Vegas interior updates

[Jason977]

My 2016 Vegas 24.1 has 90k miles and quite a bit of wear and tear, the seats in particular were basically down to fabric with just a few flakes of fake leather left.

Front seats:
I replaced the driver and passenger seats with 2nd row seats from a Honda Pilot minivan. I chose these because they have arm rests on both sides and are fairly affordable ($650 for the pair IIRC). I saw some minivan seats with footrests that looked awesome but I wasn't willing to pony up the extra cost. The fact that they have integrated seatbelts and fold flat make them much easier to flip around.

Jacknife sofa:
This is the one mod that I really regret not doing sooner. We just really didn't like anything about the sofa. It wasn't comfortable, it was hard to get into and out of with the table in place, and we never used the bed folded out. We went with a dinette from shop4seats. The width of the slide is too narrow for the dinette spacing so the bed doesn't really work as intended but like I said we never really used that bed anyway. In fact I think the fact that the benches are closer together makes it more comfortable. We gained a seat, much larger table, and the ability to sit across from each other. VERY happy with the dinette for us.

Kitchen:
The main goals here were more counter space and a bigger sink. I was always annoyed with the rattly stovetop and almost never used more than a single burner (we do most of our cooking outside). So I replaced the countertop to accommodate a much larger sink and completely did away with the stovetop. In addition to our outdoor stove we have a single burner portable butane stove that we use if we want to cook inside.

[BigDug 25.6]

Love your kitchen changes! We would like to do this to our 25.6, that we just got.

I haven’t looked very much but how did you take the old counter top off?

Also which sink did you use?

Thanks

Erv

[Chateau_Nomad]

My wife always comments that she wishes our MH was more "home like" decor wise. Yours looks very comfy... like the Pilot seats!

[Jason977]

From what I remember I think I just used the Brute Force method to remove the countertop. I couldn't find any fasteners so I just yanked up by hand and with a flat bar. It was mostly held on with staples iirc and I didn't hurt anything.
Sorry, I'm not sure what sink it is, but it's a Kohler. I actually found it in the trash bin at our new office, I guess it didn't work for whatever reason? I spent a lot of effort making a nice clean cut in the counter so that the part that I cut out could be used as a cover. The couple trips we've made since the project, the cover comes off as soon as we park and sits against the side wall. But it may get used as intended in the future? I also may cut in in half so that we can leave half of it in place. But it's almost like we've gained so much counter space we just don't know what to do with ourselves

I need to add a hinged door in the space where the stove once hung down below counter level. That's where our portable stove now lives.

I was inspired by another post to paint the cabinets. I think they look great, but it was kind of a pain so it'll probably be a while until I paint the rest.

[BigDug 25.6]

Thanks for the information.

Measurements on the sink about 15” x 20”?


Erv

[Jason977]

Looking at the pics reminds me of a funny story. The track covers for the front bed had become loose and moved all over the place. They just aren't supported very well, only at the top with a few screws into particle board. I threatened to take them off but my wife didn't like the look of the exposed mechanicals.

One day after doing a lot of work up front (is your blower fan super noisy like mine???) I was lowering the front bed down to get ready for bedtime and heard a startling loud crackling/ sizzling sound quickly followed by the whole front cabin being filled with smoke. I was terrified that I shorted a wire somehow and was starting to look for a fire. My wife was about to open up the emergency hatch in the bedroom.

By reflex I reversed the switch and raised the bed. Then everything stopped. Turns out the track cover had moved so far out of place that, when lowering the bunk, it pushed down and activated the fire extinguisher (through the safety pin, apparently). We all evacuated, had a good laugh, then got to work cleaning up the mess.

Then I ripped those track covers off.

[Chateau_Nomad]

Cabinets look great! I used Sherwin Williams Emerald urethane (white) on our home kitchen cabinets... $$$ but worth it for the flawless finish it gives. Our MH is a 2020, the wood is fairly light colored, but considering going to a white/off white in the next year or so.

Found a Kohler stainless sink in the trash!! . Those puppies are NOT cheap!!

[Jason977]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

Found a Kohler stainless sink in the trash!! . Those puppies are NOT cheap!!

No kidding! I had no idea how well I had scored until I just now looked it up
I think this is the one https://www.build.com/kohler-k-3184/s560767
About 15x19x9

Since it is so deep I had to take some material off the top drawer, and the top shelf of the left side cabinet is mostly just sink. But it makes dish washing so much easier!

[BigDug 25.6]

Kohler is very proud of that sink, WOW!

I’ll have to find something about that size, that is in my price range.

Thanks for the information.

Erv

[JamieGeek]

That looks really nice.

Not too long ago (2019) I had a similar idea: Ripped the kitchen counter off and replaced the cheap plastic sink with a bar sink and put in a two burner induction top. So we have the counter space when we're not using the burner.





