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Another Twin Bed Solution
teztab
Member Posts: 99
We always travel with our dogs, so a twin bed solution works best for us since it allows room for the dogs to sleep on the floor between us. My wife and I also prefer the ease of access twin beds allow. Therefore, I needed to come up with a long term twin bed solution.
As the following pics show, my solution is two upholstered extensions each with two fold down legs and a window sash latch. They are constructed from 3/4" pine boards, 3" high density foam, batting and good quality upholstery fabric. They fit snugly, are held firmly in place by the sash latches and have a nice OEM look and feel. They can be installed or removed in a couple of seconds and easily stow away behind the rear seat. When in place they keep the floor space free and when removed leave no signs of a modification.
These extensions took a total of about 3 hours to construct and cost about $50 for the hardware and materials. If other forum members are interested I'd be pleased to post dimensions, construction details and sources of hardware, etc.
As the following pics show, my solution is two upholstered extensions each with two fold down legs and a window sash latch. They are constructed from 3/4" pine boards, 3" high density foam, batting and good quality upholstery fabric. They fit snugly, are held firmly in place by the sash latches and have a nice OEM look and feel. They can be installed or removed in a couple of seconds and easily stow away behind the rear seat. When in place they keep the floor space free and when removed leave no signs of a modification.
These extensions took a total of about 3 hours to construct and cost about $50 for the hardware and materials. If other forum members are interested I'd be pleased to post dimensions, construction details and sources of hardware, etc.
Comments
2001 Toyota Tacoma 4WD New Mexico
2018 nuCamp T@B 320 S (Boondock), a.k.a. "Red R@bbit" • 2016 Jeep Cherokee "Trail Hawk" (w/ Towing pkg) • Mount Holly, NC
So here are some notes and additional pictures that I hope will be helpful to others wishing to tackle this project
Each twin bed extension consists of two ¾” (nominally 1”) finished pine boards (there is no reason why they could not be wider if preferred). I chose pine, rather than mdf or ply, to save weight and so that the finished edge would match the tab birch wood. One board becomes the base to which the legs and sash latch will be attached. The other board will carry the foam and upholstery. The final task will be to screw the upper upholstered section to the lower base section.
Hardware and Materials:
¾” finished pine sufficient for the four boards and mounting blocks for latches and legs
Morning Glory 24”×36”×3” high density foam from Walmart. I paid $16, but it is currently available at $10.99 – either price a great deal since good foam can be expensive!
Batting: Roll of Poly-fil project fleece 45”×60”, $6, also from Walmart
Fabric: I purchased a yard of Eroica Metro Linen Grey for only 10.99, via Amazon (excellent fabric to work with and though not a perfect match for my Tab, pretty good and better than my pics indicate)
Legs: I purchased a set of four Btibpse Folding Legs from Amazon for only $19.99. They were all white but I painted them with aluminum spray. Unfortunately, these are currently showing as unavailable, but there are other folding legs that could be suitable
Clearcoat spray to seal and finish boards after sanding
Construction:
Note: I recommend checking all measurements since there could be small variances between my Tab and others.
First cut four boards (two for each extension 31 3/8”x 5” (can easily be made wider if preferred)
Starting with the base section, cut two notches from the edge that will rest on the bed rail, to accommodate the bed slat locators. My notches are 1” wide x 7/8” deep and are located 3 7/8” from each end
The top of the bed rail to the floor is 11 7/8”. The legs I used are used 10 ¾” high, therefore I made mounting blocks 4”× 4”× 1 1/8” (3/4” board with 3/8” spacers). Fix blocks and legs in place then test for fit.
Cut 4”× 4”x 1 ½” block (two pieces of ¾” board) for sash latch. With base held firmly in place along bed rail, mark positioning of block midway along board and snug against rail. Nail block in place then, before mounting latch to block carefully drill and screw latch “hook” midway along the underside of the bed rail (making sure to clear electricity panel on driver’s side). With hook in place, reposition base, and mark position of latch on block, so as to ensure a firm fit, before screwing in place
Remove all hardware, sand and finish base with clearcoat before reassembling.
For upholstery section first place mounting board along foam edge and outline with marker pen. Cut foam with large sharp kitchen knife with a series of long steady continuous cuts.
