Fixed bed or no fixed bed (1 Viewer)

[jonrud]

Hi we are having second thoughts on a fixed bed people say they take up to much living space in a motorhome we have a fixed bed in our tugger and love it. Not to open a can of worms but you guys have been motorhoming as log as we have been tugging so what is in your opinion is the better layout and why? Much higher management is steering towards rear washroom but I am more fixed bed. Thanks:thumb:

 

[Terry]

Hi personally I like 2 singles :thumb:so that SWMBO can go to the loo without climbing over me :thumb: plus it can be made into a big double when the need arises :thumb:
terry

 

[jonrud]

Hi personally I like 2 singles :thumb:so that SWMBO can go to the loo without climbing over me :thumb: plus it can be made into a big double when the need arises :thumb:
terry

I know were your coming from.

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[dellwood33]

From a night time access point of view, you can't beat the Island Bed set up. Our last MH had the fixed corner bed & was a pain if Barbara wanted to get up in the night. The fact that the bedroom takes up a lot of room is only important if you intend to spend a lot of time sitting in the van whilst on site

 

[Larrynwin]

We love our queen size bed , wouldn't be without it, room to romp nah not at our age only in a leap year

 

[estcres]

We currently have a fixed bed arrangement but in our previos vehicle we had a rear lounge which had to be made up to a double bed.

Pro's and Con's for both.

Pro's: Fixed beds take up space but they usually have some good storage space underneath and also an external locker door for access. In our opinion it is great to have the bed already made up and just crash into it when tired day or night.

Con's: They take up space and this is usually at the expense of other facilities, we have now got a reduced Lounge space. But we don't have to assemble the bed every night and strip it down in the morning.

SWMBO dictated that we would have a fixed bed on any new machine we purchased.

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[lunarman]

Its all a matter of size!

In a small MH a fixed bed is a waste of space as it compromises the amount of space for other accommodation.

The larger the MH the less the impact. If you look at the Lunar 786 (We have one) It has fixed bed end washroom/Toilet and a reasonable sized lounge,but it is 26ft long. Personally I love the layout but the size can be a hindrance.

We did try a smaller van (Adria650) with a fixed bed but the compromised lounging area was something that we could not live with and changed it within 6 months. It had the typical continental style lounge which was fine in the summer, when spending little time inside the van, but using it all year the lounge in the winter time was too small and cramped.

Hope this helps. I suspect that you will get a different answer from everyone its all a matter of personal choice, and what you are prepared to compromise on.

Lunarman

Estcres beat me too it but his van is 26ft long and has a decent sized lounge

 

[jonrud]

We love our queen size bed , wouldn't be without it, room to romp nah not at our age only in a leap year

As often as that

 

[Larrynwin]

As often as that

Yes with a following wind

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[jonrud]

Yes with a following wind

How lucky can you get her in doors thinks sex is what the posh people have their coal in

 

[JayDee]

If you are happy to have a pull-down bed over the driving area, which can be kept made up and, according to our son, is a nice comfy bed, there are A classes that have this and all the rest of the interior is devoted to Kitchen, bathroom, diining and lounge areas. These beds usually pull down to the level of the top of the steering wheel (the driver and passenger seatbacks need to be folded down) and it's easy enough to step up onto the sofa and into bed. You can find these in what I would call a nice manageable length of vehicle (less than 6.5 metres) and we would probably have bought one if we'd found one. As it is we have a fixed bed and find the van very comfortable - cab seats swivel. We have had a group (admittedly quite cosy) of 6 people in total and had no problem (other than chucking them out when we wanted to go to bed).

At the end of the day you'll decide the way you want to go despite some of the advice you'll get on here (conflicting opinions make that inevitable).

Hope this adds to the confusion


John

 

[Larrynwin]

How lucky can you get her in doors thinks sex is what the posh people have their coal in

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[pappajohn]

got to agree with many of the posters.....a fixed bed in a small-ish van eats into your usable day space.
many (not all) 22ft+ vans with a fixed (rear) bed will only have a dinette for day use which will be uncomfortable after a while to say the least.

our previous van, a 24ft kontiki had a rear lounge with twin 6ft sofa's which we used as two singles with sleeping bags....pain in the neck to make up each night and redo each morning as we still had cushions to move and store overnight.
it had an overcab double but not enough headroom for me...couldnt even roll over without hitting the ceiling.

now, we have a 33ft RV with island bed at the back and a 3 seater couch and swivel rocker/recliner at the front which, combined with a 12ft x 3ft slide-out, gives us all the room we need and more.

 

[jaygee]

26ft and 33ft - are they really a hinderance?
Hubb6 wants to get a tag axle for our next van but I'm worried about getting onto sites & accessing towns etc...?

 

[barryd]

I have two issues with fixed beds. Its a waste of space unless you have an RV like Papa. And so far I have yet to see one thats big enough. I have a Kontiki and the rear lounge makes a massive bed, its huge. Now if you want to romp, thats what you need.

Disagree with Papa about making them up, piece of cake. Well the double is anyhow.

We need two living areas for when Im working or when we dont like each other and a big bed at the back for.......

..........


Playing Monopoly, watching telly, Twister?


