Dinette seat back support

[ORSE2021]

We just purchased a Flagstaff 23SCSE with the slide out dinette. The cushions are fine, but the 3 small hinges that keep the seat back in place are not going to hold. I was thinking of a 3 foot piano hinge with a few carriage bolts that go all the way through the back and seat. I would need a backing plate on the other side of the wood as well.
Has anyone else improved a seat in this way or another? I'll get pictures when I get home.
I'm just afraid that when someone leans back to slide all the way in, the 6 (?) screws in each hinge will just pull out. I went around and tried to tighten or check every screw into wood in the trailer just to make sure the factory didn't miss anything.

[flyerdp]

I wish I had pictures but I did not care for the way it was either. I especially didn't like how the wood back for the back cushion would lay in to the tent fabric if you sit in it with any recline.

First thing I did was add a few vertical supports from floor to the wood frame both on the front part and the back part of the seat frame because one vertical brace didn't cut it for me with 4 or 5 people on the benches so now there are 3 along the front and back edge. I know I added a "sister" board along the front of the frame and I think the sides also but not the back.

Next I got some aluminum angle I think 1/2 inch or 3/4 on both sides of the angle. I attached it the rear horizontal pieces of wood that the seat piece sits on. I got similar length screws to what holds that wood frame piece to the slide out wall to hold the aluminum on so it goes through and in to the wall.

Next I measured and marked a line on the bottom of the seat wood after pushing the wood against the slide out wall that marked the front edge of the aluminum. I drilled about 6 holes equally spaced along that line so they would come out in the center of the aluminum. I positioned it where I wanted it and drilled holes in the aluminum to correspond with the ones in the wood. I then drilled the holes in the aluminum to be a little bigger than some screws I bought to put in the holes in the wood. I then put the screws, I think #10 screws that were 1/2 longer than the wood seat ply is thick and tightened the nut on the underside so it was buried flush with the wood surface so it wouldn't cause it to lift up. Now I could set the seat down with the screws going in to the aluminum holes and with the back up it would not slide forward when any pressure pushing back on the seat back because the screws going in to the aluminum keep it in place. I did add a strip of I think 1/4 thick x 2 or 3 inch wood along where the seat back meets the top edge of the slideout to make it stand upright more.

Now when sitting on the benches the seat does not touch the tent and actually offers back support. The downside is anyone pressing back really hard might damage the hinge or possibly break the board?

To your point about the hinges I did reposition them and used better screws. I did think about a piano hinge but did not find it necessary at the time and its still going well a year+ later.

OH and we also put velcro on the wood and the matching piece on the fabric of the bottom and seat back to keep them from being able to slide out of position.

[flyerdp]

Had it open today so took some photos:

Attached Angle Aluminum and sister boards to make the seat frame stronger:


Close up of Angle with holes for matching screws:


Screws in seat bottom attached with blind nuts:


Extra 1/4 piece to keep the back vertical:


Back standing up at 90 degrees:


Velcro on bottom and back to hold cushions in place. There is matching velcro on fabric:

[campfire joe]

Nice job flyer. we did the Velcro on the seats too. Got tired of picking up seat cushions all the time.

[flyerdp]

Originally Posted by campfire joe

Nice job flyer. we did the Velcro on the seats too. Got tired of picking up seat cushions all the time.

Yeah I was very disappointed in the entire function/design on that table/chairs layout.

I wanted to fix 3 problems.

1) Cushions sliding all over or falling off
2) No back support as well as the seat back laying in to the tent all the time.
3) Front trim panel on the seat was constantly being pushed off (staples loosened) from the seat bottom sliding forward if anyone pushed back/reclined on the seat back.


For #3 I did think of an alternate method to only fix that. With my modified frame with additional sister boards I could have used a "squared off" S shaped piece of metal where one end hangs down along the newly added frame board along the front of the seat and the other end is close to the front end of the seat and sticks up. I would just use a couple of screws to keep it from moving around and it would prevent the seat bottom from being able to slide forward and push off the seat trim along the front edge.