EB Lounge "simple" modification

[BASE729]

I never liked that there was no way to 'face' the television from the dinette of the EB. I'll be full timing for a year solo, and at most there will be one other person in the RV with me, so I was looking for a simple modification to make to the dinette area to allow more of a lounge feel.

I ended up purchasing two cushions from cushionsource.com out of the same sunbrellla fabric. I asked my brother-in-law (carpenter) for a piece of wood to lay between the existing benches to facilitate a U-lounge. He kinda overkilled it by making:

-Locking pegs
-recessed trough for existing metal on benches
-front face of the same wood material as the benches.

What I really like about it is that the long cushion can stay in place with the table installed. A side benefit is that it stiffens up the table so its not so wobbly.

The seat cushion and cross member also neatly store behind the dinette out of the way. The only thing I need to get it finished is the small table that will utilize a single post from the existing table. Just big enough to place a laptop or some food on. That's due in a few days.

[ckottum]

Nice improvement to your lounge.

[dmcgaugh]

Wow, what a coincidence. I'm currently working on a project to do something similar. In my case, I wasn't planning to get any additional cushions, though the idea is now intriguing.

My plan is to use the back cushion from the sofa and lay it against the back to make a day bed. The key thing that I am manufacturing (have the metal and other hardware already) is a removable back brace to go across the hatch opening. I'm building it out of 1"x3" aluminum tubing. When the dinette table is up, I will have slide bolts underneath the table that engage the brace to give it much needed stabilization.

Out of curiosity what are you doing for back support?

[Remax gal]

That looks wonderful!


Laura & Tom - Thankful Red is healthy and happy - just busy!!

[duncans]

Looks great!

[BASE729]

Originally Posted by dmcgaugh

Wow, what a coincidence. I'm currently working on a project to do something similar. In my case, I wasn't planning to get any additional cushions, though the idea is now intriguing.

My plan is to use the back cushion from the sofa and lay it against the back to make a day bed. The key thing that I am manufacturing (have the metal and other hardware already) is a removable back brace to go across the hatch opening. I'm building it out of 1"x3" aluminum tubing. When the dinette table is up, I will have slide bolts underneath the table that engage the brace to give it much needed stabilization.

Out of curiosity what are you doing for back support?

I too initially just used the long back cushion from the sofa. Once I realized it could stay in place with the table (and actually support it some) is when I decided I wanted two cushions.

I'm attaching some photos of what I decided to do for a back brace. I went simple to start, just put in two eye bolts (still allow screen to come down) and put a length of rope with a tightener on it to give support. It works for keeping the cushion in place. The two uprights that have the track for the screen are actually pretty weak. Your idea of a brace may be a better approach.

I was about to start making measurements for a brace, but decided first to just take one of those stiff pillows that came with the trailer behind the cushion. Seems to work just fine for someone sitting in that position.

I'm 'trying' to not acquire a bunch of long, difficult to store items (such as an aluminum brace) before I even go on my first trip. Its hard resisting the temptation... I'm an engineer by trade. Figured the rope and pillow is the minimalistic approach.

I'm pretty satisfied at the moment. I'll post some pics when I get the smaller table in and setup in the U-Lounge configuration.

[BASE729]

Originally Posted by dmcgaugh

Wow, what a coincidence. I'm currently working on a project to do something similar. In my case, I wasn't planning to get any additional cushions, though the idea is now intriguing.

My plan is to use the back cushion from the sofa and lay it against the back to make a day bed. The key thing that I am manufacturing (have the metal and other hardware already) is a removable back brace to go across the hatch opening. I'm building it out of 1"x3" aluminum tubing. When the dinette table is up, I will have slide bolts underneath the table that engage the brace to give it much needed stabilization.

Out of curiosity what are you doing for back support?

I forgot to ask. If you don't plan on purchasing any cushions, which one were you going to use to sit on? If its not obvious, the very first photo in the thread which shows the U-Lounge, the seat cushion is also purchased. None of the existing ones worked that I could figure out.

[dmcgaugh]

Originally Posted by BASE729

I'm 'trying' to not acquire a bunch of long, difficult to store items (such as an aluminum brace) before I even go on my first trip. Its hard resisting the temptation... I'm an engineer by trade. Figured the rope and pillow is the minimalistic approach.

I thought about that too. I suspect though I'll only rarely need to take it down since we don't load anything large through the hatch.

The attached drawing is along the lines of what I'm building. The drawing shows 3" extension passed the "ears" but I've decided to make it shorter (only about an eighth inch passed the ears). The ears themselves are 6" long with 4" of which extend passed the silver aluminum piece that the track mounts to, thus the brace will come out 2" from that same aluminum piece -- just enough for the handle on the screen to clear on the back of the brace when you pull it down. I'll be using 2 x 5/16 hand knob bolts on each side to mount it.

Should be done in the next few weeks. I'll post materials list and measurements when I'm done.

[dmcgaugh]

The drawing...

[dmcgaugh]

Originally Posted by BASE729

I forgot to ask. If you don't plan on purchasing any cushions, which one were you going to use to sit on? If its not obvious, the very first photo in the thread which shows the U-Lounge, the seat cushion is also purchased. None of the existing ones worked that I could figure out.

I un-Velcro the back cushions for the dinette and lay them down on the table when the table is down. Same as what you would do to make the dinette into a bed.

Your solution has me thinking though. With additional cushions I could leave the back cushions up for better aesthetics, but I'm not sure where I would store the cushions when not in day bed mode.

[BASE729]

It took Airstream almost 4 weeks to ship the white plastic table base that slides down onto the aluminum floor post. But I finally have the new table. It's sturdier than I expected and takes a bit of effort to spin (which is good).

When longways (first picture) it makes sitting down easy since you're not sliding down under the original table which overhangs. Spun horizontal, its nearly as wide as the original table which makes eating from the table no problem.

Still looking for a good home for it while traveling on the road. I still take the original large table with me, so just need a place where this won't slide around and get scratched up.

And apparently it supports the weight of a cat. Don't know why I didn't expect the cat to try it out less than 5 minutes after installing it...

[Remax gal]

Base you did a wonderful job! Exactly what the Eddie Bauer needed for comfortable seating!! Great job!!


Laura & Tom