Concrete bed cushions

Didn't find a lot searching. Just wondering who has upgraded the foam in their bed cushions and what did you use.

2012 Eagle shell. The stock 4"(I think) bed cushions might as well be concrete. We've used a 4" memory foam topper so far and the combo is nice but too much weight and bulk. I'd like to get the foam replaced with something that's comfortable to sleep on and just use the stock cushions.

I had thought about a lamination with soft foam on top and denser on bottom. I found a local foam place and he said that wouldn't be needed. They can provide the rights stuff in a single piece.

Does anyone know what year FWC upgraded the foam? What density # the old vs new is?



I'm also open to other options and ideas.

Newer Updated FWC Mattress?

FWC Mattress Update

Memory Foam Topper for the hawk

Foam Source

Extra Padding in a 2008 Eagle

Custom Mattress for a 2005 Eagle

Thanks Ski. I figured it had been covered a lot. But not much luck for me with the search above.

We have a 2012 Fleet with the 4" concrete foam. Here are the numbers for the foam I got directly from FWC:

2012 Foam: Density=1.8. IDL=48

New foam 3" thick Density=2.5. IDL=35

I literally called today to order foam from "The Foam Factory", Foambymail.com. After talking with them today I am ordering their HD36 - High Quality foam which is Density=2.8 IDL=35. Also, asking them to wrap with Dacron.

It is going to cost about $250 to $300 for 5 pieces. I am waiting on the formal quote and can't wait to try it. I have decided to just use the cushion covers for the 4" thick original foam and not going going to worry about a little looseness. But I am hoping with the 3" foam we can leave the bedding on the bed when we pop down.

I called a local foam place. They said we could come in and lay down on stuff till we found what we liked. He said it's a common problem with boats and RV's. Price was in the same ballpark you were quoted. I'm think for us the best option is to stay with the 4" and just get new foam that works inside the covers. Kiss principle.

We had super hard cushions also. Went to our local furniture re-upholstery shop. Told them we wanted foam designed for sleeping. They recommended "Nymbus Q41" . So far slept on it 110 nights very comfortable.

We also had the cushions cut down to queen size so we could use fitted bottom sheet. At the time we replaced the foam in all 5 sections. Since in the Eagle we sleep north-south we could have saved money doing just the large 48" section as the other 4 support the legs only.

Doing it again we would have used 3 inch thick not four. We had the same foam in our "Flip-Pac" 3 inch thick. It was just as firm as the four.

In 2013 the factory replaced theirs with medium-hard 3 inch thick so owner can leave bedding on

Squatch said:

Didn't find a lot searching. Just wondering who has upgraded the foam in their bed cushions and what did you use.

2012 Eagle shell. The stock 4"(I think) bed cushions might as well be concrete. We've used a 4" memory foam topper so far and the combo is nice but too much weight and bulk. I'd like to get the foam replaced with something that's comfortable to sleep on and just use the stock cushions.

I had thought about a lamination with soft foam on top and denser on bottom. I found a local foam place and he said that wouldn't be needed. They can provide the rights stuff in a single piece.

Does anyone know what year FWC upgraded the foam? What density # the old vs new is?



I'm also open to other options and ideas.

Click to expand...

This an interesting topic, my 2005 Eagle has 2" foam only, do you travel with bed pulled out ? Maybe all person would have to do is leave the bed in the open position for traveling with bedding on [using 3"foam]. Might be difficult to pop the front...hmm
I'll have to do a little more pondering..

Yeah, FWC hard cushions are legendary. I've sat on pine 2 x 12's that were softer than our 2012 Hawk's 4" mattress! It seems like the 2015 mattress is better.

One thing we did with our 2012 Hawk was to insert inside the mattress cover a thin "egg crate" foam topper from Walmart. We could still close the camper lid even with a (thin) sleeping bag on top.

So far we don't travel with the bed extended. It's easier for us to load the camper with it pushed in. Normally just stack the cushions like this. The inside lift struts don't like getting smashed into the cushions when the bed is extended and you close the lid. Eventually they get moved outside.


We'll check into the 3" foam. But I don't want saggy covers on the cushions. We use a double sleeping bag so setting up the bed is not an issue. We'll probably also just use the local place even if it costs a little more. I like the try it till you find what you want concept.

We recently bought a new bed for home. We skipped the chain stores and went to a small local mattress place. We ended up spending more than we had planned. But with no sales push we just talked to the folks and tried different stuff. What we bought was almost the opposite of what is popular and what convention says you should have. But it was so amazingly comfortable we knew instantly we had found the right mattress as soon as we laid on it. I want the same kind of comfort for the camper. This is a long haul purchase. I do enough sleeping on a self inflating pad when I river camp.

I use Thermarest brand "Dreamtime" mattresses in my FWC. I owned the mattresses prior to purchasing the camper and loved them. After my first night in the camper using the cushions it came with i promptly pulled those out and was happy to see my Dreamtimes fit great. The other surprise bonus to using these is you can slide in the bed and you don't have to have the extra cushions stacked up down below. Because these mattresses are a foam/air mix i fold them over once and they squish enough that the roof sits down without issue. I even leave the sleeping bags and pillows up there with no problems. It may be something to consider if you don't like the stock cushions.

