Bed Struts

lcv800 · 10-17-2018, 06:21 AM

While I haven't had time to take the mattress off to check, the struts on my king bed in the 38MB are nowhere near strong enough to hold up the bed. Common issue? When I mentioned it during the PDI I was told they are part of the frame and they couldn't switch out with anything they had in stock and I should reach out to Jeff Holmes in Warranty. Just wondering if anyone else has the same issue and a resolution. Thanks in advance.
Rusty

SeaDog · 10-17-2018, 07:48 AM

it is not uncommon for the struts to not hold the mattress up especially the newer thicker memory style mattress. I believe they are blowing smoke about the struts part of the frame most can be changed and are readily available. I changed mine on the old class A and went to strong so when I hit a big bump the bed would sometimes open by itself. lol

Cypressloser · 10-17-2018, 10:20 AM

Not uncommon at all, unfortunately. The struts seem to work fine with just the mattress sitting on the platform but when you add bedding, and as I did a foot board they lose their effectiveness. I have 2 linear actuators kicking around that I'm planning to re-purpose for this, the hardest part is probably finding a 12V DC source.

millman75 · 10-17-2018, 10:21 AM

Rusty, I think the problem has gotten worse since the 2018 1/2 models have come equipped with the steel bed frame and wood slats which is obviously heavier. I am not sure the factory changed either the weight capacity or mounting dimensions from before. My struts are mounted about half way, so the only way I can access the under-bed storage by myself is by propping it up with a piece of 2 x 4. I have been thinking about adding some struts near the foot of the bed that I have left over from the basement door mod, but haven't done that so far.

Where did you end up staying the first night?

Noel

lcv800 · 10-17-2018, 05:07 PM

Good evening Noel. First night was Bowling Green Ky. Forsyth Ga. tonight. We're generally members of the 330 club. 3:30pm or 330 miles. Between the dog and only having a 36 gallon tank on the dually (along with my limited bladder) at the end of the day, we only average 50 mph factoring in stops and travelling 65 mph. This trip we've "pushed" it and are doing 400 mile days. I cut a 1 x 4 myself to hold the bed up (steel frame w/wood slats). Once I'm situated in Florida, I'll call Jeff and see what he says. Once I resolved my inverter issue, so far the bed is my only issue. Nice to have such a big problem. LOL. All good so far.
Rusty

alsdas88 · 10-17-2018, 05:14 PM

I don't quite have the same issue as you folks, but I guess I created my own problem when I removed the very heavy queen mattress from the bed and installed a sleep number queen in its place. The new Sleep number bed is soooo much lighter and the struts would open up the bed always when we weren't sitting on it. Had to remove the struts completely and use a manual prop to keep the storage open. Easy fix for us. Love our sleep number, so not going to attempt a repair that is not needed.

lcv800 · 10-17-2018, 05:20 PM

Heard good things about Sleep Number. I'll definitely look at it come replacement time. So far after one night the factory mattress feels pretty good. Could be the bedtime bourbon helping!

millman75 · 11-19-2018, 12:56 PM

Finally got around to adding an additional bed strut so the bed will stay up by itself when lifted. Works great! Still requires a small bit of effort to lift the bed, but you don't want it to be too light, otherwise it may come up by itself on a bumpy road!

The strut was one of the 60 lb struts I had left over after replacing them with 40 lb struts on the curbside basement door.

Fishrsafe · 11-19-2018, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by millman75

Finally got around to adding an additional bed strut so the bed will stay up by itself when lifted. Works great! Still requires a small bit of effort to lift the bed, but you don't want it to be too light, otherwise it may come up by itself on a bumpy road!

The strut was one of the 60 lb struts I had left over after replacing them with 40 lb struts on the curbside basement door.

We need to do that to ours as well, have the 60lb struts also but where did you get the mounting brackets?

Thanks,

Pete

millman75 · 11-19-2018, 04:21 PM

[QUOTE=Fishrsafe;1975670]We need to do that to ours as well, have the 60lb struts also but where did you get the mounting brackets?

Pete, I ordered the mounting brackets from Industrial Hardware Direct. I felt that using the end of the existing 2 x 2 wooden support would provide the best load support for the gas strut without trying to tie into the side of the bed base. Therefore, the lower bracket is a LPB92B (strange it doesn't show up on their website, but you can find it on the Lavanture website catalog, page 10). The guys at Industrial Hardware told me to order a LPB15S and add a note to substitute the LPB92B in place of the LPB15S when ordering. That LPB92B bracket has two screw holes and is 1 1/4" wide, so it fits the 2 x 2 wooden support nicely. The upper bracket that I used is designated as LPB24B, and has three holes as shown in the picture.

Final bill was $16.25 for the two brackets and shipping.

Noel

Fishrsafe · 11-19-2018, 07:36 PM

[QUOTE=millman75;1975718]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fishrsafe

We need to do that to ours as well, have the 60lb struts also but where did you get the mounting brackets?

Pete, I ordered the mounting brackets from Industrial Hardware Direct. I felt that using the end of the existing 2 x 2 wooden support would provide the best load support for the gas strut without trying to tie into the side of the bed base. Therefore, the lower bracket is a LPB92B (strange it doesn't show up on their website, but you can find it on the Lavanture website catalog, page 10). The guys at Industrial Hardware told me to order a LPB15S and add a note to substitute the LPB92B in place of the LPB15S when ordering. That LPB92B bracket has two screw holes and is 1 1/4" wide, so it fits the 2 x 2 wooden support nicely. The upper bracket that I used is designated as LPB24B, and has three holes as shown in the picture.

Final bill was $16.25 for the two brackets and shipping.

Noel

Noel,

Just wanted to double check, did you use only 1 60lb strut?

Thanks,

Pete

lcv800 · 11-20-2018, 07:23 AM

I've added the issue to my very short punch list for warranty work when I bring it back north in April. Hopefully they will follow your lead Noel. Thanks for the follow up.
Rusty

millman75 · 11-20-2018, 07:48 AM

[QUOTE=Fishrsafe;1975855]

Quote:

Originally Posted by millman75

Noel,

Just wanted to double check, did you use only 1 60lb strut?

Thanks,

Pete

Pete,

Yes, I only used one 60 lb strut on the closet side so I could tie into the wooden 2 x 2 support for the original strut that is mounted close to the head of the bed. With one on either side, you may have to fight to keep the bed in the closed position; don't know for sure.

Noel

OYO · 11-20-2018, 08:08 AM

If your original struts were mounted cylinders down like in the picture, that may be part of the problem. They should be cylinders up to keep it lubercated.

https://www.industrialgassprings.com...-instructions/

ccconklin · 12-03-2018, 05:17 PM

I am still using the King Bed that came with the 39FK (2018 Model). I took a pretty good hit to the head the first time the struts decided to let go of the bed. After a couple times of this, I now have to prop the bed up with my shoulder when under the bed for anything.

I will also note, it is a Heavy Lift to open.

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