Design suggestion

BobHinSC

Member
5/16/2016
Hello North Trail designers,
I have a suggestion that could be very helpful. My suggestion deals specifically with the design of the table and it's use as a bed. Currently the posts that support the table are long and are only used for the table. If you use that space as a bed, the weight of the person sleeping there is supported by the table sitting on a small ledge around the seating area. Not much support if that person is an adult. My suggestion is make a shorter version of the table supports so that when the table is used as a bed, these supports could be placed in the same support holes. This additional support under the table would make a much safer and stable bed for an adult using the table as a bed.
Thank you so much,
Bob Hill
2015 Heartland North Trail owner
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
Unless someone is very large, the existing setup should be fine.

Our previous Heartland Trail Runner had the same setup (except that the table had fold-out legs instead of the two pillars) and would hold two 150+ pound adults easily.

Now, I suppose that if someone at 200+ pounds sat on the middle edge of the table to take their shoes off could be an issue . . . I don't know.

In our new Prowler, the dinette is so small that I doubt we'll ever use it for a bed as it will only fit young kids or a very short adult.

Perhaps as a DIY project you could make some T braces to put under there to solve this issue.

I've read here in the forums that previous North Trail's had some kind of a leg brace that flipped down on a separate piece of wood that was used for the bed instead of the table . . . but I guess they stopped doing this for some reason.

I'm guessing it didn't work that well.
 

Wackie35

Member
5/16/2016
Hello North Trail designers,
I have a suggestion that could be very helpful. My suggestion deals specifically with the design of the table and it's use as a bed. Currently the posts that support the table are long and are only used for the table. If you use that space as a bed, the weight of the person sleeping there is supported by the table sitting on a small ledge around the seating area. Not much support if that person is an adult. My suggestion is make a shorter version of the table supports so that when the table is used as a bed, these supports could be placed in the same support holes. This additional support under the table would make a much safer and stable bed for an adult using the table as a bed.
Thank you so much,
Bob Hill
2015 Heartland North Trail owner

Bob,

Our Norththrail came with an insert to make the table into a bed. this insert is stored under the master bed. It is a board that fits perfectly in the table area of the seat and has two folding legs on it for support. Ours is a2016 unit. Hopefully you will find one in your 2015
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
As with anything now-a-daze . . . it seems that most designers of products meant to be sold to the masses are designed by people that don't have a clue about their target market.
 
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