Fixed beds--the new must-have? (1 Viewer)

Hollyberry

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Just been to the Foire Expo in Perigueux, the nearest I'll get here to a motorhome show. Big leisure/ideal home type expo with a good selection of motorhomes.

Bar 2 they all a fixed bed--I was really surprised. Even some that were 18ft had a fixed double bed, and there were only 2 that had a "proper" Luton, several had a pull down bed in the cab, and loads had a centre pull down bed. From what I could see these slid down on vertical runners, though didn't dare ask for a demo.

Is this "fixed bed policy" just a European thing or a new thing (as they were all brand new vehicles) ?
I though they weren't for me as take up a lot of floor space that I could use.

Have to say though, they all had beautiful shower rooms.......................I can dream.........
 

pappajohn

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natural progression i think....many folks dont want to make up beds at night or struggle into the luton so the motorhome industry listened and fitted fixed/dropdown beds.
just got to get the uk makers to listen now.

drop down is best in my opinion as you lose very little space...just a little headroom.
 

ourcampersbeentrashed

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The hassle of taking down the table and turning it into a bed is fine when young and fit, I am neither rofl

I do think the bathrooms in the newer motorhomes are far too large and Im not a small person.


Still looking for my ideal buy

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Peter JohnsCross MH

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There are a number of pre-owned vans about with fixed bed and or bunks, AutoTrails in particular and quite a lot of Rapidos

Peter
 

vwalan

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hi used to see them on euro vans years ago thought waste of space. but after 3-4 months of making beds you see why they have them. wouldnt have a camper now without it. do have a bongo for weekends but for winter travel etc fixed bed is the way. my traileris only 20ft. fixed bed at rear .leaves loads of space . sleep across. get three monkey bikes underneath if i want. many french use their vans for long term travelling. france must be empty in winter spain portugal and morocco is full with them. see some year after year.
 

PenelopePitstop

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When you retire and buy a motorhome a consideration is the fact that you ain't going to get any younger or any more agile! A fixed bed is very attractive in those circumstances!:Smile: Things ain't going to get any better at this point in your life!!:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

We looked at many types of motorhomes before we bought ours and came to the conclusion that even if we could climb into a drop down overcab bed via ladders at retirement point we had to think further down the line and imagine being older!:Smile::Smile:

We bought a Knaus with a fixed rear bed with 2 decent steps for getting in and out ( particularly during the night and needing a wee!!) and haven't regretted it at all!!:ROFLMAO:

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GeraldandAnnie

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We're definitely fixed-bedders :thumb: Our first van had a made-up bed, but the last two have been fixed.

I noticed in the French MH mags I bought earlier this year a wave of vans with the drop-down mid beds, that came down over the lounge area. I think they're all electric, which makes me wonder what happens when you watch too much telly at night, or you fall asleep with the light on and you can't lift the bed in the morning :Doh:

I also wonder about the payload in these vans - a complete drop-down bed, with electric gubbins, in addition to another fixed bed must weigh a ton.

Gerald
 

sedge

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I know exactly what you mean Marie - neither of us wanted a fixed bed and ignored the ones with them. My reason for now wanting one is same as yours plus if you are diabetic and have a hypo (low blood glucose) and can't sit up properly in bed - top of overcab too low - you have no hope of treating it (60ml of Lucozade is my chosen remedy) unless you get out of bed. Bearing in mind this renders you at best disorientated, climbing down a ladder isn't the best plan really. Esp when you have your insulin pump in one hand anyway. I've had the bruises to prove this .....

So two years down the line ..... guess what we'd like? LOL

The drop down beds on vertical rails usually work on electrickery, sometimes with a remote. Not sure how much that drains your battery. Plus when it's 'stowed' it reduces the ceiling height of wherever it is in the van. We looked at Hobbys with them at Stratford; I thought it was quite nice and made the rear lounge feel cosy. Pete being taller said he felt claustrophobic and hated it ..... just as well really - we both like both our arms and our legs just where they are!

I like the crossways beds too, because width takes up less room than length from the overal length of the given space.
 

bigfish

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Think once you have had fixed bed you wouldnt go back to
making bed up again, we are on our 2nd Rapido bought for this
reason, and as said getting older so a lot more conveniant, plus
bedroom devider can be slid across if either of us want an early
night.
Even better when the grand kids are with us can put all 3
to bed and leave them undistrbed bliss:ROFLMAO:

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scotjimland

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Fixed bed is great .. but NOT if it has compromised the daytime seating ... but again this depends on whether you camp all round year or not as it's not so important in summer when you can lounge outside.. but come winter you need a comfy lounge.. and I don't mean a Pullman dinette which is not a good lounging place..

So.. fixed bed and a good lounge area.. otherwise.. not for me

bear in mind, if you have a U shaped lounge and a dinette you can if you so desire leave the bed made up during the day, you can't do it the other way round.. ie make a fixed bed into a lounge...

All is compromise.. all is compromise :Confused:
 

Chris

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I agree with Jim.

We have a fixed bed but I think it compromises our living space. Its ok in the summer with an awning but it feels a bit overcrowded with 4 of us in there on a winter weekend.

But I am lazy so I will stick with it::bigsmile:
 

656

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We have twin bunks at the rear. Better than the overhead or making up the dinette! We would like a fixed double tho!:whatthe:

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Terry

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We like the set up in our van for the moment great for lounging :thumb: Ann has the single fixed seat / bed and mine takes 30 secs to make into one :thumb:She can get up to the loo without disturbing me :ROFLMAO: and if on a promise the 2 singles can be made up into a 5 ft x 6ft 6 ins double or a 6 ft 6 ins sq massive bed in less than 2 mins :thumb: Needless to say it stays as mainly 2 singles :Sad::ROFLMAO::Doh:::bigsmile:
terry
 

peter marshall

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We're definitely fixed-bedders :thumb: Our first van had a made-up bed, but the last two have been fixed.

