Overcab bedding replacment

D

davinski

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2007
Messages
391
I have a 2001 hawk shell with the regular over cab bed. It has the 2 inch mattresses that are not all that comfortable. I have been using some older (heavier) thermarest mattresses under these and I do sleep pretty good. Nice to be able to sleep on the back or sides with no hip pain!

I have looked at many replacement ideas and have read the ones on this forum. I usually use a flannel car camping bag for the base over the mattresses, then use a down comforter with sheets for the cover. In cold weather, down mummy bags do the trick.

Was wondering if anyone has just replaced the two mattresses with the newer, thicker self inflating mattresses. Thermarest and others make some really nice ones and I figure that two of the larger "luxury" models at about 3 inches inflated could probably fit where the existing ones are. Deflated, they must be less than 2 inches each. Side by side for sleeping, stacked for storage and transport. This way, I would not have to store the inflatable mattresses elsewhere. That means more storage for other stuff. I tried keeping them deflated on top of the mattresses, but the top did not close too well, and seemed to get more water inside during travel.

I also figure, with the retractable bed piece, this would hold the two together and I won't have to physically join two air mattresses. Turns out, the standard sizes almost fit the space perfectly.

Once company, Exped, makes one with a "pump"built into the mattress so you don't have to blow them up to get more loft. I worry that moisture from breath may ruin the mattresses and could freeze in cold weather.....just more maintenance that I don't want to do.

Of course, these are not cheap. But a good night of sleep is always so much nicer. Especially as these bones get older. I might have to get the old sewing machine out and makes a washable microfiber case that could hold some cheaper air matts and maybe an inch of memory foam or something. I have seen some "end of summer" sales already on these air mattresses......

Your thoughts?

dave in Seattle
 
Been thinking the same thing, here's something that would add more functionality.

 
I have a 2002 Hawk and the first night I tried to sleep on the 2" foam I told the wife we would be in a motel the next night. She suggest using the 4" pads from the dinette and doubling up the 2" foam. This worked better but the foam is still to hard. Next trip I took an air mattress and it went flat the first night. :mad:

Not sure what to do the wife :love: came through and suggest two of the REI 3 1/2" sleeping pads. They are perfect :D and I sleep great on them. The large size pads cover the 2" foam pads perfectly.

Link to REI pads.
http://www.rei.com/product/778153

Note I use a reverse air pump to deflate the pads and roll. They are only about 1" thick deflated and could be left on top if you removed the 2" foam and use the other 2 inches for bedding.
 
I use a thermarest on top of the 2", works well. Remember that memory foams gets really hard when it gets cold.


I use the same...feels great.
 
Well, this is sure a start. Sorry for the delay, been with guests in town.

I currently use 2 thermarest below the 2 inch foam as the thermarest are not wide enough, nor long enough. Mostly put them over the main trunk part of the body to help the hips and shoulders.

I like the idea of the larger thermarests. I have a 2.5 inch REI that i used to use on a cot....will have to give this a try. I do like that thermarest deluxe with the microfiber cover and the memory foam 1 inch insert.....comfy.

Some questions, it seems that the thermarests and equivalents go down pretty flat when deflated. Sounds like 1inch for the 3.5 inch pads? I would assume no problems closing the top with those deflated. Yes? Also, do you do anything special to get them inflated. I hate to blow humid breath into them as I am afraid of moisture and potential freezing in the winter. Those pads with the "pump" are cool, but a bit of work. My 2.5 inch pad self inflates, but does not seem to get to the right inflation without a little extra puff or two or 10.

My thinking is to perhaps use the 2.5 or 3.5 in self inflating mattresses. Then, make a microfiber sleeve for them that could then house a 1 inch memory foam on one side. I could then flip this over in cold weather, yet have it available for warm weather camping. Have the foam on the underside might help with insulation on those cold freezing nights. The microfiber cover could be easily washed. Of course, this would mean two of them so that I could stack them when traveling.

