Club 80-90 Forums

Hi. I just bought a T3/T25 and I'm looking to do some work on it.

The former owner seems to have put the bed forwards quite a bit with regards to the original setup. When used as a sofa, the distance between the back of the seat and the higher part where the motor is, is about 15 cm. I believe in the original configuration, the seat is placed right against the high part. This also means the sofa extends quite a bit past the opening of the sliding door and covers quite a bit of the kitchen. In total the bed is 190cm long.

I would like to gain more space by placing the bed backwards against the high part, but I haven't been able to figure out if and how it can be done with the current hinges. I think the current hinges might not be original rock 'n roll hinges and that this might be the reason the bed is placed forwards a little, because when unfolding it, it doesn't "rock" forwards, or at least not enough.

I've taken a couple of pictures of the hinges and the bed, as well as I could without unmounting the whole bed. What do you think?

Could be from a fold out sofa bed, the plywood base boards should end up close together when the bed is opened out flat. I would buy some new hinges and do a proper job, it looks a bit naf.

multisi wrote: ↑29 Jan 2024, 15:24 Could be from a fold out sofa bed, the plywood base boards should end up close together when the bed is opened out flat. I would buy some new hinges and do a proper job, it looks a bit naf.

You could well be right. The base boards don't seem to get any closer when opening the bed. I've thought about positioning the top lower, but that would mean the back of the sofa is too low. I was hoping to avoid building another bed and use the current hinges and/or setup, but it might not be possible.

Any other opinions are appreciated!

Look identical to r&r hinges that I fitted in my sprinter years ago. They work perfectly alright. Maybe realign the boards but I guess whoever fitted them looked at them carefully.

Al Housman wrote: ↑30 Jan 2024, 20:13 Look identical to r&r hinges that I fitted in my sprinter years ago. They work perfectly alright. Maybe realign the boards but I guess whoever fitted them looked at them carefully.

I'm thinking if it could be because of the blocks he used underneath the boards or that he fit them in the wrong place so that they can't expand fully or something. One of these days I'm gonna take the couch out and take a closer look at the mechanism.

Floorboard panels are 'different'.

shepster wrote: ↑31 Jan 2024, 09:33 Floorboard panels are 'different'.

Mmm, what do you mean by different? Are you saying if I fitted different panels, I could make it work (=move the couch backwards a little)?

FarWare12 wrote: ↑31 Jan 2024, 10:04

shepster wrote: ↑31 Jan 2024, 09:33 Floorboard panels are 'different'.

Mmm, what do you mean by different? Are you saying if I fitted different panels, I could make it work (=move the couch backwards a little)?

Well, they do seem a little overkill when it's common to use 3mm ply/hardboard but heh, who am I to judge?

I doubt anything would be gained with regards to bed positioning but you might save a bit of weight.

Most beds fold down past the door opening or else they wouldn't be long enough, unless you're 4 foot tall of course.

shepster wrote: ↑31 Jan 2024, 13:38

FarWare12 wrote: ↑31 Jan 2024, 10:04

shepster wrote: ↑31 Jan 2024, 09:33 Floorboard panels are 'different'.

Mmm, what do you mean by different? Are you saying if I fitted different panels, I could make it work (=move the couch backwards a little)?

Well, they do seem a little overkill when it's common to use 3mm ply/hardboard but heh, who am I to judge?

I doubt anything would be gained with regards to bed positioning but you might save a bit of weight.

Most beds fold down past the door opening or else they wouldn't be long enough, unless you're 4 foot tall of course.

Well, the bed now, even when folded, extends well past the door opening, as you can see in picture 1 where it's folded. There is a similar amount of space behind the sofa as well when folded. When unfolded, it seems the bed extends a little too far into the kitchen. The total length of the bed is about 194 cm or 6 ft 4 inches. I think this is longer than normal (but correct me if I'm wrong) and also than necessary. I'm 5′ 10.5″ and my gf is just shy of 5'... plus, we're foodies. So this impacts the possible depth of the kitchen by quite a lot and the kitchen is no #1 for us, haha. The kitchen is only 42 cm or 1,4 ft deep, to make space for the bed.