We did lose the top drawer--I just took the face off and velcroed it back in place.

Here is the sink (Amazon)

Here is the induction burners (also Amazon)

[Chance]

Nice revisions.


I like not having a permanent stovetop if electric since a portable can be stored in a drawer, or even outside compartment if rarely used. A new van review recently showed the same idea.

I also like a dinette in a 24.1 floor plan. Thor built some Axis/Vegas with dinettes behind driver (both with and without front slides) but they seemed wider than yours. Yours leaves living area looking more open, though picture may be distorting dimensions.

Do you happen to know how wide the dinette is, and do you have pictures with slide retracted? Partially blocking aisle or access to front seats is often mentioned as a disadvantage to dinettes in that location, but shouldn’t be an issue if not too wide. I’m curious if it sticks past bathroom wall by much, if at all.

[Jason977]

Here's the dinette I got, the 42" version: https://shop4seats.com/rv-furniture/...n-dinette.html

The slide floor is about 38" from the wall the the front iirc. I don't believe I have sacrificed much aisle room when the slide is retracted because the jackknife sofa overlaps just a bit as well. What I have gained is a whole lot of floor space with the slide extended because I no longer have to use the long narrow table.

The new countertop is 30" deep, so that cuts into aisle space a bit too. But the stove stuck out into the aisle also, so it's not all that different.

I'll see if I can get a picture with the slide retracted for you tonight.

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by Jason977

Here's the dinette I got, the 42" version: https://shop4seats.com/rv-furniture/...n-dinette.html

The slide floor is about 38" from the wall the the front iirc. I don't believe I have sacrificed much aisle room when the slide is retracted because the jackknife sofa overlaps just a bit as well. What I have gained is a whole lot of floor space with the slide extended because I no longer have to use the long narrow table.

The new countertop is 30" deep, so that cuts into aisle space a bit too. But the stove stuck out into the aisle also, so it's not all that different.

I'll see if I can get a picture with the slide retracted for you tonight.

Are the dinette seats closer together? (the shop4seats diagram shows 72" total width of the dinette but the 24.1's slide is only 68" wide)

[Chance]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

Are the dinette seats closer together? (the shop4seats diagram shows 72" total width of the dinette but the 24.1's slide is only 68" wide)

He mentions that in OP

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by Chance

He mentions that in OP

LOL! Guess so ...

[txc2936@yahoo.com]

Now that looks nice!

[MLP]

I am sure the seats with the arms are much more comfortable. The work is fantastic. We use a inductive burner cook top and not the propane stove. We preference the control it give us while cooking. We do have a propane Weber Q along with an oven thermometer. Crack the top on low to make it an oven. Works well, and at 90 to 100 degrees outside, you can have it cool inside and have your roast beef or roast chicken as well. We also have a crock pot, instapot, and Sous Verdi cooker. With the Instapot, if you forgot to thaw the chicken, pork, or beef out, you can cook it from frozen. We do eat well on the road, but miss the smoker. I wish we could fit a smoker as well, but my wife's electric scooter takes up 1/3rd of the storage space. My wife says no larger RV's. We have it almost all in a 34.4' diesel pusher RV.

The pealing fake leather needs to be addressed soon. I did the arms on the European chair.

[Jason977]

Originally Posted by MLP

We do eat well on the road, but miss the smoker. I wish we could fit a smoker as well, but my wife's electric scooter takes up 1/3rd of the storage space.

Have you considered a small pellet grill/smoker like the GMG Davey Crockett? We fit it into our Vegas and use it for just about everything from brisket to jalapeno poppers to cinnamon rolls.

I know tons of RVers love their induction cooktops but I've never tried one. I like to fancy ourselves primarily as boondockers so I stray away from electric appliances, but it seems we actually spend most of our time in parks with full hookups. I do enjoy no-hookup camping the best still. Even if it's in a park in a designated parking spot.

[Jason977]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

LOL! Guess so ...

Sorry, sometimes the details get lost in my wordiness...

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by Jason977

Have you considered a small pellet grill/smoker like the GMG Davey Crockett? We fit it into our Vegas and use it for just about everything from brisket to jalapeno poppers to cinnamon rolls.

I know tons of RVers love their induction cooktops but I've never tried one. I like to fancy ourselves primarily as boondockers so I stray away from electric appliances, but it seems we actually spend most of our time in parks with full hookups. I do enjoy no-hookup camping the best still. Even if it's in a park in a designated parking spot.

We started with a small portable induction cooktop. Typically use it on a picnic table or a table next to the RV. That is when we decided to go with induction inside as well.

We rarely camp without an electrical hookup.

Originally Posted by Jason977

Sorry, sometimes the details get lost in my wordiness...

Or just in someone not reading everything... LOL