One of my other goals is to eliminate the extra storage of thermarests, pads of foam that take up a lot of room when I am traveling. I often use the camper with top down when travelling (for lunch, snacks, naps, or stealth camping). Would be nice to get rid of the extra stuff. Sounds like the original 2" mattresses will have to go. In a pinch, i could take these out and put on the inside couch when going top down and stealth. Comfy, it would be.

As an aside, another use of the thermarests has been a layer of insulation over the side window in the winter. I left them there over the fall and found they did help when it got into the 20s. Of course, it makes for a rather dark cabin.

I am probably going to learn some sewing skills, so we shall see what happens. Sounds like a nice project for the less active months. I might even make a nice down quilt that could be placed over the mattresses, providing a snug, leakproof alternative to some very expensive down sleeping bags.

Ok, enough rambling. Anyone done something like this?

Dave in (very nicely warm and sunny) Seattle.
 
One question for you on the Hawk standard bed. If it is just you can you not pull out the bed and sleep on the two 2" pads stacked on top of each other? I don't know how it is set up in the storage position.
 
One question for you on the Hawk standard bed. If it is just you can you not pull out the bed and sleep on the two 2" pads stacked on top of each other? I don't know how it is set up in the storage position.


The original foam is to dense for comfort. I have converted my couch to a dinette my cushions are 24x19 so I can so I have tried doubling up the 2" foam and putting the dinette pads on the pulled out section giving me 4" foam to sleep on. Better but still too hard. Using the 3 1/2" REI pads make it perfect for me. I have the XL pads and they match the size of the 2" pads.

NOTE to REI members they have a 25% off any one REI item and at over $100 for the pads this is a great deal. I bought mine last month and just took the receipt in and got a refund :D
 
I wonder if the foam they are using now is different other than the 4" vs. 2" thickness they used in the older campers?

glad you guys have found a workable solution!

ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

mtn
 
Anybody tried one of these http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0013098514431a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=camp+bed&sort=all&Go.y=0&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&Go.x=0

I already have one so 2-3 weeks when im done with the camper and all the fixes will let you know ,D
 
As far as doubling up the bed over cab to get 4 inches of foam, I agree that the foam is a bit too hard for comfort. Besides, if you have the width, it is much better to use it for comfort. If by myself, not such a biggies. sometimes with others, there is no way not to extend the bed.

It is always a compromise with size, comfort and storage. Never easy. But, at least there are work-arounds.

Thanks so far, you all!

dave
 
I use a 3" memory foam mattress topper from Costco. It's the Full size and fits nicely (width and length) in my 2002 Hawk. I use it on top of the existing 2" mats and it's VERY comfortable. I have never slept better while camping! But..... It is a HUGE pain in the rear to deal with. Even when rolled up it takes up a lot of room. It has to be removed/rolled up whenever I drop the top. I keep it in a big plastic bag to keep it clean and attempt to keep it managable, but it's like trying to wrestle a huge bag of Jello. Did I mention that it's heavy too?

I just bought one of the REI 2 1/2" sleeping pads and tried it out last week. It's not nearly as comfortable as the memory foam, but is nice. It's a huge improvement over the stock foam mats and is pretty easy to use. I had it on top of the original mats so I rolled it up and put it back into it's stuff sack when traveling. I want to try using it without the factory mattress, maybe then I can just keep it on the bed.

Bottom Line: I will probably use the memory foam when camping with my wife, and the REI pad when going solo.
 
Remember that memory foam turns to rock when it gets cold, no issue if th camper stays warm but we left a mf pillow in the cab over night, took a bit to thaw.
 
I just bought one of the REI 2 1/2" sleeping pads and tried it out last week. It's not nearly as comfortable as the memory foam, but is nice. It's a huge improvement over the stock foam mats and is pretty easy to use. I had it on top of the original mats so I rolled it up and put it back into it's stuff sack when traveling. I want to try using it without the factory mattress, maybe then I can just keep it on the bed.

Bottom Line: I will probably use the memory foam when camping with my wife, and the REI pad when going solo.


Take the 2 1/2" back to REI and get the 3 1/2" pad. If you get the large pad it is the same size as the 2" foam pads. This one works well for me and the wife.
 
