Installing bed lift gas struts

[Keith Cooper]

The Queen size bed in our coach (2000 40' double slide Patriot Thunder) sits on a platform that is hinged in the middle, rather than being a full lenth platform. Has anyone out there installed gas struts  on the hinged platform?

[Edward Buker]

We have a 2002 Marquis and also do not have a gas shock system to lift the bed. That would be a very nice feature to have.

With the movement of the bed with the slide mechanism, the slidout mechanism itself, and all the other items installed under the bed I could not come up with a means to add gas shocks.

I felt it was dangerous to work under there without at least a sturdy prop system that was reliable so I added one. Not as good as a gas strut system but it does minimize how long you need to hold the bed up before it is supported.

It involved reinforcing the area near the bed frame corner with plywood, adding a bolt to hold an oak prop, building an oak prop with a cut off bolt in the end, drilling the hinged bed support section to accept the bolt, and adding a plastic standoff on the bed frame side to assure thet the oak prop did not interfere with the slide mechanism while the strut is in the stored position. This is not as good as a gas strut system but it is safe and fast to get the bed well supported if you need to get under there. Hope this helps.

Later Ed

[Keith Oliver]

IF you are putting in gas shocks, don't buy the ones Beaver put in originally, buy for a much greater weight.  Mine have to lift the whole bed, and are only strong enough to lift the empty bed platform.  I have gone to the wooden strut system, as there is no room for the mattress and bedding except on the bed platform, so the original gas shocks are quite useless.  
Ed has set a new standard for a wooden strut.  Not one I considered, but now I may need to upgrade.  Mine is simpler; a scrap of 2x4, jammed where it can't slip out.

[Edward Buker]

The jammed 2x4 was what I used to install the "Strutmaster 2000"....

 It takes more time to figure out what to build than to do the work. Once that was done it only took a couple of hours to build and install the strut. Hope this saves someone else some head scratching time. One note...The plastic standoff needed to be sized to always assure thet the strut would not stop/interfere with the slide mechanism steel frame from retracting. I trimmed a piece of plastic shim shingle that was thick enough to provide the right stand off. Good winter project..

Later Ed

[Ken Buck]

Just for comparison, my 07 Contessa has gas struts which were factory installed and they hold the bed and bedding up very well. I'm out on the boat for the summer, but someone with a similar rig might be able to give you the part number, or you may be able to call Bend and ask for struts for a coach like mine.

Ken
07 Contessa

[Keith Cooper]

Thanks for the suggestions - It is food for thought and provides some insight into what I will need to do.

[Edward Buker]

Ken,

Does your bed slide out ward with the slide? If so how did they make the gas struts work? Love a photo if that is the case.

Later Ed

[Ken Buck]

Ed, our bed is a centerline queen that does not slide.

Ken

[Edward Buker]

Thanks Ken,

Gas struts are certainly the way to go and work well on a fixed bed. On the beds that move with the slide, it would be a trick to make that work...

Later Ed