Topaz Bed

H, I have just purchased a 2007 t5 Topaz but i find the bed is really uncomfortable and the infill cushions just don't seem to fit properly. They have a hard piece of plywood in both cushions which sticks into  your shoulder if you sleep head seat end but sleeping the other way around requires a backward roll to get out of bed and feels like we are rolling together all night. We are both under 5ft 6in tall but find the bed still quite short. Before i go back to Autosleeper to ask advise on how to make it more comfortable, is anyone else having problems and/or do you have any bright ideas on how to improve it? i have tried rolling up a blanket across the offending bit, using a quilted mattress topper but standard sizes are difficult to fit. I am now thinking of trying to make some more comfortable infill cushions myself or try a memory foam topper but this is i think a bit bulky to carry.
Thanks for your help guys.

I sympathise I made my own version of Duvalays
  for my Topaz, to fit the size of the beds, 2 singles, double takes up too much room, jmho, they have a memory foam base with an attached duvet, but must admit the seats/ beds are not comfy , this does make them better though.

thanks for your reply. I thought about duvaly but storage space is so limited in the topaz and they are quite expensive if they turned out not to work. Do you know which thickness of duvaly you purchased?

OH SORRY, JUST RE READ YOUR POST. YOU MADE YOUR OWN VERSION NOT PURCHASED THE DUVALAY. SILLY ME.

Can send you the instructions if you would like  them. ? quite easy to make , in my case it was sorting out the measurements etc, once that was done it was straight forward.

THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

We find 2 singles the more comfortable option, the bed near the sliding door being the worst. I carry a double garden seat pad as an underlay which helps. 
As a Topaz owner for 6 years I am a fan but would have to agree the bed comfort could be much better.
The single beds set up gives easier access to toilet and kitchen without disturbing your companion.

Thanks Ken, the garden seat pad is a good idea. A double is a must for us, if you know what i mean, so its very important that we find a way of making it comfy and getting a good nights sleep too. I cant believe that AS have put such little thought into making this bed comfy, it really lets the van down. the design could be much improved with a little thought.

Hi Jill K

I am in my new week old Topaz on the Littlehampton C.C. site. Thinking the same as you discribed about the beds. I have taking the wood out of the infill still the driver seat catches the back of the legs. Thinking of rising the main matress a bit higher. I have not tryed the near side bed yet which is longer at 5' 10". So will see what go's down or up.  

hi Stewart
Thanks for your reply. We've just come back from a two week tour of the west country and i'm so looking forward to my own bed. after 2 weeks of constant use the seats are starting to compress in certain points too. 
i tried it with the boards taken out of the infills too which was a bit better but there is still that overhang bit with no padding in which really needs it. I thought i might get another piece of foam cut to put in their place. 
I think i may well contact AS though and give them some feedback. I've noticed quite a few design faults that could have been better with a bit of thought.(like the electric switch for the water heater in the bed box so you cant turn it on from your bed in the morning.) (I though they were supposed to be the best.)
its good to talk to other owners, keep in touch!
jill

We have found the bed to be quite comfortable - having said that, we have not tried any other models so can't say how the Topaz compares with others.
I don't know if our infill cushions have been modified, I don't think they have but there is only one plywood piece and it is at the bottom of the cushions, presumably to give them rigidity as they need to be strong enough to lean on without going straight through the gap they're filling! I'm sure if I fitted them with the plywood facing upwards, they would be uncomfortable.
Likewise, sleeping with our heads at the windscreen end would be very uncomfortable as that end is far from being flat as it's made up of so many sections.
I agree that it is an acquired technique to get in and out of bed but it's just a matter of kneeling on the bed pointing to the back before getting out.
I have to say that the comfort was greatly improved for us by a 1 inch thick king size memory foam topper which cost about £25 and rolls up to a short cylinder shape which easily fits between the front seats during the day.
Hope you manage to work it out - we found the effort worthwhile.
John

The memory foam idea sounds good. In our old T4 campervan, we just used a thin duvet to mask the gaps in the rock 'n' roll bed; worked for us.

We don't have an issue with the beds, other than I wish they were a couple of inches longer.  Our infill cushions have the wood but as long as you have that side underneath then they are fine.  We sleep feet to seats and have perfected the 'swivel' for getting up in the night. And we are both in our sixties with ageing joints.  It's a matter of adjustments and accepting the limitations of a small, easily driven camper.

thanks for your reply Anne. I keep thinking I'm doing something wrong but we too have the wood side down and although sleeping feet to seat is better there is still that bit without padding that isn't good. plus the reading lights are the seat end!
that being said, my previous vehicle was a T4 Camper with a Reimo R & R bed, side kitchen & portapotti so the Topaz is so much more luxurious and easy to live in, whatever the weather.

Interesting that this seems to be a common theme with several owners.  I have a Duvalay duvet thing with a mattress topper in half of it and it does improve things a little bit.

I've just come back from an 18 day tour across Europe and didn't take it to save space, consequently waking up (or not even sleeping properly) with painful backache.  There are a couple of different issues for me and I'm tackling them in two different ways, which I realise may well suit nobody except me.

