24.1 Dinette Retrofit

[Jason977]

I've read the threads where some folks have replaced the sofa with a dinette in their 24.1, but the ones I've seen they either built it from scratch or had someone else do all the work. I'm hoping to buy a dinette set and install it myself, and was wondering if anyone has done this. Of course nobody makes a dinette set to fit into our space, so the table will have to be cut down a bit if we want it to fit between the benches to make a bed.
The two that I'm looking at are from RecPro and Shop4Seats. Any recommendations between these two or someone else?

[taylorbob1]

FWIW....
RecPro is 74"
Shop4Seats is 72"
and you've got 68"inside measurement

in otherwords, you can't use the fold-down bed (if you are interested in that)

[Jason977]

Originally Posted by taylorbob1

FWIW....
RecPro is 74"
Shop4Seats is 72"
and you've got 68"inside measurement

in otherwords, you can't use the fold-down bed (if you are interested in that)

Right.
First, I'm not really sure I am interested in that, we've never had anyone sleep on the couch, folded out or not.
But I was thinking if I trimmed the 4" or so out of the table I could use it as a (short) bed as long as the cushions would mush together in a space smaller than they're meant.

[mcr1010]

Below is a couple of pics of the install in our Vegas. I bought the original dinette out of a 2016 25.x a few years ago. The only mods I made were to cut the width of the table down a little on each side and made some drawers for storage under the seats. I have more pics on the drawer construction if you are interested, I could send them to you.
The dinette suits our camping style better than the couch which I think was a bad idea on Thor's part.
It was a fairly easy install. I still haven't installed the seat belts yet as it is on the round-to-it list.


Dinette in the 25.x



Modified dinette in our Vegas

[Jason977]

Originally Posted by mcr1010

Below is a couple of pics of the install in our Vegas.

Love it. Does not look too cramped at all, which is my only concern.
Do your seat bottoms just sit in place? I was studying the two options and it looks like the RecPros have hinges which could be nice, but also might limit the size of object you put inside.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by mcr1010

Below is a couple of pics of the install in our Vegas. I bought the original dinette out of a 2016 25.x a few years ago. The only mods I made were to cut the width of the table down a little on each side and made some drawers for storage under the seats. I have more pics on the drawer construction if you are interested, I could send them to you.
The dinette suits our camping style better than the couch which I think was a bad idea on Thor's part.
It was a fairly easy install. I still haven't installed the seat belts yet as it is on the round-to-it list.

Attachment 30230
Dinette in the 25.x


Attachment 30231
Modified dinette in our Vegas

That is great.

Bottom picture looks like slide is in all the way, and I’m wondering how much aisle room that leaves. Can you move around easily with slide in? Also curious how wide across the dinette is? I would guess in range of 40~42 inches or so?

A 24.1 without slide and with dinette would have been a great option for Thor to have in my opinion.

[mcr1010]

Originally Posted by Jason977

Love it. Does not look too cramped at all, which is my only concern.
Do your seat bottoms just sit in place? I was studying the two options and it looks like the RecPros have hinges which could be nice, but also might limit the size of object you put inside.

Yes, the seat bottoms sit in place and the back cushions are held in place with Velcro. You could hinge the bottoms if preferred.

[mcr1010]

Originally Posted by Chance

That is great.

Bottom picture looks like slide is in all the way, and I’m wondering how much aisle room that leaves. Can you move around easily with slide in? Also curious how wide across the dinette is? I would guess in range of 40~42 inches or so?

A 24.1 without slide and with dinette would have been a great option for Thor to have in my opinion.

Yes the pic is with the slide in and quite often we use the dinette with the slide in. Does not seem to cramped moving around. I usually put the slide in when dumping anyway when getting underway in the mornings.
I'm not sure what the width of the table is and would guess around 24". The length is the original uncut.
Agree on the dinette without the slide. Would probably cut the price down a good bit and one less possible problem area. Although when the slide is out, it does make for considerably more room

[Chance]

Originally Posted by mcr1010

Yes the pic is with the slide in and quite often we use the dinette with the slide in. Does not seem to cramped moving around. I usually put the slide in when dumping anyway when getting underway in the mornings.
I'm not sure what the width of the table is and would guess around 24". The length is the original uncut.
Agree on the dinette without the slide. Would probably cut the price down a good bit and one less possible problem area. Although when the slide is out, it does make for considerably more room

Thank you, appreciate the information.

Not to hijack the OP, but since dinette width is a very important part of the proposed modification, I wanted to know if it crowded the aisle during travel with slide retracted. I know other Axis/Vegas floor plans had dinettes, but I’m not aware of their widths relative to your dinette.

As “food for though”, I just noticed yesterday that Coachmen redesigned their original Cross Trek motorhome, the 20XG floor plan, and increased the width of the dinette from 25 inches (2-person design) to what appears to be a narrow 4-person design.

Since we travel alone most of the time, plus Axis has an extra table between front seats for two more people to eat, we would not need a wide 4-person dinette. On the other hand, a narrow 4-person dinette in the 36~39 inch range would be ideal.

Anyway, dinette width is important since it affects aisle width so much. In case of Coachmen, it made a huge difference.

[Jason977]

Originally Posted by Chance

Anyway, dinette width is important since it affects aisle width so much. In case of Coachmen, it made a huge difference.

That makes me wonder about a 3-person dinette... RecPro sells their booths in 36-44in widths, separately. IIRC for the rearward facing seat it's about 40in from the wall of the slide to the end of the armrest with cupholder. A 42in booth would fit there without impeding too much. Then get a 36in booth for the forward facing seat to give you a little more wiggle room across from the sink/stove area. I'm planning on building my own table anyway, so it could be a trapezoid to align with the space.

I could be wrong on those numbers. Gonna have to do some visualizing when I get home.

[Chance]

I would personally keep the dinette symmetrical with both benches the same width. I have seen smaller vans with asymmetrical dinettes, but the Axis/Vegas is much wider and should accommodate a 4-person dinette easily. A symmetrical dinette should also make a better bed when an extra one is needed.

Looking at mcr1010’s pictures above, it appears his dinette cantilevers the slide’s floor by a few inches. Perhaps a dinette the width of the floor would be a good compromise between seating comfort and aisle width. I don’t really know since so much depends on people’s sizes.

In case it helps with visual perspective, below are pictures of Coachmen XG20 with last years 25-inch dinette and with this year’s much wider dinette. I would guess it’s now probably around 36 to 38 inches wide, or about a foot wider. It’s easy to see how the wider dinette affects aisle width.