rest easy couch

jphansen · 12-24-2005, 07:34 PM

Has anyone replace the foam padding in a rest easy couch?

After living in our Journey for the last 18 months the padding is almost flat. The fabric however still looks like new. If you have replaced the foam how did you do it? Where did you get the foam?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I do not want to pay someone to do this since I thing we can do it ourselves. We just need a bit of info to get started.

jphansen · 12-24-2005, 07:34 PM

Has anyone replace the foam padding in a rest easy couch?

After living in our Journey for the last 18 months the padding is almost flat. The fabric however still looks like new. If you have replaced the foam how did you do it? Where did you get the foam?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I do not want to pay someone to do this since I thing we can do it ourselves. We just need a bit of info to get started.

Radarr · 12-25-2005, 06:19 AM

Pat, I'm sorry to say, but this was another issue we address with Winnebago the very day we received our coach. Our coach came to us via the factory to New York to our home, a total of 2,362 miles before we actually took ownership. The very first thing we noticed was the 2 front capts chairs looked 2 years old. Sagging leather and wrinkled. The Stichcraft easy rest sofa and banquett lounge weren't any better. Jumping ahead in time, the banquett loung was the most uncomfortable seat in the house and had to go. The following summer after we took delivery of the coach, while at the GNR, (we paid) to have the 2 front capts chairs replace with FlexSteel chairs, boy what a difference, night and day, and very comfortable.

If you can find a good automotive upolstery shop in your area, I suggest you take it to them and see what they recommend. These chairs are not made but rocket scientists and neither are the components. You should be able to get them retrofited.

We've had a number of friends who have had the same problems, it was a shame when FlexSteel was dropped from the line, because they do build a better product and carry a better warranty.

radarr

DonavonP · 12-25-2005, 06:35 AM

JoAnn fabrics has foam (mfg by Airtex Industries??).

Sam's club has memory foam for on top of one's
bed. Not sure how that would work in a couch.
Might be ok - it would always be pushing the fabric out ??

Hope this helps.

Captain Bud · 12-25-2005, 06:36 AM

Radarr, if your Captains Chairs were so bad, why did you take delivery of your MoHo, Why not have them replaced under warranty. Also, why was your delivery mileage so high, how come the unit went from the factory to NY to you?? Just curious...

Tom N · 12-25-2005, 09:54 AM

My delivery mileage was 920.0.

Forest City to Buffalo, NY

jphansen · 12-25-2005, 01:54 PM

Thanks for the replys. I never thought about asking Winnie to do it. They should, but I am not sure about the hassle and the weeks it would take them. Since we live full time in it I am not willing to let them have it that long.

I think we will try it ourselves, if I can find the foam. I do want the best I can find. I don't want to have to do this again and like somewone else said they are the most unconfortable I have ever had.

I even had a flexsteel in my house because it was so great. I wish that was what was in the Journey. I may end up replacing them but I don't want to yet.

Again thanks and Happy Holidays.......

Radarr · 12-26-2005, 01:45 AM

Capt. Bud,

It was discussed at delivery and we were told Winnebago would take care of it, Winnebago gave us the run around, had us send them pictures and they'll review it. The dealer got 3 stricks and he was out, so we were left out in the cold.
I certainly don't want to start a _____ match, I'm just stating the fact as they happened and we experienced with Stitchcraft seat. This is one area we know we're not alone in, there's just no comparison in Stitchcraft to FlexSteel. I've seen both products assembled and there's a big difference throught. Probably the thing that stood out the most over time was comfortability-long term. The FlexSteel seats are remarkable in that regard. My wife doesn't like long driving times, she could only take maybe two to three hours setting in thoes Stictchcraft seats before she would start squerming around and the same for me, but with the FlexSteel, it is nothing to seat there and drive for 5 or 6 hours and be just as comfortable when we stopped as when we started.

Our friends had a number of their seats rebuilt two and three times and these folks aren't large people either.

