Murphy Bed Stuck in Up Position

[rprochnow]

We pulled our 2021 24D out of storage today and were unable to get the murphy bed to come down. Pressing the button would give a brief "umph" from the motor - and then it would stop.

We placed calls with Lichtsinn and Winnebago, and they weren't able to help - other than recommending we bring the RV into service.

With over 1 month lead times in our area or 1000 miles to drive back to Lichtsinn, that wasn't very practical.

The bed is connected via two black straps at the bottom, which connect to the motor (mounted underneath the back of the bed). Winnebago suggested we loosen these straps and that should allow the bed to come down manually.

I loosened the two straps - and that didn't do anything.

The right side of the bed seemed to be stuck - while the left side appeared to have a little movement. But manually applying pressure while pressing the bed down button didn't do anything.

So then we pulled in the slide and tried to get the bed to come down partially - and that worked!

With the bed partially down, we let out the slide and then lowered the bed to the down position.

We then removed the mattress and did a visual inspection and saw that the right strap was very loose - it's possible most of the lifting was being done only by the left strap.

The right strap is connected to the bedframe with a black plate and 4 bolts. I loosened the nuts and we were then able to adjust the strap - making it tight.

And with the slide our, were able to get the bed to open and close without any problems.



Note that I overtightened one of the bolts after we adjusted the strap - and that bolt popped out of the bracket - so we only have 3 bolts holding the strap in place right now (unless I can figure out a way to get the old bolt back into the bracket).

We suspect that we closed the murphy bed too far the last time before we put it into storage - and then the bed sat there for two months, so it got stuck in that position.

If you encounter the same issue - try pulling the slideout in and then lowering the bed part-way to see if that loosens it up. And if you're concerned about this happening again - try adjusting the straps.

[barney]

It looks like you could put a couple of sheet metal screws through the bracket, through the strap, and into the plywood. This should certainly stop the strap from pulling out.

[rprochnow]

Ordered the replacement part through Lichtsinn.

But it won't be here for at least a month.

Until then, I was able to superglue the popped bolt back into the bracket and then secure the nut - while this isn't a long term solution - it should hold until we get the replacement part.

Another solution would be to secure the bracket with a few zip ties - to keep pressure on the strap.

The strap actually isn't bearing that much weight (just a portion of the bed weight - and that's on a pivot) - so I think we can hold on until Winnebago gets the part in stock again.

[bkg]

I could be wrong but that "bolt" looks like a common machine screw and nut. Can you remove a good bolt assembly and go to the local home center to search for an exact replacement? Unless you ordered the entire bracket assembly, I can't see why this is not a simple fix with new bolt hardware.

Bobby

[rprochnow]

I tried screwing the old bolt (either end) into the bracket - and it wouldn't hold. Either the bracket is damaged or the bolt was being held by something other than being screwed in.

The replacement bracket should be delivered today - and it's supposed to have the bolts mounted.

My temporary fix held during a weekend trip - so we could use the bed - shouldn't be too difficult to replace the bracket.

[dave5131]

So in my eyes, the whole set up is a very poor design. I have a brand new 2022 24D that I took delivery of in October 2021. on my first trip, one of the belts shredded after only 5 uses! I was on the 5th day of a 3 week journey, so I had to open and close the murphy bed by hand. Not easy as it is pretty heavy. The bed also opened a couple times while i was driving. Thank goodness it did not cause any damage. My dealer ordered a new belt and will install after I take it out from winter storage.