Drop down beds

Hils and Glenns said:
Yes we go to bed at the same time but we don't get up at the same time. My hubby gets up around 5am :eek:
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LOL that's his problem make sure you stay in bed and hog both it and the lounge until you are ready to get up :)
 
We have had a 6 metre Adria Access Matrix 590g with a transverse drop down bed. Electric but with manual over-ride. Dropped to about shoulder height, and was a bit wobbly on mechanism. Needed ladder which was uncomfortable in bare feet, and one occupant has to climb over other to get out.
We then had 7 metre Burstner Ixeo 680g with lengthways drop down bed. Electric with manual over-ride, very stable mechanism with better anchor points than Adria bed. Bed dropped low enough not to need ladder.
Both beds comfortable enough, but as they dropped over lounge you both have to go to bed and get up at same time, also we found that beds in both vans needed dtopping down a bit before getting in, especially in winter, as they otherwise would be a bit cold, and more than once we had condensation on the ceiling of the Adria.
Didn't have any problems with either electric mechanism, on hookup or not, never used over-ride
 
Gerby, just checked, 60 cm clearance. checked the runners and the bottom of the bed is on the end.
 
jongood said:
Niesmann & Bishoff as per the avatar.

Please dont take this the wrong way but at 5ft could getting onto it be a problem for you?

Jon
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LOL love it lucky for me they invented a thing called a ladder:)
 
jongood said:
N&B drop down, manual with a substantial mechanism. First one 6 years 2nd one 7 years, no problems and it goes up nice and high in the front so its out of the way.

As far as I can see There are three common problems with dropdowns in coachbuilts:
1, they reduce headroom a lot
2, They frequently block access though the Motorhome and especially to the door.
3, They obstruct the Heki.

Although of course some are better than others.
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We don’t have a problem with any of the above but I suppose it depends on where the drop down is situated in the van.:)
1. Headroom is not an issue as it’s over the driving/passenger seats so no walking around in that area.
2. Does not block the drivers door at all (we only have one door at front)
3. No Heiki involved, that’s in centre of van.
 
We are in the process of buying a Burstner A class with fixed singles in the rear and a manual drop down double at the front

The drop down goes quite low and for me the most important thing was that it was manual. It will be rarely used but I wanted the surety that when I needed it to work, it would...

We looked at a number of other vans and some had 2 drop down beds (front and rear) - all electric

When tha Salemen said, “ we advise customers to buy a cordless drill with our attachment to be abe able to lower/raise the bed when it fails” reinforced my view that manual was the way to go
 
Shrimp said:
We don’t have a problem with any of the above but I suppose it depends on where the drop down is situated in the van.:)
1. Headroom is not an issue as it’s over the driving/passenger seats so no walking around in that area.
2. Does not block the drivers door at all (we only have one door at front)
3. No Heiki involved, that’s in centre of van.
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In you profile it says you have an A class.

To be clear- as in my post I'm specifically mentioning drop downs in coachbuilts.

Thanks
 
We have a N&B Arto(2003) with a manual drop-down bed.

It is king-size but does not intrude on the lounge area, so leaving a long 'L' shaped sofa with seating for 3-4.

To get bed fully down we have to tilt the backs of the Captains' seats a bit and since our MH is 3m high there is plenty of headroom above the bed. Ladder, but often climb in off sofa.

Very comfortable but not often used as we have fixed bed over garage.

Geoff

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We've only used the "table&sofas" bed once in 13y of having our Aclass Rapido (we needed a quick getaway, so the driver's seat was still available, complete with forward vision!).

The drop-down is superb: I've added a memory foam mattress to the original and lengthened the retaining strap so it can be put away with the bed completely made up (head room is reduced by approx 3cm, but as it's above the dashboard and front seats, it isn't significant). A couple of years ago one of the gas struts failed, so lifting needed both of us until we got home, when I replaced both struts for approx £60.

My wife has arthritis but copes readily using the ladder and/or sofa to get in and out, even in the night (we have battery-powered motion-sensor LED lighting set to come on as soon as a leg goes out of bed!).

Happy days - Gordon
 
We have a manual drop down in our Burstner, it's fab! Super roomy and very comfortable,all the bedding and the ladder simply disappear when it's put away which leaves more living space and storage. Don't think we would want a fixed bed, but maybe we'll change our minds when we get a bit crumbly...Lol
 
We have a manual drop down which our Grandsons use. It is their bed and they love it. There are nets both sides so they can't fall out and they think it is great having to go up a ladder to bed.

We can still use the cab seats turned into the dinette area when the bed is down - and we can get underneath it (head and shoulders bent) to get into the rest of the van when we need to.

The drop down bed does not foul the hab door opening - I know some of them do.
 
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We had a Hymer 584 with pulldown pushup bed but had a job climbing up and climbing over one another during the night. Thought @chocky made a good solution with the extension. On some of the new models I noticed in some cases that when the bed was lowered it rendered the seating area below unuseable so one of you could not go to bed later.
 
We have an electric drop down bed in our Chausson 510. We love it. It sits out of the way (I am 6ft) above the dinette with duvet and pillows on. No hassle to use and so much simpler than our previous van, where we had to push together settees, rearrange the cushions, then make the bed. In a relatively short van (ours is 6m), a drop down bed is excellent. We drop it to just above the seat backs and have a ladder on one side and use the passenger seat on the other side for getting in and out.

We have had a couple of problems in the 2 years we have had the van. The lowered bed is close to the habitation door. I knocked the key and bent it once when taking the dogs out one morning when my wife was still in bed. We feared the key might break completely, leaving the business end in the switch, but decided to carry on using it while away for another week and fortunately it did not snap. Needless to say, we now only put the key in the switch when lowering and raising the bed. Also, we got two keys cut when we got home so we always have a spare.

We once had an issue with the bed not stopping where it should when lowering, but fixed that quite quickly after a Google search. There is a lot of information available on how to fix them if they go wrong.

Regards
Andrew

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We have two separate drop down singles in our Chausson 630, very occasionally have to wind one back up to the ceiling and then drop it down again, otherwise: no problems.
Being a sad ex-engineer I have tried the manual handle and remember where I keep it - so unlikely to need it :)

sdg.
 
Bart said:
Thanks for the feedback :)
The argument about loosing the lounge I have heard this before and as a couple I do not understand this argument as both me and the Mrs both go to bed at the same time, so there is no one left to use the lounge, unless Ofc I am missing something.
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We have an island bed and also a drop down bed. Grand kids use drop down but it is very comfy.

One thing to take note of is you must lower the bed when in storage as condensation appears otherwise.

We have a Rapido
 
Bobby22 said:
We have an island bed and also a drop down bed. Grand kids use drop down but it is very comfy.

One thing to take note of is you must lower the bed when in storage as condensation appears otherwise.

We have a Rapido
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Never lowered ours and no condensation, but then even when up there is still a gap between the mattress and the ceiling. N&B Arto

Geoff
 

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