Hatchlift RV Bed Lift Kit - Queen Size

These work perfect for supporting the Queen bed in our RV. I had an issue and the owner of the company called me and talked with me on the phone to get it fixed. That's customer service!

It wouldn't say it was easy to install, and the instructions were lacking, but after watching some installation videos on YouTube, I tackled the job. I installed this on a 30" compartment with a queen sized pillow top mattress and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. It worked with ease the first time without any adjustments. I was concerned that it might not work since the guide for this size kit only references standard queen and king, but I figured that if it would work on a king, with would work on an oversized (pillow top) queen. It opens easily and stays up which is all you can hope for. With that in mind, I will say that I tried twice to contact the company on their website for confirmation about compatibility and never got a response, so I was sort of shooting in the dark that this would work. I would definitely recommend this product.

The photos are a little dark, but you can see them better if you open them up. The queen bed in our travel trailer weighs approx 86 lbs. Our storage box is 30" long, 48" wide, and 21" tall. I purchased the Small kit. We bought the mattress without measuring the space in our camper, and really only have about 6 inches between the foot of the bed and the wall. Trying to lift the bed manually to access the storage box was almost impossible, and until now, we have never utilized the storage underneath the bed. This kit took about an hour to install going slowly and following directions exactly. No adjustments were needed to the shocks when I was finished. It worked perfectly on the 1st try. It opens and closes with little effort, and we can now utilize the much needed storage space. Things to Consider: - Asking someone to help. I completed this myself, but having a helper would have been much easier. - Read the instructions carefully. For example, when measuring for the lower bracket, the instructions state to measure from the INSIDE of the foot of the bed, not from the outside of the box. - Does your box need a piece of wood added to install the lower bracket? I had to install 17" 2x4's so the lower part of the bracket could be secured - The thickness of your storage box lid. Mine was 1/2". With the gold screws provided, and the wooded squares in the kit, the screws are almost too long, and if drilled deep into the wooden block, will come out of the lid (and possibly tear the mattress). If your lid is not 1/2" you will need to purchase shorter screws. - I installed a handle on the bottom of the lid that covers the storage box. Since our bed is so close to the wall, I want to ensure we are pulling up in the middle each time, and a handle was a quick / easy fix. - You will need a 3/8" wrench, pencil or sharpie, flathead screwdriver (to remove the shock from the bracket after testing), cordless drill with several size drill bits and a phillips-head bit, tape measure, square, wood glue, additional screws (if wood is needed to secure the lower brackets)

