foldout couch bed leans too much

[Flame]

Somewhere on here I read about the problem with sleeping on the outside of the foldout couch bed but cant find it. I experienced it this weekend on a trip. It seems to lean towards the inside isle and makes you want to "roll"out of the bed. Any suggestions how I could "level" it to make it more comfortable sleeping. Planning some much longer trips and are just wanting to get all the bugs out now. Thanks

[Kirah]

My frame never actually seemed to sag toward the aisle, so I'm not sure how to troubleshoot that.

What I ran into with mine was that after decades of being regularly sat on but rarely slept on, the cushions had worn unevenly - softest near the aisle, firmest near the wall - so I tended to roll toward the aisle. It was very uneven and uncomfortable. Since there's just me traveling in this thing, my fix was to turn it into a daybed - a couple of big pillows instead of a back rest, and with a new mattress instead of the old cushions.

[Colorider]

When we got ours, I kept getting annoyed that the sofa leaned toward the aisle. My plan was to get 2 hockey pucks, drill holes in them and use them as spacers on two of the four bolts that hold the sofa down. After getting under the RV and beginning to loosen the first bolt by myself while the top (inside the RV) spun, I got angry and gave up. Since then I've tackled so many other projects, I kinda forgot about the leaning bed. That, and I just don't sleep on that side... my wife does. She's way less picky than me.

[Blue~Go]

I found the whole Flexsteel couch to be a very uncomfortable bed. I like the much earlier ones that didn't try to look "humped" and sectioned. They were actually flat.

My solution was to remove the Flexsteel unit completely (but not the base frame) and then put in a "flat" couch and couch back cushion that I had from a previous campervan. It had been re-done with firm foam and is flat and comfortable (IMO). A side benefit is that I made it so that I can slide out the bottom cushion independently of the back. Hence I can have the narrow couch, or the fully opened "double" bed, OR I can just slide the seat cushion out to its full ~30" which makes a nice sized single or napping spot. Also, since the top of the backrest is flat (vs. the three humps), I got a 3/8" x 5" x 24" alder hobby board and varnished it and it makes a great little "coffee table" perched on the back of the couch (because I sit longways with my feet up).

I have seen posts wherein people put plywood or metal under the "crib springs" of the Flexsteel couch to make it firmer. So you could so something like that. The couch seat and back can be removed from the base frame by undoing a few bolts.

[pdemarest]

One of the first things that I had done in my rig was to have the springs cut out of the couch bottom cushion to get rid of the rounded surface that is more suited to using the couch as a seat than a bed. Had the foam replaced on the couch and the dinette to match heights and also to eliminate the small gap between the couch and dinette when the couch is folded down into a bed.

[chin_k]

Besides modify the couch, check to see if the two steel hooks are latching onto the shoulder bolts on the frame when you flatten out the couch. It is possible that the bolt(s) are missing?

[Flame]

After a few nights sleeping in my 1998 concourse and not being comfortable at the outside edge my wife stumbled on a solution that we will try this weekend....Fold the couch down. Next turn both club chairs facing the couch and slide them towards the couch as far as they will go. This leaves only a 3-4 inch gap between the couch and chairs. With our head on the couch and our feet in the chairs it makes a lot more room to sleep!! And no rolling off the bed. I know it sounds silly but try it. I was amazed how much more comfortable it is and really more room. Thought about removing the chairs and building a padded platform to place on the pedelstals but the chairs are already the right height so why not try to use them. Just need to always have the driver side of van up and not leaning down or at least level.

[Colorider]

That's how the dinette layout works to give you a king size bed. Pull out the couch, lower the table, slide the dinette cushions over slightly to bridge the gap. Heads on the couch and feet on the dinette.

That being said, we don't sleep that way. We make the king size bed and sleep on it sideways, heads towards the back and feet towards the engine. It works for us as we find it less bumpy and the dinette side is firmer for me and the couch is softer for her.

[Astrodokk]

I like to sleep that way too (along the couch line), but my head is behind the driver seat and my feet at the galley end so they can hang off a little since I'm 6'1". I think also it's bc I prefer to be facing a potential point of forced entry from the back door so I'm ready!
But I've read that since the Chinook is wider in that configuration than it is long at the couch, that is the way it's recommended to sleep, side to side vs front to back.

[bolerama]

Our sofa does the exact same thing. Even after taking the sofa apart, we can't find any place where adjustments can be made. We propped a piece of 4x4 fence post under the sofa-bed to fix the slant to the aisle, but that was just a temporary solution. This week, we removed the dinette and carpet. We will build a 32" wide bed where the dinette was, and if we can't solve the leaning sofa, that space will also become a 32" bed.