Replacing a sofa in a travel trail

[vagari]

Has anyone ever removed/replaced a sofa in a travel trailer? I assume it's easier then a dinette. Are they just bolted down or are they built into the trailers? I never looked. I've been shopping for small used travel trailers and most around me seem to have a slide out with a sofa. I'm not keen on sofa's or slide outs but rather then passing on some good deals I'm wonder if a small remodel would work.

I don't think I would be comfortable using my laptop on a sofa plus the sofa's always face inside whereas I would rather be looking outside. I was thinking that a sofa could be replaced with a small computer workstation (or table) and a swiveling recliner of some type. I'm solo traveling with dog so I don't have to have seating for two.

 

[hepcat]

It depends entirely on the trailer. Some are built-in, some are set-in. Most slides have a lip that would make it difficult to use that area as a workstation as you wouldn't be able to slide a chair under it in many units.

You'll just have to start looking at them in person to see how each manufacturer does it in each of their models.

 

[Stargazer]

I have done this twice. The first time, no slide, the sofa was bolted to the floor. Removed the bolts and it came right out. Easy. Placed my large keyboard, stand, chair in the space.

The second time, the sofa just wasn't comfortable. It was in a slide (no step up or lip). Not bolted down but had straps that held it to floor mounted rings. Easy to remove. Replaced it with a different sofa.

Easy to do.

 

[Captrick]

In my toy hauler they folding couches are screwed into the wall, I just removed one for more space. In my old Aljo TT the fresh water tank was under the couch, the way most of these trailers are built all the furniture comes out pretty easily, remember they are built with cost savings in mind so I have never seen any furniture really installed where it couldnt be removed.

 

[DuneElliot]

Not in a TT but in my 5W I had one of those jack-knife sofas that folded into a "bed". It wasn't comfortable and I wanted something with arms.

It was bolted to a step which was also a cross-trailer storage bay. The bolts and sofa were easy to remove. I then removed the carpet and boards of the storage compartment and boxed in the area for the water supply so it could still be accessed and protected. Seeing as though I only had a limited amount of space to work with between the end of the 5W and the wall of the slide when it was in it took me a while to find a used replacement couch that was in good condition AND that would fit.

I found the dinette much tougher to remove than the couch. Now that was a HUGE project to get done...but the plus side was that it was so solidly installed that it gave me faith in how the rest of my 5W was built.

 

[westriver]

Just one thing to look out for, since it caught me by surprise. I put new flooring in our old Winnebago class A. Obviously they make a lot of effort to use light materials so the thing doesn't weigh tons more than it has to.  We have one slide and it's fully filled with a dinette and a sofa. The slide is well built and framed in welded aluminum square tube. The sub-floor on the slide was a bit of a shock however, since it was 1/8" plywood. It makes sense since there is no area of the slide where you can actually stand, or put much weight on the floor, but if I were to convert the dinette to a couple of freestanding chairs with a table, I would need to screw a real sub-floor down before going any further.