Bed and bed base question

lwg · 08-29-2013, 12:08 PM

While the European bed base is nice in the Redwood along with the mattress it is still very uncomfortable. The springs in the bed make a lot of noises. Thus we've ordered a Sleep Number bed that arrives today. We've had one in our house for a few years and loved it, unfortunately it was a Cal King so it wouldn't fit.

In planning for the bed upgrade I gave the base a very good once over and noticed a few things. It doesn't go all the way to the end of the mattress thus the footbed portion of the mattress is not supported, and it doesn't go all the way to the side leaving the same consequences. As much as I like the base it would appear it doesn't support the mattress much at all beyond the center section.

For an alternative base I'm considering removing the factory base and replacing it with a piece of plywood that would extend to fully support the new Sleep Number bed. Thoughts?

COLJDM · 08-29-2013, 12:43 PM

I would make sure your slide outs clear. If you have a 36FL model the bed pushes in the bottom set of drawers in the slideout (about a foot or so) when closed.

Adamsvr · 08-29-2013, 01:43 PM

3/4 or 5/8" plywood is a good choice; however, suggest that you make a frame, with four or five cross members, and legs to support the plywood. That way it won't sag in the middle. Screw the frame to the wooden side walls.

atom ant · 08-29-2013, 01:49 PM

I did notice the base is short of supported the foot end of the bed when I sit on it. Probably to avoid contact with the drawers. I don't think that is the case on the sides. Any chance you have a queen based under a king bed?

I know everyone has a preference, but I still look forward to sleeping in factory bed. It was delightful surprise for us.

lwg · 08-29-2013, 01:54 PM

I have the queen bed. Regarding the base I need to pull everything apart and check the WD drain valve anyway to make sure it won't leak. It'd be a good time to "engineer" a better solution using plywood and such.

homeguy · 08-29-2013, 01:56 PM

We put an Icomfort in our RL. Took out the frame, put in 2 twin boxsprings, crossways and put the mattress on top of that. The down side is that it is tall but it clears the drawers at the end of the bed when we close it up.

rcflame · 08-29-2013, 07:37 PM

We have a king in our 36RL and we replaced the original mattress with the select comfort. We had one in our previous camper, but it was a queen, and before we went full time we had one in the house. When we replaced ours, I didn't have to make any modifications and we haven't had any problems. Did you order the RV select comfort or the regular one. The sizes are different. Not all select comfort reps are that familiar with RV's, and unless you press the issue they may try to sell you a regular one. The queen we had before was in a Carriage Carri-lite, and we had to get the RV queen for that also. The bad news is because they aren't as popular as the regular, so you generally don't find them on sale, and they are more expensive.

**Dave&Ginny** · 08-29-2013, 07:50 PM

When I put my "select comfort" in I first cut a 2 inch wide piece of plywood and ran it up the middle seam of the metal bed frame. Then I cut 2 pieces of plywood up either side of the bed meeting over the piece I put in the middle. I used self tapping screws to hold everything together. By doing it this way, I ended up with a completely flat surface for the mattress to lay on.

I drilled a hole next to the electrical plug and place my compressor under the bed. This way I could just plug it in. I also notched the plywood by the headboard to run the airline through.

rcflame · 08-29-2013, 08:27 PM

Dave,
Your bed must be different than outs. After reading your post, I had to go up and lift the mattress to make sure I remembered how it was correctly. I have the outside wooden frame with slats that go across that are held in place by what looks like plastic clips. It is a flat surface with no metal at all. Maybe yours is different because of the slide in slide.

lwg · 08-29-2013, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcflame

We have a king in our 36RL and we replaced the original mattress with the select comfort. We had one in our previous camper, but it was a queen, and before we went full time we had one in the house. When we replaced ours, I didn't have to make any modifications and we haven't had any problems. Did you order the RV select comfort or the regular one. The sizes are different. Not all select comfort reps are that familiar with RV's, and unless you press the issue they may try to sell you a regular one. The queen we had before was in a Carriage Carri-lite, and we had to get the RV queen for that also. The bad news is because they aren't as popular as the regular, so you generally don't find them on sale, and they are more expensive.

Not sure this is correct. There's the standard queen and RV Queen in regards to length only, the RV Queen is shorter which is not what's in ours. Ours is 60x80 which is a standard queen. I know Sleep number has an RV line that has the short queen, radius cut queen and the regular queen in it. After asking them about the difference between their "RV" line and regular they said the only difference was the RV line had longer air lines and was made of non-flammable material.
I believe the latter is somewhat incorrect as I believe all beds made now have to be made out of non-flammable materials.

We ordered the regular queen. Planning on installing an additional plug under the bed and putting the air controls there, drilling holes for the air lines and running them up to the head of the bed. That should keep everything out of site and neat and tidy like I like it!

rcflame · 08-29-2013, 09:31 PM

The RV Queen is shorter which is what we needed in the Carriage because it had 2 slides in the bedroom and the longer regular queen was too long when the slides came together. If you have the queen and the regular will fit, you're money ahead. In the regular King, you have the Eastern which is 76X80 and the California which is 72X86. In the RV series you have the RV King and the RV Radius King. They are both 72X80, but the RV King has the regular corners at the foot, where the other has the radius corners at the food which give you a little more room around the foot. As for the longer air lines, I think he is as mistaken there as with the non-flammable material. Without being able to measure, I can't be positive, but it seems line the lines on the RV mattress were about the same length as on the mattress we had in the house.

