With a 34' and its single, narrower, joey bed organization will be important. I've read through threads I could find with Search and haven't found what I envision so I'm posting here in the hopes someone has an idea.
Totes of various configurations have been used and there are some nice photos in previous threads showing how these can be fit in the joey beds...we'll certain use some of these.
What I envision, however, is a "raised" platform that totes would sit on but which would provide space underneath (to allow lawn chairs, folding table, etc. to be slide under the platform on the floor of the joey bed....maybe 6-9" of vertical space to the deck of the raised platform with totes on top. Crudely...i'm not a handy guy...2 - 2x10's on their side with plywood for the floor of the raised platform. Seems pretty crude and heavy, though...maybe there's a more elegant solution that is thinner and lighter?
Ideas welcome.
Thanks
Not sure of the verticle space you have between the Joey bed and the overhead. But I saw a space that utilized the white metal racks used in closets and laundry rooms. They were lighter weight, attached with screws and snap in. The guy had arranged chairs, outdoor rug on them and was able to fit totes in for things needing to be together on his Joey. He had also used them as a small shelf in spaces that were normally wasted . Just an idea. I just wish I had taken pictures.
Randy,
An aluminum ladder cable tray is what we have that does what you are talking about. They come in various widths and depths and can be got from an industrial electrical supply company. We turned it upside down and covered the backside with .032 crinkled aluminum and then covered that with carpet that matched our basement carpet. Being aluminum it is lightweight and sturdy. The down side is they are somewhat pricey to buy new. Hunt around and see if there is an over run or an end piece that a contractor has setting around his warehouse or check with a scrap yard for a piece that you can recycle. (might not be the exact size you were looking for but could be made to work for 1/4 of the price of new)
Pamela & Mike
How about just raising the Joyebed frame up to the height you want, then you'll have the space below for your chairs and what not. I have a friend who did that on his and worked out fine. I think he raised it two inches, but you could do some measurements to see how high you can go.
Pamela & Mike -?picture?
Richard- great suggestion. When we get the coach next month I'll give that a look.
Be careful how much you raise a Joey bed. The rails no longer serve to spread the load on the upper FG (floor of basement). And, look at the moment of torque increase on the FG of the coach bottom. Every time the Joey bed is slammed shut.......
I would rather see the Joey bed on the basement floor and light items like chairs on a raised (actually suspended) structure.
If you were to use aluminum square tubing for support, would that not take care of that issue?
We have a box that holds the grill and gas, a shelf thing that holds two levels of chairs, a folding table and a folding stool and my tool box. Three taller totes with folding tops and six less tall totes (same foot print as the taller totes) that stack and fit through the door and under the cable tray. More organized now than we have been.
Plenty of room under the joey bed from the other side for a water hose, a flolding rake, bike lock cables, lots of stuff less than a couple inches thick.
Randy,
On our 99 U270 we have a drawer on the drivers side that hangs down into the basement from the ceiling of the basement. We also have the inverter hanging down into the storage area as well as a wire chase that hangs down the middle of the basement ceiling running fore to aft.
In the Joey bed we have a spare tire that is full of parts and filters on the drivers side, and totes, aluminum step platform, and propane grill on the floor on the passenger side.
My plan is to hang an aluminum angle frame from the ceiling on the passenger side that will hold up lawn chairs and ground mats, but not extend lower than the lowest of the previously mentioned insets. The idea is to store as much as we can suspended from the ceiling, but have the storage in the bed where it can slide either side without what is on it interfering with the ceiling storage.
Len
That would help distribute the load on the basement floor. But keep in mind that the higher the Joey bed, the more the torque. And the basement floor is two thin layers of filon with foam insulation core. NOT designed for side loads.
In fact, based on many years of inspections, I strongly recommend that, even with "normal" mount for the Joey bed, that one use 6"X6"X1/8" aluminum as "washers" under the nuts under the coach bottom.
If you do have Joey beds, please look under there and make sure that the fiberglass is not broken allowing water into the basement structure.
Or if your coach's Joey bed happens to be mounted through the steel framing like ours, just make sure the bottom fasteners are sealed against water intrusion. I would not load ours like I do if it weren't mounted to the frame. Even so, I use 1/8" thick stainless steel squares about 3"X4" that were cut from my leftover bulkhead/basement scraps. These were glued to the fiberglass skin with 3m 5200. I did this not only for spreading the load of the clamping force, but also because the original fasteners had damaged some of the fiberglass skin around the holes when originally installed. When I saw how the Joey bed supports were spaced, it just made sense to me that they would all be done that way, and even that Foretravel would have planned the framing to provide a secure place to mount the cargo slides. Perhaps your Joey bed is attached to steel framing this way. It is easy to tell using a strong magnet.
Don
The reason for concern here is that the basement structure was not really designed to support SIDE LOADS.
Its structure is a top layer of very thin filon, foam/insulation core and very thin bottom panel with a box beam grid. I have no concern for vertical loads-- the long runners of the Joey bed spread that load over their whole length and that weight is carried by the box beams.
But, particularly when heavily loaded, when you slam it either open or closed that is putting a side load on the 4-6 mounting bolts. That is what causes the cracking that many of us have observed around the bolts/nuts when looking under the coach. And you do NOT want 4-6 cracks in the filon allowing water into the basement structure.
Interesting...I have never examined the Joey Bed mounting on another coach, but ours actually has 12 fasteners (I just took a look), and they all go through steel frame members. The damage to the bottom skin was just at the fastener holes and were the size of the washers (they were small washers), and only on 1 or 2 of the holes. As to side loads, I am very careful to control both the opening an closing knowing the stresses on the bearings etc. I did replace he original bearings with heavy duty cam followers, and since there were unused holes in the rails and since the originals were still in good shape, filed the empty holes with the originals. It has twice as many as it did when installed. I never, ever want to have to take everything out of the Joey Bed to get it to close! And then trying to get everything back in without being able to extend... I shudder to think of it! I sincerely hope tha the next trip we take, I will be more organized and selective as to what I bring.
Don
Don,
Suspect a wide range of "quality of installation", since Joey beds are mostly after-market. Most I have inspected just drill where the holes are in the Joey bed rails, paying little or no attention to box beams.
What I did in our U240 was, after verifying with a magnet that not a single bolt went through a beam, is drill a 3" hole through the basement floor (stopping just into the insulation). Removed the insulation with a screwdriver. Then using West System epoxy, installed a marine plywood plug the same thickness as the basement floor (actually two pieces of 3/4" plywood as I recall. Then drilled new holes through the plug and used aluminum backing underneath. Permanent fix with no compression of the foam core and allowing good torque on the through bolts!