Hi. We loooove our new/used 2007 hawk, but are very interested in the chat about using 4" memory foam topper for the bed. Someone said they got theirs at Walmart and I was wondering what brand you got? There are a few. Also, is the topper a better way to go rather than buying the memory foam mattress? Wanting to sleep a bit better...............
memory foam for bedding
- Thread starter 4Wheel
- Start date
DLN
Senior Member
First, welcome to the forum.
Now, I wouldn't bother with a full bed and I'm not sure it would even work. We just added a 3" memory foam topper to the trailer bed (no FWC anymore but they still let me hang around here) and it is like night and day in comfort. When we had our Eagle we used a 2" foam topper and it helped but the 3" is much better.
Don't forget the obligatory pictures of your rig.
Now, I wouldn't bother with a full bed and I'm not sure it would even work. We just added a 3" memory foam topper to the trailer bed (no FWC anymore but they still let me hang around here) and it is like night and day in comfort. When we had our Eagle we used a 2" foam topper and it helped but the 3" is much better.
Don't forget the obligatory pictures of your rig.
First, welcome to the forum.
Now, I wouldn't bother with a full bed and I'm not sure it would even work. We just added a 3" memory foam topper to the trailer bed (no FWC anymore but they still let me hang around here) and it is like night and day in comfort. When we had our Eagle we used a 2" foam topper and it helped but the 3" is much better.
Don't forget the obligatory pictures of your rig.
Thank you, haven't loaded a pic yet, but will.
Now, I wouldn't bother with a full bed and I'm not sure it would even work. We just added a 3" memory foam topper to the trailer bed (no FWC anymore but they still let me hang around here) and it is like night and day in comfort. When we had our Eagle we used a 2" foam topper and it helped but the 3" is much better.
Don't forget the obligatory pictures of your rig.
Thank you, haven't loaded a pic yet, but will.
craig333
Riley's Human
Don't recall the brand name, but I use the 4" pad from walmart. Its 1 1/2" of memory foam on top of 2 1/2"s of standard foam. Sure beats teh stock pad all to heck.
Hello. I am a brand new owner of a Hawk. Wow!!! Will post pics soon.
The bed is really hard. I see 3 options:
1/ replacing the foam inside the cushions with softer material (such as what you suggest: 1/2" of memory foam on top of 2 1/2"s of standard foam) => need to cut the foam to fit in the multiple cushions
2/ adding a memory foam or latex on top of the existing cushions => where to store it after sliding the bed...
3/ getting a padded sheet => not as much padding but may be enough
Which option have people pursued and with what success?
BTW I got the "king slide" option so I can sleep in the same direction as the truck. I am tall (6'3") so this option rocks!
Herve
Don't recall the brand name, but I use the 4" pad from walmart. Its 1 1/2" of memory foam on top of 2 1/2"s of standard foam. Sure beats teh stock pad all to heck.
The bed is really hard. I see 3 options:
1/ replacing the foam inside the cushions with softer material (such as what you suggest: 1/2" of memory foam on top of 2 1/2"s of standard foam) => need to cut the foam to fit in the multiple cushions
2/ adding a memory foam or latex on top of the existing cushions => where to store it after sliding the bed...
3/ getting a padded sheet => not as much padding but may be enough
Which option have people pursued and with what success?
BTW I got the "king slide" option so I can sleep in the same direction as the truck. I am tall (6'3") so this option rocks!
Herve
Don't recall the brand name, but I use the 4" pad from walmart. Its 1 1/2" of memory foam on top of 2 1/2"s of standard foam. Sure beats teh stock pad all to heck.
Desert Rancher
Contributors
Someone had mentioned that the memory foam gets hard when cold. Any knowledge or experience with this?
Thanks~
DR
Thanks~
DR
Someone had mentioned that the memory foam gets hard when cold. Any knowledge or experience with this?
Thanks~
DR
That's just what I was going to ask!
Friends of mine got memory foam pillows for use in their VW camper-van, but found that they got "rock hard" if it's cold, so they ditched that idea. I don't know how cold...but these folks don't do hard-core winter camping, so I imagine "cold" meant 30s/40s (without heater on).