I have a 2015 Grandby and I have always been able to sleep on anything, anytime. However, the stock FWC turns out to be my nemesis. Woke up a little sore and tired from tossing and turning all night. My wife had to go get her back adjusted by the chiropractor. It was that bad. I spoke a contact that I have from work and he recommended going with latex foam. It's a bit more expensive but will not collapse over the course of the night when your body warms it up. Bought it (at a friend's discount) and did not regret it. I think it works out to retail around $300 or more. What a difference though.

I do travel with bed pulled out so that all the foam just sits on top. Then if I need to have dinner inside, I fold the foam and bolsters back and slide the bed back in so I can sit down. Works well.


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The upholstery shop cut the foam covering down to fit the shortened foam. Everything is tight like the originals.

We don't travel with the bed pulled out because the light fixtures and inside lifters rub on the fabric.

RC Pilot Jim said:

The upholstery shop cut the foam covering down to fit the shortened foam. Everything is tight like the originals.

We don't travel with the bed pulled out because the light fixtures and inside lifters rub on the fabric.

Click to expand...

That's the way to do it. I'm getting ready to drop too much money into this camper as it is. So I think I'll be happy to just have comfortable cushions. I don't mind carrying the stock cushions around. We've been known to pull them out of the camper and use them on picnic table benches and such as well.

Bumping this thread up - we have a 2010 Eagle and we can't decide whether to just upgrade the cushions to the new material FWC is making now OR have a mattress factory do a custom order for us. Price will run about the same either way. After a few searches, I'm having a hard time finding any opinions of people that have upgraded to the new FWC mattress type vs. the old - any opinion there?

I have a 2014 Eagle and I sleep great on the cushions, better than I do at home. I like a pretty firm mattress, though.

One's weight, bony-ness and natural padding makes a big difference thus making matress density and thickness very personal. Comfort descriptions for a particular foam could be more helpfull to readers if more information was included.

I had a 2010 Grandby with 4" foam and it was too soft for both my son and I. It would bottom out on the bony parts like hips and shoulders when side sleeping. I now have a 2013 Hawk with the firm 3" factory foam and we both find it works well, we do not bottom out when on our sides, and seems comfortable enough to us now. I am 6'1" 185lb and bony, my son is less bony but 6'2" 225lb.

I am a longtime motorcyclist. I have had many motorcycles over the years, and all but one of them required a custom seat to replace the stock 4x4 boards the OEMs call a seat. But some find they are OK - I think they are relative lightweight, maybe less than 140lbs . Not sure who they think are buying these bikes. Same for many suspension spring ratings.

TwoPlusLu said:

Bumping this thread up - we have a 2010 Eagle and we can't decide whether to just upgrade the cushions to the new material FWC is making now OR have a mattress factory do a custom order for us. Price will run about the same either way. After a few searches, I'm having a hard time finding any opinions of people that have upgraded to the new FWC mattress type vs. the old - any opinion there?

Click to expand...

Mattress firmness is such a individual thing, I think you would get better results by going to a upholstery shop and try a number of different density foams to find the one that feels best to you.

jim

Funny this should come back up. It was nice out so I did some backyard camping and slept in the Eagle last night. I used a cheap 1" mattress topper and a pair of cheap zip together sleeping bags. All I can say is I will be doing exactly what the above post describes before I use the camper much more. The stock cushions have about as much give as a 2x4. I personally think it shouldn't be a big deal at all to find a good foam to replace whats in the cushions now and just replace the foam.

Last fall at the beach we used a 4" memory foam topper someone had given us. That works well but reduces headroom where there isn't a lot anyway. It also takes up a lot of room in the camper to transport and weighs a lot. So I don't feel that is a good long term solution.

I figure if I can sleep like a baby on my 3.5" REI self inflating pad in my Tent-Cot I should be able to come up with a good replacement foam for the camper cushions. I think I'll also look for a thin sheet of closed cell foam to set in place under the cushions to make up the space of the sliding bed extension. Something to get rid of the bump where the extension sits on the ledge.

Another possibility: I took my stock 4" mattress to a foam (sorry I can't recall their name) distributor in Sacramento and I had them slice 1" off, they charged $8.00. Stuffed my "now" 3" mattress back into the large zip case and laid it back on the bed area. Then topped it with a good quality 1" foam topper, now I'm back to 4". I put polar fleece sleets on along with a wool blanket and called it good. The new and modified mattress is a 100% improvement.

Squatch said:

I think I'll also look for a thin sheet of closed cell foam to set in place under the cushions to make up the space of the sliding bed extension. Something to get rid of the bump where the extension sits on the ledge.

Click to expand...

This worked for us. https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Rest-Easy-Camp-Pad/dp/B00168ZJWY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1465401663&sr=8-2&keywords=closed+foam+sleeping+pad
Fills space in front of bed slide. I put one layer of Reflectix to cover entire area under mattress. No complaints about cold or condensation so far.

For those unhappy with mattress firmness, I had a similar problem on my VW camper years ago. Had a foam supplier build a two layer mattress from a dense foam bottom layer & a softer foam top layer. The dense layer kept hip bones from hitting the hard surface and the softer layer provided more comfort. Worked well for us.

Paul