Converting Jackknife sofa to full XL mattress bed - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

Arden · 06-10-2020, 07:57 PM

Hi everyone! This is a project I have wanted to do for a while, and since I didn't see many photos of the steps of this type of conversion on a Hi-Lo I thought I would post what I did. Overall this was not too hard of a project, but took me some thinking to get it how I wanted it.

My wife and son have been really enjoying camping for the past year and a half in the Hi-Lo, but I found we never had a circumstance where it was worth the trouble to put away the bed and convert to a sofa while camping. Also the sofa bed is just uncomfortable to us. We tried adding layers of foam, etc, but that really didn't help, and since my son sleeps in the loft, it made our bed feel cramped below.

My trailer is a 2204T with the front sofa/bed and loft bed above it.

You can see in the attached images a before/after and some chalkboard sketches of how I planned to make a bed platform. My idea was to do a sliding slat system. The idea is this would be low profile, and allow me to push the slats in to the same width as the original sofa should I ever want more floor space. This created an RV twin XL platform. I designed this so the slats could extend the bed platform to a Full XL size (same as the original jackknife bed size).

I also wanted to maintain the original fabric covered storage panels that were below the sofa- I converted the drawer to a fold down door. I also wanted to avoid any additional visible supports to keep floorspace and storage access open, so I used a piece of 1 1/4" angle iron on the front rail to support the sliding part of the slats. There is a span of about 5' unsupported, but this ended up being sturdy. I also wanted to keep things as light as possible to avoid increasing trailer weight or tongue weight.

I started by unbolting the jackknife sofa (mine was literally only held on by three screws - which were accessed form underneath without much trouble.

Arden · 06-10-2020, 08:02 PM

NEXT STEPS:

Next I added a perimeter of supports at the same level as the original carpeted side supports. I also sistered the center beam (top of stock storage doors) and added additional center bracing.

You can see in the attached images the overall layout of the slats. I also attached 1/4" plywood below the sliding slats to create supported rails to make this easy to open and shut.

Arden · 06-10-2020, 08:10 PM

FINISHING UP:

Everything attached to the trailer itself was screwed on should I ever want to remove this. Anything else I constructed was glued & screwed for increased strength. I also added an adhesive when connecting the sliding platform front rail to the angle iron, which also had screws every 6" on the bottom of the steel to increase rigidity with the metal/wood connection.

Here is a link to a video clip showing how the slats operate: https://youtu.be/sV5BPRLNu6c

Finally I added two pieces of 1/4" plywood on top, which are just laying loose so it is easy to access underneath and also to convert back to a narrow platform should I want to.

I am really happy with how this came out! Next week we are camping so I will really get to test this out.

The mattress is a 6" innerspring mattress that was only 100 bucks on amazon.

I hope this helps anyone else who is also interested in a conversion like this! Total I probably spent around $150 on materials plus the cost of the mattress.

ROUGH RIDER 3 · 06-10-2020, 08:14 PM

Nice work and a good idea.

sam · 06-10-2020, 09:49 PM

In our 1990 25ft. we had custom mattresses made up for the pull out sofa beds. Each bed was a single. Now in our 1996 26fter the couches are left folded out and it makes a queen size bed. We again had a custom mattress made in queen size. Very comfortable. No need for a box spring. The mattresses weren't all that expensive. Worth every penny in comfort.

JackandJanet · 06-10-2020, 11:12 PM

Very clever, Arden, and your workmanship looks excellent too. I may look into doing something like that with my trailer.

- Jack

ShariFitzpat · 06-11-2020, 05:32 PM

Great job! I've been wanting to do this with ours.

Trblandy · 06-12-2020, 04:20 PM

Arden, very nice conversion. I have the same unit, only 2003 model year. I built a similar support and currently use the jackknife seats without metal swing out frame. Like your slide system, but not sure I’m ready to give up the seating in that area. Would need a lot of seat back cushions to sit upright comfortably on full size mattress. Where you are in PA, was at Raystown Lake last weekend. Heading back for a midweek stay soon.

Arden · 06-13-2020, 10:18 AM

Thanks for all the comments!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trblandy

Arden, very nice conversion. I have the same unit, only 2003 model year. I built a similar support and currently use the jackknife seats without metal swing out frame. Like your slide system, but not sure I’m ready to give up the seating in that area. Would need a lot of seat back cushions to sit upright comfortably on full size mattress. Where you are in PA, was at Raystown Lake last weekend. Heading back for a midweek stay soon.

Hey there! We have camped at Raystown before! We are south-central PA.

I figure with the slide platform, its just a matter of getting some cushions if we ever wanted that configuration. But for us, if it was a rainy day or something, it was still way nicer to lounge on it as a bed with cushions/pillows around the sides than it ever was as a sofa. So for this build, I wanted to keep the option of opening the floor space, but for us, TBH, I doubt we ever will slide it in during a camping trip.

Jamesh1246 · 06-19-2020, 04:46 AM

Good job.
I have a 1993 twenty six foot HiLo with front dinning table and rear bed. Just my wife and I so I took out the the seat as you come in the door. I put new laminate floor down and a good sliding rocker. now I can still use the table and have a place for me to sit for a longer time.

Tomrupp · 06-19-2020, 07:35 AM

Nice job! I did the same exact thing about 10 years ago on my 1985 fun seeker. That metal folding bed was a nightmare to sleep on. top 'o line memory foam mattress now custom cut to fit with an electric carving knife. Mounted in a nice Maple trimmed frame.....ZZZ's all night long! Final touch was I moved the difital thermostat right next to the bed so all we have to do is simply reach over and turn up the thermo.....works great if I can find my glasses to see, LOL!

r67northern · 06-19-2020, 11:04 AM

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick link to the Ikea solution over here:

https://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f35...a-weight-6732/

In case you desire to keep the functionality of the couch at times. Best,
Leland