Thanks~
DR
That's just what I was going to ask!
Friends of mine got memory foam pillows for use in their VW camper-van, but found that they got "rock hard" if it's cold, so they ditched that idea. I don't know how cold...but these folks don't do hard-core winter camping, so I imagine "cold" meant 30s/40s (without heater on).
HIKEMT
Advanced Member
The memory foam does get hard in cold weather. We also have the 1 1/2 2 1/2 Walmart combo from a previous application. Peeled the layers apart and added the thinner portion on top of the factory mattress. Top did not want to close properly. This could be worse in sub-freezing temps because the material gets quite stiff. Removed the extra foam and have been doing ok on the factory cushion, although it would be nice if it was a touch softer. Worst case, we will have a custom insert made to fit the factory cushion fabric. If I had it to do again, I'd consider having the cab-over made 2" taller to accommodate a thicker cushion.
SunMan
King Taco
We use a down feather bed as a topper, this is with the old school 2" foam. It gets the job done but I do wish I had another 1" of foam sometimes. Contemplating ordering custom foam down the line but it really isn't that bad.
chnlisle
Post Master
If you look at the Tempurpedic ads they allude to the fact that body heat "activates" the foam. We had a topper in a previous life and found it way to warm to sleep on in the summer but at least it's heavy.
craig333
Riley's Human
Never felt mine get hard, but I never let the temps fall below 40 inside.
Hi,
As I said in my previous post, I found the foam of the bed way too firm and I was not sleeping well. After multiple tests, I found a foam be I am very happy with:
3 inch of ILD 34 foam with 1 inch of ILD 24 foam on top.
4 inch of ILD 34 was too firm and I was bottoming out on 4 inches of 24. Maybe 2 inch of each would be great, I didn't try, I was worried I would bottom out. I am 190 pounds and I like beds on the firmer side but with some softness.
I ordered from foam order because of their return policy on CUSTOM CUT foam: if you don't like your custom cut foam, they take it back with a 15% restocking fee (totally reasonable for custom cut IMO). I did do a return and they were very nice to me when I did so. If you are in the bay area, I highly recommend them.
They have more expensive foam warrantied 15 years (V34 and V24) and less expensive foam warrantied 5 years (C34 and C24). The V24 is hard to find on their web site, it is under "Foam filler for Down envelope".
The dimensions I got for my 2011 hawk were slightly smaller than the foam FWC put it, based on their feedback, and it worked out well. I got for the large one:
Width: 76.5 in, Depth: 47.5 in
And for the small ones:
Width: 38.25 in, Depth: 16.125 in
They will glue both pieces of foam together for free.
House of Foam in Palo Alto has ILD 30 foam which may be great firmness as is and is cheap, but they don't warranty their foam and don't accept returns for custom cut.
I considered Latex foam which is what I use for my bed at home but:
- it is quite heavy
- it is very inflammable and require fire retardant cover (Stan, do you know if the fabric FWC uses is fire retardant?)
- the company below would only warranty cuts within one inch precision!
- no return policy with the company below
If you want to go with latex, this company has latex foam for cheap and I like the latex I got from them for my bed (I got 6 inch ILD 36 and one inch ILD 20 if you are curious!):
http://www.foambymail.com
On the plus side, it doesn't have all the fire retardant chemicals of other foams.
It would be great if FWC had an option for "premium" foam, or an option for no foam.
If you want the foam I got from FWC, you can come get it in San Francisco for cheap. Send private message for details.
Hope this helps,
Herve
Hello. I am a brand new owner of a Hawk. Wow!!! Will post pics soon.
The bed is really hard. I see 3 options:
1/ replacing the foam inside the cushions with softer material (such as what you suggest: 1/2" of memory foam on top of 2 1/2"s of standard foam) => need to cut the foam to fit in the multiple cushions
2/ adding a memory foam or latex on top of the existing cushions => where to store it after sliding the bed...
3/ getting a padded sheet => not as much padding but may be enough
Which option have people pursued and with what success?
BTW I got the "king slide" option so I can sleep in the same direction as the truck. I am tall (6'3") so this option rocks!