If I were winnebago, I would have shanghided a FlexSteel engineer and brought the person in on staff to straighten out that department and the design flaws they had. To invest all the money they did in that department and produce a sub standard product is redicluous. The decision to cut costs actually resulted in a sacrifice in quality, which actually end up costing them more. In the end, we paid twice to get quality seats, not to mention, a much better warranty.

amore

Captain Bud · 12-26-2005, 02:35 AM

So, what you are saying is that it was a comfort problem rather than a quality issue. Could you elaborate more on what the dealer did or didn't do? Please explain that mileage issue. Please don,t feel that I'm putting the heat on you, it's just that I am a Winnie owner and would not buy any other brand, I will be considering trading up to a DP and I like to gather as much info as possible. I also do walk thrus with customers at a dealership. and I am constantly comparing products. So I would just like to hear your point of view.

timz61 · 12-26-2005, 07:33 PM

One of the reasons we offed our Itasca was the very poor quality of the dinette cushions and the rest easy couch. After 3 months on the road, the cushions in both were flat and very uncomfortable. The rest easy sofa was anything but. The drive motor for the thing heated up and only wanted to work about half the time. Winnebago has some evident quality control issues that need to be addressed. The quality and finish work on our Dutch Star is well above anything we saw in the Winnebago line, even the top of the line Vectra. Winnebago gave us the usual run around but we were still in warranty and finally agreed to fix everthing - 34 items. We were about half way through the list after the coach had been at the dealer for 6 weeks when our current coach came on the lot. The $33K difference in sticker price was a little tough to swallow but with the right foot shuffling and threats to walk out, we finally got a price we could live with. The Winnebago lesson was expensive and never to be repeated.

Radarr · 12-27-2005, 04:43 AM

Cappy,

First time coach was delivered from the dealer norhteast of Detroit to norhtern Indiana, they didn't do any dealer prep, so it was refused. Second delivery, some prep was done, but drivers mirror was hanging by one screw, grab handle came off when I grabbed it to walk in the coach, the step cover was glued closed and wouldn't open, front seat were even worse(but assure we would get new ones) just to reference a few. Dealer had our $10,000 deposit in his bank, other then these quality issues from Winnebago which I could fix, we accepted the deal, but in if he wasn't holding that much money, we would have declined. Dealer's driver took a perfect 01 Adventure back with him and left us a coach that must have been built on the wrong day of the week.

If your like me and a lot of you are, you start going over things and trying things out. Well, I worked up a list longer then a legal pad of paper is long and then on the back too. I called the dealer and asked why their service department didn't catch these items, we also call Winnebago and asked them what the heck was going on. Not a whole of support from either, other then some small replacement parts shipped from the factory, so I did the repair.

Tim has hit it on the head with his reply, which is a very typical response from folks who have Stitchcraft furniture in their coach. When you sit on the banquett sofa for any length of time, your fannie will feel the tubular frame, if you lay down on it and rest your head on the arm rest, your head will sink to the frame, sorta like resting your head on a bony old leg. The capt seats had no side to side support, let alone any support under the calfs. The arm rests would not set level with each other and there was very little foam covering them. The seams and stitches weren't aligned very well and there were puckers and lumps along leading edges. These products were of a much less quality then the FlexSteel products we were shown when we ordered the coach. I had detailed documents describing and showing the seating our coach was suppose to come with, we had pictures showing the defects in ours, when we presented our case to customer service when we were at the GNR, they declined any warranty, but offered to sell us new FlexSteel seating at their cost.

You know, for the money we spend on these coaches, we'd be better off buying the coach less furniture and going out and buy our own. I took the banquett sofa out and replaced it with a computer table and a Lazy Boy swivel/rocker recliner that has a "life time warranty", not to mention superior quality. And as far as FlexSteel Capt. seat are concerned, they have a better warranty also.

Anyone buying a coach today, should take the time to set on the furniture as if they would when their at home. For me, the worse thing of any furniture is if it has a low back. After a short time, it gives me a pain in the back. Having to take a coach with poor quality or uncomfortable furniture is not complimentary to the product.

radarr

NeilV · 12-27-2005, 04:40 PM

I find this difficult to accept, that my 1995 Vectra with over 70,000 miles on it has all the original upolstery except for the queen mattress in the back, which I just replaced yesterday on principle, yet new coaches have the cushions fail after a few months and the manufacturer does not stand behind them.

In my Vectra after ten years the captains chairs are still in excellent condition as are the magic bed and dinette. A little sun bleached in places but definately not sagging and bottomed out. I would not be able to roll over and take something like this after shelling out a quarter of a million dollars on a new coach.

Is it time to get an arbitrator to go to Winnebago on behalf of those afflicted by this?

I don't mean to offend anyone by these comments, I am just a bit taken aback by all this.

Best regards,

NeilV

GG1 · 12-28-2005, 03:02 AM

Its not only furniture issues. Winnebago has a number of re occurring problems with products going bad ALL THE TIME that they know about yet they refuse to correct them causing the purchaser to bear the cost. These issues need to be addressed by a consumer group advocate. ARE YOU LISTENING WINNEBAGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!