2104S murphy bed question

[Irobutterfly59]

We have ours down in our camper. That is one reason we picked it. Lot of room with the slide in pulled in to walk back to bathroom. Some campers with slide in leave no room to walk thru like if you want to park in Walmart for the night we have access to everything.

[Irobutterfly59]

Ours is the holy grail. Wildwood lite 230BHXL our Murphy is down now with slide out in all the way and we have lot of room to get around especially to the bathroom.

[gbaldwin]

Im a surveyor owner. 100% get why ppl would like to leave MB down. Its a hassle to put up and down. Not understanding why one would want to stay in rig with slide IN though. Whats that advantage?
At walmart, my slide goes out and over the curb.

[toymaker]

Originally Posted by abehil

Does anyone know if the murphy bed can be down when the slide is closed?

We have the 2104s with the Murphy bed and YES, you can put the bed down with the slide in. When on the road, we will stop at cracker barrell for the night and lower the bed with slide in. In the morning, we get breakfast, raise the bed and head on the road. We reallly like our murphy bed.

[abehil]

Originally Posted by gbaldwin

The 200 MBLE definately Bed Down, Slide IN is OK. but it does have L counter top and the slide when closed is right against this counter end. Must open a few inches to get to RR or climb over counter.

Do you have any pictures with the slide in? Does it come right up to the counter or is it several inches away?

According to the floorplan, the dinette on the 200MBLE is 75"x42". I would replace the dinette with ether two swivel recliners or a free standing table with two chairs.

Typical RV type swivel recliners range from about 28" to 37" deep.
I can envision having to take a couple steps sideways to get past the pinch point.

A 36" x 36" free standing table with two chairs that can scoot under the table when not being used and pushed over to one end of the slide would probably provide at least 24" of free walk space between the slide and the counter.

[gbaldwin]

Originally Posted by abehil

Do you have any pictures with the slide in? Does it come right up to the counter or is it several inches away?

According to the floorplan, the dinette on the 200MBLE is 75"x42". I would replace the dinette with ether two swivel recliners or a free standing table with two chairs.

Typical RV type swivel recliners range from about 28" to 37" deep.
I can envision having to take a couple steps sideways to get past the pinch point.

A 36" x 36" free standing table with two chairs that can scoot under the table when not being used and pushed over to one end of the slide would probably provide at least 24" of free walk space between the slide and the counter.

The edg of the slide (Front wall) lines up exactly with the L shape counter end (on the MB front) and it is literally right up against the counter. I can climb over the end of counter if I needed to into the dinette bench and then step down into kitchen.

But if I do need to get to fridge or RR while traveling I always run the slide out 6" or so.

We leave our dinette down permanantly and have added cushions and pillows to make a couch/day bed. good for tv viewing, naps, .... and we despised the dinette.

But I have never felt the need or urge to stay in the 200 MBLE with the slide IN. Why? It would block the normal space for a TV and block a bunch of cabinet space. Just dont see the reasoning. But OK!!!

No pics but will try to remember to snap one next time in.

[abehil]

Originally Posted by gbaldwin

But I have never felt the need or urge to stay in the 200 MBLE with the slide IN. Why? It would block the normal space for a TV and block a bunch of cabinet space. Just dont see the reasoning. But OK!!!

There are plenty of discussions covering this issue sprinkled throughout this forum as well as other RV forums - it's not a new idea. One of the main tenets of this topic is being able to use the trailer when the slide is in. It's perfectly OK if you don't see that as important.

And yes, I did notice that the slide would cover the TV, which is much less of an issue to me than access to the bed/bath/kitchen under most of the situations in which I would want to leave the slide in.

There is a fairly significant group of owners who WANT access to their trailer when the slide is in. But each individual has their own threshold for whatever inconvenience they are willing to put up with in order to get that. And each potentially has a different list of what they want/need to be accessible.

You are in the group that wants to keep the bed down when traveling. Should you really need to justify or explain that to anyone?

[gbaldwin]

Sorry, all good... don't need to justify to me. I just want to be open to ideas myself. Peace!!

[abehil]

No worries. Many of the circumstances I care about involve safety. I would not want to put the slide out at any truck stop for instance...not even for an hour. Might as well paint a target on the side.

I live in Washington. We get rain that would get into the slide. It can decide to rain for days without stopping. I've had 60+ mph winds at my house. Try bringing in a slide during a rain storm. The whole Northwest has that - it's a rain forest.

