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Old 11-18-2016, 09:31 PM   #1
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Trifold couch issues and dealers response 🙁

We took our 2017 8299bs to our dealer to be winterized and have warranty work done. One issue was the refrigerator having trouble switching from electric to gas. Was told they fixed that. Hopefully that is true. The other complaint I had was our couch. No normal person can sleep on it. There is literally a 2" difference from the the end section to the middle section of the mattress. I tried adding foam this summer as a temporary fix but still a gap and uncomfortable. We weren't going to take the camper up sooner as we use it on weekends and we don't usually have visitors. But when we did they slept on the floor on an air mattress because of the mattress issue. Long story short my dealer tried to tell me it wasn't that bad and he had two techs lay on it and they thought it was fine. I came unglued and told him that wasn't acceptable and to have them sleep on it over night and let me know how their backs felt in the morning. He also said there were a couple other campers with the same type of couch issue. I assumed he thought that made it ok. My question is anyone else going or went through this with their trifold couch bed's mattress? And if so did you get it fixed or replaced? The last we talked to the dealer is they were waiting to hear back from the representative. As everyone knows we pay a lot for these units and you expect to be able to use everything without needing to see a chiropractor afterwards.
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Old 11-19-2016, 09:49 AM   #2
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Our couch opens flat all the way across. Doesn't sound right that the middle section is 2 inches low. You need to get gas into the lines first for the fridge to operate properly. After opening your gas valve on the propane tank light a stove burner for a minute before using the fridge on gas. That has always worked for us.


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Old 11-19-2016, 03:06 PM   #3
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It was a switch or something on the outside of the camper for the refrigerator. I haven't seen the exact area where the tech told me on the phone yet. I did try the lighting of the stove trick and it didn't help with the refrigerator. Just had to keep turning it on and off until it lit.

Thanks for the couch answer. I've looked at several sites with pictures of this type of couch and none looked like ours with the drop. Hopefully they will fix or make it right. Do you know the thickness of your pad in the middle and inside section? I wonder if they used the wrong sized foam in ours. There is room for a thicker piece.
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Old 11-19-2016, 04:33 PM   #4
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We have a blow up mattress couch/bed so there is no foam.


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Old 11-19-2016, 05:26 PM   #5
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Lucky you! Our last camper had that. I wish I had it back.
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Old 11-20-2016, 08:52 AM   #6
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Our couch was supported with plastic shipping strapping holding the foam Center section up. Have you checked if something is broken in the middle section ?

I ended up putting a metal skin around the while Center section so the foam was supported properly. It helps when you work with sheet metal to do that though.
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Old 11-20-2016, 03:42 PM   #7
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There has been numerous posts about how uncomfortable these couches are. Can't hardly have our 12 year old grandson sleep on it. Terrible design.
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Old 11-20-2016, 04:24 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by jgroff View Post
Our couch was supported with plastic shipping strapping holding the foam Center section up. Have you checked if something is broken in the middle section ?

I ended up putting a metal skin around the while Center section so the foam was supported properly. It helps when you work with sheet metal to do that though.

If you look at the bottom the frame looks straight across. I really think they used the wrong size of foam to make it even.
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Old 11-20-2016, 07:04 PM   #9
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Hi, you have not included a picture of your sofa (a couple pics would be good, but open would be most helpful). If it is like mine, I too, had a terrible time figuring out how to use the sofa properly. After having a tech at my RV dealer show me and the tech performing a couple of different "surgeries" on the sofa because it was manufacturer defective, I am now able to use the sofa correctly so when my sister sleeps on it, she is quite comfortable. If you can post a picture of your sofa, I might be able to offer you some suggestions. If yours is like mine and you can learn to use it correctly, it can offer a decent night's sleep.
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Old 11-21-2016, 11:18 AM   #10
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We had gaps in ours and got the factory to get us an air matress to put on the couch.
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Old 11-21-2016, 11:56 AM   #11
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Not sure if we have the same couch since there are no pics but ours is not very comfortable either. The DW and I slept on it one time and found if we put our heads away from the couch it is much more comfortable, there is something that sticks up right at our backs when we laid head towards the couch. We figured if we were ever going to use it a lot, we would pick up a memory foam topper for it. That was the only time it has been used so far. But it was usable sleeping with our heads away from the couch. I actually would prefer to replace it with 2 lazy boy reclining chairs.
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Old 11-21-2016, 12:28 PM   #12
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I too have tried to sleep on my tri-fold couch with difficulty. The problem I had was the seam at the couch edge(the first head section). I read the easy fix is to sleep head at the foot. I wanted a foam topper, but storing it would be another issue... I thought about a vacuum bag. I dunno. I wondered about a air mattress... I haven't decided yet, but I am watching here.
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Old 11-21-2016, 12:47 PM   #13
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When we do use it we have a indek queen size air mattress with the built in inflator. We put it on top
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Old 11-21-2016, 01:33 PM   #14
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We have a FR Surveyor 251rks. The trifold couch does not have gap between sections if that is what you are referring to. What we do have is; the 2 sections of the couch closest to the wall are sloping lower than the portion sitting in the middle of the room. So it is a real comfort issue. Our guest sleep with their head next to the wall. We are now using foam topper to raise their sleeping mid and head position up. It seems to me the supports on the inside section are just too high. In the spring I will be looking into how we can improve their sleeping position for future outings.
It is a poor design but it works better than the jackknife sofa or bunkbeds for our mid 60's friends. All the trifolds we have looked at do this; multiple brands.
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Old 11-21-2016, 01:35 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by Iwannacamp View Post
I too have tried to sleep on my tri-fold couch with difficulty. The problem I had was the seam at the couch edge(the first head section). I read the easy fix is to sleep head at the foot. I wanted a foam topper, but storing it would be another issue... I thought about a vacuum bag. I dunno. I wondered about a air mattress... I haven't decided yet, but I am watching here.
We have enough room underneath to store the topper and mattress cover.
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Old 11-21-2016, 03:04 PM   #16
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I'm not sure if we have the same couch in our Windjammer 3008W. When the couch is made into a bed, there is a gap between the middle section and the head (wall end) section. The gap must be there for the couch to be in couch mode. In bed mode, the head section can be moved to fill the gap. It is held in place with Velcro. Simply pull up the Velcro and move to fill the gap. After using as bed, the Velcro must be again undone and the gap reestablished in order to put back in couch mode. Our dealer had no idea how this worked.

Our adult daughter sleeps on this bed often. Even with the gap removed it is still apparently a bit uncomfortable. Problem solved with a 1 1/2" memory foam pad.

Good luck.
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Old 11-21-2016, 07:43 PM   #17
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I spoke to our dealer today (camper is still there so I can't take photos of couch). He is talking with the manufacturer. I believe he finally is on board with us that this isn't normal. He is waiting to hear back from the lady at manufacturers after she checks it out more on her end. There are other campers on the dealer lot with the same couch problems. Stay tuned. Will update once I have the results.
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Old 11-21-2016, 07:58 PM   #18
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When we do use it we have a indek queen size air mattress with the built in inflator. We put it on top
We just traded in one Rockwood trailer for another...the new one has the trifold sofa whereas the previous one had the inflatable air mattress. I understand that the air mattress provided has it's issues, but it was a pretty cheap air mattress. We ended up buying a better air mattress and we plan to just put that on top of the trifold. If you buy an air mattress to put on top of the trifold just make sure you don't buy the 22" and thicker ones, because it will be like climbing into a bunk. I believe ours is 13" and it's quite comfortable when put on top of a folding couch.
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Old 12-01-2016, 08:47 PM   #19
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Follow up -- my dealer received the "that's the way it is" response from the factory. So basically they need to update their specs to say it sleeps 2 unless you are a small child and don't mind pain.
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Old 12-01-2016, 09:02 PM   #20
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Don't give up hope yet. Upload a pic of your sofa once you get your camper back from the dealer.
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