# 1st Mods For My Ob26rs - Bunk Rails & Mini Desk



## Camp Callahan (Oct 17, 2008)

Well, after a couple of weeks of construction, I have completed my first upgrades on my 26RS. This is a 2004 model, that I've owned for about 3 weeks. I thought that the rails would be necessary for my 8, 6 , 8 2 year old, seings how the beds are much more narrow than my kids are used to, and I didnt want a mishap in the middle of the night with a kid falling out of the bed and cracking their head open.

The rails are constructed out of popler, then painted to match. I removed the old railings, and screwed mine in the exact same holes. However after I put it on, I realized that this would not hold up to the kids normal wear and tear, as they would easily be able to pull it off if they put their weight into it while climbing up. So I found some thin Shelving L brackets, and affixed it right to the bed base. Now I can put my weight into it and it doesn't budge.

I also made a small desk to go in front of the media unit. There was dirty, warn carpet there, but the carpet there was the only part of the trailer that looks like it came from 2004. I thought the desk would be nice to play games on, draw on, or much better for setting drings on, and It is much easier to clean. The Desk is simply some nice birch plywood, with some nice vaneer for the edges, then painted to match the trailer. I tried to put some Polyclear on top of the paint for a tougher finish, but that didnt work so well. Luckily the other side was good for a fresh start.

Technically, replacing the mattess was the 1st mod, but I didnt really have to do any work for that. We bought a nice memory foam topped mattress from Ikea to replace the one it came with. It was a perfect fit.

Now I'll have to try camping in it. I hear these are nice for that too.













































Tom


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Nice Job!! The desk and the rails look like they are part of the trailer!!!


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Looks GREAT.

The carpet on top of that step only gets dirty anyhow, so making it more desk like is a great idea.


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## Rollrs45 (May 7, 2007)

Looks like a factory install........ Great mod!

Mike


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## Fanatical1 (Jan 9, 2006)

Very nice job with the rails!







I can see you have a lot of work in them and I can tell you from experience that kids do fall
out of the bunks and this is really a very important mod. I made two bunk rails for the top bunks when we bought our Outback 
and after the first couple of campouts it was obvious to me that it would be very easy for them to have rolled and fallen out.

After instlalling the bunk rails on the top bunks, I checked on them when sleeping and found them half hanging over the rails but somehow 
stayed in their bunk!









Every once in a while they sleep on the bottom bunks (without rails) and they occasionally fall out of those bunks!


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## Path4ground (Sep 14, 2008)

Beautiful work!! I want to do the bunk rails in the future as well, but I don't think my woodworking skills can produce what you did! Great job!


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## campfirenut (Aug 9, 2006)

Great job. Let the mods begin..

Bob


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

Looks Great !!


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## hyewalt34 (May 9, 2004)

Rollrs45 said:


> Looks like a factory install........ Great mod!
> 
> Mike


BETTER THAN FACTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Walter


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## slingshot (Aug 14, 2008)

Looks great
You did a very good job on the upgrade.


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Nice job looks great









Don


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## MaeJae (May 12, 2005)

Very nice work!
I really like the mini desk! ...GREAT idea!









MaeJae


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## Dadof4 (Mar 30, 2007)

I have zero wood wrking skills but after my 8 year old fell out of the bunk in Banf Canada, we drove to the hardware store the next day. 2 L brackets and a prelaminated white shelf. I used the shelf as the rail and it fit perfectly; even matched the interior of the trailer. Less than $15, and works like a champ!



Path4ground said:


> Beautiful work!! I want to do the bunk rails in the future as well, but I don't think my woodworking skills can produce what you did! Great job!


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Great job. Very professional looking.

Thor


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