security and gauges questions

[Bill]

Hmmmm. There must be different contruction methods used here - or maybe the front bed is different from the rear. I've owned two 2720SLs, and I removed the latch on both of them. I can lift the forward edge of the bed up, but there is no way that any of it can move down. For one thing, the bed supports slide out directly under the bed, so even if it would move, it couldn't drop by more than an inch before coming to rest on the supports. And no one is going to fall out through a one-inch gap.

I have always been under impression that the little red latch is to prevent someone outside from lifting the bed, not to keep it from dropping. But my TM is in the driveway, and I'll be working on it tomorrow. I'll see if I can spot any way to make it drop.

Bill

Bill, my bed sits firmly on the supports. But the supports sit maybe 12" or so back from the extreme edge (the ends of the TM) of the bed. So, if you lift up on the bed as in the emergency exit mode, about a foot of the back of the bed swivels down.....where the supports attach to the bed act as a fulcrum. So my concern, since I can easily pull down on the bed tray from the outside to swivel the bed, is that maybe someone could go to the end walls and get enough weight past the fulcrum point to make the bed swivel up........like you are using it in the escape hatch mode. Only the escape hatch is going to be on the wrong part of the bed.

Chap

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Bill

Hmmmm. There must be different contruction methods used here - or maybe the front bed is different from the rear. I've owned two 2720SLs, and I removed the latch on both of them. I can lift the forward edge of the bed up, but there is no way that any of it can move down. For one thing, the bed supports slide out directly under the bed, so even if it would move, it couldn't drop by more than an inch before coming to rest on the supports. And no one is going to fall out through a one-inch gap.

I have always been under impression that the little red latch is to prevent someone outside from lifting the bed, not to keep it from dropping. But my TM is in the driveway, and I'll be working on it tomorrow. I'll see if I can spot any way to make it drop.

Bill

OK, I examined my TM in detail today. There is NO WAY that any part of the bed can fall down or be forced down, latch or no latch, no matter where the force is applied. The front edge of the bed rests on a solid shelf about a foot wide (this is actually the top of the under-bed storage area). The rear end of the bed is supported by, and tethered to, the slide-out bed supports. Ain't no way anything is going down here!

As I mentioned in my post above, if the latch is not engaged, the forward edge of the bed can be lifted. This is the emergency exit, so if it is not latched, unauthorized entry could be a concern. But if the latch is engaged inside, it would prevent lifting the bed.

In my TM, at least, anyone can lie down anywhere on the bed with no fear of it dumping you out, latch or no latch. It just can't happen.

This describes my 2720SL, which has only a rear bed. Other models with a front bed might find a different situation up there. Anyone?

[Edit] Chap, you're right. When you lift the front edge of the bed, the back edge does tilt down, the tips of the support bars being the fulcrum. However, the tips are so close to the rear edge that it would require an enormous amount of force to pull it down. I can hang from the pull-out handle, which is at the extreme rear edge of the bed, and it doesn't move. And I am no lightweight! So I am quite confident that I could lie on the rear edge of the bed, centered in that 12-inch span you mentioned, and nothing would happen. And I've done just that!

Bill

[B_and_D]

I tested our front bed last week. I don't know about the rear bed. I've slept snugged up against the rear wall many times without the latch engaged (and never experienced a sinking feeling) but I haven't jumped up and down on it.

I tried rocking back and forth vigorously on the front bed, on my knees, with one knee on the very front of the front bed and the other more towards the center of the bed, and it started to tilt down a bit when I put my weight down on the knee right next to the front window. From this test, I'd say if someone who was fairly heavy wanted to sleep in the very front of the bed, or if you had some very rambunctious kids, you might want to be careful to engage the latches. I was surprised because we've never had this happen before.