Penthouse Cushion Storage

[hardwire]

Have any of you come up with any creative solutions to keep the penthouse bed cushions up and out of the way during the day so that you can freely move about inside the van without squatting down? I was thinking of some sort of bungee sling system mounted to the inside ceiling, but I'm open to any and all ideas. I've got an EB with the rear bathroom, so stacking them above that in the back is a tad inconvenient.

 

[marret]

I assume you mean when the top is up. Many Sportsmobiles came with a system to do what you described. The bed panels have cleats and there are wires attached to the ceiling that one hooks over the cleats. You don’t have that? Should not be difficult to install.

 

[doublevan2]

Maybe someone can send a photo of the SMB "hanging ceiling" cushions - I have a CCV top now and its' diff from original PH ceiling panel set up ?

 

[hardwire]

Photos of that setup would be great! My van is a 95, so I guess they didn't add the cleats back then.

 

[geoffff]

The front half of the upper bed hangs from the ceiling like this. Two cleats in the front and one in the rear:


hanger & cleat


rear of front half of upper bed suspended, looking forward


upper bed, looking rearward

 

[geoffff]

With my RB50 I don't have any reason to raise the rear part of the bed, so I just use that area as storage. (There are no hangers and cleats for the rear half.) But for van layouts with living space in the rear, people just lean the rear half of the bed against the rear canvas fabric side.


rear on RB50


leaning

 

[Shaine]

That rear half fits on top of (above) the middle piece when it’s hanging too. That’s what we do. But I like the leaning idea too.

 

[86Scotty]

I've got a post on how to retrofit this that I did on my old SMB. Let me know if you're still looking for ideas. It's probably buried in my build/rebuild thread somewhere.

:b5:

 

[hardwire]

I'll pull some measurements and come up with a cleat/hangar system like that. It looks like Mcmaster Carr has all the right parts for it. My problem is that I have three pieces to my upper bed, so I might have to get a little creative. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[TimRiker]

We add a 3" memory foam mattress up in the penthouse. On our setup we have a single platform bed that can hang from the top, or sit down in the channel. The structure that supports the roof on the rear of the penthouse hangs down from the roof. Having the mattress over that section prevents the top from settling fully down. Our solution is to split the mattress. The larger "front" section stays on the bed. The shorter "back" section we pull off the bed before closing the top, and put back on the bed after opening the top.

 

[86Scotty]

I'll pull some measurements and come up with a cleat/hangar system like that. It looks like Mcmaster Carr has all the right parts for it. My problem is that I have three pieces to my upper bed, so I might have to get a little creative. Thanks for the ideas!

Mine did too. I put two of them together with 2 pieces of aluminum angle. I found the pics, post 157 of my old SMB rebuild thread.

https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/f...y-driveway-its-rusty-10698-16.html#post133177

 

[hardwire]

THIS is exactly what I needed! Thanks for the link :b5:

 

[86Scotty]

THIS is exactly what I needed! Thanks for the link :b5:

You're welcome. I think I did that back before I knew McMaster Carr was a thing. I'm sure I got what I needed from Lowe's.

Either way, easy hardware to find.

:b5:

 

[hardwire]

Thanks again guys for all of your ideas and feedback. I made some cable loops and installed some cleats/aluminum angle and it worked out great! No idea why the image is sideways but whatever :n5:

 

[TimRiker]

Thanks again guys for all of your ideas and feedback. I made some cable loops and installed some cleats/aluminum angle and it worked out great! No idea why the image is sideways but whatever :n5:

The cleats on my system, and most I've seen, are on the ends of the bed, not the bottom. This might keep you from hitting your head on them when the top is down. What you have should work too. Just preference. When mounting on the edge, you can use very long screws. On the bottom, longer screws would eventually poke up through the mattress.

 

[hardwire]

The cleats on my system, and most I've seen, are on the ends of the bed, not the bottom. This might keep you from hitting your head on them when the top is down. What you have should work too. Just preference. When mounting on the edge, you can use very long screws. On the bottom, longer screws would eventually poke up through the mattress.

I did notice that. The problem was that the only cleats I was able to find were tiny with really small screws that wouldn't hold into the side of the plywood. The holes were too small for any longer screws I had on hand, so I just decided to be lazy and move them to the bottom. Luckily they're smooth and really small, so they should stay out of the way.

 

[BrianW.]

In case it's of any interest, I did a post a few years ago about building my own PH bed (my used van didn't have one). See https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/f19/made-a-penthouse-bed-28243.html

 

[Stormy98]

My '98 came with a system that uses a slide buckle, footman's loop on the roof and turn button fastener on the bed. Keeps the bed up and adjusts to the thickness of the bedding.