Cut two pieces of batting, 10”× 32” and 14”× 32”. Place foam block on board then fold smaller piece of batting in half and lay on top of foam. Then take larger batting and staple long edge along one edge of board. Carefully fold batting around foam and top batting and neatly staple along other edge of board. There may be a small amount of surplus batting that can be trimmed along edge
Cut two squares of upholstery fabric (one for each extension) 18”× 45”. Lay fabric down and place board with foam and batting top side down, in center. Carefully lift and staple one end of fabric to underside of board (short side), then staple other end making sure fabric is smooth and firm, but not overly tight. Then start folding and stapling fabric from one corner along to other corner, ensuring a straight corner edge. As corner is folded and stapled, excess fabric should be carefully cut away to minimize bulk. When one side is complete, finish upholstering the other side.
Once upholstery is complete, drill pilot holes then firmly screw upholstered section to base section.
2001 Toyota Tacoma 4WD New Mexico
Draco dormiens numquam titilandus.
T@Bit@t 2015 S Max Outback, ‘18 V6 4Runner
Vancouver Island.
https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/9440/more-twin-bed-seating-convenience#latest
Vancouver Island.
As a senior in my 80's with back problems, I have always had problems getting in and out of the the double bed configuration in our 2015 T@B. I made the bed slat modification and ditched the table shortly after we bought the trailer new in Minnesota before we moved to Alaska in 2017. We sleep head forward so we don't bang our heads on the rear cabinets! Getting up in the night to use the bathroom has been increasingly a problem for me with this arrangement to avoid kicking my partner and yet still not getting leg cramps because of pinched nerves! This solves the problem by providing a place to lower my feet on the floor as I am getting up. A great idea for us old folk!
However, there were two problems implementing this modification. The first was since the legs that Teztab originally used were no longer available I selected the ones below (based on user comments regarding sturdiness from several on the market) that turned out to be about 3/8 inch shorter when extended in place. This required fussing and several trials of stacks of wood spacers before I got the final combination and glued them together.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MKY9XRK?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details
The second was that in my original mod to add the bed slot rails, I had significantly beveled the bottom of the passenger side rail upward and in to avoid blocking the slot for the heat at the top of the side of the seat. This presented a problem attaching the latch catches (I used two placed about 7" from each end) on what would normally be a flat surface. I solved this by using a carefully placed arrangement of washers under the catch brackets as they were screwed down.
I have completed one on the passenger side and have tried it out so I am in the process of making one for the other side. We are planning a camping trip next month here in Alaska and once we are happy with the whole arrangement, I will trim up the wood for appearances and varnish it. Below are a couple of photos of the work so far. Of course I couldn't match the material so I opted for a contrasting color. The material is heavy, almost canvas.
Kudos to Teztab for coming up with this great system! We old folk appreciate it!
Fergie
Update:
I have now finished the driver’s side extension. In addition, I cut the straps holding the each of the two seat cushions together so the back could be removed giving another 4 inches or so of width to the bed. Some time ago I had drilled holes in the back deck of our 2015 T@B to allow heat to flow up when the side slots were blocked with bedding. At that time, I also mounted some towel racks for rails to contain storage containers and prevent them from blocking the holes I had drilled. The storage containers didn’t work out too well, but I left the racks in place. It turns out to be a great place to store the seat back cushions when in bed mode. All this can be seen in the photo below when in bed mode.
To return to couch mode just simply return the seat back to its original position which is Velcro’ed in place. (I added more Velcro at the cushion bottoms) The photo below shows the couch mode.
Again I thank Teztab and this wonderful forum for this and so many other great ideas!
Fergie
P.S. I did a backyard sleep out test with the new arrangement and this old guy can now get in and out of bed easily without pain and kicking his partner!!
Tampa FL
We bought a small cheap folding table from Walmart that we either keep in the SUV or on the made up bed of the camper when traveling. It can then be used wherever needed. The first photo shows it inside (before we made the bed extensions). The second photo shows it outside where we used it to put our traveling drinking water when we were camped for a few days while traveling. We also sometimes put our little coffee maker there while we were camped. I frequently use it in our garage as an extra surface while working on a project.
I think it cost under $20! A very good investment!
Fergie
2015 Subaru Outback 3.6r (unsafe 200lb tongue weight limit until 2020 models)
2020 Subaru Outback XT
Pacific NW