Murphy beds

[Jodilc]

We're planning on a camper upgrade. Most of the layouts I like have a Murphy bed and I'm not sure about that. We're fussy sleepers and would probably replace the camper mattress with memory foam.

Have you switched mattresses on a Murphy bed? Is the bed a pain to put up and take down every day? (unless you leave it down the whole time)

[E-Crow]

We full time in our E-Pro 19FD. The original mattress lasted about 2 months. We bought a Spa Sensations 8 inch memory foam mattress from Walmart. It's comfortable and fits the bedframe. It's about 2 inches longer than the original and a little thicker. Still fits with the bed closed up.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/257609643

Downside of the murphy bed in the 19FD: Bed is in the front of the trailer. Trailer has this beautiful big window on the front. During daylight hours with the bed closed and the couch in use the window is blocked by the bed. Window is only looked out of when the bed is down.....

[NJKris]

It give you great room when it's folded up, and our camper is small, so we ALWAYS fold it up. We put a memory foam topper on ours and it is a HUGE improvement. I would not want a whole memory foam mattress, they are much heavier, and we don't have a lot of payload capacity.


The biggest PITA is making ours, because there is no room along sides. Someone has to climb onto bed and pull sheets/covers up, while rolling from side to side. We un-clip the strap from the foot of the bed, so just pull the strap up and down to foot of bed and re-clip. We tried not using strap, not a good idea, have had mattress get 'stuck' when trying to lower bed. Better to use strap every time. Otherwise not difficult, an wife always helps me by tossing me pillows and such while I'm making bed. One nice thing, does not need to be made up perfectly, as it's folded up, out of sight out of mind!

[NJKris]

Downside of the murphy bed in the 19FD: Bed is in the front of the trailer. Trailer has this beautiful big window on the front. During daylight hours with the bed closed and the couch in use the window is blocked by the bed. Window is only looked out of when the bed is down.....

We have older no front window model. It occurred to me that was a pretty worthless addition they made to that model.

[distracto]

We had a murphy bed in our Jayco 23MBH and loved it. In fact it was a bit of a struggle to convince my wife to go with a bedroom model. We folded ours up every day and enjoyed the use of the couch.

We swapped the mattress out with a Zinus mattress and it fit perfect. Our murphy bed style did not fold, the mattress stayed full size.

One other thing to think about is will the murphy bed be able to be down when the slide is in. This was critical to us as we wanted to have the ability to roadside camp without the slide out.

[Gottaluvlife]

We orig thought we loved idea of murphy bed & bought Rockwood Mini Lite2503S, but after using it couole of seasons we realized so much work each night putting couch down, setting up bed & each day having to make bed & put away. We did have foam tooper on top of mattress & it stored fine.
However, we hv since upgraded to slighter larger Ultra lite 2608bs and love seperate bedroom!!

[ppine]

I agree with NJKris.
Now a 24 foot trailer has plenty of room. Fold it up during the day. Add a foam topper. I sleep better in the trailer than I do at home.

[distracto]

Yeah, we had no problems with the murphy bed with a foam mattress. ours had simple straps to clip in the pillows and blankets and it flipped up all made and ready to go for the next evening. Easy peasy.

[NJKris]

Originally Posted by ppine

I agree with NJKris.
Now a 24 foot trailer has plenty of room. Fold it up during the day. Add a foam topper. I sleep better in the trailer than I do at home.

If I ever get a 24' trailer, while a 'bedroom' would be rather regal, I think I'll opt for a loading ramp and park a golf cart inside for transport! The golf cart is a fantasy of mine. Apparently you are not a real RV'er without one based on how many are out there. I feel left out.

[theHookers]

Originally Posted by Jodilc

We're planning on a camper upgrade. Most of the layouts I like have a Murphy bed and I'm not sure about that. We're fussy sleepers and would probably replace the camper mattress with memory foam.

Have you switched mattresses on a Murphy bed? Is the bed a pain to put up and take down every day? (unless you leave it down the whole time)

Easy to put up and take down. Easy to change mattresses. Quite a few choices in the short queen.

Biggest issue for us is that it's higher than the fixed bed and makes getting in and out a bit more difficult, especially since we have a 10" memory foam mattress.

[Nick Danger]

Originally Posted by NJKris

If I ever get a 24' trailer, while a 'bedroom' would be rather regal, I think I'll opt for a loading ramp and park a golf cart inside for transport! The golf cart is a fantasy of mine. Apparently you are not a real RV'er without one based on how many are out there. I feel left out.

