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Old 02-01-2017, 02:03 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 34J
State: Arkansas
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THOR #5647
Has anyone lowered the bed safty pins?

I wanted to reach out to the group and see if anyone has tried this. We are using a real 6" mattress in the drop down bed above the driver in our Axis 24.1. The 3" one that comes with the RV is too hard for real sleeping. The only problem we face is that we have to remove the mattress so we can raise the bed and insert the pins before driving. I though it might be possible to come up with a way to not raise the platform all the way (3" short of the roof) and still use the safety pins to hold it in place while driving. Anything from using a strong metal cable from the pin to the platform plate or a plate extension and drilling another hole further down for the pin.

Has anyone tried this before? It sure would make life a lot easier not to have to more the mattress every time we drive.

Thanks a bunch!

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Old 02-01-2017, 02:23 PM   #2
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You may find a different problem with that approach.. The Schwintek system (used in slides and bunks) can get very upset about not using full travel. The system counts revolutions of each motor and expects each movement to be full travel. They recommend full travel every time AND holding the button several seconds after travel stops to insure everything stays in synch.
There are ways to re-synch the system (video posted here many times) but you may find you are doing that a lot.

If you do go down the path - I would suggest another hole rather than a cable that gives another failure point at just the wrong time...
Do not try going without the pin - the bunk will move (from an accidental time of not seating the pin - before it was on my 'checklist')
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Old 02-01-2017, 02:55 PM   #3
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We did a similar thing: The earlier Axis/Vegas units came with an airbed for up there instead of a mattress. And the bunk was only about 3/4" deep--not the 3" deep they are now. Our son couldn't stand sleeping on the crinkly, noisy air mattress.

So I picked up a tri-fold foam mattress (50/50 memory foam and stiff foam--its more comfortable than his bed at home LOL).

With the mattress in place the front bunk cannot raise all the way up. What we do is break down the bed and put the mattress in the back for travel--and push the bunk all the way up (including holding the switch to reset the motor timing).

When we're camping I leave it up there and only put the bunk up high enough that the mattress just touches the ceiling (yeah for a few raise events I don't re-time the motors, but I do when we lower it for the evening). So far its worked fine.
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Old 02-01-2017, 04:09 PM   #4
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we lowered ours about 12" and use it for storage since we don't sleep there... I just found the right height, made two marks thru the holes to know where to drill, and put two similar size holes thru the rail bracket.

the bunk or schwintec system doesn't care where it's located - the pins should hold it in the new position just the same...

never had any problems with lifting it or lowering it in 50,000+ miles since then...
the DW loves the additional storage
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Old 02-01-2017, 04:18 PM   #5
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I would call Thor,


Ask about also placing some sort of mechanical stop at the desired location, so the mechanism can "bottom out" and essentially calibrate itself still. Another consideration is the forward corner cables, are they part of the synchronization process?
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Old 02-01-2017, 04:32 PM   #6
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The cables are wired such that they are always correct and cantilever off the gears:
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Old 02-01-2017, 04:45 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TurnerFam View Post
we lowered ours about 12" and use it for storage since we don't sleep there... I just found the right height, made two marks thru the holes to know where to drill, and put two similar size holes thru the rail bracket.

the bunk or schwintec system doesn't care where it's located - the pins should hold it in the new position just the same...

never had any problems with lifting it or lowering it in 50,000+ miles since then...
the DW loves the additional storage
Hi TurnerFam, thanks for the feedback. If it's not too much trouble could you send a picture of what you did? If it is np. Thanks
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Old 02-02-2017, 12:51 AM   #8
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My project for today...

TurnerFam got me to thinking about ways to solve this problem. I could not see how drilling a hole lower would support the weight because there would be no fulcrum for the pin to rest the weight on if the bed dropped. However it did give me an idea to create a cable that would use the existing pin location at the top with a clip/hook at the bottom to hold the bed should it fall. I used wire and clip/hooks rated at 350lbs so a total of 700lbs for the two cables. See the attached pictures. It seems to work well though I have not taken it for drive yet (pray for me!). A little bit of a pain to take on and off but I won't be doing that much. It would be a lot easier if Thor made the bed 6" deep!
Attached Thumbnails
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Name:	Cable on Pin.JPG
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Click image for larger version

Name:	Hook on Bed.JPG
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Old 02-08-2017, 11:18 PM   #9
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
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Took my Axis on it's first extended trip with my new homemade safety cables (see pictures above). The bed frame is about 8" from the ceiling with the cables attached with a little slack in them. The bed never slipped any further down and the little bit of slack is still in the cables. So, it looks like this solution is going to work and the cables will just bare the weight should it slip.
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Old 03-17-2017, 02:35 PM   #10
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I like this idea. Do you recall the size of the pins?
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Old 03-17-2017, 02:42 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shawnpst1 View Post
I like this idea. Do you recall the size of the pins?
They are the original safety pins that come with the unit for keeping the bed from slipping down. All I did was allowed the bed to sit lower but still using the pins and cables I made to keep it from slipping any lower. So I made the cables (with clip) a little longer than the gap from the ceiling I wanted. When I want to lower the bed, I unhook the clip from the frame and leave the cables hanging from the pins.
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