Hi all,
I've had my 1995 Pleasureway MPL for 6 years, and have enjoyed camping with it very much. One pet peeve that my wife and I have had is the 'bed'. The MPL has a rear dinette which folds down into a 50"X73" bed. The bench cushions, although reasonably comfortable for sitting, are not that great for sleeping. We mostly travel as a twosome, and when we go camping, we don't bother with setting up and taking down the rear bed/dinette.We leave it as a bed. We have a table at the front which I customized to swing out of the way when not in use behind the drivers seat. So, what to do about making the bed more comfortable for sleeping. i decided to remove the seat cushions, and table support from the rear, and replace it with a real bed. I used a 1/2" G1S sheet of plywood, which I had to cut in half length-way to fit it into the van. I installed strips of 3/4" plywood at the outside edges and inside edges of the 2 halves to support the plywood across the center part which was originally supported by the table. I chose 1/2" plywood, to cut down on weight. Everything was attached with screws, so I can easily revert back to original if I want to sell.
Now for the mattress. I went to Ikea, and bought a memory foam mattress, 5 1/2" thick. The closest size I could find was 53"X75". it comes in a zipped cover. I unzipped it, and cut 3" off the width and 2" off the length. It fits nicely in place. Now, it is a breeze to change sheets and blankets. Previously, with the seat cushions, it was always a struggle because they are rigid. The foam mattress can be lifted to allow easy fitting of sheets, and with the zip cover , can be changed easily as well. I haven't taken any pictures yet, so can't show the end result. We will be taking it out for a week in the mountains soon, and I'm hoping we will have a much more comfortable sleep.
DIY Bed
Linear Mode
