We are full-timers and sleep in the cab-over bed. The wife sleeps in the nose and I sleep on the side towards the living area. She weighs less than 140 and I weigh 180. We hear it creak when rolling over on her side and was wondering if anyone had any structural or other issues with constant use of the cab-over bed. I can't imagine we are over the weight capacity for up there. Thanks.
You won't know for sure till you wake up on the hood of the RV!
I've seen as low as 150 lbs, and also "Two Adults", and as high as "unrestricted"!
My Dad's old Lazy Daze said 350 lbs. There may be a tag in the closet or on the rear of a cabinet door listing the weight restriction.
My posts shouldn't be taken for factual data. They are purely fictional, for entertainment purposes and should not be constituted as actually related to scientific, technical, engineering, legal, spiritual or practical advice. Amen.
IF you can, stop in at a do it yourself auto dismantlement that has motor homes. Adlin Bros. "U-Pick-Parts" in Sun Valley is right next to the I-5 at the Penrose St. off ramp. There is a large RV only yard in Los Angeles somewhere. I've called them but I cant remember where it is. Google around to find one near you.
You can poke your head into one that's been ripped apart. I find that mostly "live aboard" RVers (saying homeless is just wrong since they have their home on wheels) have stripped everything they can find. You can buy A/C's, fridges, stoves, windows etc. Vintage cabinet doors, hinges, latches. I have bought entry doors w/frames and step-wells to modify motor homes for wheelchair ramps and such.
Anyway, you can take some pliers, slot screwdrivers, wood chisels and pry bars and just go have fun tearing into a wall to see how it's built. No one is going to care and you will probably find one that is already tore into to remove something. You can pull it open and see how wiring is routed.
I say all this because you will be shocked how cheesy these things are in there. It's the totality of the structure that is its strength. It's a sandwich of things. Depending on where your rig is built. It could be hollow with fiberglass insulation, or maybe closed cell foam making it effectively a solid wall. The wood is all glued and stapled together. If you have a "solid" wall, you may have to chisle a trifel of foam away to repair or reinforce a joint, in which you can use canned spray foam insulation (like fur plumbing) to fill the void.
The creaking you hear is the wood flexing and the joints rubbing together. Possibly the aluminum rubbing. Sometimes the factory fails at quality control. You can have a section where the worker did not put a row of staples deep enough, or came too close to the edge of a board, causing a week strut.
It may be that you can open your skin a tad and inspect an area. I have had to refasten and glue some joints in my Harvest. I had the flat board under the Gaucho screws going into mid-air on one side and not into the wood frame underneath at all! The outside wall is still pulling away from the Gaucho as well. All things flex and loosen over time anyway. It doesn't have to be a defect. If you have ever done any kind of arts and craft, woodwork or such, you can fix it your self.
Please don't take this all the wrong way, I'm not implying your rig is going to shake apart. They do shake and sometimes need some reinforcing inside the walls. Motor home shops will cost you hundred of dollars in shop time. They will undoubtedly break something along the way and tell you they "found it" and replaced it; trying to make you think they care about you so much. (oooops my procrastination is showing)
There are restoration forums that have photos of this kind of thing. I'd recommend going and having a hands on experience before digging into your rig.
Welp, good luck with your creak
* This post was
edited 03/19/12 01:25pm by ChetsJug *
1976 Dodge Harvest Class A 440/727
1977 Dodge Harvest Class C 440/727
1961 Lil Loafer (by Aristocrat)
1954 Jones Way van; fiberglass
1966 Regatta outboard 950 Merc
We sleep in our overhead area and weigh considerably more than you two and we do not hear creaks or groans, except occasionally from each other! You might try taking the header material off and redoing the screws that go into the overhead plywood. Kcgaz in Scottsdale just did this and found several loose screws with some even missing.
You could try taking a couple of 2x4s and brace the outside of the loft, near the front.
With the house supporting the back of the loft and braces supporting the front, if it is still squeaking then the vertical load of your combined weight may not be the issue.
My loft does not have a cutout for the doghouse. I don't know how the cutout might affect the integrity of the loft's floor.
2005 Cruise America 28R (Four Winds 28R) on a 2004 Ford E450 SD 6.8L V10 4R100
2009 smart fortwo Passion with Roadmaster "Falcon 2" towbar & tail light kit - pictures
Great job with your site Jerry n Cynthia! I've been following you since you were in a TT, and alas, we have now too moved from a TT to a Class C! (not because of you specifically unfortunately, but you have always helped with your information!). I look forward to rereading your site to see what you've learned with your C.
(thats all, nothing pertinent to your post)
Catch you on the road!
p.s. did you start that RVNumber site? Looks cool!
adamroof wrote: Great job with your site Jerry n Cynthia! I've been following you since you were in a TT, and alas, we have now too moved from a TT to a Class C! (not because of you specifically unfortunately, but you have always helped with your information!). I look forward to rereading your site to see what you've learned with your C.
(thats all, nothing pertinent to your post)
Catch you on the road!
p.s. did you start that RVNumber site? Looks cool!
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