Interior Interior modification hurdles

[homerJ]

Hi and seasons greetings

We have a 16.49.3 with the 'cafe seating' that has not really suited our large family and the way we use our expands mainly eating outside.

I would like to remove the cafe seating and the buffet kind of cabinet and replace it with an L shaped lounge that can also be used as a single bed.

The main question is how easy is it to remove the cabinetry in the expanda? Is it simply screwed into the frame / floor or is it glued in as well. The less damage the better of course.

At this point I figured removing it all, fitting the new stuff and then probably new lino on the floor where they have been removed.

cheers

homer

 

[relgate]

I suggest watching a few of the factory tour videos to get some insights.

You might be lucky with the lino. I believe it goes down first

 

[CJ1177]

From my limited experience in comparison to your plans, I think you will be safe & find it's just all screwed together with no glue & the Lino goes down first then the cabinetry over the top.
you'll end up with just a few screw holes in the floor prob not worth the effort of installing new Lino for

 

[homerJ]

Thanks for the response. Will start with the buffet hutch thing...

 

[Mick]

Hi I have the Jayco 2012 17.56-1 that I have modified with L shape lounge as we also had cafe seating

As CJ1177 said it's just all screwed together with no glue & the Lino goes down first then the cabinetry over the top.

In each part of the seating area you will find plastic L shaped brackets (brown in colour) with a cover over them they are screwed to the seat and floor to hold them in place and usually a long screw or two in to a frame hidden in corners or to apposing cabinetry.

All easy to remove I then made the new seating out of the existing seating with some mods to make the L shape lounge.

I brought a camp table to fit in this area and now seats a family of 6 for dinner when indoor dinning is needed.

 

[twscoot]

Hi I have the Jayco 2012 17.56-1 that I have modified with L shape lounge as we also had cafe seating

As CJ1177 said it's just all screwed together with no glue & the Lino goes down first then the cabinetry over the top.

In each part of the seating area you will find plastic L shaped brackets (brown in colour) with a cover over them they are screwed to the seat and floor to hold them in place and usually a long screw or two in to a frame hidden in corners or to apposing cabinetry.

All easy to remove I then made the new seating out of the existing seating with some mods to make the L shape lounge.

I brought a camp table to fit in this area and now seats a family of 6 for dinner when indoor dinning is needed.

Hi Mick. Any chance you could add some photos of what you have done? Sounds interesting as you say you did it using existing materials.

 

[Mick]

Hi

I couldn’t find the photos I took when I was doing the mod I have a before and some after photos to show how much more room I now have.
p.s the little tub on the floor is a moisture hippo to keep it fresh when the van is stored.

 

[Dandy]

@Mick great set up. Do you use the edge of the bed for seating? Why sort of table do you use? I love the idea of being able to acces the bed so much more easily. Did you have to use the floor mats to cover holes or is that your storage spot?

 

[craigandteena]

View attachment 29076 View attachment 29077 View attachment 29078
Hi

I couldn’t find the photos I took when I was doing the mod I have a before and some after photos to show how much more room I now have.
p.s the little tub on the floor is a moisture hippo to keep it fresh when the van is stored.

Oh no, this looks like another mod I need to do. Great work. Can the original table go back in if you place a single pole in the middle with a removable attachment bolted to the floor?

 

[Mick]

This was the main reason we did the mod was because we found it not only hard to get in and out of the bed but the café setup wasn’t working when it came to watching TV.

Yes we have used the bed for extra seating but with the smaller table area under the top bunk area there is always some at this table on a laptop were I also added the extra power point yes another mod.

The table is a fold up job brought from Anaconda that four can eat at and the extras use the other table under the bunk if needed.

No the floor mats don’t cover the holes as they were not that noticeable after the mods were done ,the floor mats were added because the wife hated the gravel that gets dragged in and sticks in the lino.

Yes it does make a great storage spot when the wife buy those extras that we just have to have.

