Bed dilemma?

[nixfwc]

As much as I like my 73 CO, the one area that I struggle with is the bed. My wife and I are both in our 70s and we can spoon ok in the bed but never quite get a full nights sleep. Something about how we sleep when we are older ( symphony, twitches, up and down, etc.). Too costly to redo the roof and frame in order to extend the bed forward over the cab. I checked with Brian on the cost of the extension ( very costly, could buy another Alaskan) and have also seen what others on the forum have gone through to extend their Alaskan. So what i am considering, is to have a sliding extension under the mattress that would slide into the camper from under the bed. Much like my old Four Wheel was. Worked great there. In order to do this I am considering two options; to move the hydraulic rams to the edge of the camper or to be able to collapse the rams in place once the top is up and support the top with props. Both seem to have drawbacks if either is possible. The first option entails shortening the ram piston, making a hole in the cabinet and perhaps changing the top bracket. Once modified I am stuck if it does not work and may have to buy new rams in order to go go back to original method. The second option is hampered by the flow control valves, as it will be difficult to compress the pistons. The fortunate part is that if I can do this, our two full-size Paco pads would fit nicely with the extension. I would love to hear thoughts from others on this project.

 

[Rusty]

I hear you....at 71 and in the middle of a CO rebuild..the thought has crossed my mind more than once

wouldn't a slide interfere with the step down in the middle of the night...to go ??

It's already a no go with the other half.....so I have some serious modifications to do prior to our first CO camping trip....

I've had a NCO for a long time and wifee is perfectly comfortable with it...the ukulele fits nicely

 

[tcorfey]

I would vote for option 1 moving the pistons further outboard but, I would check with Alaskan first as they may have tried this already and ran in to problems that are currently un-forseen.

An option I would consider Is to cut the plywood bed extension to have slots that fit around the rams. The slots would only be as long as you want the extension to be. You might find that you can sleep ok with the rams in the normal place. Sleeping so your heads are toward the pickup cab and your feet are down between the rams. When not in use the extension would have to stick out a bit but not too bad.

 

[nixfwc]

Extending the bed with slots around the rams is an idea I have not considered. I will measure that out and see what it would take. Moving the rams outboard seems like a simple solution but like any other mods must have its problems. One part is that puts the ram bottom force over the side extension, pushing down on the shelf./seat. Not sure how it would handle the load.
And yes Rusty, exiting the bed in the middle of the night is going to require some thought.
Thanks for the input and ideas.