Travato 59K mods - what have you done?

[Eleanor Rigby]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and am having a hard time on searching (will only show me a thread for example with 52 pages, not specific posts related to my search, and every separate search using different terms I have to prove I'm not a robot by clicking through multiple image recognition pages), so I apologize if this is covered, I really did try to find it before posting.

I'm considering the 59KL, but the main thing I don't like is the bed conversion assembly to a queen/king with the long table and extra cushions. I'm wishing it could be something like a metal futon on one of the beds, where you just kinda pull up and out on the frame and it is hinged and flattens into a bed that extends out to meet the other, and the back pillows would fill the void near the window. To put away, you would pull up on it from the end (since you can't stand in front of once t's extended) and maybe kind of work your way to stand in front/center, and it slides back up. Most futons have an angle, they are not 90 degree for the bottom and side and not parallel to floor, but I'm not worried about having that, if those extra angles would make it more difficult.

Just need a much easier way to make it a flat bed.

I am a sprawler and use a lot of pillows and I know I will lose all of them to the gap if I don't extend and it's too unwieldly to do every night. If i could make it easy, I think the layout would be the best for me.

I am not set on this one idea for conversion, just thinking that it was the easiest way in the past I've made a sofa into a bed.

Any thoughts on this? Or another simple way to accomplish this. I in no way could even start to do this myself, but would like to know from those of you are inclined toward mods think this would be possible without causing other major problems. I'm happy to lose the back tilting headrest for reading in bed. If the bottom could lift up from the under bed storage would be better to access that, but may need to take the mattress off to do it, I'm okay with ungainly access to the underbed storage.

Thanks for any ideas. Also any other simple mods listed here would be great, I am hoping I am close to what I want with the base model.

[Gail Staton]

You may want to try the Travato owners and wannabees group on Facebook for ideas. We have the K model but love the beds just as they are especially the Froli sleep system and the tilting head rest. They are wider than most twins in class B's and are very comfortable. Good luck in your search.

[Eleanor Rigby]

Thanks Gail. I did go on the FB group and searched for some time without success and ended up posting. But then it occurred to me that I didn't need to confine the sliding out bed search to a Travato and have just found someone who did something pretty neat on a Sprinter.

https://youtu.be/uoUlcVBoOX4

This makes it look feasible, so I am pretty excited that my one hold up could be resolved.

Glad to know they are super comfy! I want to keep all the comfort features of the twin beds, just want to easily extend one out as well.

[Ladyflier]

I wondered how comfy the single bed is. That is why I sold the PW ascent, too many seams in the sofa.

[Gail Staton]

Ladyflier, We cover the twin bed/couches with a twin mattress pad, twin fitted and flat sheets, a thin blanket and decorative quilt and matching shams. We love having them made up all the time and not having to set up and tear down each day. We did that for13 years when we had the electric sofa/bed with seams. Ours was comfortable but could not compare to the comfort of the Froli system in the Travato K.

[Rae]

If you are in the Winnebago Fuse group on Facebook one guy just did a great mod for the beds. They are the same beds as the 59k.

[Storysrvwego]

25jun18
Hi Eleanor,
Your idea is good! There are a few show stoppers to implement that particular solution but I might have a variation to your idea that could work.

First the issues to be considered -

If a Futon-like mechanisim were installed on the passenger side, you would have to part ways with your fresh water tank and probably the power inverter/charger too. The water tank takes up most of the length, and half the wide of the cabinet under the existing bed on that side. The power inverter/charger is near the bathroom wall-end of this cabinet, near the fuse and breaker panel located on the face of the cabinet. While the passenger bed is hinged to provide a fairly good storage area, I do not think a futon frame would fit only in that space. If it could be made to fit there, that is a lot of storage that would no longer be available. Class B storage is precious as it is. I am fairly certain you will not want to lose that space.

