Disappointed with Sofa bed build quality!

[david_reaves]

Had the exposed (not against a wall) arm of the fold-out sofa bed break on a recent trip. It was being used to help push up by a larger person (pushing down) and broke.

Today I pulled the upholstery off to see if it could be fixed. I was REALLY surprised by the lightweight construction. The upper frame of the arm was a single strip of 1/2" plywood with a single vertical brace. The brace was also 1/2" plywood. The cover for the interior of the arm was cardboard! There was zero support from the cover-- even 1/8" lauan plywood wood or Masonite would have added some strength. It might not have broken if the arm had just been made from 3/4" plywood rather than 1/2".

I was able to scab a couple of layers under the break. I made a laminate of two additional layers of plywood (total 1") and then fastened with screws from above and below the broken arm frame to make a new arm structure.

I know that Forest River is in the business to make a profit, but it would be nice to know that they cared enough about the customer to not make products that use paper as structural components!

[david_reaves]

Notice the void in the vertical photo. My suspicion is that there was another void inside the area where the plywood cracked. I didn't check, though, because that would have required I completely disassemble the arm.

[Cowracer]

Originally Posted by david_reaves

I know that Forest River is in the business to make a profit, but it would be nice to know that they cared enough about the customer to not make products that use paper as structural components!

I bet weight had more to do with that than profits.

People insist that they want a 35 foot trailer with 2 or 3 slides that weigh under 8500 lbs so they can pull it with their half-ton 4wd crew-cabs and something gotta give.

Tim

[david_reaves]

Tim,

You may be right. My guess is that it is a little of both. I just wish that the few ounces needed to make the sofa strong enough to be stronger had been added. In this case, something did give, the sofa arm! Hopefully my repair won't make me over-weight... I'm pulling with a RAM 3500 SRW, so I'm probably okay.

[TonyShope]

I am going to phrase this as carefully as I can.

Just like U.S. Auto makers build a vehicle to "normal thresholds) so do furniture makers.

IE you go and purchase a dining room set or a lazy boy recliner.

Your favorite relative who is 100+ lbs overweight comes over for xmas and the chair breaks.

Now you want to blame the manufacturer when in fact it the overweight persons issue.

Believe it or not people can buy furniture based upon weight of the occupant.

In no way can you expect a manufacturer to say well we will build all these with a capacity of more than the standard without paying a ton more.

As a person myself who knows some of these thresholds which avg 250#. If said person was more that ins not cheap construction. That is standard.

If you require more than you ask at purchase.

Picture the person at the grocery store who gets into their very large car and it immediately tilts.

They should have ordered a car with airbag and extra suspension.

It is also not a hard looking fix on your part.

My bet is the person was embarrassed as happened in my case when a relative decided to sit at a 150 year old table chair/set and destroyed the chair and the sets value by $2k

[walaby]

I agree with Cowracer. Im willing to bet lunch the biggest driver was weight. Remember, these manufacturers don't build this furniture, they buy it. So, you can't lay the blame on FR's feet. I would bet they had a target weight they wanted to achieve, and evaluated all the furniture and associated weights and made their decisions based on that.

By default lower weight requirements translate into lighter furniture, which translates into less solid/sturdy components.

They had no idea you would pull the trailer with a 1 ton pickup. They were targeting a broader, general consumer.

Mike

[Cowracer]

Originally Posted by TonyShope

I am going to phrase this as carefully as I can.

Just like U.S. Auto makers build a vehicle to "normal thresholds) so do furniture makers.

IE you go and purchase a dining room set or a lazy boy recliner.

Your favorite relative who is 100+ lbs overweight comes over for xmas and the chair breaks.

Now you want to blame the manufacturer when in fact it the overweight persons issue.

Believe it or not people can buy furniture based upon weight of the occupant.

In no way can you expect a manufacturer to say well we will build all these with a capacity of more than the standard without paying a ton more.

As a person myself who knows some of these thresholds which avg 250#. If said person was more that ins not cheap construction. That is standard.

If you require more than you ask at purchase.

Picture the person at the grocery store who gets into their very large car and it immediately tilts.

They should have ordered a car with airbag and extra suspension.

It is also not a hard looking fix on your part.

My bet is the person was embarrassed as happened in my case when a relative decided to sit at a 150 year old table chair/set and destroyed the chair and the sets value by $2k

As a big guy who was once a LOT bigger, i always enjoyed the look of terror in peoples eyes when i headed towards their antique spindle chairs. Lol

Tim

[old40ford]

Looking at it from the other direction. We once ordered a camper for a very heavy man, about 350 pounds or more, and we had Gulfstream double layer the plywood on the floor and several other things. It was not that big a problem, so I guess they get a few requests like that each year. Anyway, with everything beefed up in it, the customer did not have any problems as long as I knew him.

[TonyShope]

Originally Posted by Cowracer

As a big guy who was once a LOT bigger, i always enjoyed the look of terror in peoples eyes when i headed towards their antique spindle chairs. Lol

Tim

Did you break any and if so did you accept responsibility &pay for it? My aunt died shortly after she destroyed a $5k dining set or I would have expected her to pay for the heirloom.

[drelec]

What is the make and model of the unit????

[Cowracer]

Originally Posted by TonyShope

Did you break any and if so did you accept responsibility &pay for it? My aunt died shortly after she destroyed a $5k dining set or I would have expected her to pay for the heirloom.

No. I wouldn't actually sit in one. I just like making them think i would for a minute.

Tim

[david_reaves]

TonyShope, the person that broke it was about 200 lbs... that should be within norms. Maybe they did put all their weight on that arm as standing, I don't know. I understand that it isn't really Rockwood's problem, but suspect that if they specified a bit higher quality it could still be done in a light AND inexpensive way. Maybe Douglass Fir, Alder or Poplar frames all of which are light, inexpensive, and undoubtedly stronger than a 2" -wide strip of 1/2" plywood would have been a bit more durable. Finally, no it wasn't a terribly difficult repair, but it did require that I completely disassemble one end of the sofa, as well as restitch a couple of feet of the upholstery. My point is that if the manufacturer specified even a little durability then the problem wouldn't have occurred.

DrElec, it is a 2014 Rockwood Windjammer 3001W. Overall, the quality is pretty good. I was just REALLY surprised to see a thin strip of 1/2" plywood and a piece of single layer cardboard as a sofa arm.

[pdqparalegal1]

Originally Posted by TonyShope

I am going to phrase this as carefully as I can.

Just like U.S. Auto makers build a vehicle to "normal thresholds) so do furniture makers.

IE you go and purchase a dining room set or a lazy boy recliner.

Your favorite relative who is 100+ lbs overweight comes over for xmas and the chair breaks.

Now you want to blame the manufacturer when in fact it the overweight persons issue.

Believe it or not people can buy furniture based upon weight of the occupant.

In no way can you expect a manufacturer to say well we will build all these with a capacity of more than the standard without paying a ton more.

As a person myself who knows some of these thresholds which avg 250#. If said person was more that ins not cheap construction. That is standard.

If you require more than you ask at purchase.

Picture the person at the grocery store who gets into their very large car and it immediately tilts.

They should have ordered a car with airbag and extra suspension.

It is also not a hard looking fix on your part.

My bet is the person was embarrassed as happened in my case when a relative decided to sit at a 150 year old table chair/set and destroyed the chair and the sets value by $2k

I agree completely. Two of my Friends are in the 3-400 lb range. I cringed every time they came to the M/H . Steps would flex and groan, handrails didn't stand a chance. Most folks in that weight group have a hard time standing without pushing down on something. We had a guest for Christmas visit, a friend of m brother in law, who was easily over 400#. Found it hard to find a polite way to tell her not to sit in the spindly antique chairs for meals. Turned that task over o the DW. By the wy, you,re right. Most (not all) rv furniture is cheaply made. Don't knoe how they justify the price for replacement items.

[johnruff]

We had a friend come over for dinner and sit on our lazy boy recliner sofa. It opened without him doing a thing and he asked if it was broken. The guy is pushing 400 lbs but I did not have the heart to tell him he was stressing our $4k sofa due to his weight. If you look online for recliners and sofas, many will list the weight limits they can handle and none of them are in the 400 range - that would be special order. Too bad they do not see it as a problem and handle it appropriately instead of breaking things.

[Beauty and Beast]

Ours broke just pulling it out to set it up. FR fixed under warranty. What do people do in their bathrooms for the toilet I wonder.