Anyway if you want a fixed bed for a while just leave the rear lounge bed made up and put it away again when you fancy a change.

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[Larrynwin]

Our last RV was 32 ft and this one is 28 ft, no problem on sites , just a few that put a 28ft limit due to restricted access although I'm sure that if there was a fire they wouldn't turn the brigade away.

 

[pappajohn]

26ft and 33ft - are they really a hinderance?
Hubb6 wants to get a tag axle for our next van but I'm worried about getting onto sites & accessing towns etc...?

forget the more rural outlaying areas of wales and the lakes but as others have said before....if a bus, truck or dustcart can get in so can a large motorhome...dustcarts empty bins on sites so they can get in....LPG/oil tankers get to farms etc...and bus's run rural services.
you may have more fun finding parking in towns but theres always somewhere, even on-street parking.

 

[themountaintiger]

Hmm, I have fixed bed over rear garage. I love the putting up and down effort, i.e. Zero, but getting legover for a P in middle of night is a gymnastic delight (not!). Im sure Im going to take a tumble... Considering getting a rear lounge with put up/down beds, perhaps will enjoy lounging area more but dont look forward to sorting the bed out.

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[champers]

We had this dilemma also, but decided having a larger bathroom with a shower cubicle outweighed the bed situ (i am lucky bed making is done by hubby) although we do have the Raskelf memory foam roll out's with zippered fitted sheets...makes it much easier

We have a Bessacarr 745 with twins sofas, they can be used as a three quarter bed or two singles or a large double with only a few cushions to move, we do change directions on the dbl sleeping arrangements... it depends if we have leveled out or not... which can be fun after having a bevvy or two which way the bathroom is lol

Not sure about climbing up a step or two for the overcab bed but they are more friendly these days

Take time to choose and have fun


John n Kath

 

[Jaws]

our van is 26ft ( from memory ! ) .. we have huge double bed in the overhead and bunk beds right at the very back.. Would never go back to having to put beds up every night...

 

[jonrud]

Thanks for all your replies but what do you class as a small van? the two we have shortlisted are Bessy E560 and the Swift Bolero 680FB at just over 7 mtrs. both have fixed beds but to us still have plenty of living space.

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[Landy lover]

So much depends on your needs - for us we full time and having had 2 singles that made into a double in our younger days then on to a 4ft 6in fixed bed but not island on our Burstner which was a total pain as we both need to get up in the night. Was acceptable for holidays but we had 6 months of full timing in it and were getting a bit fed up with it in the end. We now have a queen size fixed island bed in our 5'er which is 27ft long ( the 5'er not the bed ) and is absolute magic for both of us. We have looked at times at the Tribute M/H as a possible when and if we stop full timing and would probably go for the one with the fixed bed in the back that can be converted to another lounge if required.

 

[hilldweller]

fixed bed people say they take up to much living space in a motorhome

They don't if over cab.

But otherwise, a bed is a huge area, take that much out of a little area and everything you do when awake is cramped. In bed you sleep, when awake you want the most room you can get.

Of course the RVers and Fivers can laugh at this, as they chug along at 8mpg.

 

[pappajohn]

Of course the RVers and Fivers can laugh at this, as they chug along at 8mpg.

Small price to pay for the space and comfortable luxury, Brian:thumb:

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[barryd]

Our beds take this long to make up

Rear lounge. Pull out slats (3 seconds) stuff in side cussions in middle (3 seconds) lay and tuck in opened out sleeping bag or sheet and tuck in (20 seconds) throw on douvet (2 seconds). Doesnt sound like a faff to me. Front bed is even quicker and overhead cab bed can be left made up if you can be bothered to use it. Same time to put it away if you decide to.

That leaves us with more van space in the day than any van I have ever seen. Saw loads today at Discover Leisure, all crap.

We can seat and entertain 10 in our van easily if we had that many friends.

 

[Landy lover]

Of course the RVers and Fivers can laugh at this, as they chug along at 8mpg.

You are well misinformed young Brian - I keep on telling you get a Landy since having a chip on it 26mpg more than a lot of Euro motorhomes. 36mpg plus solo

 

[hilldweller]

Small price to pay for the space and comfortable luxury, Brian:thumb:

Are you sure you're true Yorkshire ? You're going to get ex-communicated you are.

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[hilldweller]

You are well misinformed young Brian - I keep on telling you get a Landy since having a chip on it 26mpg more than a lot of Euro motorhomes. 36mpg plus solo

I stand corrected - bad wording.

 

[TheTwoOfUs]

We had a Laika with fixed rear bed. Great in winter with the heater under the bed but bl**dy hot in summer when you wanted hot water.
The big problem though was the lack of relaxing area as there was only a dinette and it became unbearably uncomfortable after a couple of hours sat upright.
We now have an A-class. Just undo a seat belt type buckle and the bed drops down already made up. We have had 10 sat round the table so we are'nt short of space either and it is only 6.5 metres long.

 

[champers]

We are only 24ft long, but do find having the space in the "bathroom" a real bonus, as it also gives us a larger wardrobe and storage , it comes down to personal preference really. or trial and error

We do chat sometimes about if we should have chosen differently, but when using our shower etc know it suits us fine!:thumb::thumb:

Hope you find what you love or need soon xx

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