a question concerning TT bed lift.

I'm hoping someone out there has dealt with this. The TT I just acquired has a regular queen mattress with underbed storage but did not have struts to help with lifting it. I purchased a pair of 150 lb. struts and was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on installing them?

 

You may need to purchase mounting hardware if your struts didn't come with them (10mm ball mounts or angled lift support brackets for gas struts). I would mount the struts as close as I could to the hinge point. If you have a pair of 150 lb struts I would think that is plenty to hold the weight of the RV queen and the platform the mattress sits on. You may find that you have a new problem: the storage compartment wants to stay in the open position because you have the force of the struts pushing up. You may need to install a locking mechanism to keep the sleeping platform closed.

If it were my install I would:

1. Find the highest point that I want the lid to open then with the compartment opened at that height...
2. With gas struts fully extended, place the struts as far back (closest to the hinge point) as possible and mark the points on the base and the lid of your bed/storage compartment
3. You'll need to account for the length of the gas strut when in a completely compressed position
4. Install the brackets or 10mm ball mounts or angle mounts where you marked the frame and lid
5. Connect the gas struts to the ball mounts

Check out this short vid - check out the frame and mounting points...


Also: mount the piston rod facing down for rod lubrication and dampening.

 

Thanks mic the mattress is not an RV but a regular bed mattress, that's why I ordered the 150# struts. i can barely lift it without the struts.

 

As it turns out, the 150's don't quite hold the bed up, but at least I can lift it now. I'm thinking a locking bracket of some sort to hold it up.

 

I have a similar situation, thinking of mounting a bracket on the plywood side and using a long piece of wood to hold it up redneck style.

 

That is what I'm doing but with a length of PVC pipe.