A retractable gaucho bed frees up a lot of living space.
A travel trailer gaucho bed is a sleeping platform with a very large drawer that pulls outward from beneath a sofa seat. The drawer is prevented from over-extending by stops and folding legs are extended to support the front of the drawer, then the sofa seat cushion is moved into the drawer and the sofa back rest is lowered to occupy the space vacated by the seat cushion. With considerable planning, both seating and sleeping configurations can be sized to fit any travel trailer.
Instructions
1. Familiarize yourself with the different methods used to extend and retract a travel trailer gaucho bed by visiting recreational vehicle dealerships and trade shows. Try out a number of size options to determine what the dimensions of your gaucho bed must be.
2. Use graph paper and a pen to plan out the stationary frame and extending drawer of the gaucho. Decide between two-by-two-inch lumber and metal tubing joined by pipe fittings or welds. Decide whether to make the bases of the drawer section and the sofa seat from plywood panels, from tow straps woven into a taut lattice or from a grid of wooden battens. Then decide whether to fabricate the drawer tracks from simple wooden slides or from purpose-built steel runners.
3. Determine whether to have bespoke cushions cut to size from large sheets of high-density foam from a fabric store, or whether to use cushions from a cannibalized household sofa bed from a goodwill store.
4. Make the travel trailer gaucho bed by following your plans and consulting the experts at home improvement warehouses to learn the best fittings to use for latching the drawer section so it does not over-extend. Fix timber joins together using countersunk screws reinforced with proprietary wood glue. Attach the cushions to their supports using glue or hook-and-eye tape.
Tags: travel trailer, sofa seat, travel trailer gaucho, drawer section, seat cushion, trailer gaucho