Slide out drawers under dinette seats

[JRTJH]

Talk to your local dealer about having the doors shipped to them. Keystone routinely puts supplies ordered by the dealerships in the next RV being transported to the dealer. That way, there is no charge for shipping. Many dealers will pass that savings on to the customer, others are more greedy and still charge shipping even though there's no charge in transporting the doors that way.

The only "drawback" is that you have to wait until the next RV is delivered. This time of year, that shouldn't be much of a wait for any dealership except for the very small ones.

[diugo]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Talk to your local dealer about having the doors shipped to them. Keystone routinely puts supplies ordered by the dealerships in the next RV being transported to the dealer. That way, there is no charge for shipping.

Wow! I came to compliment the OP on a great mod idea. My Cougar already came with doors to access the space under the dinette seats, but turning them into drawers is SO much better. I keep my laptop printer under one of the seats, and it's a pain to drag it out to use it. A drawer will be much easier.

And what a great shipping tip! My dealer charged me over $60 shipping for a light (but bulky) plastic exterior trim piece---which took plenty of time to arrive---and I would have balked at paying it had I known it was actually shipped to them for free.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by diugo

Wow! I came to compliment the OP on a great mod idea. My Cougar already came with doors to access the space under the dinette seats, but turning them into drawers is SO much better.

And what a great shipping tip! My dealer charged me over $60 shipping for a light (but bulky) plastic exterior trim piece---which took plenty of time to arrive---and I would have balked at paying it had I known it was actually shipped to them for free.

It may not have been shipped to them for free. If your dealer didn't have any trailers being delivered to him at that time, he may have had to order it from Keystone and they in turn ordered from a supplier with a drop shipment to your dealer, then there would have been delivery charges, but if the part was in stock at Keystone and your dealer had a trailer leaving the factory in a week or so (longer if you're willing to wait), and the factory just puts the part in the trailer, then there would be no added delivery cost. Whether the dealer "fesses up" or chooses to charge you for delivery is up to his sense of "honesty" and/or "customer service" I would always ask if they can have it delivered with the next RV. If your dealer says that doesn't happen or Keystone won't do that, then you'll definitely have your answer about that dealer's perspective of you.

[diugo]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

It may not have been shipped to them for free.

Yes, that's not clear. But when I ordered the part, I wasn't given the option of "pay $60 shipping for a $40 part" or "wait a few weeks and get free shipping".

Now that we know the option exists (thanks to you!), we can at least negotiate.

[MISailor]

I apologize if I did not make the cost of parts versus shipping clear earlier. The cost of the drawers from drawerdepot.com was about $44 each with about $90 to ship them both from CA to MI. The cost of the 4 doors and hardware ordered from Keystone through my dealer for the two projects was about $180 (if I recall correctly) including shipping from Keystone to my home. I don't recall a breakdown of parts vs. shipping for the doors.

[ThePressureIsOn]

Okay, I'm finished with the dinette seat slide out drawer mod. Let me say it again, I'm not a cabinet maker. MISailor, thanks for letting me see your mod. You can't look at the pictures of the drawers that I made...I've seen yours and these don't compare. Overall, I am very happy with this mod and most important, the DW is extremely happy. No more pulling off the cushions and removing the plywood panel to access what's underneath the dinette seats.

My fear of making a large opening on the end of the dinette seat and compromising the strength of the back of the seat was valid. The whole seat was weakened. I had to reinforce it with a cross brace. The brace works well and the seat is as strong as before. If I need to, I can screw the plywood seat panel to the braces to make it stronger yet.

I cut the opening as large as possible, 21 1/4" wide X 12" tall. The drawer size is 20 1/4" wide X 10 1/2" tall X 40" long. I made the sides and bottom from 7 ply plywood, finished both sides and the ends from 3/4 Aspen. I purchased Blum 430 32", full extension drawer slides, load rated 100lbs. Any size larger, that I could find, cost twice as much. The maximum slide that would fit our TT is 36". As installed the drawers open 33", with 7" still under the dinette seat, but very accessible.

