King size bed

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Sailorkane

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Sep 30, 2015
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My wife and I have slept in a king size bed for 40 years and have trouble adapting to the queen in the motorhome.  Anyone else done the carpentry to replace a queen with a king mattress in a motorhome--specifically 2000-2004 Journey or Horizon?  Ideally without buying a custom-sized mattress.  So, need 76" widex80"long.  The queen is 60" wide by 80" (or 75") long. Thinking the aft slideout might provide enough room?  It looks pretty tight from the drawings.  Maybe a California King at 72" wide, but 84" long, so 9" longer than the 75" long queen currently in those models and probably hit the built in desk at the foot of the bed when retracted.
 
If your mattress is decent, and truly a short queen (60 x 75), I would consider a trade.

I have an RV (short) king (72 x 75) on a side slide and would like some extra room on the sides of the bed. Since I travel solo, I don't need a king.

Converting from a short king to a short queen simply means cutting down the plywood base about six inches on each side. Not a big deal.

Converting from a short queen to a short king probably means replacing the existing plywood base with one that is wider, again not a big deal. My base may even work for your RV and yours for mine.

I'm in the Midwest, but mobile.

 
I haven't done it, but have looked at the possibility of doing so for some friends. Making a larger platform for a king is straight-forward, but, as is often the case, the devil is in the details. Just saying 2000-2004 Horizon isn't sufficient to identify those details either, since differing floor plans will present different challenges. For example, 3 of the 4  Horizon floor plans for 2002 had a "north-south" bed (oriented lengthwise rather than across the width of the coach). Those are difficult to install a king because there simply isn't adequate space for a 72" or 76" wide bed and still have room to get around it. The 4th layout for 2002 has the head of the bed in the slideout and low night stands on either side.  Cutting out the night stands and widening the platform is not a big challenge, but the wall on one side will be very close, also making it difficult for anybody but a slim person to get into the bed from that side.

Some other types of floor plans that can be problematic include those with ceiling height wardrobe closets next to the bed and those with cabinets or shelving across from the foot of the bed (length is also a concern).

I'm not trying to dissuade you from this kind of upgrade, but wanted to warn you to measure very carefully and remember that you need space to get in/out of the bed and to change linens. And that you also lose some cabinet space.
 
The 2004 Horizon and its twin, the Vectra, are new designs for the 2004 model year. My 2005 Horizon 40AD has a standard length queen (many are shorter) and there is precious little room to make a wider platform without removing the 'night stands.' Take a look at our aft cabin, we replaced the Sleep Number bed with a Tempurpedic.  We have one in the house and liked it so much we got one for the Horizon.
 
Thanks guys.  As a newbee to motorhomes, I'm learning a lot from you all.  The designs we were considering were the 39' models that mounted aft bed transverse, with head in the side slideout, like John's.  Removing the two side nightstands, at approx 6" each, would seem to allow enough room for a 76" or 72" wide King.  The 76 is standard King, 72 is "RV King" or "short King". Maybe need to remove the desk at the foot of the bed to fit a full 80" length.  There is apparently also a "Euro King" at 70wx78"L that is not common, but is available.
 
Maybe one of these https://www.mattressinsider.com/olympic-queen-mattress.html.  The Olympic Queen.  66 x 80.  More width without making it too difficult to get around the bed. 
 
One other thing to keep in mind for those beds mounted side to side and with a longer, thicker mattress when in a slide. When pulling that slide in, the mattress has to go somewhere, like under a cabinet. In our trailer, I have two pieces of memory foam (one is only stored there as it is for the hide-a-bed normally) but only one will slide under the opposing cabinet when pulling in the slide and thus we are obliged to pull out the foam and leave it rolled up on top of the bed when closing up.
 
Removing the two side nightstands, at approx 6" each, would seem to allow enough room for a 76" or 72" wide King.
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It does allow enough for the mattress. My caution to you is that it may not allow enough for convenient access afterwards. Of course, what constitutes "access" is different now that I'm 72, vs what it was when I was 35.  Your view point will also be shaded by frequency of use. Something that is a little inconvenient is not a big deal over a weekend, but those little things tend to assume larger proportions after a few weeks or months of constant aggravation. Plus we all have different tolerances for such things.

As with many things, your mileage may vary...
 
If you have a spouse, better check with them before planning bedroom remodeling.  Making our bed is enough of a challenge as it was designed.  We used to have a king bed in the stick house and had to transition to the queen bed in the coach,  it was a little inconvenient sleeping for two or three nights but then it was no big deal.
 
We measured more carefully and have 80" max between walls of the slideout.  That is with removing both side nightstands.  We have 82" max length, slide retracted, before it hits the builtin desk.  Crummy access when retracted, but should be adequate when slide is extended. 
 
What about the distance to the walls on either side (not the slideout edges)?  That's where you have to walk, not within the slideout itself. You probably want at east 12" on either side; 18+" would be much more convenient.
 
Found this old thread and decided to try to revive it.  A lot of good comments here about converting a queen to a king.  Am finding most MH have queens in the back.  However, looking at the brochures of the different models, many show a king option.

My question is, do they change the dimensions of the slide or the bedroom itself to allow for walk around room when a king is optioned?  That doesn't sound plausible but maybe that's how they get around the lack of space to walk around/make the bed.  Would really like a king bed but finding them few and far between in the 10+ year old units that I have found along with our other requirements.
 
We considered replacing the queen bed in our 15 year old motorhome with a king.  It was possible because the slide was large enough.  That was one of our requirements when looking for a motorhome.  Some slides are not wide enough.  The king would have been very tight and the two shelves on either side of the bed would have to be removed.  We compromised by having a bed made.  It's 68 inches wide by 80 inches long.  It's a 100% latex bed made by a local company (Los Angeles, CA).  As I recall when researching wider beds, some companies make a bed that is 66 x 80.  It's a good compromise. 
 
Usually the king option simply reduces the amount of cabinetry adjacent to the bed. The king is wider but not longer.
Click to expand...

So, theoretically, if the company allowed for a king bed in the coach in their design, there should be ample room to walk around it if the cabinets were removed and the queen was replaced with a king?
 
Our Journey was built with a king sized bed. We are fairly thin and have to go sideways between the bed and wall.
 
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