Drop down double bed
Just out of curiosity - how do you all find the drop down double bed (above the cab type) in many MHs? Are they designed for two adults or children - thinking of the maximum weights. Can't find any specific details in brochures etc, but would welcome your findings where you have one fitted.
Motive for the question - We're considering changing to MH and want to keep the overall length under 6.5/7m but want a good size lounge seating area with a good size toilet/shower. Quite happy to sleep on 'bed length' lounge seats individually, but like the idea of having a bed made up, tucked away during travelling leaving the lounge seats available.
Appreciate its a bit 'how long is a bit of string' question as I guess some manufactures have varying specifications. What are the pros and cons youve found?
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as you mentioned 'above the cab' type beds, youre talking about an A-class MH...
there are a few great examples of the layout you seek this Frankia 640 is one of the bst of its type....terrific quild quality, lovely lounge, kitchen, across the rear washroom, double floors etc...all in 6.4m.
the bed is one of the biggest of its type and can easily be used longitudinally. although most are transverse.when new, most of these vans will be expensive, the Frankias used are like gold dust but, SMC usually have one....
Hymer has a version of the longitudinal bed in its tiny (6m) B DL 444.
Pilote also have a 6m version with their G600L (very popular, park anywhere van) and their larger G650L.
Hymers (now discontinued) B Class B544 is their eqivalent to the Frankia at 6.5m...and is highly sought after...
we have a drop down in our van and our grown up daughter and husband have used it...they are surprisingly large at 1.60m wide, so loads of room, and they swing down low really easily and you just need to step on the side seat to get in, no steps/ladders required...no issue with weight....
the bed will be totally stable, retain your bedding and be deployed in a few seconds..and will be way more comfortable than a lounge 'make up' bed.
downsides?....if a transverse unit, the inside sleeper is 'trapped' by their partner, but the longitudinal versions dont have this issue, as in the Frankia....also as the overal design is very caravan-like (apart from the drop down) and can suffer from a lack of large storage areas (no garage or fixed bed to store large items)...
good luck.
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I'm on my third A-class in 17 years because the drop down bed allows for more usable motorhome space which is important to me. To set up my drop down bed at night on my current A-class, I have to adjust the steering wheel to its lowest setting and fold down the cabs seats.
Here are some of the impracticalities of drop down cab beds:
1. Not everyone is happy sleeping close to the front panel of the van; certainly not for the claustrophobic! Good ones don't get cold 'upstairs'.
2. The one on the inside has to clamber over the one on the outside and the bed rocks a little when they do.
3. Rattles when driving are quite common but not loud or worrying.
4. Weight restriction on the bed - mine is 200kg, some are 150kg.
5. Useless for storing, you might be able to store the bedding but in some, the quilt, not the pillows, is all you can manage. Mine thinks pillows are children and the electric motor stops until I remove the 'children'. Manually operated drop down beds do not have a problem with storing pillows.
6. Access is by clambering over the furniture or up ladders, not easy for the infirm.There are also difficulties in owning an A-class such as access to the engine bay which can increase service time/costs. My Fiat Professional dealer used to try and get another £100 of me for a service.
Having had three, would I have a fourth? Yep - especially if I could run to a Frankia. The benefits of the shorter vehicles, the vista out of the cab windows, and the absence of damp in beautifully designed, well-made vehicles make it all worth while. The cab on a good A-class is integral to the design whilst still retaining all the Fiat/Mercedes/Iveco crash protection systems.
I had a Hymer 544 which, with its two longitudinal bench seats and drop down bed, is a fabulous layout for two. Now I have a 6m long 504 which has a single bed at the rear over the garage which my missus will use if she has back ache. Doesn't have a big lounge though.
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A, good objective and informative post....
i first saw (and lusted over) the 640 SD about four years ago, but it was a lot of money, even then....having said that, we bought a Carthago a year later....smile
i think the 640, the 544 and (possibly) the Pilote 650 make for a very roomy van with terrific 'fixed' beds...Hymer definitely in the running when we changed (dealer kn the doorstep) and looked hard at the 544 but the desire to carry and keep ebikes under cover meant we went for a garage version, still only 6.4m and dropdown bed but smaller lounge due to rear double over garage...
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Aspenshaw has pretty much nailed the situation.
I've had two Rapido's with drop downs and they've been fine, from memory 200Kg weight limit, never found them cold to be honest.
He's got a point about some places charging extra to work on an A class, but that's just a con IMO, just trying to get more money because you have a more expensive model.
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i think the OP was looking at those with 'above the cab type' beds which really means A class vans, rather than those where the bed drops straight down over the lounge.
the great thing about an A class bed is that it 'doesnt' come down over the lounge, the bed actually falls in a gentle fwd direction, using a cantilevered scissor action to follow the line of the windscree, ie away from the lounge.
so, only the cab seats and large dashboard area are actually covered by the bed, with all other sofas, side seats free to be used..great with kids??
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Had a look at the Hymer 444 at the NEC show. Very clever use of space but we thought the drop down bed would be like sleeping in a small tent. Need to climb in and try it!
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We went to the Glasgow show the other day and was pretty impressed with the Pilote P650GJ 6.4m coachbuild, 2 fixed single beds and a drop-down over the cab, clever use of the bathroom/shower.
