Drop-down beds that don't need ladders?
We've been caravanning for over 35 years, and some years ago got to the point where I couldn't be faffed with changing the lounge to a bedroom every night, so we upgraded to a caravan with a fixed bed, which is great. However - now, we've got to that stage in life that it's also a bit of a faff to do all the chores involved in pitching up and doing the same in reverse at the end of a stay. So we thought we might downsize - literally - to a campervan with a drop-down bed; because, in theory, that's much the same as having a fixed bed, but requires a much shorter outfit.
However, my research so far has suggests that these beds descend only halfway down the van, and require a ladder to climb into them, which is not what I imagined they might be. Does anyone know of a campervan where the bed actually drops down to, er, bed height?
The reason we're hoping that such an arrangement exists in a campervan rather than a motorhome is that we like to use our towcar to tour the areas around the sites we visit, and don't fancy doing that in a vehicle approximating in size to a small bus.
Are we seeking the impossible?
Gareth
Comments
-
I think they will be like unicorns frankly, very hard to spot. What’s wrong with two comfy single beds in a camper, where you simply throw on a quilt at night, but by day they are your seats? Just make sure the seats are bed quality, store the back rests on the driving seats. Should take all of 30 seconds to sort out, and you can access your onboard loo easily. Most will give you the option of having a transverse double if you fancy the option as well. Good luck anyway, someone might have a suggestion, but small drop downs in a PVC….. I can’t think of one.
1 -
I would say what you want is impossibe since to get the drop down bed to "bed height" would require there to be nothing of any size beneath it in non-bed mode. I did see a powered bed that came down to level with the cushions in a U-shaped rear lounge, but that was in a motor caravan.
What might work is a layout where the rear floor area is a couple of steps up from the cab area and the lowered bed at the front would be close to "bed height" when accessed from rear.
1 -
A bit more Googling, and I found this: The Chausson X550 seems to fit the bill. It's 1.5m longer than my towcar, so it's far from being unwieldily huge. If anyone reading this has experience of one of these, I'd really appreciate any user feedback. Gareth
0 -
I’ve no direct experience but looking at your link I can see it’s not a campervan but a full blown coachbuilt motorhome. The bed appears to drop down to about worktop level, not seat level. In fact, the idea is that the seating area makes up 2 more berths below the drop down bed as far as I can see.
The length of 6m is good and the 9 speed TC auto gearbox is a great one.
1 -
Thanks, Tinwheeler - much appreciated. At 13.24 in this video, the reviewer states that the bed goes down to 790mm above the floor, but he doesn't say whether that's the surface or the base of the bed! If it's the base, then - yes - I have to agree - that's worktop level (sigh) but at least a ladder isn't necessary in that case!
0 -
I recall Le Voyager did a model with a bed which folded down from a side wall. I have also seen them on custom builds which may be the way to go if there isn't exactly what you want on the market. I have a rock and roll bed which opens out from the settee into a ready made double bed
peedee
1 -
As others have mentioned, drop down beds in 'campervans' (PVCs) don't usually come as low as the OP would like, despite there being far more of these on the market than is probably realised.
front longitudinal drop downs available from Knaus, Dreamer (Rapido) and others. Also rear longitudinal and transverse beds for many continental converters....but none will drop as low as required.
however, small (and slim) A class MHs have been using drop down beds for decades and these typically come down low enough to use a side seat to hop up into the bed. Our Carthago has two beds, a fixed read double and a large drop down in the cab area...there is no ladder.
the Frankia 640 SD has just one bed, a drop down in the cab which can be used as a transverse bed or, with a slide our section, a huge longitudinal bed, again with no ladder required. These vans aren't cheap but are very well made and at 6.5m with a huge lounge and underfloor storage make for a terrific touring van for two.
0 -
As an alternative to drop down beds have you looked at other designs eg Adria which have bed arrangements that are adaptable eg they fold up to allow for bike storage etc whilst retaining front seating areas. There are some good designs out there if space is limited.
0 -
Rock & roll beds-rear seats whilst traveling & concertina’s down to a double bed with one pull of a lever. Then same lever pull to return to rear seat⤵️
0