**Dave&Ginny** · 08-29-2013, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcflame

Dave,
Your bed must be different than outs. After reading your post, I had to go up and lift the mattress to make sure I remembered how it was correctly. I have the outside wooden frame with slats that go across that are held in place by what looks like plastic clips. It is a flat surface with no metal at all. Maybe yours is different because of the slide in slide.

My bed frame is metal all the way around it and a metal tube up the middle. Then there are wood slats that bow up going from the outside edges to the center tube. the problem is that the center tube is 1/2 lower than the outside tubes. Thats why I had to put an extra piece of wood in there to bring the center up.

As for the size, my bed is a queen and it's the regular queen not the shorter RV size.

lwg · 08-29-2013, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave&Ginny

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcflame

Dave,
Your bed must be different than outs. After reading your post, I had to go up and lift the mattress to make sure I remembered how it was correctly. I have the outside wooden frame with slats that go across that are held in place by what looks like plastic clips. It is a flat surface with no metal at all. Maybe yours is different because of the slide in slide.

My bed frame is metal all the way around it and a metal tube up the middle. Then there are wood slats that bow up going from the outside edges to the center tube. the problem is that the center tube is 1/2 lower than the outside tubes. Thats why I had to put an extra piece of wood in there to bring the center up.

As for the size, my bed is a queen and it's the regular queen not the shorter RV size.

I've noticed on ours (the same as yours) that the outer edges don't actually have any support, they extend beyond the wood base below. Thus the bedframe is really only supported in the middle and the corners so when you sit on the edge it deflects downward.

johnboytoo · 08-30-2013, 12:10 AM

Uh Oh then - I planned on swapping our heavy foam king mattress from our current rv with the new RW...
I measured and width and length are fine, but maybe not support ?!?

(oh and that's a standard king - same one we have at the house !)

so I have to put a 1x2 down the middle at least ?

Oh and with the slats, moving that thing to put fitted sheets on it ain't gonna happen !

thanks for the heads up !

Edited by: johnboytoo

lwg · 09-10-2013, 05:28 PM

I thought I'd go ahead and update this post with the pictures and description of my bed base modification. I ended up replacing the European bed frame with 3/4" finished plywood. I made it bigger to better support the queen mattress however I did notice that when the slide is closed that part of the mattress is compressed by the dresser. That being said I cut the plywood to 58" wide x 78" long which leaves about 2-3" of the mattress hanging over. Since I installed a sleep number bed I also took the time to locate the air pump for the mattress underneath the bed frame (and check the tightness for the washing machine drain). I added an additional 110V plug easily enough and used some zip ties to keep everything in it's rightful place during transport and slide in/out operation. I also put some 1 1/2" holes in the plywood that allows the air lines to go to the bed.

After a couple of nights on it I'm happy to say it's a very big improvement over the OEM support that just wasn't cutting it for us.

This is what's under the bed without any modifications.

Close up of area where I added a plug and the air pump.

Plug and compressor mounted on the right side of the bed (as you're looking at it).

Picture of 3/4" Plywood cut to 58" x 78" (Actually it's two pieces) along with holes for air lines for Sleep Number Bed.

Close up of holes for air lines. For now I stole two of the 1.5" desk grommets from the bedroom TV entertainment center to keep from fraying the air lines.

Edited by: lwg

boxscore · 09-22-2013, 11:15 PM

IMPORTANT...

When we took delivery we had the exact same issue. The factory delivered the unit with a king bed but A PLATFORM FOR A QUEEN BED. The dealer grabbed a platform from another unit and fixed the problem. Hopefully it wasnt from your RV!
The king platform now supports the mattress all the way around
CALL YOUR DEALER!
Edited by: boxscore

johnboytoo · 09-23-2013, 09:56 AM

Thanks boxscore - we were JUST wondering about that Saturdays when we went by the dealer to check on the progress of our 38gk - ours has that same base I guess.....

let's see if the dealer will address it...

lwg · 09-23-2013, 04:28 PM

I'm curious if they all have the Queen Platform? Mine was definitely made for an RV Queen and never felt quite right. I suspect since these platforms are made for RV's that they likely don't have the demand to make a full size Queen or maybe even a King version.

rcflame · 09-23-2013, 04:32 PM

We have the king and have switched to a Select Comfort king. Made the switch, and didn't have to make any changes from what the trailer came with.

johnboytoo · 09-29-2013, 08:50 AM

Ok, finally got our 38gk home and sure enough the bed frame 'seems' undersized...
to get to the drawers underneath you have to do some gyrations to reach under the overhang...

Our dealer said the frame was correct as is ?!?

Going to call redwood with pics tomorrow, but still need to get the stock mattress out and our foam mattress in today...

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