To me being able to use the trailer with the slide in is like having a life preserver if you go boating. You don't know if or when you will need it. But if you need it there aren't too many pleasant alternatives.

[gbaldwin]

All good. My first impression was that this was a first time purchase consideration as well. We shopped for 2 years for our first purchase 3+ years ago and found that several things we thought were important for us ( in the 200 MBLE) actually were not when put to practical use i.e. the murphey bed. but we adapted.... found that it was much more convenient to leave it down and occasionally fold it up when we had guests than fold it up and down... remake the bed every single day. So having it available when needed is still viewed s a plus. Just two of us..... and our situation. Then we also converted our dinette to a couch. so even less need to go thru that bed fold up hassle each day. Never would have thunk it when we drove off the lot.

Think a lot of peoples wants change from their first to their second after figuring things out. You obviously more experienced than we are.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by gbaldwin

But I have never felt the need or urge to stay in the 200 MBLE with the slide IN. Why? It would block the normal space for a TV and block a bunch of cabinet space. Just dont see the reasoning. But OK!

The reasoning for some folks is so they can "turtle" in a Walmart parking lot or rest area where you don't want to look like you're "camping" while you catch some sleep. I'm sure there are other reasons, too.

[Rogerthedodger]

The 2019 and 2020 pictures look like the slide cannot be in. Any owners of these years want to chime in?
Roger

[abehil]

What my DW and I both have in common is that we tend to notice things. It can be good and bad.

We went through that learning curve after we bought our first home. It was a time when homes were selling just days after being listed. Sellers were used to the idea they didn't have to *fix* everything before selling so every home came with an assortment of surprises. We did a lot of DIY modifications.

It made us curious about new home construction so we used to walk through homes while still just being framed. One thing we came to realize was that homes are almost never placed on the lot to take advantage of potential views. There would be the largest windows looking directly at the neighbors house while smaller windows (and often none) got any good views.

I bought a book "Travel Trailer Comparison Guide" published by RVReviews.net and here is a quote from page 6 that I find useful.
"It is estimated that over 90% of new RV buyers focus more on floor plans than anything else. With experienced or educated RV buyers it is estimated that over 90% focus on the frame or chassis, axles, insulation, windows, hitch and exterior construction."

I'm doing both. I want good construction first (I guess by RV industry standards) in a light weight trailer. I also want a floor plan that is actually functional - all the time.


My list of potential candidates is not very long and getting shorter as I find out about each one individually. I'm also making the assumption that I'll be most likely doing any maintenance myself (other than initial warranty work) because of the deplorable state of service throughout the RV industry.

[LorenzoP]

we have a 2019 1/2 (brand new) 2104s and NO the bed can not lower when slide is in. DW or I have no trouble dropping and lowering the bed, though easier for me being over 6'
BTW, we added a full conventional queen 3" latex topper and bed lowers and folds up without any trimming of topper. The topper is slightly longer than mattress. Very Nice.

[gbaldwin]

I would have a problem with that. due to the trouble of opening and closing. As mentiond we leave down most of time.... get up and go in Am and just leave it down for next stop. But we did convert dinette to couch. day bed

[abehil]

One difference about the murphy bed on Rockwood and Surveyor is that Rockwood has a foot board on their bed that I assume would make it a more sturdy implementation less prone to being bouncy because it's not just laying on the couch underneath.

So gbaldwin, is the murphy bed in your Surveyor feel bouncy or tip down at the foot end at all?

[Rogerthedodger]

Originally Posted by LorenzoP

we have a 2019 1/2 (brand new) 2104s and NO the bed can not lower when slide is in. DW or I have no trouble dropping and lowering the bed, though easier for me being over 6'
BTW, we added a full conventional queen 3" latex topper and bed lowers and folds up without any trimming of topper. The topper is slightly longer than mattress. Very Nice.

Thank you for the response.
Roger

[Diana98221]

We have a 2018 2104S and yes the bed can be down with the slide in

[YvonneRose]

Originally Posted by LorenzoP

we have a 2019 1/2 (brand new) 2104s and NO the bed can not lower when slide is in.

DITTO! This model has a wardrobe in the slide, so is about 20 inches wider, making it impossible to lower the bed with the slide in. It is also a tight squeeze to access the bathroom, even for a relatively small person.
The good news is that if you forget to latch Murphy in the up position, the slide will prevent it from falling down! Been there; done that!

[zjoego]

We have a 2018 2104S, not a problem with lowering the Murphy bed with the slide in. Also, we replaced the OEM mattress with a Zinus 8" memory foam. Best upgrade you will make.