The bed on the driver side does not hinge up for storage because the TRUMA Comb with ducting hoses take up much of the space, with just enough room at the kitchen cabinet-end left for necessary plumbing, valves, and filter. Obviously taking any of that out for a bed mechanism is not going to be practical at all. The facia of that bed cabinet has an air intake screen for the Truma Combi's furnace operation; two of the four vents for heated air output, an access panel for the valves & water filter and ahh, I think the sub woofer for the entertainment system. Funny I cannot picture that speaker in my head at the moment but I am pretty sure it is there. Anyway, a full cabinet under the bed on the driver side.

Before I make a suggestion that might work for you, I will say that the 30 inch wide twin beds are excellent. Best I have ever slept on in an RV, regardless of bed size. Ok, I haven't slept on beds in super expensive Class A's but seriously, the plastic FROLI "springs" and a truly decently-thick mattress work great. And with airflow under the mattress, I suspect that has benefits too. At 30 inches wide, these are not cramped. Some of the other twin-bed equipped RV's have narrower beds. The benefit of narrower is the aisle is of course, a bit wider. The negative of narrower beds is even a skinny person might roll off more easily.

WB's design is actually the best you can do I think because of the aformentioned wider mattresses than some of the competition while at the same time, keeping weight down with their simple to setup, center panel. Weight is a critical factor, not to mention cost. But here is an idea that might work well;

Forget the table just for a moment. Using a piano type hinge, a panel like the table top could be hinged on the passenger side cabinet. When it is down, it is in the same position as the stored table top. When it is up with bars or other mechanisms to keep it up, the result would be the same as the 59K's full bed setup. This hinged panel would still have to be shorter at the bathroom end so you can swing yourself around on the bed to access the bathroom.

Ok so this is an easy way to accomplish what you want and still uses the mattress pieces provided with the Travato. But now, no table. Actually that could be done too but it will come at a price in terms of effort to erect the bed. Picture this -
The bed piece still hinges up as described above except it is actually two "panel" thick. The upper panel is removable, to be used as the table top. When this double-thick panel is stored/hinged down, the top panel can be separated by sliding it upwards and setup on the poles just as would do in a regular Travato setup. Table-use completed, it would be vertically slid back into its piggy back place with the bed panel. When you hinge-raise this double thick panel assembly into bed-use position, the height of these two will be the right height if the hinge was put in the right position in the first place. Just like the stock Travato, the center piece does not have the benefit of including Froli's in this section.

You might have to re-read what I have said above to be able to picture what I have described. It's elegant because it is simple. There is a down side; the double panels will add enough weight to make it quite an effort to hinge upwards as a pair. No sweat. The upper (top) table/bed panel can be removed and set aside before the lower panel is hinged up into bed-use with locking legs that keep it up.

Then the top panel is simply set into place. Holes in the lower panel will "locate" the table post-plates, thus killing two birds with one stone; the top panel will not slide around while at the same time, mates flush to the lower panel because the table post-plates are sitting in the aforementioned holes.

Stated another way -

Just picture the existing, WB provided table top in its stored position. Except it is now has a piano hinge to the passenger side bed cabinet. Swing/hinge it up to bed position (aisle now blocked) using a built in flush mount handle and let some reasonably stout bed legs swing down and lock.

It was perhaps too heavy to swing up? Try this -
1. Shed 1/2 of the weight for a moment by sliding up, and setting aside the upper of a twin-stacked set of panels.
2. Now you hinge-raise the remaining panel and leg-lock it into bed usage position.
3. But it is not at the same surface-height as the two twin bed (Froli) surfaces for the mattresses. No problem.
4. Now you set the upper panel you previously set aside, on top of the lower panel which will provide a surface at the same height as the top of the Froli springs on the twin beds.
6. Set your center cushions in place between the twins and your all set with a van-wide bed to sprawl out on.

misc note: quality hinge required. Leg storage might require some additional thought, and experimenting for storage position, and their practical use.

