Has anyone adapted their pride and joy to make the bed permanent?

We never put the bed down and only use the front seats, so I was pondering making it better with a one piece base to make it easier to hinge it up to access the cupboards. Plus making the bed more comfortable.

Thought I'd ask if anyone else has already done it and the potential pitfalls.

Probably easier, cheaper and less devaluing to buy a Troll with a permanent bed already factory fitted, there were/are a goodly number of layouts to choose from. I don't recall Tritons being offered with the fixed bed option.

One 2013 Triton 430 with an extremely comfy double bed.

2013Triton430_DoubleBed.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Quote: Deeps wrote in post #3

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One 2013 Triton 430 with an extremely comfy double bed.

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Both the Triton 418 and 430 are supplied with a fixed bed on the 2014 Eriba Touring layouts.

That's a no then? Lol

No intention of selling Eddie, bed is easily big enough and he's perfect in layout. Just wondered if anyone had made their's permanent as we never put it down.

Thanks anyway

I would imagine a fixed bed is only really popular with people who mostly tour in sunny climates? We spend little time indoors when the weather is good but touring in the UK, or anywhere when the weather is bad, can be claustrophobic when you have so little room to move around in. We spent a week in Slovenia in our little VW campervan where it didn't stop raining the whole time and it was miserable. I guess if you always use an awning it would be different.

Wont retrieving stuff from under the bed towards the back of the van do your back in? Likewise, wouldn't you have to shuffle on knees to get at the overhead lockers during the day? We won't bother taking the bed down when the weather is good but I guess you have to use storage wisely so you are not constantly trying to get at things in awkward to reach places.

Having said all that, I totally agree with modifying things to suit you, as you are likely to use the caravan more and enjoy it more, to compensate for any diminished value/cost. So I would do it if it best suited us. Also, you could relatively easily modify the bed so that you could put the original fixtures back later if you sold it. We've only had ours 2 weeks and the between bed cupboard is up in he loft, with the top having been removed which is now a removable drinks table. Also, we are going to replace the toilet door with a curtain, that I'll make to match those I have made for the Eriba to match our T5. We have yet to use the toilet as a toilet but getting stuff out of there with the door opening into the room is a faff, and I'm also not convinced of its strength in everyday use!

>It's hard to believe, but there have even been people who have bought an Eriba with a washroom and then removed it completely 'to create more storage space.<
Yup that's me, and I have removed the convertible dinette and put in a double with a one piece mattress, much more comfortable, as for losing value, in four and a half years we have spent over 24 months away in our van, if I sold it for a pound tomorrow I feel that I have had my monies worth.

Our washroom is really for brushing teeth and emergency pee pees only (during the night really or when bucketing down with rain) - definitely no No2's lol. So, in the main its storage for toiletries, towels, shower shoes etc. which keeps the main 'room' nice and tidy. Its also the mirror for drying my hair, makeup and stuff, and I cannot do any of that at 6 feet 2 without the door open! So, hubby cant get past whilst I am in there. I think, for us, a curtain will likely be much more practical. The track is already on the roof for the shower curtain (that we've ditched already) ad a nicely made lined curtain will still look nice.

The strength of the door is also a bit of an issue for me. Have you seen the tiny little hinges on the new ones, with minute screws?

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Ours appear to have already lifted away from the frame, as I would have expected these to be flush to the door. AL have agreed to look at this when they fix the bed. The door really needs a door stop to prevent it opening beyond the limit of the hinge but they aren't very strong generally.

Eribanaut - I am with you. We intend to use ours for at least 4 months continuously in Europe every summer and for shorter breaks all the rest of the year The layout has to work for you to get maximum enjoyment and use. I didn't buy an Eriba as an investment, I bought it for us to enjoy a long retirement in - which starts in 10 weeks!!

Put a small block under the bottom of the opening edge,
this will take the weight of the door and reduce the leverage
on the hinges.
I did look at replacing the hinges with the type used on the
overhead lockers, so that it would fold back flat (well almost)

Now I'm 6ft 2ins and 17stone and I eventually ducked out of Eribas because they were designed by a 5ft 3ins gentleman of very slim build.

I have been known to complain at not being able to turn round in the washroom with the door shut, but that was in '01 and an '05 Troll washrooms that both had less room than currently and much worse ergonomics. I have been known to clean my teeth in the washbasin whilst standing in the central gangway, leaning through the doorway. However even without a door open across the gangway Mrs SDA would not have been able to walk past because, well, I was in the way.

I must admit here that I've never applied makeup in an Eriba washroom but you've got to have very broad shoulders to not be able to stand in front of the mirror with the door shut.

Actually Mrs SDA mainly used the mirror on the inside of the wardrobe door and that, of course meant the gangway was blocked anyway.

both the 418 and the 430 were offered with the fixed bed option see here
http://www.retro-eriba.com/section110797.html

Yes I made my 430 into a fixed bed, and yes its a lot more comfortable, just removed the seat and back rests complete with ply but left the shaped full width end piece, then cut a piece of 5/8" ply to fit with a lot of 1" holes drilled in it to prevent condensation topped with a full sized piece of reflex foam 4" thick, the whole thing can of course be reversed as long as you keep all the old parts