Pretty lousy design on the sofa

AMG · 10-04-2015, 02:34 PM

This weekend it was me, my wife , 13 yr old son and my 1yo daughter. All was good until this morning. I sat down by myself on the sofa and it fell off the wall. I look back thinking "wtf, did that really just happen?". Well im not too happy about this, and not happy I have to once again deal with warranty work on our third trip out. It looks like a weak design. The mount should be longer and further reinforcement if it isn't going to be mounted to a really strong point for its size.

Other than that, the hauler worked well. No major other problems like our first time out

PolarisGuy · 10-04-2015, 02:39 PM

Same thing happened to me in our last hauler. It was a 2005. You'd think they'd have this figured out by now. Nope. Same design in all of them. I ended up putting much larger lag bolts in our last one and I'm betting our new one will be the same soon. We're going back out Halloween weekend and then mine is going in for some work.

Should be camping but I'm on Tapatalk

AMG · 10-04-2015, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PolarisGuy

Same thing happened to me in our last hauler. It was a 2005. You'd think they'd have this figured out by now. Nope. Same design in all of them. I ended up putting much larger lag bolts in our last one and I'm betting our new one will be the same soon. We're going back out Halloween weekend and then mine is going in for some work.

Should be camping but I'm on Tapatalk

When I saw this happen, my first thought was a 1x4 maybe 8" or so in hard wood, 45' cut on either end to look clean, paint it the color of the wall, and screw *that* in with longer lag bolts, then re-screw the sofa to that, to help distribut the pulling force across a larger area. Then I was thinking, that this thing is so new, I shouldn't even be dealing with this crap. I wonder how Giant RV will try to fix this. If they simply took some douglas fir 2x4's and cut them and screwed them on there, I might be a bit upset it has to look like **** and that they couldnt come up with a better fix. But then again, the manufacturer makes them like this, and they cant design it right.

I am planning a trip to the desert in 3 weeks. I really dont want to miss it over this couch. At least I know I can pick it up when I need, it isn't like water leaks or the slide out. I can be fine with no sofa.

It still sucks!

ryanq55 · 10-04-2015, 06:50 PM

Holy **** dude, that's ridiculous. Hope you can get it fixed with it looking as if nothing ever happened!

FYI guys, check the caulking around your sinks...just found out there's a big gap right between my two basins on my double kitchen sink...I was rinsing the basins down and quite a bit leaked into the cabinets underneath and on the floor until I was able to realize it...

rockfordroo · 10-04-2015, 07:19 PM

I'm thinking that it's quite possible that there's supposed to be something behind that wall panel for the screws to go into, but it either got left out or put in the wrong place and the screws missed it. Can you see into the screw holes and see if there's anything behind the wall?

ryanq55 · 10-04-2015, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

I'm thinking that it's quite possible that there's supposed to be something behind that wall panel for the screws to go into, but it either got left out or put in the wrong place and the screws missed it. Can you see into the screw holes and see if there's anything behind the wall?

If that ends up being the case, I'm putting mine up for sale! Jump ship and try my luck with an Eclipse!

I don't understand how they are still in business...seems they'd be better off teaching monkeys to build these damn things!

rockfordroo · 10-04-2015, 09:44 PM

Here's another thought: maybe the sofa is not in the right place - maybe should have been a few inches to the left or right. Assuming you have another sofa on the other side of the trailer, are they both in line with each other?

AMG · 10-04-2015, 10:02 PM

I went back over to my trailer and did a couple things.
Removed the 1 screw on the left.
Removed the right side bracket, just so that in the odd chance having 1/2 support, it causes the right to rip out. I'd like to prevent that.
Couch is sitting on the floor.

I checked all 6 holes with a long nail (narrow, slides right in) and they all bottom out on something.

I used a stud finder and the results were inconclusive. Above and below both mount points where the wall is smooth, I get no stud. To the side I get a stud, but it does feel real hard right in that area where I pound my fist, and audibly it sounds more solid. I just don't know. I DO know that this needs more support if it is supposed to support more people. It broke with just me on it, and I am only 210lbs.

No sofa on the right, I have 2 captains chairs, so cant compare.

ryanq55 · 10-04-2015, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMG

I went back over to my trailer and did a couple things.
Removed the 1 screw on the left.
Removed the right side bracket, just so that in the odd chance having 1/2 support, it causes the right to rip out. I'd like to prevent that.
Couch is sitting on the floor.

I checked all 6 holes with a long nail (narrow, slides right in) and they all bottom out on something.

I used a stud finder and the results were inconclusive. Above and below both mount points where the wall is smooth, I get no stud. To the side I get a stud, but it does feel real hard right in that area where I pound my fist, and audibly it sounds more solid. I just don't know. I DO know that this needs more support if it is supposed to support more people. It broke with just me on it, and I am only 210lbs.

No sofa on the right, I have 2 captains chairs, so cant compare.

If I get some time I'll try and get some measurements tomorrow night to compare your unit to mine...snaps some pictures of my brackets and what kind of hardware they used...maybe give a rough estimate if something may be off...

PolarisGuy · 10-04-2015, 11:23 PM

Damn I was just up at mine today mounting my sewer hose mod. I should've thought of that too just for comparison. I feel like us three can start a Stealth support group at this point hahahah! I feel okay though about my sofa. I had a guy about 260 sit on mine and it stood the test.

Should be camping but I'm on Tapatalk

AMG · 10-05-2015, 12:06 PM

I have an appointment on 10/27 to bring it in.

gfarmcafe · 10-05-2015, 01:25 PM

Ours had only 1 out of 4 screws securing the couch to the floor,and it was a drywall screw with a too small head to secure it to anything. I sat on the edge of it, and it tilted over on top of me. That finally convinced us to look for another brand once we decide to trade it some time next Spring.

AMG · 10-27-2015, 11:48 PM

FYI that out of the 6 screws that held the couch on (3 per side) *3* of the screws (not all 3 on 1 side. 2 on 1 side and 1 on the other) were self-tapping screws. The rest were regular wood screws. So as we all know, the first almost 3/8" or so of the self-tapping provides no bite. How the hell did they use 2 on one and 1 on the other? WTF? Why were ANY of those screws used in the first place? Anyhow, the dealer by me used thicker and longer screws that were not self-tapping and re-attached the sofa. It worked great last weekend, zero issues.

phillyg · 10-28-2015, 04:06 PM

I feel your pain. Don't understand the apparent lack of engineering. From a common sense standpoint it looks like it's doomed to fail.

rockfordroo · 10-28-2015, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phillyg

I feel your pain. Don't understand the apparent lack of engineering. From a common sense standpoint it looks like it's doomed to fail.

I wouldn't call this lack of engineering, but lack of manufacturing quality control.

AMG · 11-30-2015, 11:53 PM

UPDATE

I have used the sofa on 2 separate weekend trips since having it repaired. Both of them people sat on it, and one of them someone also slept on it. Zero issues and it looks secure to the wall still.

You may also like: