Sofa has me STUMPED!

[14apex]

The "Jack Knife" sofa in our Apex...won't Jack Knife!! And, while we don't need or use it as a bed, it would be nice to have it work as supposedly designed. We can't get it to fold out. It's almost impossible to lift the front, even with great effort & I'm not weak or compromised. When it does lift up a few inches, there's so much resistance that it absolutely will not fold out further. The previous owner could not make it function. The mechanism appears as good as "new" (as does the entire sofa). I can probably access some of the mechanism to apply some lubrication, but have hesitated for fear of getting oil on the fabric. Any and every time I bring this up I'm assured that "you simply lift and pull forward & it 'should' fold right out". Of course, I know that & have had others similar that worked perfectly...but, this one won't budge past having been lifted a few inches. Ideas...anyone? Pic attached.

[Skip12]

You may need to pull the sofa away from the wall. Is the tip binding against the wall?

[14apex]

Originally Posted by Skip12

You may need to pull the sofa away from the wall. Is the tip binding against the wall?

Good suggestion...no, there's plenty of clearance & nothing visible that's "in the way". It's almost like the whole thing was put together "too tight". And, again, it's not a big deal in that we never need or plan to use it "folded out", but I just like for things to work like they're 'sposed to . Thanks for the suggestion.

[Reverse_snowbird]

On ours, we have to pull up on the front and pull forward on the back to get it to work.

On yours, however, I'm wondering if there isn't a tie down or something that wasn't removed by the dealer before the sale. What are those black handle looking things on the bed? They don't look comfortable.

[14apex]

Originally Posted by Reverse_snowbird

On ours, we have to pull up on the front and pull forward on the back to get it to work.

On yours, however, I'm wondering if there isn't a tie down or something that wasn't removed by the dealer before the sale. What are those black handle looking things on the bed? They don't look comfortable.

Yep...this one is supposed to work like yours -- lift and pull and the "assembly" including the back should all move down as the front does, with all flattening out. Every one I've seen and the few we've had in other RVs have worked that way...flawlessly & relatively easy. This one has me stumped so far. ...and, oh, the black things are apparently for the bottom frame of the front cushion section to "rest" on when (if??) it's actually pulled out and flattened down. ...can't find any kind of a tie down or anything holding it in place.

[DougW]

Can you get to the screws holding it to the floor? A perhaps is is slightly twisted and binding. Taking the screws loose might let it relax and move a bit easier.

[14apex]

Originally Posted by DougW

Can you get to the screws holding it to the floor? A perhaps is is slightly twisted and binding. Taking the screws loose might let it relax and move a bit easier.

I'll take a look at that possibility -- thanks, Doug. It's tough to get even my head under there, and there're no fasteners visible on sofa exterior. I'm almost considering getting a bottle jack inside to get some leverage for lifting the front (yes, it's that hard to lift). I guess what it "feels like" is that every pivot/hinge point bolt has been torqued so tight that it's almost impossible to move the jack knife assembly up/down.

[GlowPlug]

As I get older so due my eyes. I find I need the aid of a good LED flashlight to see things clearly.
Black metal parts and Black Zip Ties tend to blend together so you might want to double and triple look at undercarriage again.

You say it's hard to see under sofa, by chance can you get one of the long straw lubricants out in the market and spray what undercarriage joints you can see and reach. Let it set for a bit then reapply lubricant and then try to open couch manually.

If you're going to use a bottle jack to lift front of sofa may I suggest using a long 2x4 to even out the applied pressure.

Gary

[tonys]

Situation: sofa won't convert.
reality: probably will never use it, but, kinda anal about it.
solution: Leave the sofa alone, find something to occupy your mind that is less stressful. There will be plenty of things going wrong in the future to make the sofa seem trivial.

[BriaBeck]

14apex,


Is it possible for you to tip the sofa forward so you can get a look at the underside?

[Backroads4Me]

We had the same issue. On ours, the metal hinge and sliding mechanisms on the sides had been spray painted over presumably at the factory. There are plastic rollers that were designed to roll easily inside a slot but the paint just made them gum up and hang. I pulled the couch out and used some channellocks to turn the rollers and wear off some of the paint. It was a huge pain and it's still difficult to pull out, but at least now doable. I like your plan much better!