StorysRVwego

[Storysrvwego]

27jun18 -
Eleanor,
You might like this particular enhancement in the bathroom. This became a solution my wife and I thought was something mandatory fo rus after our very first overnight in our 59K. I have made a few other modifications/improvements to the Travato 59K but this one is something I think WB should do in future factory enhancements of the Travato or other models. Or what I like to call "Rev B guys, Rev(ision) B".

I just posted a new photo Album for STORYSRVWEGO in this forum for the lighting enhancement in the 59K bathroom I just completed. Working in front of the mirror, the factory overhead light is a good overall bathroom light; not too bright and not too dim. However, it is of little help when your looking in the mirror to see whatever you need to see in detail and close up. Drawing from the 1970's where we began to see a row of bare light bulbs in our homes to provide movie star lighting around the bathroom mirror, I did the same thing only with small, modern LED lights. One strip of LED's down one side of the mirror equipped medicine cabinet door and another one just like it down the other side. Now we have some decent light to look at our face, eye lashes, contact lens installation or removal, toofies or whatever you need to see on the face of your noggin in better light. See Albums section of this forum and check out the details of this and a few other things I have done to our 59K for STORYSRVWEGO.

[saxman48]

Originally Posted by Storysrvwego

27jun18 -
Eleanor,
You might like this particular enhancement in the bathroom. This became a solution my wife and I thought was something mandatory fo rus after our very first overnight in our 59K. I have made a few other modifications/improvements to the Travato 59K but this one is something I think WB should do in future factory enhancements of the Travato or other models. Or what I like to call "Rev B guys, Rev(ision) B".
.

I like your lighting mods...thanks for sharing the photos. I’m still a wannabe but am looking seriously at a 59K. Question: have you seen anyone add an LED strip under the step between the coach and the cab?

[Storysrvwego]

With aluminum steps option 07B on the 2017.5 and newer 59K's, you will have an LED light strip the full length of the coach & passenger door step. The step for the driver side door is also lighted. An on/off switch for these LED lights is located by the Coach Power, Awning open & close and awning light switches. Zero cost for this option to be included, or at least it has been. Not sure about the 2019 model.

If you get a 59K that has the power retract step for the coach area which I think is option 07J, LED's are not provided on this option. Again, referring to 2017.5 through 2018 coach production. I imagine this is the same on the 2019's but needs to be researched.

StorysRVwego

[saxman48]

Originally Posted by Storysrvwego

With aluminum steps option 07B on the 2017.5 and newer 59K's, you will have an LED light strip the full length of the coach & passenger door step. The step for the driver side door is also lighted. An on/off switch for these LED lights is located by the Coach Power, Awning open & close and awning light switches. Zero cost for this option to be included, or at least it has been. Not sure about the 2019 model.
StorysRVwego

Thanks so much for your reply. Sorry, but I wasn't clear enough. The step that I am referring to is the one located between the galley and the cab - it houses the shallow cubby that has a locking cover on newer models - non-locking on earlier models. I would think that a strip light under the step would look good and could be useful (clumsy me...I stumbled over the step while looking inside a K at an RV lot!).

[Firesteel]

I have never heard of anyone adding a light strip to the inside step. After a bit you get used to it and quite tripping eventually. :0

[mtnbikerNM]

Ditto to earlier comments on the Froli twin beds, they are quite comfortable for sleeping, lounging, whatever. The biggest mod we've made to date to install an additional 150 watts of solar. We have the roof rack system and since we're not planning on using it for kayaks, storage, etc, we reconfigured the existing 100 W panel and added a Grape Solar 100W beside it on the rear and a smaller 50 W on the front. It took longer to research what to buy than to install and wire it. Kudos to Winnebago for adding the 3 port solar controller to the roof, wiring was a breeze. On a typical New Mexico sunny day, we get around 15 amps of charging power. Because of this and the amount of dry camping we do, the next mod is a 3k inverter. I've posted pics of the solar panels, the factory panel is on the right with a black frame, the Grape 100 W panel is on the left with a white panel. As I posted this, I realized the 50 watt is really hard to see, it sits between the two front luggage rack crossbars, just to the right of the tv antenna. I can add additional photos if anyone is interested.

