Drop down beds

[Bart]

As per title Drop down beds, who here has or used to have one?? Electric or manual and if you have or had one what's been your experience with them, as a few I've seen lately seem to be broken.

 

[Ernesto]

I don't have direct experience of a van yet, but I was chatting to one manufacturer last week at the NEC show and they said they were switching to manual in their vans this year because of reliability concerns ... makes sense to me plus its also another small weight saving to add to the payload

 

[WillH]

As above, no personal experience but read a lot of problem page stuff about drop down beds. Good idea but they have to get it right.

 

[Speve]

Had them in our last two vans Hymers (manual) and no problems at all they are also very comfy and roomy.

 

[Figaro]

Hymer manual drop down bed is excellent.
Very spacious and comfortable.
Only downside for me is you can't sit up in bed and have a morning cuppa. It has to be done partially lying down.
Not a big problem.
Definitely have another but OH wants a fixed island.

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[ivorantony]

Had them in our last two vans Hymers (manual) and no problems at all they are also very comfy and roomy.

Exactly the same with our Adria vision, very comfortable and very easy to pull down or put away, KISS !!! Keep it simple stupid

 

[Speve]

Hymer manual drop down bed is excellent.
Very spacious and comfortable.
Only downside for me is you can't sit up in bed and have a morning cuppa. It has to be done partially lying down.
Not a big problem.
Definitely have another but OH wants a fixed island.

We changed from island bed to two singles so that we have a decent sized garage the island bed left a very small garage.

 

[deleted-member02]

Hymer manual drop down beds for the last ten years - no problems to report

 

[Gerby]

we have a manual in the Bailey Autograph 796, works absolutely fine but could do with going a lot lower to give enough headroom for an adult, annoying thing is there is plenty of room for it to go lower but I haven't yet been able to figure out if the mechanism can be amended to let it. if I ever figure it out we would probably use this rather than making up the lounge bed every night when we are away without the tribe.

 

[Figaro]

I haven't yet been able to figure out if the mechanism can be amended

I doubt it could be altered, it's quite a piece of engineering. Assuming it's like the Hymer mechanism.

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[solaris]

Had electric drop down bed in benimar. No problems in 3 years of usage, though always crossed fingers when pressed button. Lost settings a couple of times but as a result of hanging it up on seat cushions. Easy to reset once you know where secret button is. Dealer was very keen to check it worked when trading in

 

[Larrynwin]

A little story.....
Some three years ago wife and I went looking at motorhomes as in the market for a new one.
Local to us went to Simpson’s at Great Yarmouth viewed a new Rapido a class with front drop down bed, salesman had trouble opening hab door as locks faulty, entered to find a couple of cupboard doors out of line and salesman said don’t touch drop down bed it’s faulty.....we walked....
......and drove on to Becks at Martham, looked in Hymer B544 auto on offer with lots of extras, everything was perfect including the manual drop down bed, we hummed and haaard , salesman goes back to office, comes back and asks anything you need.......
........yes , sat dome , bike rack, radio, solar panels, towbar...... salesman goes back to office , comes back and says ok , so we parts with our money.

After three years the drop down bed and everything else is perfect, so yes the Hymer one is great

 

[Cairngorm]

Early days for us, but we have an electric drop down bed with a pull out drawer to extend the bed . This means you can sleep longitudinally and not disturb each other when heading to the toilet. Delighted with it so far.

 

[138go]

Laika 712 Drop Down bed. Very comfortable not electric. We had a Pilote P710 before this with an electric bed in the lounge area. Thought it was a good idea until the bed mechanism started playing up. Sometimes it came down and other times it refused to go up. Burstner had a similar Project 2000 bed and they had the same problems. When you view them in the showroom they look really good but they don't have bedding on them and pillows which can stop them going up fully and reduce headroom. They also rattle when on the move.

 

[Steve and Soz]

Use the drop down bed in our bailey 79-6 most of the time. Very easy to lower and raise. Not much head room when you are in it. The holding wires do stretch slightly when we are both in it. Nice comfy mattress.

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[chocky]

I am happy with our drop down bed (Hymer B584) but the wife is not too happy as she feels that she is in a shroud so I have extended the bed so that we now have a 72" square bed.

 

[Bart]

Thanks for all the feedback, seems deffo a thumbs up for the Hymer model, any feedback on other makes?

 

[Lenny HB]

Had drop down beds in last 2 Hymers not had any problems but don't use them that often. Certainly wouldn't pay hundreds of pounds extra for the electric option.
A drop down bed in anything but an A Class seems a bit pointless as you completely loose the lounge with the bed down. With an A Class you still have ¾ of the lounge avalible with the bed down.

 

[Steve and Soz]

unless you have a MoHo with two lounges!

 

[WillandLes]

We have a Fleurette with a drop down bed over the living area. It works fine although I give it a helping shove when raising it to ensure that it goes up as high as possible. We use it when we have other people travelling with us and you can certainly have a cup of tea up there.

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[Lenny HB]

unless you have a MoHo with two lounges!

His & her's lounges?

 

[Shrimp]

Hymer manual drop down bed.......bliss!
8 yrs constant use, had to replace gas struts few yrs back otherwise no problems.

 

[Gerby]

Use the drop down bed in our bailey 79-6 most of the time. Very easy to lower and raise. Not much head room when you are in it. The holding wires do stretch slightly when we are both in it. Nice comfy mattress.

Steve and Soz

Just wondered how much room you have when your bed is fully lowered, we have 57 cm from top of the mattress to the ceiling which the (much) better half finds a bit too claustrophobic to use, its a shame as the mattress is (as you say) extremely comfortable and if we could use it, it leaves the rear lounge fully usable and saves a lot of work every night and morning.

I am sure it went lower before Bailey engineer came round and did some work on it at the same time they did the rear window which makes me think it is somehow adjustable.

 

[PeteH]

Manual drop down on our Rapido, works perfectly, Tall granddaughter used it last summer her verdict was "awesome". In fact when her sister left us to go "backpacking", she still stayed in it despite then having the use of the Double?. I was always fascinated by the "electro-magic" drop downs fitted to Safari Trek`s. But some friends who had one once spent the night with no bedding on the rack-n-roll. because they had no power.!

 

[jongood]

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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[Casper46]

Carthago drop down bed, manual. It’s great, drops low. Only problem is it’s a bit heavy pushing it up. If my backside was not so close to the floor it wouldn’t be a problem.

 

[Bart]

Had drop down beds in last 2 Hymers not had any problems but don't use them that often. Certainly wouldn't pay hundreds of pounds extra for the electric option.
A drop down bed in anything but an A Class seems a bit pointless as you completely loose the lounge with the bed down. With an A Class you still have ¾ of the lounge avalible with the bed down.

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.

 

[Bart]

Steve and Soz

Just wondered how much room you have when your bed is fully lowered, we have 57 cm from top of the mattress to the ceiling which the (much) better half finds a bit too claustrophobic to use, its a shame as the mattress is (as you say) extremely comfortable and if we could use it, it leaves the rear lounge fully usable and saves a lot of work every night and morning.

I am sure it went lower before Bailey engineer came round and did some work on it at the same time they did the rear window which makes me think it is somehow adjustable.

If you look at the runners that the bed come down in, I'm sure if it still has a lot of runner left then it should go further down.

 

[Hils and Glenns]

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.

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

 

[Bart]

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.

What is N&B?
And Height is no problem as I'm just 5ft

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