Well, last weekend I got out with some friends 3.5 inch REI self inflating mattresses. They are Nice. Here my my observations:

1. They do self inflate, but I tried to leave the valves open and the mats flat for about 2.5 hours while I made our evening meal. Got nice and plump, but still needed to be inflated some to get a good feel. Already, a vast improvement over the stock cushions.

2. I had the 25 inch wide ones. 30 inch would be better, but I takes what I can gets......They were on loan!

3. Did not pull the overcab bed shelf all the way out. The length of the mats was perfect, width is the problem. The lip of the shelf held the mats nicely.....until I got on them. The mats are kind of rounded on the sides and it kept ridding up over the little lip. So, the two mats would not sit closely together. That made for a really hard surface in the space between the mats in the middle of the night whenever I shifted around. I did not tie the two together, and I suspect this will need to be done. They make a strap system to join them, but I tried them out at REI and they seemed not too great. Everyone who I know that has used them say they don't work all that well. Great. I suspect if I go this route, I will probably make a sleeve for two mats so they cannot separate when assembled. the trick is to be able to fold them for travel without removing the sleeve.

4. Even with the valves open, placing the two mats on top of one another it was still difficult to close the top. They are too thick unless you try to compress them. The weight of the top would eventually take more air out, but this took some time and I was worried that the little bracket to raise and lower the forward wall might cause some type of puncture in the pads. A little too much maintenance here. My goal was to just replace those two factory cushions with these mattresses without much fuss or muss.

5. Did I say how comfy they were when I did get situated on them correctly? Nice......

So, Me thinks the 3.5 mats may be too thick for a simple replacement for the two stock cushions. 2.5 inch mats at 30 inches wide might just do better. A way to join them, yet still stack them for travel is a must. Of course, those of you with newer campers have much more depth up there for mats. My 2001 is old style and thin up there.

Now, I need to find someone with a pair of 2.5 inch mats to try out for 1)comfort and 2) fit in the ever more comfortable FWC!

Those of you using aftermarket mattresses, any other hints?

Dave in Seattle
 
4. Even with the valves open, placing the two mats on top of one another it was still difficult to close the top. They are too thick unless you try to compress them. The weight of the top would eventually take more air out, but this took some time and I was worried that the little bracket to raise and lower the forward wall might cause some type of puncture in the pads. A little too much maintenance here. My goal was to just replace those two factory cushions with these mattresses without much fuss or muss.

Those of you using aftermarket mattresses, any other hints?

Dave in Seattle


I use a small pump (backwards) to pull the air out of the pads,then close the valves. They are a PITA to roll if you do not. They are only 1" thick deflated. If you leave the valves open they will inflate.

Bill
 
Billharr:

Wow, nice idea. Please elaborate on your pump and if you can post photos that would be cool. Pumping would not be my idea of easy to use but for the comfort it may be worth it. I am intrigued!!

Thanks
Dave
 
Hi all,

About a month ago we got our new mattress we had custom made by a local seamstress. I believe its fairly close to the type of foam that come standard from FWC, mabye abit stiffer but that could just be because its 4 inches thick. We have the one long standard mat but the other one is cut into two pieces to make storage easier since it can no longer go up in the cabover. I'll take some pix when I stop long enough in one place! Since we installed it its been in use almost constantly. The one full size mat is abit of a bear to flip (moisture control) in the camper as its rather stiff but so far thats the biggest complaint. I have to say we suffered thru some miserable nites with the old bed but not anymore. Its grea and it has really transformed our use of the camper. But it wasnt cheap by any means. The greatest cost was the materials, labor was negligible. See ya out there...mh
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads - WTW

C
bed upgrade
ckent323
C
S
Hope this works-2 inches of latex foam
Sagefemme
S
Wyo4Life
New FWC Hawk is in the house
K7MDL
K7MDL
F
For Sale: Keystone FWD camper, $8,000 OBO in Reno area
munz
M
C
Requesting Hawk Shell Build Opinions re: Fridge and Lower Bed
Wandering Sagebrush
Wandering Sagebrush

New posts - WTW

Back
Top Bottom