I noticed in the French MH mags I bought earlier this year a wave of vans with the drop-down mid beds, that came down over the lounge area. I think they're all electric, which makes me wonder what happens when you watch too much telly at night, or you fall asleep with the light on and you can't lift the bed in the morning :Doh:

I also wonder about the payload in these vans - a complete drop-down bed, with electric gubbins, in addition to another fixed bed must weigh a ton.

Gerald
Yes us to gerald Pete :thumb::thumb:

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beachcaster

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I love the carrying capacity of a large garage....the bikes.. spare wheel and loads of outdoor stuff gets swallowed up by my huge garage. The other benefit is it has a really comfy bed over the top of it inside the motorhome.

Add to this another double made up of two sofas.and we have a double each.

just about perfect for two people.

The only other layout I would like is two large singles.over the top of a large garage..running lengthwise..but at 6ft 2ins Ive yet to find singles long enough they seem to size them for short folk.

barry
 
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Hollyberry

Hollyberry

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Thanks, everyone--knew I could rely on you for sound advice.
I reckoned the large number of fixed beds was to attract the retirement age group.
The electric drop down bed--for me--is one more thing to go wrong. I kill off more electrical/mechanical things than anyone I know :Doh:

Out there, somewhere is the right m/home but I can't find it. :cry:

And yes, some of the shower rooms did seem unnecessarily large.
 

Terry

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I love the carrying capacity of a large garage....the bikes.. spare wheel and loads of outdoor stuff gets swallowed up by my huge garage. The other benefit is it has a really comfy bed over the top of it inside the motorhome.

Add to this another double made up of two sofas.and we have a double each.

just about perfect for two people.

The only other layout I would like is two large singles.over the top of a large garage..running lengthwise..but at 6ft 2ins Ive yet to find singles long enough they seem to size them for short folk.

barry

Hi Barry you need one like ours :thumb: 2 X 6 FT 6 INS BY 2 FT 7 INS wide :thumb:::bigsmile:
terry

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darklord

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We are slightly different, and possibly look at it in a different way, but come to the same conclusion.
We have a few years before retirement, but our recent purchase was a fixed bed. One of the reasons, is that after being tuggers for a few years, we did not find a comfortable bed, adding memory foam mattresses etc to get a good nights sleep, not something we fancied doing on a purchase in excess of £20000.
We also took the stance, that we are at that time of life when we dont have to compromise on comfort, if we want it, we will stick out till we get it.
Our particular purchase, has a rear fixed bed, seperate dinette, and a door seperating them,.......this helps with the "illusion" of space, means we dont have a "bedding cupboard", and I dont have to wrestle with linen when i want to go to sleep.
Our next purchase, will only get our vote, if it has a fully automatic awning and sunroom, automatic self levelling steadies, and a polish house maid to pour the wine and do the chores:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
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Our first van was a Laika with a fixed bed. Initially we loved it but we soon tired of having only a dinette in which to relax. Upright seats lead to discomfort after long periods of sitting and a TV at head height meant stiff necks. So after four years we swapped for our Frankia A class with drop down bed, which incidentally, has bags of head room above it which for me is great because I sleep on the "far" side.
 
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We were "fixed bed a must" after having the Rapido. The ease of having the bed made up was key for us. But then found our Hymer with a rear lounge which we use as two singles most weekends - just drop the sleeping bags and pillows out of the cupboard, put the back cushions on the front seats and hey presto.

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beachcaster

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At a certain age its not unusual to need a pee in the middle of the night...so having reached that age the key thing for me is not wanting to wake up SWMBO at 3am and Im not too keen on being woken up myself with an elbow in the ear as she tries to crawl delicately over me on the way to the loo

For us this is a key issue.

So a single double bed across the motorhome is useless.
A double bed longways in the back corner is just as bad,
Island beds are actually not long enough and take up too much room.

We bought an Autotrail with a fixed double over a garage ( across the van ) and another double
made for pulling two sofas together across the van ( 2min job) so we have a double each....both beds being very long and wide.


A good nights sleep is key for us both and thought this does cut down a little on the day space its worth it . Its a good solution at under 25 ft.
A 29 ft Burstner might be perfect in this respect..........but I want a shorter motorohome.

Someone told me that mororhomes were all about personal compromise.
The perfect one would be a driving size of a normal transit that opens up to be the parked size of an Amerivan RV with all the trimmings.:RollEyes:

barry
 

rainbow chasers

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Fixed beds were never really a stipulation, and as we hire, we never a consideration when trying to give maximum space, for minimum body size.

Only recently, we sold the house, bought another, got gazumped, and again, and again until time & patience ran out and we ended up full timing in one of ours until we find somewhere.

Something I also discovered with renting, which I had never known before (been a long time since I rented!) You actually get gazumped on rental property too, as agents try pushing the rent up! Not only that, now that agents have the market sown up (buy to let stipulations), they charge you incredible fees for credit searches, contracts etc - some are around £200 per person, others up to £1200!! And when they back out after giving you the place, they say they have to charge you AGAIN! - No thanks!

Since doing that, we have never been happier - the new plan is to just work hard save, and go mortgage free with an auction purchase later - at least when we buy it, it will be ours and no developer will come along with a higher offer. Only thing I would change now is the bed! lol! Got to find something with a fixed bed - drives me mad making it every night! It is fine for a holiday for a few weeks, but after a month it starts to niggle!

So we are now looking you a more executive german tugger with a fixed bed!:thumb:
 

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