For us, storage in our slide in truck camper is always an issue. There just isn’t enough storage available. We are working to improve the storage which generally requires modifying the camper.
Lance has an option available for a Fold Down Bunk and Child Restraint system that goes over the dinette which is available for some floor plans but not ours. The following, from the current online Lance Camper Manual, shows a Fold Down Bunk and Child Restraint installed in a camper slide out.
What may not be obvious is that previous model years of our Lance 850 camper did have this option available. Linda called Lance’s parts department, described what she wanted and Lance sent an installation kit. In our floor plan, the front of cabinet 11 (marked on the drawing below) folds down creating a relatively flat area the size of a short single bed.
Lance did tell Linda that installation instructions would be included with the kit but they weren’t. I used Priority Lance Technical Support (YOU HAVE TO BE AN LOA MEMBER TO USE THIS) on Lance Owners of America Forums to ask for installation instructions. Within hours, Lance responded with links to installation instructions for previous years of 850 campers. This was enough to get me started.
With the cabinet front down, we can still sit comfortably in the dinette. The overhead ceiling LED lights are blocked by the cabinet when folded down making eating breakfast or dinner challenging on winter days. In addition to doing the installation, I would also need to add lighting.
I just completed the installation of Lance’s Child Restraint System. There were some surprises during installation. I had to purchase a special screwdriver to handle the square slot in the screws.
Screws were too long for the bulkhead between the dinette and the refrigerator.
I had to cut off the protruding bits of screws using a Dremel (which I bought just for this job)
The back wall did not provide adequate anchoring. That is, the screws went right through the outer skin of the wall and into (I assume) insulation.
I replaced the supplied screws with wall anchors like are used on drywall installations.
While shopping at Sams or Costco, I forget which, we found these handy stick on cabinet lights for around $20. Installation was easy. You just peel and stick metal squares to the bottom of the cabinet. Magnets in the lights stick to the metal squares. To change batteries or stow for travel, you just pull lights of the cabinet. I think the remote control might be a little over the top.
You can see the under cabinet installation on the last two photos.
This isn’t exactly a before and after from an installation standpoint but you get the picture.
Before
Note the under cabinet light and ceiling lights.
After
Note the under cabinet lights and why we needed them. The ceiling lights are blocked by the folded down bunk.
Awesome! I am looking to purchase a bunk system. Where did you order from? Approximate cost?
Thanks
We bought it directly from Lance. I called Lance parts (don’t recall the number but I think it is on their website) and asked them for the kit. They asked what year/model/serial number camper I had. I told them. They used that info to look up the correct part. It didn’t come with installation instructions that made sense. I looked for pictures in Lance camper manuals for previous years and found some. Lance keeps some of these old manuals on their website. As I recall, the cost was somewhere around $350. If you have a new Lance camper (> 2017), you may not be able to order one of these as they don’t support this option on the newer 850’s.