Bed fliipped over almost lost son

It fell down towards the back. I saw about a foot of daylight when it tilted down. The support arms were up. I am going to check them carefully when I go out later to make sure there is no damage or screws lose. As far as the balance of the arms as one poster suggested, I am not clear how that works and will have to do some more reading to figure that one out.

My son is, and I am too - afraid of him sleeping there. It is because of his weight I am sure. I was up on the bed trying it out with the memory foam on it, and nothing happened, but I weigh quite a bit less than my son. I am wondering if the front bed with two latches would be safer for him. He mentioned not wanting to fall out of bed on top of the propane tanks and tongue. Do you think it could drop like that even with the latch latched?

When you think about it, I don't see how the latches by themselves would keep it from falling down (dropping like it did) I don't recall seeing the other side come up, but then it happened so fast, I could be wrong.

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by modhatter

It fell down towards the back. I saw about a foot of daylight when it tilted down. The support arms were up. I am going to check them carefully when I go out later to make sure there is no damage or screws lose. As far as the balance of the arms as one poster suggested, I am not clear how that works and will have to do some more reading to figure that one out.

My son is, and I am too - afraid of him sleeping there. It is because of his weight I am sure. I was up on the bed trying it out with the memory foam on it, and nothing happened, but I weigh quite a bit less than my son. I am wondering if the front bed with two latches would be safer for him. He mentioned not wanting to fall out of bed on top of the propane tanks and tongue. Do you think it could drop like that even with the latch latched?

When you think about it, I don't see how the latches by themselves would keep it from falling down (dropping like it did) I don't recall seeing the other side come up, but then it happened so fast, I could be wrong.

The latches will absolutely keep the platform from tilting if the support arms are out.

The leverage involved to allow the bed to tilt from that last foot on the platform would be easily over come by the slightest resistance on the other side of the platform.

It's sorta like having a 5' long teeter-totter with the fulcrum point being one foot from one end. If a person were to sit on the very end of the 1 foot section, his end will go down if the 4 foot long section has no weight on it (one must consider that the 4' long section of the teeter-totter has weight that must be overcome also). However, if a 200# person were to sit on the very end of the 1' long section, it would only take less than 40# of resistance on the other end to offset that 200#. The latch will withstand 40# of resistance easily, if the screws are not stripped out.

One would also have to consider that it is nearly impossible for 200# of weight to be placed on the VERY EDGE of the bed platform. That weight would surely have to be distributed over the one foot of surface. I would thing that it would take less than 10# of resistance to offset the weight of a 200# person.

I am 6'3" and weigh 220#. I have napped on the edge of that rear bunk many times (by myself) and never had a hint of an issue. We never latch the bed (however, we may from now on).

[ZekenSpider]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

.........
So it can happen, I have no doubt. But from this limited experience, it would seem you have to try to make it happen. That doesn't mean it couldn't happen by accident, however, so I would be sure that latch is latched, and both the latch and catch are securely mounted.

I don't know if it's possible, but this potential problem could be virtually eliminated if the existing bed supports extended under the bed further. The contact points between the support arms and bed act as a pivot point, so the risk of this happening decreases as those pivot points are moved further towards the outward edge of the bed.

Dave

My experience is similar and part of my conclusion is the problem is more prevalent on the TM models with the Double bed (48 x 78) than it is the Queen bed (60 x 78) or the King bed (78 x 78). This is because the ratio of rear to front leverage (using the support points as the fulcrum) is markedly different between the Double and the others (especially the King). In fact, I think the King may be used differently than the other two since it is square. At least we always sleep with our heads to the rear instead of the side which puts most of our weight in front of the support points most all the time. Even so, I was able to tip our bed (a King) to the rear by accident when kneeling at the rear window while looking for the source of a leak in a rain storm.

The important lesson seems to be...never, never forget to latch the front bed latch.

Jerry

t could be worse.

When cleaning my TM a few years ago I ahd it completely empty of all my stuff and the water and holding tanks were dry.

I was at the rear of the rear bed. The rear jacks were not down.

It began to feel like the front was starting to lift off the ground, or at least get substantially lighter.

NEVER get on the rear bed unless the latch to the bathroom wall is engaged.


NEVER get on the rear bed unless the rear jacks are down.

How to remember that is a puzzlement.

First trip in a popup, I didnt know the fabric sides had to hook underneath.....At about 2:00 A.M, we heard a loud thump and I instantly knew. My wife ran to their bed, but I ran for the door. He was four at the time and fell about five feet to the ground.....Get this, He never woke up!! He fell out with his sleeping bag and I had to carry him back in and put him to bed.....He woke up the next morning with no recollection.

My wife still cannot laugh about it but it was pretty funny. My son loves when I tell the story.

Jason

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by jchmel9719

First trip in a popup, I didnt know the fabric sides had to hook underneath.....At about 2:00 A.M, we heard a loud thump and I instantly knew. My wife ran to their bed, but I ran for the door. He was four at the time and fell about five feet to the ground.....Get this, He never woke up!! He fell out with his sleeping bag and I had to carry him back in and put him to bed.....He woke up the next morning with no recollection.

My wife still cannot laugh about it but it was pretty funny. My son loves when I tell the story.

Jason

That's a great story.....I would've grabbed a camera.............then my wife would've hit me......

[wbmiller3]

In our tiny Coleman popup (8 foot body) the first time we used it, I climbed out on the rear bed without first lowering the stabilizer jacks (it only had rear ones). The whole camper popped a wheelie until the end of the bed hit the ground, and everything in it that wasn't nailed down came tumbling down on me. Nothing was damaged but my pride.

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by wbmiller3

In our tiny Coleman popup (8 foot body) the first time we used it, I climbed out on the rear bed without first lowering the stabilizer jacks (it only had rear ones). The whole camper popped a wheelie until the end of the bed hit the ground, and everything in it that wasn't nailed down came tumbling down on me. Nothing was damaged but my pride.

I saw that happen in a campground once.......I was horrified when I 1st saw it....once I found out that everyone was OK....I couldn't stop laughing all weekend.

I know that it's not funny when you are the one inside but you've gotta appreciate what it looked like from the outside........OH-NO........There I go again

[scrubjaysnest]

That must be why the Coleman owners manual says to put the jacks down before entering..... so the neighbors won't laugh

[wbmiller3]

Yeah, I think so

I like your picture of the scrub jay.