Loose Dinette Bench Seat

[Cold Beer]

I've got a 22 foot, 2005, International CCD and the dinette bench seats keep getting ripped out of the floor during travel-especially on washboard back roads.

I understand this is not a unique problem for this trailer. I was able to find only one repair thread from last year and they recommended wing bolts as a suitable repair option.

Does anyone else have any other ideas about how to solve this problem?

[DanielB]

I just wonder what difference a wing bolt would make versus a regular bolt. I can't imagine.
Washers could help distribute the force over a larger area.

[clancy_boy]

Is that the year they went to the tubular frame and had storage boxes under them? My 2002 CCD has the padded puffy bench seats that are screwed down through the floor material to the wood subfloor. I have not had one come loose yet but there are only 4 wood screws holding mine down - not nuts and bolts. Could they be sprung by an unlevel chair box under tension? Just wondering. Does that model have a belly pan? Mine does not and I can see the screws under the camper. WIthout a belly pan you could use nuts and bolts and tighten them as needed.

[Cold Beer]

To answer the above questions: I don't know what difference a wing bolt would make vs a regular one either. I was hoping someone else would.

I talked to the dealer and he said to fix it they would remove the belly pan and secure it with nuts and bolts if needed.

I've owned the Airstream for a year and a half and I think that part of the issue was a less than perfect design securing the seats-there are 10 screws securing each bench seat. Eight to the floor and two to the side of the trailer. I think over time they are susceptible to vibration.

I think the problem arose prior to my owning the trailer. Now that I have taken things apart I can see evidence of earlier repair attempts-larger screws, which was the first suggestion by the dealer and larger holes drilled where the screws attach to the side wall for some unknown reason?

These were clearly not effective especially since I've towed the trailer over some wash board back roads that generated considerable vibrations.

So, what I've settled on trying is this-I'm going to drill the holes large enough to slip a bolt with a threaded wing contraption I found at the hardware store through the floor. Once the wing opens on the other side of the floor board I'm going to place a washer and locking nut on my side of the floor and tighten.

This will give me the threaded end sticking up through the floor. Once I've done this for all of them I'll lower the seat frame onto them and tighten with locking nuts.

This way if anything comes loose I can tighten things up from inside the trailer. If it doesn't work, I'll have to take the pan off and attack it from underneath.

Wish me luck.

[mjayjensen]

My previous Airstream was a 2004 22' CCD . I had the same problem and corrected it with wing bolts.
Jay

[BDandTTs]

The dinette seats on our 2005 also detached, probably due to trailer flexing. This happened during warranty; local dealership and Jackson Center 'cured' the problem with ever larger screws and bolts in both the floor and wall. When the attachments to the wall and floor were tight, the weak point became the screws into the bottom of the bench on the wall side ... never ending. We accepted that the wall to floor flex was inevitable, and our final solution was to use wing bolts in the floor only and have the seat float on an 8" x 1.5" aluminum L attached to the wall. (The bench was supported on the wall side, but only attached to the floor.)

Since that time, we modified the dinette arrangement, but still do not attach the seats to the wall.

[Cold Beer]

BDand TT. That's a nice look and option. I'll keep it in mind. Who made the seat for you?

[BDandTTs]

The dinette seats and cushions are original. We made the seat supports from melamine coated boards that match the other cabinets. The converter was relocated to the rear end of the bench seat, and we have shallow storage below the seat. In the current configuration the bed is a full twin size, in fact, it is slightly long. There are a few more photos in the Bandit section of our member photos, BDandTTs Bandit.

Keep us updated on your bench seat fix and other mods.

[Cold Beer]

I've got the dinette seats reattached pretty much according to plan-we'll see how it goes. Everything seems solidly secured. I've got nuts on the dinette side so that if anything comes loose I'll be able to retighten them. At least that's the theory.

We are set to leave tomorrow for a week's trip. So that will be the first test.

[MsRivet]

My 2004 International that I bought used had one of the benches very loose. We also put larger screws into the floor and looked like the previous owner had done the same. Upon further research we discovered it was missing the connectors (from factory) that went from the bench frame into the interior side wall. Once that was fixed all is well now.

[Lemfd2]

Originally Posted by MsRivet

My 2004 International that I bought used had one of the benches very loose. We also put larger screws into the floor and looked like the previous owner had done the same. Upon further research we discovered it was missing the connectors (from factory) that went from the bench frame into the interior side wall. Once that was fixed all is well now.

What size screw did you use to attach to the interior wall?

[MsRivet]

Originally Posted by Lemfd2

What size screw did you use to attach to the interior wall?

Sorry for the delayed response . . .

We used a 1 1/4" #10 Self Tapping Screw to re-attach the bench back into the wall on our 2004 28' International.

[1Boyscout]

Well, this is an age old problem. Looks like a poor design.

My 2015 International has square tubular curved legs attached to the seat, mounted on the floor. All the floor screws have worked loose; some completely loose.
On vacation I put the yellow blocks under the seat to try to stabilize it.

For what one of these cost, one would think that a redesign might be needed.

[Adventure.AS]

Originally Posted by 1Boyscout

Well, this is an age old problem. Looks like a poor design.

My 2015 International has square tubular curved legs attached to the seat, mounted on the floor. All the floor screws have worked loose; some completely loose.
On vacation I put the yellow blocks under the seat to try to stabilize it.

For what one of these cost, one would think that a redesign might be needed.

Could you share what weight distribution system and what tow vehicle you are using?

Sometimes things coming loose can be a result of weight distribution bars that are too stiff and/or a heavy duty truck as a tow vehicle that has very stiff suspension which accentuates every bump through the hitch to the trailer.

[ShannonGala]

Originally Posted by BDandTTs

The dinette seats on our 2005 also detached, probably due to trailer flexing. This happened during warranty; local dealership and Jackson Center 'cured' the problem with ever larger screws and bolts in both the floor and wall. When the attachments to the wall and floor were tight, the weak point became the screws into the bottom of the bench on the wall side ... never ending. We accepted that the wall to floor flex was inevitable, and our final solution was to use wing bolts in the floor only and have the seat float on an 8" x 1.5" aluminum L attached to the wall. (The bench was supported on the wall side, but only attached to the floor.)

Since that time, we modified the dinette arrangement, but still do not attach the seats to the wall.

Your new configuration looks great! Mine is a 2005 22", looks the same as yours. I am having the same problem. How did you get to underneath the seats to put the bolts on? I just took a look under our trailer and was't sure where to begin. I'm going to try Plastic Wood to fill the holes and redrill for the current screws if nothing else. I love your idea to float the benches on the wall and am going to go look for the 8" bracket to add. If I can ask, where did you find yours?