I've been wanting to start this thread for quite some time. I don't see a lot of folks cruising the country in a DP with a large family! So, I wanted to share my mods to equip our rig for a family of 9.
First up was sleeping space for everyone. When purchased, it had the queen bed, and 1 fold out couch. Not gonna cut it. When looking at coaches, one of my requirements was a large floor to ceiling closet, that I could convert to bunks for our little kids.
Here's the original closet:
I removed everything from the space - doors, racks, hardware, etc. I then built a frame from 1X4s, and screwed plywood to the bottom of them, so the foam would fit down in, conserving as much vertical space as possible. I know a guy in the foam business, so I can get free foam in any dimensions. Here's the finished product:
Also added LED reading lights for each kiddo.
Note the fold-up bedrail to keep the upper two from rolling out in the night (DW's requirement):
This mod turned out great, and the kids think it's the best thing ever! They want to sleep out in the MH every night!
The second addition was another folding couch. Ours came with a small (ridiculously heavy) rotating chair - this had to go, as it was a terrible waste of space! We looked all over for a sofa - internet, Ikea, etc, till we finally pulled the trigger on this:
https://www.recpro.com/recpro-charle...-sleeper-sofa/
It was more than we wanted to spend, but it fit the bill exactly. The perfect size for the space, very comfortable, and added another 2 sleeping spots:
Next was the eating space. The little table and 2 chairs was woefully inadequate:
Even though it pulled out and could add 2 folding chairs, I needed a place for people to sit while in motion, with seatbelts. So, I set out to build a dinette. My wife and I spent a lot of time dreaming up configurations for this. A traditional 4 seat opposing dinette wouldn't work well, as it would block the hallway. So, we came up with an L-shape, that seats 5:
Once again, I was able to get free foam, but looked into upholstery - around $600! Yikes! So we decided to do it ourselves, using thin plywood backing and staples. We ordered the matching sofa material from RecPro Turned out pretty good!
The table is a butcher-block countertop, and I used this table bracket:
https://www.lagunusa.com/
It's nice, as the table rotates to make getting in and out easier, and to access under seat storage. It will also fold down for another sleeping space for grandma (!).
I've installed 7 more seatbelts, bringing the grand total up to 12! We are now ready to see the wild west, as soon as they re-open Yellowstone...
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