 

[Mick]

Thanks for that MMM yes I think that would work well but we found that it gives use more room.

 

[homerJ]

Thanks very much for the responses and apologies for not getting back sooner.

It was far easier than I thought to pull the front sofa with the only real difficult bit being their is a screw right in the lower front corner that was put in before the boot liner was put in at the factory so that was hard. Other than that no damage at all as suggested above.

Like Mick we found the cafe seating not useful for our family particularly after the kids were in bed and you want to chill out with a drink and watch a movie. Also, we needed another bed so still had to mod the cafe one to suit.

My design is very similar to Micks and I think its gonna work for us. Once you take the front seat out you have length, and width, for a king single bed so have built it in an L shape and it will be wide enough as is for the youngest one to sleep on it as is. Later we may need to add a section to make it a full bed again.

42 x 19 DAR pine is used for the frame fastened with kreg screws using a kreg jig. Fantastically strong, no glue or nails needed.

It is up against the frame and other ends tight enough that only a few screws are used in spots where if we turn it back to std for onsale you wont notice them. I think we have a couple of screw holes in the lino that you can see but that ok. I would like to put carpet down anyway later.

Marge is helping with modifying the new foam mattress/cushion today. Have taken a few pics along the way.

 

[homerJ]

And a couple of the mattress mods;

 

[Marv_mart]

This was the main reason we did the mod was because we found it not only hard to get in and out of the bed but the café setup wasn’t working when it came to watching TV.

Yes we have used the bed for extra seating but with the smaller table area under the top bunk area there is always some at this table on a laptop were I also added the extra power point yes another mod.

The table is a fold up job brought from Anaconda that four can eat at and the extras use the other table under the bunk if needed.

No the floor mats don’t cover the holes as they were not that noticeable after the mods were done ,the floor mats were added because the wife hated the gravel that gets dragged in and sticks in the lino.

Yes it does make a great storage spot when the wife buy those extras that we just have to have.

That fold up table which is very hard to get in and out of is exactly why we removed it and installed the tri fold table.
See my 14.44-5 OB mods for details

 

[Colsar]

Love the pics, inspiring, keep up the good work ! :encouragement:

 

[Tricky]

Love your mod Mick

Have you modified the cushions and do you have photos.

Want to do the same

Cheers

Rick

 

[Mick]

Love your mod Mick

Have you modified the cushions and do you have photos.

Want to do the same

Cheers

Rick

Hi Rick,

Went to the Jayco factory spear parts shop and ordered the same material as the seats

And the wife made a couple of cushions to fill the gap as seen in extra pics.

As you will see in the extra pics I also moved the draw to the front as well.

I have put a photo of the folding table (that’s stored in the cupboard next to the fridge and door) that we us (only when the weather is bad out) for three of us and the extra three use the table under the bunk.
I did add a steel bar under the floor at the front boot section to support the floor as those little plastic brackets that are put in do not quite cut it no matter how many Jayco put in!

cheers
Mick

 

[Tricky]

Thanks Mick,

Would be great if Jayco offered this type of seating. The standard set up is way to tight.

Love your work!

Cheers Rick

 

[Mick]

Thanks Mick,

Would be great if Jayco offered this type of seating. The standard set up is way to tight.

Love your work!

Cheers Rick

Thanks Rick,



Yes I agree I thought the same when I looked at the Journey 17.55-8 in what universe can any normal human fit in that seat next to the fridge even when you turn the table to get in.

I asked the dealer if it was possible to flip the lay out and have the kitchen next to the fridge and the seat flipped next to the door. He said they don’t do that lay out(Something to do with weight distribution but I thought if you rearrange the plumbing and water tanks it would be possible??)

But I have noticed that they have at least flipped the seat at least

 

[chartrock]

We had the table shifted about 60 mm out from the seat in our 17-55-9. It was not installed at the factory but sent up for the dealer to fit where we wanted it so we sat and positioned it where it was comfortable and the dealer marked it out and fitted it. It seems to work now.