joined: 09/02/2007
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Eugarps wrote:Man what a nice job and I'll bet the kids love the bunks! Where do you store it, while you eat?
Bill
It goes on top of the queen bed.
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King Dog
on the road
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Joined: 07/07/2009
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Nice job,, looks great,, I am still trying to catch up to you with the 4, 6-volts,, LOL and then you do this, I cant let the DW see this one sorry.
I have the battery's just waiting for a switch to come in
Ralph
2006 BF 10.6,Polar Cub, dual 6-volt 2007 Ram CTD Dually 4X4,Bd tranny, auxiliary tranny cooler Titan fuel tank,bump stops, air bags,edge juice,BAHF,Reese Tow beast, Mich all around, Can-am atvs
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INSAYN
NW Oregon
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Joined: 12/29/2003
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Harvwong, nice clean approach to complex need. How much does that addition weigh?
1997 F350 CrewCab PSD 4x4, auto.
2005 SnowRiver 8'10", Loaded + EU2000i.
2005 8.5'x16' Interstate West Cargo trailer, Line-X'ed
2005 16' Fish-Rite Rogue welded aluminum boat, 2005 40HP Yamaha 2-stroke O/B.
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rhode trip
Rhode Island
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Joined: 03/21/2006
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Nice job, Harvwong!
2002 Dodge 3500 CTD/DRW/
2000 Northern Lite 10-2000cd
www.LapelPinPlanet.com
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harvwong
Vancouver, BC
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INSAYN wrote:Harvwong, nice clean approach to complex need. How much does that addition weigh?
The bed weighs in at about 43 lbs and with everything including the mattress probably about 55 lbs or so.
Any ideas on how to make the detachable bed thinner, lighter and still hold up an 180 lb adult with this setup?
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wapitichaser
Parker, Colorado
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Joined: 12/16/2006
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Nice setup!! I am currently working on a similar setup for my Northstar. Nice writeup.
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BlueStilly
Stanwood, Washington
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Joined: 09/06/2006
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'Harvwong' please don't take this as critisim of your work, you did a clean job. But if you are saying that total weight will be around 250 lbs. I think you need a bit more bracing for your mod. not to sag or break. It didn't seem from the pictures that there was much bearing between the dinette supports and the supports on your mod. I would think about maybe reinforcing both sides of the dinette all the way to the floor in order to hold that much weight. This is just my opinion and like I said, a nice clean job..........
Mike
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harvwong
Vancouver, BC
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Joined: 09/02/2007
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BlueStilly wrote:'Harvwong' please don't take this as critisim of your work, you did a clean job. But if you are saying that total weight will be around 250 lbs. I think you need a bit more bracing for your mod. not to sag or break. It didn't seem from the pictures that there was much bearing between the dinette supports and the supports on your mod. I would think about maybe reinforcing both sides of the dinette all the way to the floor in order to hold that much weight. This is just my opinion and like I said, a nice clean job..........
Mike
Hi Mike,
I expect comments and criticisms when I post on the forums ... It wouldn't be interesting without them. 
Who's 250 lbs? I'm actually only about 160 lbs, but I wanted to make sure that it would support a person who is about 180 lbs or so. As for the supports, the seat back supports actually go right down to the floor. I did have to add several additional pieces of 1x2s for additional support though.
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