Storage and insulation under the bed

[KYAvion]

For awhile now I’ve wanted to increase the storage space under the rear bed, as well as better insulate that area. Our 30R was originally designed as two rear twins, so storage access from the outside was limited to the space under a single twin. We converted to a queen and have had an enormous amount of dead space in the middle and also in the area adjacent to the water heater toward the rear. I can now fit a telescoping multi-position ladder, leveling blocks, outdoor rug, spare tire, slalom water skis, and an assortment of other things in the storage compartment now. The spare tire and skis are the main additions. The spare tire is heavy, but is situated in the most forward position and is dead center. I’ve crammed everything else inside the rear storage compartment for awhile now, but access to anything was a nightmare. Now there’s room for stuff to be spread out, and no more having to remove everything just to access a single item. The area is sealed off with polyisocyanurate insulation and siliconed in place. Major improvement.

[RISK]

I need to see you on slalom water skies. That’s my take away from your post. Please?

Ian

[KYAvion]

I should have seen that one coming. Point being, it’s nice having all that space under there. I’ve always been a little jealous when a bus or motorhome parks, and then proceeds to casually open their storage bays and unload all their stuff. In the meantime, my wife and I are strategically untying and unloading all our things. This won’t totally solve that issue, but it will definitely help.

[leighlandon]

Are those storm windows on your rear glass?

Thanks,

Landon

[KYAvion]

No, just the regular single pane windows.

[gpd1755]

I know this post is a year old but, I have a 1984 30R with the rear twin beds and I would like to modify and al least put in a queen size bed. I would like to know more about the process that you used to do it.
Thanks in advance.

[KYAvion]

I didn’t do anything particularly special to convert to a larger bed. I just cut a piece of 1/2 plywood slightly larger than the aisle between the twins, and then drilled pilot holes at the corners and fastened screws into the existing vertical supports underneath. The pilot screws are just to keep those vertical supports from splitting.

Now this probably wasn’t really necessary, but I did lay down two cut pieces of plywood instead of a single sheet. The piece you see in the pic is just slightly wider than the aisle (in my case 28 1/8”) and the length is 4 ft (the width of a sheet of plywood). I did this so the grain of the plywood is going across the aisle, versus in line with it. This was just to minimize flex since I used 1/2 plywood and not 3/4.

[KYAvion]

Another pic showing a little storage under the former aisle way:

The little shelf actually serves two purposes—1. To set your shoes on. 2. It serves as a raceway for running wiring underneath.

[gpd1755]

Thanks for the pics. What size mattress did you end up going with?

[KYAvion]

I actually just kept the two twins and put a foam topper on them. I used a strap similar to this to hold the mattresses together:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08L4JB4 ... p13NParams