Passport Bed lift Mod Question

[jtwiley4]

Just purchased our new Passport 3290BH, and was looking at adding a set of gas shocks to the queen bed to ease in accessing the storage area, and after looking, it appears that I am going to have to beef up the bed sides before adding the shock supports. The bed frame looks as if it is made out of a 1X1's or maybe even smaller. Anybody add this mod to there TT with any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Pics would help if you have them. Thanks

[wahoonc]

I am working on the one in my Coleman CTS 16FBS. I used 2x4 between the bottom 1x and the top 1x as a strengthening piece. I have a Kreg jig that allowed me to pre-drill the 2x for fastening.

I haven't completed the install yet, but when I do I will try and get pictures. I had to return the first strut kit because it was too long. Believe I have either the small or the extra small kit now. I also have to install my "backwards" with the lower strut mounts towards the inside of the trailer. But I have a fairly short compartment on mine too.

Aaron

[jtwiley4]

Thanks for responding. Look forward to hearing and seeing how it goes. Did you purchase a lift kit or did you purchase the shocks and mounting hardware separately?

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by jtwiley4

Thanks for responding. Look forward to hearing and seeing how it goes. Did you purchase a lift kit or did you purchase the shocks and mounting hardware separately?

Bought a kit. IIRC it is this one from Camping World, they come in several sizes. CW's website is not the best place for information. The lift kits are made by HatchLift, you can use their website to figure out what you actually need.

Aaron

[srvnt]

I just made a support rod for our bed. It works really great.
You can see it in my profile under "mods".
http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=18825

[jlonginav]

Hello I used the hatch lift kit on the queen bed in my passport 31re. I had to use the short bed mount instructions but it has worked great for 2 years

[audio1der]

I used the wood provided under the bad, haven't had an issue in 2 seasons. In fact, because we replaced the factory "mattress" with a full resdiential queen pillowtop, the gas shocks I used are really strong and I had to add a clasp under the foot of the bed to keep it from popping up while travelling (hitting a bump), and that has not split any of the wood.

[wahoonc]

Got my install done yesterday

Only issues I had were; an existing brace was in the way so had to take it out, the other being that the struts were a bit too stiff. Solved that by moving the lower mounting points about an inch further back.

Aaron

[jtwiley4]

Thanks for the info and the pics. Think it will really help. Now all I have to do is wait for it to get a little warmer. Not a huge fan of this cold weather. Cant wait till camping season!!

[master sprinter]

Nice install! Will use your lower 2x4 support idea and because my bed platform plywood is thin and I am upgrading my mattress I will add 1x4 across it too.

[jtwiley4]

great idea with the 1x4. Mine is really thin and the platform bracing is only
1x1. No way it would hold the stress of those shocks. Will definitely have to beef it up. If it doesn't work, will try the prop rod trick. Tired of holding it with my head.

[koko]

Thanks a lot for the pictures. We were just a few days ago talking about doing this to ours.

[chartrand]

What is the tool called that you used to drill the angled screw holes into the 2 by 4?

Pat


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[jtwiley4]

It is a kreg jig. The one I got, you can drill a single hole and it is the kreg jig mini.

[chartrand]

Originally Posted by jtwiley4

It is a kreg jig. The one I got, you can drill a single hole and it is the kreg jig mini.

Excellent, got the jig on order as well as my bed lift kit. As others have posted, thanks for the pictures. Looking forward to getting mine installed.

When you use screws that went all the way through the bed frame and into the floor?

Did you have to pre-drill pilot holes into the frame where you used the pocket holes?

I can't tell for sure, did you do pocket holes at the top of the 2x4 as well?

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by chartrand

Excellent, got the jig on order as well as my bed lift kit. As others have posted, thanks for the pictures. Looking forward to getting mine installed.

When you use screws that went all the way through the bed frame and into the floor?

Did you have to pre-drill pilot holes into the frame where you used the pocket holes?

I can't tell for sure, did you do pocket holes at the top of the 2x4 as well?

I just drilled pocket holes in the 2x4 at the bottom. On the top I ran two screws down through the top of the frame into the 2x4.

I have a couple of Kreg jigs. For this project I used the Kreg R3. I did not drill pilot holes in the base frame. The screws are long enough to go through into the floor but not penetrate it.

You could use pocket holes at the top, but I chose not to because the top frame is only about 3/4" thick.

Aaron

[theallde]

Our RV Queen bed in our old 27' Wildwood was hard to fit so I "replaced" the snap in shocks with a higher pound rated shock from McMaster-Carr (you can google them to get their web site).

[jtwiley4]

Got it done. Pretty easy. Went with the standard hatch lift kit, but instead of putting the shocks at the front of the bed frame like the directions said, I moved them more to the hinge side of the bed. Easier access to the underneath.

[chartrand]

Originally Posted by jtwiley4

Got it done. Pretty easy. Went with the standard hatch lift kit, but instead of putting the shocks at the front of the bed frame like the directions said, I moved them more to the hinge side of the bed. Easier access to the underneath.

The wood that opens looks pretty thin, how did you go about attaching the block of wood to it?


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[GT2400BH]

Looks nice I will be doing that soon. Are you using the standard matteress ?