The NON-Power Sofa/Bed Roadtrek

When we were shopping for a Roadtrek, the only models that were available to see on dealer's lots and at RV shows were one's with the rear power sofa/bed. We knew that older Roadtreks had a non-powered bed and that, actually, the powered sofa/bed that was so popular now was actually an option. By ordering a Roadtrek 190 or 210 without that option, there would be the older design, non-power sofa/bed in the rear. What we wanted to do was see one. We looked at photos that Roadtrek owners posted on various forums and we did get a glimpse of some older Roadtreks with this design - but none of the photos that we saw were detailed and we were not sure if what we would get by ordering our Roadtrek this way would be the same as in the photos.We ordered the Roadtrek without the power sofa/bed sight unseen, and hoped that it would be as described. It was and we have been very happy with it. Much happier than if we had decided to order the Roadtrek with the rear power sofa/bed.

I have had a number of readers ask me about what the back of my Roadtrek looks like without the power sofa/bed in the rear. I have also been asked if it adds or takes away storage.  In this article you will see exactly what the back of my Roadtrek looks like without the power sofa/bed.

This is my Roadtrek looking from the front to the back. I am standing just about in front of the kitchen sink, taking the picture back to the rear cargo door windows. What you see here is the middle of the bed platform in the very back (the Roadtrek comes with a cushion that fills in this space and two seat belts in this location at the back). Above the platform and below the windows is a short, wood headboard/backrest. At the floor you see five cabinets - two on each side and one in the middle. As you see this right now, this is set to be the twin beds - or two sofas - one on each side for sitting. The aisle in the middle is about 29 inches wide. With the rear cushion put back in the middle of the back, there would be more seating.  We removed the middle cushion and it now is stored in our basement. When making this into the king bed, that cushion is not used and has to be placed somewhere inside the Roadtrek. It was a pain to have this always in the way - so we no longer take it with us.

Here is a close up of that section in the back between the bed cushions. On the left over the cushion, you are seeing, through a cutout in the backboard, the rear cargo door release so that you may open the rear cargo door from the inside in the event of an emergency and you had to get out.  When the cargo doors are closed - as they usually are - you are just a couple of inches from the backboard to the door.  In the very middle on the platform right below the back board are two bolts that are where the seat belts once were. I removed the belts as we will never have anyone sitting back here.

 

The back set up as a sofa. You are looking at the passenger side of the Roadtrek.

Without the power sofa/bed there are storage cabinets on the floor that you would not have with the power sofa/bed. 

This is an access door directly to the under bed storage area that is most accessed through the rear cargo doors. This is not added storage but added access to storage that you cannot access from inside with the power sofa/bed.

This is the passenger side of the rear aisle. The front cabinet has a small storage area available to you. Behind that storage area is part of the interior fresh water tank. The cabinet on that side is all storage. You may wonder what that yellow band is - this is a velcro strip that we added - not to keep the cabinet closed - it has a very good cabinet latch, but to hold another door above in the platform down to keep it from making noise when on a bumpy road - part of my noise quieting around the Roadtrek. On the floor in the carpeting offset toward the back is where the rear table pole is inserted to assemble the rear dining table.

Here is the passenger side of the rear aisle. The cabinet in the front is not storage but contains the hot water tank, the water pump, and the various valves that need to be turned for summer mode/winter mode and hot water bypass. The slots that you see in the middle are the surround sound system's subwoofer. That speaker can be accessed through the front cabinet. The cabinet to the rear is all storage and bigger than the one on the passenger side. Again, you see one of my velcro noise strips in the front. 

I want to show you also how it is in the back when the aisle bathroom door is open. As you can see below the bed/sofa on the passenger side ends right at the wall of the bathroom. When anyone asks about privacy in a Roadtrek, my answer is that there really is no privacy. Prior to one or so years before my model year, Roadtrek did away with the rear privacy curtain that separated the toilet from view of the bed/sofa area. I am not sure why - as it was a good thing to have. You can use the shower curtain pulled halfway out in its place but this is not as convenient as the rear privacy curtain was. There is still a privacy door toward the front and that folds out from the back of the bathroom door that you see here. When you open that there is a large mirror on the back of the door that is revealed. Also you can clearly see here how your feet are in the aisle when using the toilet.

Now, what about the under bed storage accessed from the rear cargo doors? Here is a good photo showing the full rear storage area.  Both cargo doors are open. At the top right you see the cutout on the backboard for the inside cargo door release.

Under the bed you see that I can put three laundry baskets. We have done this just for convenience in what we store under the bed and getting out what we need more easily. The space is deeper than it looks as I have something stored along the entire back length of this area. If you do not have the Continental Spare Tire Kit, the spare tire is kept on the right side of this storage area, taking away a lot of space. The height from floor to the platform is about 11 inches. To the right is where we found the inverter.

Here is an angled view of this same space. 

Finally, here is the back of my Roadtrek with the bed made into king size. You can sleep back to front or side to side. Below the bed you can see how the aisle can be used for additional storage when traveling if you keep the bed made up. A couple of pressure spring curtain rods keep items under the bed in the aisle from coming forward.