Recliners

[daplumbr]

We have 2 Camping Worlds nearby, I'll see if one of them has that same display chair. 

[montedtrotter1]

I just spent over two hundred dollars on new firmer foam for my 21BHS cushions. After reading all the comments on recliners, I think it would be interesting to have a love seat recliner (wall hugger type) in the table area. The space or platform for the bed area minus the cushions is 72 inches wide by 40 inches deep. This is perfect for a love seat recliner. I am not sure why this would not work and Rooms to Go has a multitude of love seat recliners to pick from. Am I missing something here as why this would not work? This is the last major area of comfort improvement I can think for this trailer. It may add a little more weight but the improved seating comfort may be worth it. We are about to leave for Flordia for 8 nights out and will check on dimensions etc. to see if we can figure out why it would not work. Does one ever stop spending money on these travel trailers??

[gbpack]

Yes, I think it can work (putting recliners in the dinette slide). There are many sizes and styles of recliners or love seat recliners that would fit in that area, but how can we figure out if the slide is capable of handling the additional weight? I would hate to go through all of the modifications and installation only to find out that the slide is incapable of handling it.

[daplumbr]

We looked into love seats but found a limited selection in the width we have available. The slide in the 16TBS is significantly less wide than the slide in the 16DBS or any of the 21 footers. We have a bit less than 64" to work with. They shortened it up to accommodate the N-S king size bed. We may still find a love seat recliner, but 2 chairs recliners have a much greater chance of fitting in terms of width. There is nothing light about the heavy steel frame sofa-bed that came with our 16TBS, so I'm not too worried about weight so long as we stay away from any that are super heavy.  

[gbpack]

OK, maybe the weight won't be an issue. I measured our dinette and we have 72" to work with (6 feet). So I'm fairy confident that we'll be able to find something that will fit. It's really going to boil down to whether or not we'll be able to get them set in there in such a way that they are well supported and won't sit up too high. Will probably have to have aluminum support beams welded across the open area to support the recliners. Any ideas or suggestions from the group would be greatly appreciated!

[daplumbr]

There's been some good group-think so far on what to do about sitting up too high, but we'll need some more to solve the problem. I have a great selection of cutting tools from a Sawzall to a Dremel and I'm not afraid to use them on furniture! P-)  

[charliem]

[quote source="/post/18389/thread" author="@gbpack" timestamp="1454623810"]Will probably have to have aluminum support beams welded across the open area to support the recliners.
[/quote][font size="3"]As an inveterate do-it-your-self-er I prefer screws, bolts, and gusset plates. Can do at home, much more reworkable, and easily removed if desired.  Buy some 1"x1" or 1"x2" 6061T6 AL tubing from HD or Amazon and measure carefully  8-) [/font]

[montedtrotter1]

We are really looking at this but just measured the door opening and usable entry space is only 20 inches. Not sure if Houdini could get anything of much size through that space. We are going to experiment later today with one those fancy lawn chairs with a side table (collapses) The lawn chair is 36 wide with little table extended, 26" table down the height is 18" to the seat. We have two small leather chairs at home that may fit the bill exactly but the feet would have to be removed, most are attached by one single screw through the middle of the foot. Either way the biggest issue to get around is height of seating. When I am seated on the current seat, there are 16" from the top of my head to the ceiling of the slide. Anything over 18 high on the platform will be tight for head room. Maybe a beach chair (those cut off to sit in the sand) would work but not sure if we would gain anything in comfort.
This project may be a lost cause due to overall gain not worth the trouble.

[daplumbr]

Yup, the door is a limiting factor for getting things in and out. One of the reasons we were drawn to the Lay-Z-Boy recliner is the back simply slides off for moving it through narrow doors. It does seem to always come back to seating height!

[livinthegoodlife]

Another thought on the recliners...I wonder if we would need to look at an incliner where the back doesn't go back but the foot rest still comes up. Probably the same thing as a wall hugger? Looked into furniture for rv's and saw a pretty comfortable tooking chair.  Was only 30 inch side which the 16TBS slide would be able to fit two with the 63 inches given to use.  Just a thought!

[daplumbr]

Any chance you still have a link to that 30" wide wall-hugger?

[montedtrotter1]

Well we experimented today in our 21BHS. We removed all cushions to give us the largest area available, 72 inches wide by 40 inches deep. We put two outside chairs each 18 inches from floor to seat area on the platform.  No problem for room but the stepping up issue was a problem. We were going to watch the Super Bowl this way and changed the seating back after 10 minutes. We had hassocks for foot rest but had to be balanced on the platform, otherwise they were too low on the floor. The major issue was the step up and trying not to stumble or misstep. Dead issue for us now.

[gbpack]

What do you think about this one? Specifically designed for RV's. 68"' wide would fit in our 72" slide opening in our 21BHS. Do you think we could get the slide base modified to the point where this would fit and work?
http://www.glastop.com/rv-furniture-detail.asp?id=430

[montedtrotter1]

This looks like a very nice love seat. Not sure it will fit through the trailer door however. I did not see a weight on the sofa and I do not know if the slide out has a weight restriction, I bet it does but LL would have to answer that question. I also think you could find someone to modify the slide base (needs to be able to weld aluminum) by lowering the seat platform and they could probably add a few extra pieces of aluminum for support. I have not actually seen what is under the seating area so not sure what would be involved but again bet someone at an RV repair shop could give you some direction. Lazy Boy recliners may work better because the back comes off (not sure about the LB loveseat) the recliner.

[livinthegoodlife]

Merlin,
Sorry it took so long to get back to you.  It looks like someone has already posted the link to Glastop RV Furniture.  They also have recliners and wall huggers.  We stopped in to our local Camping World today. They had some recliners on display that looked small enough to fit two in our small slides.