So a couple of weekends ago we ordered a custom made mattress from the Rockdale Mattress Factory. They were very helpful and their mattress' start from around $400.00 for a custom made one, and it only took 3 days for them to make it so we ducked back during the week to pick it up.
The first job was to remove the old sofa bed, but I didnt want to destroy it so that we could replace it if the need arose. It took Linda and I a couple of hours to manoeuver the old bed out without damaging the inside of the caravan, at one stage I thought the only way to get it out would be to break it up.
That job done we had a clean slate to work with.
Then I had to make the three supports for the base, the legs sit over the chassis for extra support. I used a biscuit joiner to connect the legs to the supports but they could have been halved together. The first timber frame was screwed to the timber cupboards.
I wasnt really concerned about the weight of the new bed as the old one weighed a fair bit as it had a timber frame and metal springs. If you were replacing a light weight frame you would have to be careful that you didnt put too much weight to the rear of the van.
The legs of the supports were fixed to timber plates, and the plates screwed to the floor from underneath.
The timber slats were then fixed to the supports with about a 70mm gap, any bigger and they will not support the mattress and any less the mattress will not breath. Because this van has fibreglass walls around the bed, all of the timber frame work was kept off the walls about 10mm so that if there is any movement the frame will not rub against the fibreglass .
I made up a separate hinged panel to lift up to get better access underneath.
The finished job with the new mattress in place ready for the next trip away.
Richard.