Herve
As I said in my previous post, I found the foam of the bed way too firm and I was not sleeping well. After multiple tests, I found a foam be I am very happy with:
3 inch of ILD 34 foam with 1 inch of ILD 24 foam on top.
4 inch of ILD 34 was too firm and I was bottoming out on 4 inches of 24. Maybe 2 inch of each would be great, I didn't try, I was worried I would bottom out. I am 190 pounds and I like beds on the firmer side but with some softness.
I ordered from foam order because of their return policy on CUSTOM CUT foam: if you don't like your custom cut foam, they take it back with a 15% restocking fee (totally reasonable for custom cut IMO). I did do a return and they were very nice to me when I did so. If you are in the bay area, I highly recommend them.
They have more expensive foam warrantied 15 years (V34 and V24) and less expensive foam warrantied 5 years (C34 and C24). The V24 is hard to find on their web site, it is under "Foam filler for Down envelope".
The dimensions I got for my 2011 hawk were slightly smaller than the foam FWC put it, based on their feedback, and it worked out well. I got for the large one:
Width: 76.5 in, Depth: 47.5 in
And for the small ones:
Width: 38.25 in, Depth: 16.125 in
They will glue both pieces of foam together for free.
House of Foam in Palo Alto has ILD 30 foam which may be great firmness as is and is cheap, but they don't warranty their foam and don't accept returns for custom cut.
I considered Latex foam which is what I use for my bed at home but:
- it is quite heavy
- it is very inflammable and require fire retardant cover (Stan, do you know if the fabric FWC uses is fire retardant?)
- the company below would only warranty cuts within one inch precision!
- no return policy with the company below
If you want to go with latex, this company has latex foam for cheap and I like the latex I got from them for my bed (I got 6 inch ILD 36 and one inch ILD 20 if you are curious!):
http://www.foambymail.com
On the plus side, it doesn't have all the fire retardant chemicals of other foams.
It would be great if FWC had an option for "premium" foam, or an option for no foam.
If you want the foam I got from FWC, you can come get it in San Francisco for cheap. Send private message for details.
Hope this helps,
Herve
Hello. I am a brand new owner of a Hawk. Wow!!! Will post pics soon.
The bed is really hard. I see 3 options:
1/ replacing the foam inside the cushions with softer material (such as what you suggest: 1/2" of memory foam on top of 2 1/2"s of standard foam) => need to cut the foam to fit in the multiple cushions
2/ adding a memory foam or latex on top of the existing cushions => where to store it after sliding the bed...
3/ getting a padded sheet => not as much padding but may be enough
Which option have people pursued and with what success?
BTW I got the "king slide" option so I can sleep in the same direction as the truck. I am tall (6'3") so this option rocks!
Herve
I tried pillow tops of feather and man made fillers, various memory foam toppers from 1" to 3" thick from Pennys, Bed Bath & beyond, and Walmart. Tried Gel Memory Foam mattress from Costco. None of them worked for me. Just does not pay to go cheap on over seas made memory foam. I decided that I was intending on keeping my Hawk for a long time down the road and with my bad lower back the FWC supplied cushions were just plain torture to sleep on. I did extensive research online of organic USA made Memory Foam mattresses taking in account of the negatives of Memory foam. I decided to bite the bullet and go with a 6" Tempflo RV mattress which was cut to the specs of the pull out bed of my Hawk with the extended cab. My wife and I are so glad we did, we like sleeping on it better than our bed at home. It never gets hot because it breaths and does not get hard when is cold. It does not smell like cheap foreign memory foam either. The mattress is flexible enough that we fold it at a 45 degree angle when the pull out is slid back in to access the sink. Currently I am working on setting up a strapping sytem that will secure in place when the pull out is in. It is soft enough that I have no problem lowering the top. The negative of course is the cost, $600+. I figure for 10 to 15 years or more of use, that the price is worth the comfort.
craig333
Riley's Human
I wish I'd seen that faq earlier. 