[Waterops1]

We have the Coachmen Viking 21RD and I’ve had our jackknife sofa opened several times to install EMS and then later to remove fixed umbilical power cable to replace with twist-lock power inlet and detachable cord.

It’s a PIA but to remove couch bottom, I had to lay on my back in the aisle floor and remove two nuts from a hinge arm on each side. Couch bottom has captive studs in it. To do this, I could only raise it enough to get an arm in with an open end wrench.

Perhaps you could do this and then pivot just the back section to try and locate your problem. BTW, on mine, I was able to find a little bit of storage there.

Reattaching the base cushion required aligning the studs with hinge arm holes and getting nuts started by hand. Another PIA of course.

[14apex]

Originally Posted by tonys

Situation: sofa won't convert.
reality: probably will never use it, but, kinda anal about it.
solution: Leave the sofa alone, find something to occupy your mind that is less stressful. There will be plenty of things going wrong in the future to make the sofa seem trivial.

Frankly, there already is...wife/best friend (52 years) undergoing intense ("dose dense") chemotherapy. It's amazing how small many other of life's "issues" become at times like this. ...still, with time on my hands and the need to be occupied, this was a bit of a needed distraction...for both of us. Thanks to all for suggestions & experience sharing -- I'll report back when/if this triviality is solved. "Anal" out.

[dvalley]

We experienced something similar in our camper. In our old camper the bottom cushion of the couch would lift up and pull forward to drop the back and jackknife the couch into a bed. We had seen a similar camper like ours before purchasing that had the couch/bed that worked that way. Even though during the walk through for our camper we were told that the couch did not make into a bed due to the upgrades in the unit we purchased, we always thought it should as we could never find an option for a couch that did not convert for the unit we have, and just could not figure it out and nothing that was suggested worked. We eventually accepted it didn't convert....fast forward six years later. DH turned in early and I am sitting on said couch watching Going RV on a rainy camping night and a camper they were showing had the exact same couch we had.

I pulled straight up and back on the front of the bottom cushion which rotated the back of the couch down flat. Once the bottom cushion became vertical, keeping the 90 degree angle and not pulling forward, I felt the back click in and I could then pull the bottom cushion back down to its original position converting the couch into a bed!

[jeff64]

I'm assuming you've removed the cushions first. If you pull out the drawer, when you lift the bottom the legs clear the back of the drawer

[2015 Flagstaff 21DS]

Our sofa required a combination of lifting the front and pushing back on the top edge of the backrest. on our walk through the sales man operated it easily with just one hand and I've seen videos online with guys doing the same. It always took me two hands and a struggle. When the seats began to collapse I pulled the sofa out and replaced it with a click clack futon.

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by 14apex

The "Jack Knife" sofa in our Apex...won't Jack Knife!! And, while we don't need or use it as a bed, it would be nice to have it work as supposedly designed. We can't get it to fold out. It's almost impossible to lift the front, even with great effort & I'm not weak or compromised. When it does lift up a few inches, there's so much resistance that it absolutely will not fold out further. The previous owner could not make it function. The mechanism appears as good as "new" (as does the entire sofa). I can probably access some of the mechanism to apply some lubrication, but have hesitated for fear of getting oil on the fabric. Any and every time I bring this up I'm assured that "you simply lift and pull forward & it 'should' fold right out". Of course, I know that & have had others similar that worked perfectly...but, this one won't budge past having been lifted a few inches. Ideas...anyone? Pic attached.Attachment 235141

I would like to be helpful in telling you what is keeping your sofa from opening but I can't. However, I would like to remind you to be very careful about where your fingers are when you work with folding sofas. I just had a folding sofa close on the tip of my pinky and smash it flat. I had to have stitches on the tip and under the nail because of it. The medical bill was over a thousand dollars.

[rocco52]

On ours when you remove the cushions it reveals a black bar that runs from side to side. You grab that and pull up and out comes the bed.