Firstly, the beds are too short.  I'm only 5'8" and am not prepared to sleep with my feet pressing against something.  This is something which annoys me so much, it may well have put me off buying the van if I'd known, it just never occurred to me that a van would be designed with such a poor arrangement.  The way I'm getting round this is to make my own infill cushioned "table" with foldable legs, that will fill the space between the fridge and hob, that will form the foot end.  I will store this behind the upright of the single travel seat (there is room, I've checked) and then not carry the other infills, or use the front seats as part of the bed.  Yes it does mean it'll be a bit more awkward getting to the loo in the night, but I'm young enough that this isn't yet a problem, though I'm sure it's something to look forward to in the future .  It also means that two pairs of feet have to fit in that space, but our trials show there is enough room for this not to be a problem. 

The second issue is that the foam is far too hard, so I am going to replace it all with a softer grade.  Bit more work, and there is a compromise to be found between firm enough for seating and soft enough for sleep but it will mean I can actually sleep without discomfort.  For a long time I used to believe the myth that a firm bed is better for your back, but busted that many years ago when staying at a friends and waking up without backache for the first time since my 20s (when I cricked it really badly and took a long time to recover).  I immediately went out and bought the softest mattress I could find and have never had a twinge since - until spending 3 wks in the van!

Like I say, these answers may not work for others, but I'm just putting it out there

On the issue of the water heater switch, I leave it permanently switched on if I'm on hookup (obviously it doesn't work if you're not) and never need to get to the switch.  If not on hookup, the gas heater switch is easy to get to.

When I had my Topaz, had to turn round the cab seats and use the seat as part of the bed. I thought they were all like that. I like my comfort so changed vans, a pity as it is a lovely van for days out and the loo/shower room is one of the best in a small conversion.

We don't have a Topaz, but we did invest in Duvalays and are extermely pleased with them. 

At first, we ordered the 4" memory foam bases with the high tog duvay infills.  However, when they arrived, they were so enormous that we couldn't store them.  Thankfully, the manufacturers were very understanding and changed them for the 2" foam and the lower tog, and refunded the difference.

 We have just returned from a 12 day holiday...and could have gone on for ever, such was our comfort.

The duvalays are extremely efficient, and in my opinion, well worth the cost if it fits your budget.

As I'm 6 ft tall and find the Topaz bed comfortable, I thought I'd better just check to see why some folks find the bed too short. I've just swivelled the seats and measured the bed to confirm that the bed is actually long enough for me. The drivers side is a little shorter than the passenger side because the steering wheel stops the seat sliding back further, nevertheless it is still 5' 11" long. Sleeping on the passenger side gives more bed length at 6' 2"!  
Regarding the reading lights, the two at the front are used when sitting in the reversed front seats while the two at the back are used for reading in bed.
As I said before, our comfort is greatly increased by the 1" memory foam topper but we also use a king size duvet which helps.

John

ssjohnl wrote:As I'm 6 ft tall and find the Topaz bed comfortable, I thought I'd better just check to see why some folks find the bed too short. I've just swivelled the seats and measured the bed to confirm that the bed is actually long enough for me. The drivers side is a little shorter than the passenger side because the steering wheel stops the seat sliding back further, nevertheless it is still 5' 11" long. Sleeping on the passenger side gives more bed length at 6' 2"!  
Regarding the reading lights, the two at the front are used when sitting in the reversed front seats while the two at the back are used for reading in bed.
As I said before, our comfort is greatly increased by the 1" memory foam topper but we also use a king size duvet which helps.

John

Don't think I could sleep if my head was that near the end, my shoulders would be on the pillow   I've already changed the front seats as I didn't find them good enough for long journeys, which fortuitously gave me an extra inch of legroom when rotated, but it still wasn't enough.  You're lucky, being able to sleep comfortably.  I can't, so it's either change van or adapt it, and the latter is much cheaper!

Thanks Hiro.  
John i think that the beds in the t5 Topaz are shorter than the T4 as my partner and i are both under 5ft 6 and our feet touch the ends.
Margaret, i tried to email you but your server rejected the emails. 
Thank you all for being so helpful.
jill

Hi Jill. I don`t know why that should be , I will check.
Regards
Margaret

We use a 5cm Asda double mattress topper and it has made for a very comfortable bed. It rolls up tight enough to fit in the overhead locker with the duvet and pillows. We don't use the infills and don't notice the gaps.

We sleep with our feet at the driver/passenger seat end, it is a little fiddly going to the loo in the night. 

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As hiro comments The front seat were getting past their best and not so comfortable.
Two of the arm rests flopped and the seats had lost tone.
The solution was to combine a repair with an upgrade.
We had the front seats re upholstered using genuine VW seat pads and new arm rest hinges The seats we had edged with blue leather to match the  existing upholstery reuseing some of the original fabric for the centre of seat and back. We also included map pockets on the all leather rear of the seats.
The result looks great and is so much more comfortable.

I've got a Transit Flair. We use an Ikea mattress topper that fits inside a quilt cover and makes a really comfortable bed. Rolls up then secured by straps to stop it unrolling and stored on the top "bunk". Still room for pillows up there.

I'm 6'0" and was comfortable on the 6'2" nearside bed, 'erself complained about the shape of her "half" so we got a memory foam topper, with zip on cover. No more complaints! It fitted into that waterproof cupboard over the wardrobe, along with two pillows.

I don't think that folks who don't own a Topaz can really understand the shortage of storage space- one has to be very clever to pack everything in but it can be done.

One of the prime reasons for trading our Topaz for a Stanton was the palaver of making the beds, which after about three weeks on the road gets a bit tiresome. Hopefully we'll still be able to get to most of those out of the way places but have much more room inside. In fact, I'm thinking about getting a cat, as we will now have room to swing it!