Screwing down sofa in slide out: 36UA

[Jonwright]

So our sofa in our Open Road 36UA isn't screwed down or affixed in any way. I'd like to fix that. Looks like the easiest option is just put some lag bolts down through the existing holes in the Flexsteel sofa to the floor. I've looked at the floor and can't really determine how thick it is. Yes, there are seatbelt bolted to the floor so I know there's something solid down there.

How much material do I have to secure the sofa? How long of lag bolts/screws should I use?

[Geezer80]

Originally Posted by Jonwright

So our sofa in our Open Road 36UA isn't screwed down or affixed in any way. I'd like to fix that. Looks like the easiest option is just put some lag bolts down through the existing holes in the Flexsteel sofa to the floor. I've looked at the floor and can't really determine how thick it is. Yes, there are seatbelt bolted to the floor so I know there's something solid down there.

How much material do I have to secure the sofa? How long of lag bolts/screws should I use?

Why not remove one of the seat belt bolts. All questions would be answered!

[scbwr]

Originally Posted by johnnyringo

Why not remove one of the seat belt bolts. All questions would be answered!

You could remove a seat belt bolt and determine the thickness of the floor but I really don't think you need to secure a sofa by securing it with bolts that go through the floor. I would think that a lag screw long enough to have 1/2" of the bolt in the floor would do the job. You're probably going to put the lag screw through a metal frame, so a 3/4" lag screw would do the job. If you can see the bottom of the floor under the sofa, put one screw in, making sure that if the screw goes through the floor, it won't penetrates something that could create a problem.

Or....call the manufacturer and see if they can tell you the thickness of the floor.

[Jonwright]

Originally Posted by johnnyringo

Why not remove one of the seat belt bolts. All questions would be answered!

Yeah, I've considered that. Given my recent experience with removing the step motor from the quickee steps and the bolts that hold the assembly together aren't threaded into the blind holes and I pushed a couple out during removal - almost necessitating a complete removal of the entire step assembly - I don't take for grand that bolts are affixed here. Also given that I can't see the other side - if they were held in with nuts that I can't get to I'm not excited about the remote possibility of complete disassembly of the slide out floor to put the bolts back in. I mean - how often do you need to service seat belt anchors?

So - I thought it'd be wise to ask first.

[Jonwright]

Originally Posted by scbwr

You could remove a seat belt bolt and determine the thickness of the floor but I really don't think you need to secure a sofa by securing it with bolts that go through the floor. I would think that a lag screw long enough to have 1/2" of the bolt in the floor would do the job. You're probably going to put the lag screw through a metal frame, so a 3/4" lag screw would do the job. If you can see the bottom of the floor under the sofa, put one screw in, making sure that if the screw goes through the floor, it won't penetrates something that could create a problem.

Or....call the manufacturer and see if they can tell you the thickness of the floor.

Yeah, that's exactly what I"m looking to do - not go all the way through the floor. Tiffin is usually pretty good at answering questions but sometimes it's kinda tough to get through.

I thought about making a plate that goes through the seat belt bolts - and also just putting a screw through to the side. That'll be OK on one side but since we have bunks on the other maybe not the other side.

Anyway - we have 3 young boys that flop and plop. We also use the sofa folded out and when someone is not totally on the inside of the sofa by the wall it will tilt forward. Hence bolting down the sofa.

[Rolling Ragu]

We would like to see a solution for this too. We removed our OEM sofa, which was bolted. Our new residential sofa doesn't have supports that line up with the old holes. I've thought about using some metal strapping or wire to go from bolt to bolt and over something structural. Not perfect.

[galnar]

I am surprised yours isn’t bolted down. I am 99% sure that my 2018 is.

[SamKVA]

Originally Posted by Jonwright

So our sofa in our Open Road 36UA isn't screwed down or affixed in any way. I'd like to fix that. Looks like the easiest option is just put some lag bolts down through the existing holes in the Flexsteel sofa to the floor. I've looked at the floor and can't really determine how thick it is. Yes, there are seatbelt bolted to the floor so I know there's something solid down there.

How much material do I have to secure the sofa? How long of lag bolts/screws should I use?

When we purchased our new Phaeton, part of the deal was the sleeper-sofa apposing the TV lift would be replaced with the Tiffin theatre seating. The sofa was bolted down from the factory but the holes in the theatre seating were not aligned with anything sturdy in the floor to support it. Every time we reclined, it would tip forward. I tried everything to bolt it to the floor and it ripped the bolts out when we reclined. I ended up fabricating and attaching 3 steel braces (1/4" thick) from the back of the seating and attached them to the floor using the 3 seatbelt 1/2" captive nuts and bolts (obviously, very sturdy). If it tips now, the entire motorhome is going on its side. Maybe the slide out is built specifically for the type of seating ordered during construction but I could not think of any other way to secure the seating.

[RH_RVer]

I’m not sure about Tiffin slide outs but my previous motorhome had a laminated slide out floor about 1/2” thick with a sheet metal bottom/plywood top. After several attempts with lag screws I either hit the heavy metal slide out mechanism or nothing. Seems the supporting structure was never in the right place and screws without underlying support eventually ripped out. Since the attachment would never be observable from a normal viewing position, I cut a 3” square out of the carpet and glued a 3” sq piece of 3/4” plywood to the floor. Used a lag bolt with the original metal bracket and a wooden spacer to secure the sofa bed and theater seating. No more issues.

[galnar]

I just confirmed that both sides of my 36 UA sleeper sofa are anchored to the floor. It's actually the metal fold-out mechanism that appears to be attached, via three bolts that run underneath and parallel to the armrests. The frame of the sofa is attached to the fold out.