Looking to reupholster the bed..any suggestions?

Bncarter · 02-23-2017, 06:37 PM

Hello
This is my first post on here and I was hoping to get some expert advice or just a point in the right direction.

I have a 2003 Ford E 250 with a penthouse pop up and what I would like to do is reupholster the bed to make it softer and maybe get a more tempurpedic kind of mattress feel to it.

Has anyone ever done this? And if so was it a success?
I live in the Los Angeles area but of course traveling to get the work done is not a problem.
Thanks for any help and suggestions, I do appreciate it.
-Brad

REF · 02-23-2017, 07:05 PM

Find a furniture upholstery shop in your area. I found one that did some work to my bench seat base. It's not going to be cheap to have the whole thing redone, but it might get you the results you want. You may have to browse through a fabric shop to find some new upholstery, I had a separate smaller cushion made for the back shelf with foam and fabric found at a Jo-Ann.....

'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
RB "50" SMB
Quigley 4X4, Deaver's and RIP kit
CCV high profile pop top

86Scotty · 02-24-2017, 06:04 AM

Yep, nothing special there. It's just an upholstered chunk of foam. There is an upholstery/foam place in my town that has all different kind of grades. Surely L.A. has 10 or more. Try some of the swirly looking memory foam. I'll try to find a pic. It's amazing stuff. You'll never go back. As for the sewing a cover for it, hit up Grandma, Mom, any upholstery shop, etc.

You can get the material from Sportsmobile. They sell their patterns by the yard for a price no different than I've found on material anywhere else. Unless it's a much older SMB and they don't use that pattern anymore.

Bncarter · 02-24-2017, 08:33 AM

Sweet! Thanks very much for the help. My back and my wife thank you as well!!

TexomaPowerboater · 02-28-2017, 11:58 AM

Consider Exped MegaMat Duo as a new mattress. Should be much better than foam and only 50 inch wide.

DJGiantRobot · 10-25-2018, 04:12 PM

Our local futon shop has an upholstery service where they will wrap any size and shape of foam with a zip-on cover. Very cost effective, I'm planning to have them make me an upholstered bed cushion now.

SteelheadJones · 10-25-2018, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJGiantRobot

Our local futon shop has an upholstery service where they will wrap any size and shape of foam with a zip-on cover. Very cost effective, I'm planning to have them make me an upholstered bed cushion now.

Sounds perfect. Where is your local upholstery shop?

REF · 10-25-2018, 05:04 PM

I just re-read your original post, I think I may have thought you were talking about the bench seat, I realize now you were talking about the pop top bed, right?
Anyway, when we swapped over to a CCV poptop we opted to upgrade the pads with natural latex, we found even then, 3” wasn’t enough and I ended up adding a 2” memory foam to it (for a total of 5” for you mathematically challenged) and had the covers redone. Was torn on adding the memory foam, especially to the natural latex, as I genuinely hate the stuff but it works to add much needed pressure point relief.

**rionapo** · 10-28-2018, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexomaPowerboater

Consider Exped MegaMat Duo as a new mattress. Should be much better than foam and only 50 inch wide.

+1

We’ve used and worn out a variety of camping and backpacking mats on top of the SMB OEM. This is the best, just make sure you get the more narrow duo as there is a wider version that won’t fit, in a penthouse at least.

Don

DJGiantRobot · 10-30-2018, 11:54 AM

We're in Montana, but our futon shop just outsources to two different upholstery shops, depending on the job and fabric selection, no idea where THEY are! Their turnaround time is about a week or two. I had them make covers for twin mattresses and designed foam bolsters for the backs, these serve as big couches in our house and they turned out great.