Newbie caravaners here. We are just taking ownership of a 1993vabi award Nightstar - 5 berth.
I know the fifth bed is a bunk and we'd like to use it for our daughter so that we can leave the rear double and bunk set up as beds
Does anyone know if the bunks have a weight limit? Will they hold an adult or are they primarily designed for kids?
Thanks in advance
I'm not that familiar with the caravan, but I think it would depend on what sort of bunk it is. If it's one of those with two poles with canvas stretched between, it would probably be only suitable for a small child, but if it is a more substantial wooden structure it would probably take more weight. I think it would largely be down to how it is supported. The ones with poles usually slot into plastic "U" shaped cups fixed to the wall, and I doubt whether they would take much weight at all.
How old is your daughter? If she's under 6 you may have no problem either way, but if she's 10+ you might, unless the bunk has fairly substantial support. I built bunks in my last caravan, a 1988 Elddis Tornado, and they would take our weight as two 60 somethings. They were solid wooden constructions though.
One of the things I like about these older vans is that you don't have to worry about depreciation if you modify them to suit yourselves, so maybe a bit of DIY construction work might make the bunk suitable for an adult.
Thanks for the reply :-)
It looks like a solid bunk and our daughter is 12 . I think hubby may have to add extra supports if we want to keep it up permanently.
It shouldn't be too difficult to do, as long as you make the supports strong enough. You don't want it coming down on top of you. The walls themselves don't have a lot of strength being made of very thin panels, so don't rely on anything simply attached to the walls. If the bunk itself is made of timber, I would take some vertical timber supports down to the lower bed, or even the floor if possible. It's a bit difficult to advise without seeing the caravan. Best of luck with the project anyway.
Not sure this is of any help, but on my modern (2016) Lunar, the foldaway bunks have square steel tube frame with chip board base on upper, the upper bunk weight limit is 57kgs (9 stones), the lower 75kg (12 stones) on a mix of slats (on seat bases) and the dinette table top (filling the gap between seats), these are slightly undersize beds, so not really adult size. The steel frame is mounted to the (outer) wall one side and rests on seat bases the other.
If any of your bunk relies on plastic clips/brackets as weight bearing or securing fixtures they MUST be regarded as unsafe, after nearly 30 years the plastic will almost certainly have lost it's properties and will be brittle and weak.
We had a 1989 Abi Ace Pioneer XL which had a single bunk. It ran lengthwise along the side wall and hinged up allowing substantial steel legs to drop down and rest on the seat box below. I think it had a sprung base. This was very substantial and probably would have supported an adult.
This van was 3 years older than yours and I think it was a completely different design. Yours was a much more modern looking range.
Our old Lunar had a transverse bunk across the back over a single dinette, it was stored under the bottom of the back lockers and held in place with turn buttons when not in use. It then lifted down and folded out lengthways to form a full width shelf the same size as the bottom bunk, it was supported by sturdy fixed polished solid timber battons attached to the wall and no doubt internally supported behind the decorative wall board during construction. The weight limit for this upper bunk was 11stone, it was long enough to take two small children in a Top and Tail configuration, as well as either an adult or another child on the Dinette base which formed a decent sized single the full transverse width of the caravan.
Julia
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Topic: Bunk weight limit
via mobile 30/1/2020 at 2:23pm
