Dinette Booth Seating Support in Challenger 37TB

[Jbird_in_SC]

On a recent trip, a friend was sliding into the forward facing inside seating position in the dinette booth in our 2017 Thor Challenger 37TB. There was 'thunk' sound and the seat dropped about an inch. Upon investigating, I found the supporting seating frame next to the wall was constructed with connecting 1'x2' piece of wood and attached with staples with no support framing. There were also staples on the bottom of the adjoining wood pieces. If you zoom in on the first and third pictures, you can see where the staples were used on the top of the original framing. The second picture shows the installed wood support.

I removed the staples from the 'broken' side using a needlenose pliers and then added additional supports on both sides of the seat frame securing with screws. I only had 1x2s and a section of 1x4 pieces of wood available at the time of the repair and I doubled​ up in the corner next to the wall where the staples failed. I pre-drilled the screws to make the placement and drilling process easier as I held the wood in place. After completing this with the wood I had on hand, I'd suggest using a 2x4 and run them the length on the both sides of the booth.

With a tape measure, saw, drill, a 2"x4"x8' piece of wood to cut and screws, the job should take about 30-45 minutes. Oh, and add a staple gun and another 2-3 minutes for re-stapling the velcro on the seat backings if necessary.

Happy trails!
Jay

[M&M_MURPHYS]

Had the same issue on our 2017 Quantum. My wife and I are not heavy people, but both dinette seats had to be reinforced. One collapsed on me while I was sitting in it. The other was on its way.

I added more support cross beams under the cushion area of the frame, and had to reinforce the whole frame with additional wood pieces to keep both seats from sagging / caving in again.

The original (1) cross beam in the middle of each seat was stapled from the top so any weight on the cushion simply pushed the cross beam down and separated it from the staples. Needless to say I did not repair it the same way it was originally installed, and I added 2 more cross beams to each seat.

This just speaks to the lack of engineering on Thors part or the lack of detail on the part of the installer. It simply has to be one or the other.

This is but one example of poor workmanship I found throughout my Quantum once I got it home and really started using it.

The big warranty stuff is being addressed by the dealer, but many items like this I am just repairing myself to avoid the dealer headaches. The poor workmanship is bad enough, but the fact that I would rather fix it myself than go through the THOR warranty hoops speaks volumes about the quality issues with THOR and perhaps other manufactures.

[Mike in AZ]

Thanks for the heads up. I imagine our Challenger 37LX is set up in similar fashion, will check it out next time I have it at home (have to store at a lot due to HOA rules).

[airforceret]

I had to rebuild both bench seats in my Four Winds. Overdrilling split many of the tiny framework pieces and I had to repair those first before I could actually rebuild the poorly constructed benches. One piece looked to have been broken off rather than cut with a saw by where the drawer is installed in one of them.

[Jbird_in_SC]

When competing the repairs, no overdrilling noticed but given the wood was 1"x?" or 2x2", not surprising to hear splitting with overdrilling.

[BradnKaren]

Had the same experience in our 2017 Challenger, except it was my 80yo Mother who went "thunk". We also fixed it ourselves.

Edit: At the time we determined that the situation may have been aggravated by not placing the seat cushion platform far enough towards the wall. It may have been hanging off the edge of that support wood. I store beer and water in there so we go in under the seat often.