Furniture Quality?

[Mick 1836]

Please see my attached photograph of one of the seats in my 2018 Keystone Alpine 3500 RL.

This ‘problem ‘ started several years after purchase, it is NOT caused by exposure to direct sunlight or suntan lotion

My 5th Wheeler is currently on a campsite in Spain and was shipped there in 2018 via a UK dealer who obviously buys his stock in the USA.

The same dealer in fact since 2018 has supplied between 6 - 8 brand new 5th Wheelers to this site of various makes and models and ALL also contain furnishings suffering the same problem where the colouring layer is crumbling off.

Are 5th Wheelers made using inferior materials?? I exchanged a 2006 Fleetwood Discover 39S RV and at no time did it’s furnishing suffer the same.

[sourdough]

Looks like the infamous "pleather". It is known for the flaking of the material causing what you see. It was in many, many trailers. My 2014 Cougar High Country had the same problem. Very irritating and unsightly.

I never found a satisfactory method of a decent repair because unless you re-cover the entire thing it will continue to peel. We bought covers and put over the furniture and that was the way it was when we bought the trailer we have now. They did change the formulation for the material I was told and the furniture in our current trailer has shown no signs of peeling going on almost 4 years.

[JRTJH]

This is a well known and well documented problem with the "vinyl material" used on trailers across all brands from all manufacturers during the 2012-2017 model year runs. It was sometime around 2012 when manufacturers started offering a choice of fabric or vinyl covered furniture. In those early years, the vinyl fabric did not hold up well. Some had no problems, but the majority did suffer "flaking and shedding" of the top vinyl layer, leaving the underlying "canvas like base layer" visible.

All those trailers are well out of warranty, so there's really no recourse for owners except to recover or replace the furniture. We elected to replace ours with similar, but better made furniture from RecPro. We have two recliners in our family room that came out of the trailer. I plan to "spend part of the cold, Michigan winter" trying to reupholster the chairs. No, we don't plan to put them back in the trailer, so this is an "exercise in wasting winter days trying to do something productive" rather than sitting in the house, bored and waiting for spring.....

What you're facing is a common issue with any trailer sporting vinyl, "imitation leather" furniture produced during the years around 2012-2017, maybe even a few years later than 2017.

You may be able to find a local furniture upholsterer that can recover your existing furniture or you may decide to just replace it with a better quality furniture. Don't expect much help from Keystone or from the dealer where you bought your trailer.

[sourdough]

I did not mention in my previous post;

I almost did what John did and replaced the offending pieces of furniture with new ones from RecPro. I had the pieces measured and the new models/types of furniture chosen. DW made some unforeseen changes in her desires in a RV which required a new RV thus the peeling furniture went bye bye with the trailer.

Your plans for that trailer and how much the peeling offends you will dictate how you want to approach the repair/replacement. In my research I found lots of good reviews on the RecPro replacements.

[bobbecky]

The big question will be, will RecPro ship to Spain??

[sourdough]

Yes. RecPro may or may not ship to Spain but the idea is that there are better options out there than OE.

[Texas Steve]

We too are suffering with peeling furniture on our 2018 GD. I think the heat inside when in storage is the culprit, but not 100% sure. The problem with after market furniture that we are finding is that we can find the theatre seating recliner that will fit the space, but the sleeper sofa is very difficult to find in a 70" length. Need the sleeper for the GD when she travels with us.

I have ordered some material samples from Rec Pro and will decide on what we will do over the winter. In the mean time, we have some covers that will at least keep the "skin" from getting all over your clothes. I might try what John is going to do over the winter, and try my hand at recovering them myself. We checked with a couple of upholsterers and they range between 3200 and 4500 plus material!

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Texas Steve

... I might try what John is going to do over the winter, and try my hand at recovering them myself. We checked with a couple of upholsterers and they range between 3200 and 4500 plus material!

I'm certainly no upholsterer and definitely not an accomplished seamstress, but I bought my own Singer heavy duty sewing machine several years ago and have used it quite often over the years.

When I was in the military, one of the guys that worked for me had a "long, steamy past" and spent a few years in prison. While there, they taught him upholstery as a profession when he got out of the "big house"...

He taught me a few of the basic techniques. What I plan to do is to "disassemble the chair cover at the seams" and use those pieces as a pattern to cut and sew a new cover, then staple it in place on the chair.

Through the years, I've learned that vinyl material is extremely difficult to sew properly (it puckers and doesn't lay flat like woven cloth). So, I plan to use a "DW approved" cloth upholstery material with no pattern either from the clearance rack or from the "budget fabric rack" at Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's Fabrics. The cheaper the better, as I don't expect this to look like a "$3500 job"... Rather, I'm hoping for a "presentable to go back in the trailer if/when we sell it".... Yep, those RecPro glide recliners are "that comfortable".... It's the most comfortable chair I can remember using in any travel trailer we've owned. Should have bought them in 2014 when the trailer was new, but "live and learn"....