Trillium bed UPgrade

[75trillium]

Finally done our frame off restoration and a larger bed. Thanks to Doug L from B.C. for some innovative ideas. Necessity is the mother of all inventions and with our aging bodies it was necessary to give our trailer a few modifications. Here is a video and some pictures. Tom

[David B.]

Tom, sounds like you will have your trailer tailored to your needs/desires, but sadly for the rest of us, no pictures or video show up.
Dave & Paula

[perronp]

I can see the pictures and video so you might need to check your security settings. Nice work.

[carleene]

Wow! That bed is amazing!

[Roger C H]

It looks like all you did was make the bed wider.

Our problem is the person sleeping on the far side of the bed.

I get claustrophobia if I try to sleep on the far side. My wife doesn't, but me sleeping in front, doesn't solve the getting up during the night to use the Porta-Potti problem: If the back person gets up and climbs over the front person, it wakes them.

So, we left the bed the same size and convert the front table to a bed every night. Takes a few minutes. We did obtain a one piece foam mattress for the large bed.

BTW: Dave, we had no problem with the pictures and video. Are you trying to use your palm pilot? The video is very similar to a photo in that it pans down a little and then back up.

BTW2: Thomas, I see your Sea Hawks color combination. Are you a fan?

[BuzzBunny]

I wish my iPad supported your video. But from what I can see in the pictures everything looks awesome. Do you have a porta potti in the trailer?

[Randy J.]

Tom, big job! We have a 76 and so I'm interested in new ideas. May I ask a few questions:

-What kind of fridge are you using - it looks new? Two-way or three way.
-Our old converter is to the left of the fridge and near the floor. Have you moved/replaced yours?
- Do you plan to re-install your gas cook top or use something else?
Clever converting your bottom bunk to a dining area! I'd need to come up with some way of turning it back into a bunk when our grand children visit. I've made a removable bunk safety frame/rail for when they're here.

[jwjenn]

I couldn't view the video on my iPhone, but Mac was no problem. What did you use to lift the bed?

[Johnny M]

I really like how the bed raises up and the slide out drawer underneath. How did you rig this up? I would really like to see pictures of how you did this...nic job BTW

[75trillium]

Originally Posted by BuzzBunny

I wish my iPad supported your video. But from what I can see in the pictures everything looks awesome. Do you have a porta potti in the trailer?

Hello buzz bunny
There was a porta potti that came with the trailer but we decided not to leave it in but brave the cool air of the great outdoors lol

[75trillium]

Hello jwjenn and Johnny M and Randy J
To lift the bed I used a Linak Actuator off of an old powered wheelchair with a reclining seat. Similiar actuators are available at Princess Auto. I based the idea off of a scissor lift platform connecting the bottom tray to the non-anchored side. So the bottom storage tray will move in or out with the up/down movement of the bed.
The fridge is a Haier model, also purchased at Princess Auto. It's just a conventional 120v with an installed converter (installed under front bench seat)to be used only when we're at a non-electrified campsite. We also removed the propane tank and cook stove. We tailored this to our needs and since we do all of our cooking over the campfire or portable Coleman stove did not see the need of having a cook stove inside.
As for the converted bunk bed to dining nook, I made back rests for each seat to fold down making it into another bed if needed. Our dining table, which is removable, is attached to the top bunk as you can see in the last photo, enabling us to flip it up. We drape our gear over it after a day of fly fishing ☺
Other mods were replacing exterior lights with LED lights and installing a new light over top the dining table.
Can post more pics, if interested

[BuzzBunny]

More pics please.

[D Davis]

Great job, Thomas! Loving the fridge! and Bed.

[Johnny M]

Yes more pics please! Can you show the scissor lift mechanism? Also, you talked about the extra bunk if needed, does the front dinette still convert to a top and bottom bunk?

[Harvey9]

Nice work.

[75trillium]

Hi Johnny M.
We kept the top bunk to use as an extra shelf and we attached the dinette table to a keyboard tray. This allows us to move the table back and forth making it easier to get in and out. The back rests fold down covering the bottom which could be modified to a bed/shelf. Our modifications were more personalized for our needs but could be easily transferred into bunks.
With the renovations we lost some storage space so I attached a box to the exterior.
Hope the pictures help.

[75trillium]

more pictures...

[Randy J.]

Well,great job! I have replaed our worn out Dometic fridge with an inexpensive 12v cooler that comes with an ac adapter. It has more usable space than the fridge did and is more versatile... just no propane. Our old furnace likewise had to go leaving only the cooktop. We havent used it much either and I vasillate between replacing the furnace, keeping just the stove, or getting rid of inside gas like you. People worry about the resale value of a trailer with no appliance. I dont worry so much about value as just being able to get rid of it when Im done.

[dleverton]

Hey Tom. Great work and it looks like you had fun doing it.
DougL


Doug