[Saldar]

I'd like to know what brand 50W panel fits on the front of your K. Thanks.

[mtnbikerNM]

I got it from Home Depot https://www.homedepot.com/p/Grape-So...-50W/206869234

[Storysrvwego]

6 April, 2019 -
REMOVE THE WATER FILTER CANISTER IN A WB 59K TRAVATAO TO CHANGE THE FILTER WITHOUT MAKING A MESS. ARE YOU ABLE TO DO THIS SUCCESSFULLY?

If you have ever changed your water filter in a WB Travato 59K through the hatch on the driver side bed cabinet, I imagine you did not find it possible to do this without spilling a fair amount of water from the filter canister. The plumbing lines, winterizing valves, kitchen sink drain pipe, sewer hose storage tube and some misc electrical make it impossible to unscrew and extract this canister without spilling a fair amount of water.

You could take time to remove the heavy top platform of this cabinet but you really need two people to handle that deck or risk some wall scratching or other damage as you try to handle that well made but heavy platform. Even then you will likely still spill a small amount of water but at least its more manageable to remove it through this more-exposed path. And your not laying down on the floor in a contorted way to pull it through the out side hatch access while definitely spilling a fair amount of water in the process.

I suppose if there was a way to vacuum-suction the filter canister virtually dry before threading it off, that would eliminate the spillage and mop up. If someone knows how to do this without making a mess all over the inside of this cabinet, I am all ears. Perhaps the 2020 59K has been modified by WB to provide a solution...

A quick glimpse online from a video by Stef and James of the loaner 2020, 59KL showed a removable plastic tray in this driver side cabinet-bed-deck just about where the trhe filter assembly is located, at least in my 2018 59K. Without a chance yet to see a 2020 myself where I could lift up the mattress and then lift out this white plastic tray, I don't know if the hole in the deck for this tray plays a secondary roll to help with access to the water filter. As of today, a 2020 version of the instruction manual has not been posted online yet so I cannot check there yet. If anybody can report back on this when a 2020 59K or 59KL is at a show or for sale on a lot, that would be great to know if the filter can finally be easily removed from the top, with little if any spillage.

Otherwise happy to hear about your experience taking the filter tank off, and puling it out through the intended path through the side hatch. Meanwhile I am contemplating how I will modify the deck to have my own hatch to access it more easily from above. Plus this will add some additional light to see and operate the valves in in this same area. I am also considering adding an LED strip light in here to really light it up for whatever maintenance or winterizing & de-winterizing times I need to work in this area.

StorysRVwego

[AlexJ]

Did you ever modify your bed?

[Storysrvwego]

6 April, 2019 -
Alex, I just wrote the post earlier today

StorysRVwego

[AlexJ]

Where? I must have missed it.

[EnduroRdr]

Story, I have a 2019 59k, mine also includes the white plastic Tray you referenced.
I’ll take some pictures of the setup & post here so you can use for ideas on any future modifications to your setup.

I’m considering doing the “filter elimination” mod since I carry bottle water for my drinking needs. My fresh water is just for showers or washing/flushing needs. I don’t see value in the filter for me especially considering the Pain in the Arse it is to service and subsequent mess that is difficult to cleanup. Also the potential for freezing on that canister if you don’t completely drain it (I’m not a fan of antifreeze) I live in deep south so I can usually just blow out my water lines with compressed air if we dip into freeze then be ready to roll the following week when temps go back up. Also with all the electrical stuff I’d rather just not have it in there.
I have a small portable Berkey filter that is better anyway for removing impurities if I needed it for cooking or drinking.

Pics to come!