Ramblinman
Senior Member
I tried pillow tops of feather and man made fillers, various memory foam toppers from 1" to 3" thick from Pennys, Bed Bath & beyond, and Walmart. Tried Gel Memory Foam mattress from Costco. None of them worked for me. Just does not pay to go cheap on over seas made memory foam. I decided that I was intending on keeping my Hawk for a long time down the road and with my bad lower back the FWC supplied cushions were just plain torture to sleep on. I did extensive research online of organic USA made Memory Foam mattresses taking in account of the negatives of Memory foam. I decided to bite the bullet and go with a 6" Tempflo RV mattress which was cut to the specs of the pull out bed of my Hawk with the extended cab. My wife and I are so glad we did, we like sleeping on it better than our bed at home. It never gets hot because it breaths and does not get hard when is cold. It does not smell like cheap foreign memory foam either. The mattress is flexible enough that we fold it at a 45 degree angle when the pull out is slid back in to access the sink. Currently I am working on setting up a strapping sytem that will secure in place when the pull out is in. It is soft enough that I have no problem lowering the top. The negative of course is the cost, $600+. I figure for 10 to 15 years or more of use, that the price is worth the comfort.
Walldiver,
I agree with you the 600 bucks is worth good sleep. I have been working shifts for the last 14 years and I have come to learn how important good sleep is. Especially on holidays! Keeping in mind I have yet to lay my hands on my new/used Hawk. Can you tell me how much the mattress compresses when you close the top?
Walldiver,
I agree with you the 600 bucks is worth good sleep. I have been working shifts for the last 14 years and I have come to learn how important good sleep is. Especially on holidays! Keeping in mind I have yet to lay my hands on my new/used Hawk. Can you tell me how much the mattress compresses when you close the top?
Someone had mentioned that the memory foam gets hard when cold. Any knowledge or experience with this?
Thanks~
DR
I bought a 4 inch "topper" from Costco, Queen size cut in half to make it fit. Hard as a rock in the winter until it heats up with body warmth and hot in the summer ....... but, oh so comfortable.
Thanks~
DR
I bought a 4 inch "topper" from Costco, Queen size cut in half to make it fit. Hard as a rock in the winter until it heats up with body warmth and hot in the summer ....... but, oh so comfortable.
Walldiver,
I agree with you the 600 bucks is worth good sleep. I have been working shifts for the last 14 years and I have come to learn how important good sleep is. Especially on holidays! Keeping in mind I have yet to lay my hands on my new/used Hawk. Can you tell me how much the mattress compresses when you close the top?
Ramblinman,
Sorry I did not respond sooner, been busy with other things. The mattress hardly compresses at all when the top is down. I do not use a sleeping bag on the mattress, I use sheets and a light bed spread with a thicker blanket on top of that. When I have the top down, I remove the heavy blanket. I have the gas lift assists installed and I have no problem with them interferring with the mattress. I'll take picture of the top down if you are interested on buying one.
I agree with you the 600 bucks is worth good sleep. I have been working shifts for the last 14 years and I have come to learn how important good sleep is. Especially on holidays! Keeping in mind I have yet to lay my hands on my new/used Hawk. Can you tell me how much the mattress compresses when you close the top?
Ramblinman,
Sorry I did not respond sooner, been busy with other things. The mattress hardly compresses at all when the top is down. I do not use a sleeping bag on the mattress, I use sheets and a light bed spread with a thicker blanket on top of that. When I have the top down, I remove the heavy blanket. I have the gas lift assists installed and I have no problem with them interferring with the mattress. I'll take picture of the top down if you are interested on buying one.
Bill & June
Member
Another option.... We too thought that the standard mattress on our Grandby was stiffer than it should be. If you sleep on your side, there was a lot of pressure on your hip. In our area there is no old fashioned upholstery shops anymore. We considered a new foam mattress but all the ones around, stores like Ikea, were too thick. We found a foam fabricating company, in Chicago, that had the equipment to cut foam slabs. We took our 4" thick mattress foam to them and they cut it down to 2". They charged $20 for that. Then we went to a Verlo mattress store and bought (2) king size Talalay Latex foam toppers, 1" thick each. They were $363 with tax. We cut the latex foam with a sizers and used water based contact cement to glue them together. Only glued patches around the outside. Then with some struggle we put put the covers back on. Haven't slept on it yet but the floor trial looks promising.
June & Bill
June & Bill
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