Cyclone bedroom slide out mod to create more storage space

Mike4703

Member
I used to have a motorhome with underbed storage. When I got my Cyclone I was dissappointed that the bed was a plywood box with a mattress on it and no way to put anything inside or underneith. I am a fulltimer and always need more space.(Warning! I am a long time RVer with lots of experience in building things and have lots of tools including a Tig welder and Milling machine, and have built things for boats and aircraft also. I don't recommend anyone doing what follows unless you are very confident in your building skills and have a basic understanding of stuctures.) So I removed the mattress because I wanted a better one anyway. I looked at the box, and decided to take it apart. Several hours later I had all the panels removed. I took care not to ruin them in case I wanted to put them back. The reason for no space or drawers under bed became clear. The bedroom slide out is not supported from underneith but by a large steel contraption with a box shaped telescoping slide and the hydraulic cylinder that fills the space under the bed. A quick check of the loads on this showed that it supported no loads when the slide is fully out. I then removed this contraption, sprayed with anticorrosion, wrapped it in plastic and put it underneith the trailer. I now had an empty bedroom. I welded up a bracket to secure the slide out to the floor. I went and bought fold up bed and new mattress. I secured it to the slide out and build more brackets to support the end of frame above the floor. This is very difficult working in the limited space but in the end I have a bed that can fold into a couch, and lots of storage space undernieth. I am not going anywhere for a long time, but getting the slide back in would mean reinstalling the original mechanism or building a new more compact one. If Heartland had done this differently these benefits would be available without all this work--it would also save a lot of weight too. There a lot of slide out designs that support from the bottom or the sides. What do you say Heartland?
 

2010augusta

Well-known member
We need pictures :)

Having modified the under-bed storage several time on our Landmark, I can tell you why the hydraulic unit is not mounted under the slide. It is simple the is no room. most of the "contraption" is mounted over the overhang part of the fifth or close to it, and mounting it under the slide would require more holes in the frame, a higher floor in the bedroom/less head room, or less trailer to truck clearance.

There are many Heartland unit that use electric bedroom slides with cables on the sides, and that creates a lot of room under the bed.

What a few of us have done is box in deep storage areas on one or both sides of the steel contraption.
 
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