Bed Raising Lift Supports

[Kwajdiver]

I would like to install gas lift props, to assist in raising the bed to reach the storage area underneath.
The question, how long should the props be?  What works best?

Thank you,

Bill

[Kevinmc5]

Bill
Mine are Tokico Part # Y3015   NE1
Got them from Don A. Matews #805 238 4443. In Cal.  Not sure if still in business They work great for me . We have a Queen bed. FWIW
Kevin

[jjrbus]

I have done two lift and store beds. The first one in the bus worked but not well. The second one in the house works much better but is still not 100%. When closing the last 5 to 6 inches drops too quick. It is not just a matter of buying some struts and putting them in.

http://photobucket.com/liftandstore

There is an online calculator for figuring length, weight and angle of piston, but you need to know trigonometry to use it.

http://www.bansbach.de/com/gasfedern/online-calculator-3.html

I went to this site and found they used three 80 lb struts for a king size bed, two for a queen. I also guesstimated the length from the pictures to be 24" (open length). They sell a DIY kit also, if you buy the kit I would like the info from it.

http://storagebeds.com/store/products-page

I bought my struts from   "strut your stuff" on Ebay.       HTH   JIm

[Dave Siegel]

Hey Bill, I just went through this last summer. We have a queen size pillow top mattress in our bus it sits on a 3/4" plywood platform. I thought I would be able to lift the bed with a little help from Jan, but there is no way, it felt like it weighs 250 pounds. I then started thinking about gas struts and found that they were priced about $50 or $60 dollars each and they do wear out. Then I started thinking about some kind of electric lift and I came across these lifts.

http://www.firgelliauto.com/default.php?cPath=76&osCsid=5e06d3c2b767cdeb8fdcdd39bf87b695

I bought two 150 pound lifts with 12 volt actuators. I put a switch on the wall as you enter the bedroom and next to the light switch. Flip it up and the bed raises, flip it down and the bed goes down. The actuators work slowly but very evenly and could pick up the mattress even with someone sitting on the bed. I can not express how happy I am with this installation. The folks at Firgelli will even give you diagrams as to how to install these lifts.

Now storing things under the bed is a pleasure and not a chore.

Dave Siegel

[Jeremy]

When closing the last 5 to 6 inches drops too quick.

This is a common scenario, and can even happen on car tailgates once the struts have lost some of their strength. The angle of the struts is changing as they are compressed, as the bed / tailgate or whatever is being closed; depending on the installation they can end up at a very shallow angle when in the 'almost closed' position, where they naturally give little assistance and gravity takes over. The only way of mitigating the problem is by mounting the bottom (fixed) end of the strut as low down as space allows, and using a longer strut if necessary, so the strut retains some angle even when fully closed.

I've never built a bed-lift but have done similar sorts of things on boats before; generally speaking the 'action' you get is improved by using the longest struts you can fit in.

But I would also recommend the linear actuator approach suggested by Dave Siegel. I bought a couple of very-long throw linear actuators from a supplier on Ebay that sells them for moving satellite dishes around. They work very nicely and were quite reasonably priced - probably no more than you might pay for gas struts. The only downside is that they work on 36v DC - they're fine on 24v, but a bit slow.

Jeremy

[mikke60]

what stroke length did you use?  mike

[garhawk]

As Jeremy suggested, the longer the strut the better your chances of getting continual lift with minimal engineering.  Under the best of circumstances, I've found it takes some trial and error.  Also, the installation factors into the life of the gas strut.  The best price for the struts is at the salvage yard.  Look for the vans with lift-up rear doors.
I've never paid more than $5 each for even the longest struts.  Try to get several exactly alike for spares when they fail.

The electric actuators seem to be an excellent way to go.  Considering the amount of time expended with the trial and error manual struts, it makes the electric models seem inexpensive.

The best method I've used are the hydraulic units made for raising (tilting) outboard motors.  Fit it just about anywhere you have the room - they will lift your kingsize bed with you, your wife, and dog all bundled together without so much as a groan.  They are self contained units which run on 12V.

I've bought them on ebay for as little as $50 although, most are in the $100 to $150 range

[Lin]

I assume that most want to raise one end of the bed and have the other hinged.  That's the way ours is.  Whether the shocks are worn or just undersized, it is not perfect but does make the lifting quite doable.  I would guess that the lifted side goes up about 24 to 30 inches, which allows nice access to the under-bed area.  Are you folks that are using actuators lifting that much?

[jjrbus]

In hindsight in the bus I would lift one side of the bed and not from the foot or top.  JIm

[gus]

jjrb,

If you change the bottom strut mounting so that the rod end of the strut just points slightly down from level when closed it won't snap down as much and will do it closer to the bottom of travel.

It needs to have a bit of snap at the end to keep the strut from pushing up when the bus bounces.

[Kwajdiver]

Thanks guys, lots to thank about.   


Bill