They have another model G650GJ its an A class also 6.4m very similar layout, they didn't have one on display at the show but one is due in to the dealers in a couple of weeks so will be having a look at that one.
Its not long since I said on here that we were not that keen on continental style MH's as they were all to big, however these ones are the same size as our current van. The advantage here is that the bikes would be in a garage rather than on the back adding another half a metre to the length.
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...but they arent all the same...
even with the over lounge beds, some manufacturers get them to come down to seat base height (very low)...
the restricting factors are likely to be whether the design incorporates lockers on the underside of the bed, and whether the seats below remain 'in the way'...
some makers domthis far better than others....
the current 'most innovative' drop downers are probably Chausson....
im not a huge fan of their 'ambiance' but they are damned clever at the way they have managed to get drop downs in transverse or (totally separate) single format....
their latest transvers is 1.6m wide, thats a good sized bed.
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We have had our drop down bed in the van since new and frankly, it's been a pain. The problem has been with the mechanism for pulling it down and for preventing lateral movement. Some of the screws fell out in the first month (it was bought new in 2017) and it went in for repair. It has since been in for repair twice more and for considerable lengths of time each time. We lost one holiday that we had booked and paid for and were unable to go away for many weeks while it was in the workshop. We were due to go away this easter and took the van to get it cleaned. The same mechanism has failed again and we have had to cancel our holiday.
Are we the only people with this problem? Ours is a manual drop down bed on a Swift 685.
On the positive side, the bed, when we can use it, is very comfortable. The extra daytime space it affords is great as we go away with just two people sometimes but also have children and grandchildren at least as often. Also, the rear lounge is a fantastic feature. In principle, I'm still a big fan of the drop-down bed as long as our experience is not typical.
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We have just got a Roller Team T590, used the bed 8 times so far, cannot fault, electric, operates as required, no issues at all very comfortable. Did look at the Swift, to be honest the bed let it down, was still a pull down, the show model already had an issue in how far It went back up, plus the fittings were loose, spoke to sales team who blamed the punters for not knowing how to operate, decided if faulty already, then issue would arise again.
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Are we the only people with this problem? Ours is a manual drop down bed on a Swift 685.
I think this says it all, get a continental model and no such issues.
We are changing to an A class next week with a drop down over the cab, on trying it out last week it seemed easy to deploy, came down quite low and looked a good size. Will probably only be deployed if the grand children come with us or maybe another relative.
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mist to add to my earlier post re the Frankia 640 (and to show how quickly things change on the continental MH market) they now have the 680 which is 60cm longer due to a garage being grafted onto the rear.
so, large lounge, dropdown bed (can be longitudinal or transverse) with steps for access, large accross the rear washroom, large kitchen and under 7m.
other brands also have something similar, see Burstner, Pilote etc.
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It doesn't answer the essence of your query, but here goes anyway! I've had four vans with drop-down beds, all European - Hymer & EuraMobil A-classes, La Strada coachbuilt, and currently a Laika A-class - they've all been well constructed as regards strength. What you may well have to watch is that they are often aimed at the upper end of the market and so get loaded with extras, nice but not necessarily things you'd die for. That can mean that in a 3500kg van a decent payload is all but impossible. It's can be something of a nightmare, but if you're licensed to drive something around 4000kg or upwards, you should be fine.
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…my ansum 😋
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We too have had no end of problems with the manual drop down bed in a Bessacarr 496.
The bed has caused many months of missed holidays since purchased new in Aug-17. 92 days off the road in our first year of ownership.
The bed has been repaired five times in that time with a month long stay at the Cottingham factory for "full repair".
We got it back and stored it over winter and on the first outing (two nights) it seemed to have been resolved. The next outing proved that it hadn't been resolved when just lowering the bed into position caused the pulley system to snap off and the bed to swing violently into the forward facing passenger seats. Luckily no one was sitting there otherwise having a 100kg bed smashing into a passenger might have had a different outcome entirely.
Swift now want the vehicle back to the factory (another month?) for inspection and repair.
I don't have any confidence in Swift being able to suitably and permanently repair the bed. I fear it is a design issue that cannot be overcome.
ps this is in addition to the other 40 odd repairs and fixes they have perfomed on the vehicle over the past 18 months, QUALITY nil!
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Hi Paul & Cheryl, we recently bought a Roller team T590 (new) spent months looking at variants our spec was Like yours, under 6m, drop down bed (electric), we have used on 3 trips so far 9 nights and am 100% happy, can leave bed fully made up with ladder, Still walk under, basic advice has to be look at as many as possible, we did look at A class, but the boss did not like the layout, its such a personal thing, good luck. Malc
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We have had two MHs with a drop down bed. They are great because you have a made up bed ready for you, which tucks away and gives you more space!
My only advice is to choose one that pulls down manually. The electric ones seem like a good idea but they can be trouble as we found out.
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Malc, I thought there was an AClass version of your van, (Pegaso?) same layout except the bed is over the cab seats not the lounge?
this little gem has received many plaudits already
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UK manufacturers have been in the drop down bed business for five minutes, the continentals nearly 40 years...
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