Thought I'd share my experience of the FW setup (bed and slider) after first proper use.
I fitted the bed and Slideaway last month before a trip over to France. Fitting was easy (just remember the Slideaway horizonal bars can go two ways, and one isn't right!). The bed is big and very comfy. The tray seems really solid and runners/locking mechanism is smooth. I put my fridge in the front left (looking at the tailgate end) of the tray and shoved various boxes around it. This wasn't satisfactory as the boxes didn't tesselate well, leaving unused space. Also the tray has a low lip which means anything stacked can fall over the side - not a fault of the tray but a limitation to using all the available volume (a lot).
So, first job was to build a wooden box for the front right of the tray, to mirror the fridge and use up the space. I got a local timber merchant to saw up some pieces of ply (£20) which I glued and screwed together to make a box, with lid and internal separator. The frontmost section carries pots, pans, plates, mugs etc, the back section takes food. The lid is split to allow access to either section independently. The box is large enough to sit a two ring gas burner on top which is the perfect height to prep food/cook on, and under the tailgate to stay out of the rain. The only issue is the obvious problem of forgetting to get something out of the pots and pans section once dinner is bubbling away but you can shift the burner only the back box section easily enough. I made the box 410mm hight, which is the same as the fridge. The Slideaway clearance is 415mm (to the underside of the Forty Winks bed above). I do get a tiny bit of rubbing on the back of of my box lid on the bed underside, I think because fitting the Slideaway causes a very small change in the bed sections angles (the front and back feet are elevated by the Slideaway crossbeams, the wheel arch fitting is not). But my bad for pushing tolerances - if I did it again I'd make the box 400mm tall and play safe.
This box has worked really well and maximised usable space. So much so that I'm going to make something similar for the remainder (back) of the Slideaway. No lid this time as it will be a general 'chuck stuff in' container, so maybe no internal sections. It won't need a bottom either, just sides, so I'm thinking something modular where the back and two sides are hinged together, with a slot-in front so it can be removed if needed. Just need to leave a decent air gap around the fridge so it doesn't overheat.
I'm really pleased with both the FW bed and Slideaway. They weren't cheap but they look very much like a 'get what you pay for' thing and should last ages.
Also thinking about some kind of horizontal wooden board to sit over the wheel arches to give a small tray down each side of the bed. There's a slightly annoying gap currently which could be changed into a useful tray for water bottle/keys etc. What have others' done?
Thanks all for useful info in choosing the FW kit.
I fitted the bed and Slideaway last month before a trip over to France. Fitting was easy (just remember the Slideaway horizonal bars can go two ways, and one isn't right!). The bed is big and very comfy. The tray seems really solid and runners/locking mechanism is smooth. I put my fridge in the front left (looking at the tailgate end) of the tray and shoved various boxes around it. This wasn't satisfactory as the boxes didn't tesselate well, leaving unused space. Also the tray has a low lip which means anything stacked can fall over the side - not a fault of the tray but a limitation to using all the available volume (a lot).
So, first job was to build a wooden box for the front right of the tray, to mirror the fridge and use up the space. I got a local timber merchant to saw up some pieces of ply (£20) which I glued and screwed together to make a box, with lid and internal separator. The frontmost section carries pots, pans, plates, mugs etc, the back section takes food. The lid is split to allow access to either section independently. The box is large enough to sit a two ring gas burner on top which is the perfect height to prep food/cook on, and under the tailgate to stay out of the rain. The only issue is the obvious problem of forgetting to get something out of the pots and pans section once dinner is bubbling away but you can shift the burner only the back box section easily enough. I made the box 410mm hight, which is the same as the fridge. The Slideaway clearance is 415mm (to the underside of the Forty Winks bed above). I do get a tiny bit of rubbing on the back of of my box lid on the bed underside, I think because fitting the Slideaway causes a very small change in the bed sections angles (the front and back feet are elevated by the Slideaway crossbeams, the wheel arch fitting is not). But my bad for pushing tolerances - if I did it again I'd make the box 400mm tall and play safe.
This box has worked really well and maximised usable space. So much so that I'm going to make something similar for the remainder (back) of the Slideaway. No lid this time as it will be a general 'chuck stuff in' container, so maybe no internal sections. It won't need a bottom either, just sides, so I'm thinking something modular where the back and two sides are hinged together, with a slot-in front so it can be removed if needed. Just need to leave a decent air gap around the fridge so it doesn't overheat.
I'm really pleased with both the FW bed and Slideaway. They weren't cheap but they look very much like a 'get what you pay for' thing and should last ages.
Also thinking about some kind of horizontal wooden board to sit over the wheel arches to give a small tray down each side of the bed. There's a slightly annoying gap currently which could be changed into a useful tray for water bottle/keys etc. What have others' done?
Thanks all for useful info in choosing the FW kit.