I received and installed this RV Bed Storage cover strut rod kit today in my 22-foot travel trailer with a full-size queen bed mattress. My storage space measures 24.5 inches wide so I bought the BLK-SML kit rated for 80 lbs per rod. The Amazon listing for this kit is pretty confusing to decipher which kit was correct for me to order based on the mattress size, weight and storage lit/space size. I ended up going to the Hatchlift Products website to determine which was the correct kit for my needs. The ordering process on the website takes you back to Amazon but at least the correct kit is selected for you when you are directed back to Amazon. Several reviewers of this kit complain about how the lower rod bracket will break their UNSUPPORTED storage compartment upper cross member. THE VERY FIRST STEP in the kit instructions specifically states that additional wood blocking may be necessary to be installed if the storage frame doesn't have the necessary wood to support the pressure put on that cross member. If you don't have more than a thin cross member in which to screw the bottom brackets to, you MUST cut and install an appropriate size and length piece of wood to the inside wall of your storage space side wall. Luckily I did not need to do this for my trailer. Make sure all of the installed top and bottom bracket screws were HAND TIGHT. DO NOT USE A POWER DRILL TO INSTALL THE BRACKET SCREWS. Most of wood and paneling is very thin and you are likely to strip out your screw holes using a power drill to screw in the screws. Do not overtighten ANY screws. See attached photos of the installed rods and brackets. The instructions provided are for the several different size kits Hatchlift offers so you definitely need to read the instructions thoroughly before beginning the installation process. The lower support placement location for my kit recommends placement 14" from the inside front face of a 24" storage space. The upper rod support is recommended to be placed 4 inches above the center line of the bed board, minus the overhang end of the deck. I screwed the bottom brackets in the recommended 14" backspace from the inside back face of the storage, but it quickly became clear that after measuring for the top bracket location that the top brackets were going to be too far towards the center of the storage space and would need to be closer to the rear face of the storage space. I ended up having to move the bottom brackets back towards the front of the trailer an additional 4 inches (~17.75 inches from the inside front face of the storage space). Be sure to use support wood beams on the bottom bracket locations if needed and add enough screws to the brackets to hold then in place when you test how the rods close. The top brackets need to be installed on the bottom of the bed storage board so that when compressed, they clear the inside front storage wall/support cross member. These rods are ~17.75 inches long and the strut rod is ~7.25 inches long. This means the compressed strut rod will be approximately 10.5 inches long. I basically measured from the center of the bottom support ball 10.5 inches back towards the inside storage wall. I then dropped the storage board to the closed position and marked that 10.5 inches on the bottom of the lid. I then verified my lid cross members would accommodate the support blocks allowing the blocks and rods to clear the inside of the side wall and the inside of the back wall. I ended up having to move my lid support beams inward 2.25 inches to accommodate the support blocks, allowing the blocks room to clear the side walls. I then screwed the top bracket to the center of the support plywood block per the instructions (4 wood screws each) and then attached the blocks to the underside of the storage space lid with the provided long wood screws. I put the polyester foam bed mattress back on the bed platform and tested the closure of the lid after making sure all of the installed top and bottom bracket screws were HAND TIGHT. The board required a little downward force but not enough to bend the plywood or put undue stress on the lower brackets. The bed board closed softly but has a slight bit of uplift pressure from the struts when fully closed. The board barely stays down with the mattress in place but it would easily open back up during travel. At this point I was satisfied that the strut rods were working as intended and not likely to break the lower supports and were clearing the side and rear inside faces of the storage space. I added three self-adhesive rubber bumpers to the rear top edge of the storage area to keep the lid from bumping harshly against the storage box. (see first photo) I decided to install a slide latch (RELIABILT ReliaBilt 2-1/2-in Nickel Sliding Door Latch) in the underside center of the foot board to keep the storage lid board down during travel. (see last photo)

Good design but important to consider the weight of mattress and any topper. I installed it in our 5th wheel trailer according to the instructions but the bed would not stay up. Instructions said to make adjustments in 1" increments. It just required one adjustment to shorten the stroke of the cylinder for the bed to stay up as desired.

The lift kit works great, I have it in my Jayco 174BH. It holds the bed up beautifully, and closes nicely and stays closed in transit. The only complaint I had as I initially installed it using the measurements on the card, but had to make adjustments for it to open big enough and close easily. Overall however it works really well once installed using some adjustments in the measurements

Our RV queen bed, replaced our worn out mattress with a house type one, short queen, and the cylinders it came with never did work now that I have installed these new ones. Should have done this years ago. Would have been easier on my back. Thanks so much. Easy to install and works great.

After reading the other reviews about the "poor instructions" provided I was worried about buying this but I took the leap. I just finished installing my bed lift on a house bed with a very heavy mattress. I'm wondering what the others were experiencing for problems. Mine went together without any issues in about 35 minutes and I even had to make some changes because of cross braces in the bed. This is a well designed kit made out of quality components and even included some spare parts. I would only suggest 2 small improvements: 1. Supply shorter through bolts for the bottom bracket. 2. Step #2 is confusing. The instructions shows the bottom bracket mounted below the top of bed rail but does not give a measurement. If its not important then saying that would help. If it is important, then give a measurement. If its important to put 1/2 the bracket on each of the mated pieces of lumber then indicate that. Overall a well designed bed lift kit that includes everything needed to do the job.

I'm handy with tools so this was fairly simple to install. I did have one issue; the kit came with 1 1/4" screws to attach the upper blocks. My RV bed compartment cover is 1/2" plywood so I added a 1/8" piece to each side (along with the provided 3/4" blocks) to ensure the screw points didn't go through the cover and into the mattress. When I went to close it to check the setup (before gluing), the blocks pulled away. I ended forgoing the check; drilled the through bolt holes and checked again once I installed those. It worked perfectly. I pulled the blocks off, glued everything and reinstalled the bolts and screws. This setup has already saved my back several times over. Don't waste your time on other kits, this works!