I'm amazed at the number of golf carts I see when camping. Rented one for a week and was a huge waste of money (for me) after the 2nd day. It sat parked most of the time and the dog hated riding in it. And if the dog doesn't like it, its gone

[WTP2]

We have had ours since 2018 and I like it pretty well. Yes it's a pain to make up but after you do it a few times you just get used to it. We added a memory foam topper and that has made it comfortable. Make sure to use the straps! I forgot 1 time and had a heck of a time getting the mattress back out of the hole!

[distracto]

Originally Posted by WTP2

Make sure to use the straps! I forgot 1 time and had a heck of a time getting the mattress back out of the hole!

Haha! I've had to dig pillows out a few times as well. Murphy beds really are great, you get a smaller trailer box, but lots of living space plus a couch.

One trade off for ours was in order to enjoy a non hinged mattress, the bed had to flip up into what would have been the pass through. Not the end of the world, as having a non folding mattress meant we were able to swap it out for a short queen memory foam, not just throw a topper on it and fold it.

[amoeba3]

Originally Posted by ppine

I agree with NJKris.
Now a 24 foot trailer has plenty of room. Fold it up during the day. Add a foam topper. I sleep better in the trailer than I do at home.

I also agree with NJKris
Go with a topper flip it up and enjoy the room. Love the 19FD and did a 8k trip out west with no problems.

[RedLdr1]

We added a 3 inch memory foam topper to the Murphy in our RP-192 and it works fine. I know other folks who have went with replacement 8 inch foam type mattresses with no issues.

As far as setup and tear down it takes all of a couple minutes to go from bed to couch or vice versa.

[RGrimm]

Originally Posted by Jodilc

We're planning on a camper upgrade. Most of the layouts I like have a Murphy bed and I'm not sure about that. We're fussy sleepers and would probably replace the camper mattress with memory foam.

Have you switched mattresses on a Murphy bed? Is the bed a pain to put up and take down every day? (unless you leave it down the whole time)

As you consider Murphy bed models, if you hope to change the mattress at some point, you must make sure the camper model you like does not have a mattress that is a hinged. We have a Vibe 21BH and the mattress (headboard end) is designed with a hinged area allowing about 2+ feet of the mattress to lay on the top of the pass thru area while the rest of the mattress hinges up when the bed is placed in its travel/stored position. This hinged style prevents me from replacing the mattress with a standard RV Queen mattress. I was able to put a 2" mattress pad on it that can be left on when the murphy bed is closed up..

As many said, the big plus to a Murphy bed floorplan is the added living space while the trailer remains shorter. It has worked well for us.
-Russ

[NJKris]

I'd say the only thing I DON'T like about the Murphy, at least on mine, is no room along sides to get in and out of bed. I look like an animal that just got hit by a car writhing around trying to get out of bed sometimes, trying to crawl off foot of bed without crushing wife, since I'm eh-hem....large.

[RedLdr1]

Originally Posted by RGrimm

This hinged style prevents me from replacing the mattress with a standard RV Queen mattress.

The Original Mattress Factory will make a custom RV mattress to your specs. We've had a couple made over the years at their Marietta, Georgia facility. They weren't expensive and they were the same quality as their traditional mattress products.

[mcbridek]

We have a Murphy bed and would never have a trailer without one… But our camper is small, the Murphy bed gives you much more living space when folded up. It gives you the space of a larger trailer…We fold the bed up within a few minutes of getting up each day. Basically, you get used to the routine. Our trips are between 2 weeks to 5 weeks… Also, adding a memory topper is a big plus.

[TitanMike]

For those who think putting a Murphy Bed up and down I don't see it. In 279 days I turn 80 and have all the customary aches and pains that go with 8 decades but dealing with the Murphy Bed isn't a problem.

Haven't needed to use a foot stool to get up or down yet. Making the bed I use a "grabber" that's designed to grab cans, etc, from high shelves to push bed covers to the head of bed and corners while standing on floor at foot.

My previous trailer was 3' longer than current one and had a queen bed in front that was always down. Wasted space during the day and storage underneath was so hard to access it was usually empty. Current trailer is much roomier with murphy bed.

One thing I've found makes it easier when lowering is to release the latches before folding out the couch.

As for getting in and out of bed, i crawl in from foot, roll over and crawl out. At my age I get plenty of practice during the night LOL.