Securing Dinette table

[Bright67]

I have a 27FB and was wondering if anyone does anything special to secure the dinette table when traveling. I imagine it bounces quite a bit while traveling and either the post or hinge (on the wall) may break sooner or later. It is a pain to put in bed mode also every time I take to the road. Thanks for any ideas.

[rd tighe]

We put it in bed mode from 07 till this year. We have now mounted it to the wall. We put it up and down many times and used it for a bed only a a half a dozen times. We will put the kids in a hotel from now on when needed

[mojo]

Normally the table will stay in place...until it doesn't. Have had the table come off the hinges, land three feet away and ding the vinyl floor. If you hit highway (like I-20 in Shreveport) and start porpoising, pull over and secure. Or just put down all the time.

[Ray Eklund]

Two steps to permanently secure the table. If you do not...

- the flimsy attachment to the front interior wall will fail... some day
- the bracket bolts, securing the table, needs to be tightened securely

The FIX:

Go to a hardware store and get two angled brackets that sure shelving. Choose what you like the best. Chrome colored brackets look nicest.

I drill a small 'pilot hole' so the threaded screw will be secure and tight.

Worked on three Airstreams.

The same brackets I use to secure walls that are not secured to the floor. You will see on the linoleum, which walls (bathroom on FBQ) are really flimsy. May take the corner out to the left side entering the restroom and install brackets, like I used for the front table.

You can also bracket outside. I want to FIX the Wall and Secure. The brackets do the job. Once you get the idea, you can also then FIX other loose walls, drawers, shelves...

New Airstream Owners with a new trailer find things falling apart. They learn after the fact to secure them. We do it after purchase.

I am not restoring a Rare 1930's Bowlus.

I covered this on the Forum some time ago and would not know where the Thread may be. But it works for us, we have nothing falling out, off or apart.

Shower Doors are also an issue:

The heavy glass shower door. Use your imagination to secure the door from bouncing so the door drags. The plastic FIX sent for these doors at the bottom frame area... temporary at best. Been an issue since 2006. Door is too heavy for a trailer traveling and most if not all... need to be lifted to open.

(If the plastic block fix fails. Figure out how to get the door lifted, just a bit higher to clear and not leak into the hallway. Each door has a cure... and after some attempts... comes a solution. You need only a fraction of clearance to have the door swing and open / close like it should.)

[moosetags]

Lucy's dinette table has bounced out of the wall brackets several times on really roug
h sections of road. We decided that this problem had to come to an end.

We attached a stainless steel loop to the bottom of the table and another to the floor. We put a 1" velcro strap between the two loops locking the table to the floor.

Brian

[Por Sonia]

Originally Posted by Bright67

. . .
. . . It is a pain to put in bed mode also every time I take to the road.
, , ,

Still the best and most secure method. and worth the labor time for peace of mind and a secure solution.

Time well spent IMO.

KISS

Peter

[Fungus]

Originally Posted by rd tighe

We put it in bed mode from 07 till this year. We have now mounted it to the wall. We put it up and down many times and used it for a bed only a a half a dozen times. We will put the kids in a hotel from now on when needed

Bed mode for us too. Takes less than a minute. Pull up the seat cushion at the back of the cushion so that the front edge rests on the plywood. Lower the table. Pull the seat cushion from the front to slide it onto the table.

And we don’t drive through Shreveport any more. To label I20 “third-world worthy” is an insult to third-world countries. Occasionally they fill the potholes but within weeks they are potholes again.

More fixes…I removed the table. Then removed the bracket and, with the help of a bench vise, adjusted the angle to tighten the table against the wall. I replaced all the screws while in there. The screw holes in the particle board required the match-stick fix. The table leg wouldn’t release easily so I added washers between the leg bracket and the table. Match-stick glued in the hole there too.