[Kristi]

Looks great Bob! I'm sure Sarah really likes it

[MISailor]

Originally Posted by ThePressureIsOn

.......Let me say it again, I'm not a cabinet maker. MISailor, thanks for letting me see your mod. You can't look at the pictures of the drawers that I made...I've seen yours and these don't compare.......

Bob, I'm glad I could help. BTW, don't be so hard on yourself. They look great! Well done, sir.

[eds451]

I added sliding trays under my dinette benches. They work OK, but I like what you guys did and will be looking to "upgrade" my mod when it cools down here in California. Again kudos.

[koko]

MISailor and ThePressureIsOn, Bringing this subject back, because we have ordered a combination of both of your ideas (metal slides, drawers from drawerdepot.com, doors the size of the upper-cabinet door in television cabinet from Keystone. We're just waiting for all of the materials to get here, then we'll begin "the great project". One question MISailor - have you found, as TPIO found, that reinforcement is needed on the booth seats or are yours still feeling sturdy? Also, to both of you, did you edge-trim the cutout you made in the particle board panel on the side or did you leave it raw? If you did put on trim, what did you use? Wish us luck. We're really excited. We've added a lot of extra storage in some cavities that were wasted space, but we feel that this mod is a must! Thank you for all of your great ideas.

[Hoojs12840]

Me like. What did you use to hold the drawers in while pulling the rv?

[MISailor]

Originally Posted by koko

One question MISailor - have you found, as TPIO found, that reinforcement is needed on the booth seats or are yours still feeling sturdy? Also, to both of you, did you edge-trim the cutout you made in the particle board panel on the side or did you leave it raw? .

I did not detect any loss of stability of the seats and did not add reinforcement. The reason may be because my dinette is the U - shaped variety whereas TPIO has a booth style dinette. I left the cut edge of the hole in the particle board raw.

Good luck with the project. I'm confident that you'll be very happy with the result.

[MISailor]

Originally Posted by Hoojs12840

Me like. What did you use to hold the drawers in while pulling the rv?

I used the same type of drawer catch that is used on the other drawers in the trailer. I have found that the rear drawer sometimes opens during travel so I will be adding a second catch to that drawer this spring.

[koko]

Thanks MISailor for that quick response. Didn't even notice that the other trailer wasn't a Premier19. Man, were those metal slides expensive!! Surely know why you made your own.

[Sivymp1]

I want to do this by my wife says no way! And I am sure I will screw it up.

[ThePressureIsOn]

Like MISalior, I left my cut outs raw, the drawer front covers any bad cuts. Our drawers also opened during travel and I added two of the same latches used for the cupboard doors. MISalior did great with his slides. If I remember correctly, he lined his slides with silicone plastic and they slide easily. I did not have the confidence to make mine that way, so bought the Blum glides. You won't be disappointed with the convenience of pull out drawers under the dinette benches. Show us your progress and good luck!

[mamawildbear]

I know I'm reviving a thread that's several years old but this mod is certainly still relevant. MISailor, I love the idea of saving money by not buying "real" drawer glides but how do yours perform? Do the drawers slide in and out easy enough or do they stick? Also, for everyone whose done this using home made glides or the purchased kind, do you need some sort of locking mechanism to stop them from opening during travel?

[koko]

We've had our drawers now for a year and a half. We went with the metal slides; and they're very smooth, although they're much heavier than the wood would be. We put on the same latches we have on the other drawers and cabinets but we did have to put on a second latch because, as MiSailor said, the back drawer would come open sometimes on bumpy roads. We also use the fattest swimming noodle to wedge between the drawer and below-the-stove wall when in transit. It's worked like a dream to make sure the drawer stays put. This has been the best mod we've ever made on this camper. We're on a two-month road trip, and these drawers added a tremendous amount of room to our trailer - all the extra storage we'll ever need. These two drawers cost us $600 total, including all shipping. By the way, notice the table pedestal we installed - another great change. It gives us twice the leg room; and it lets the table revolve, so we turn the table sideways when it's just the two of us for even more space. People complain about their booth seats being crowded, but not so with this pedestal. It also easily makes into a bed. It's called the Springfield Table Pedestal. If you have the two metal bars holding up your table, you'd no longer have to find a place to put them when it's made into a bed.

[Andymon]

Fortunately, our Springdale came with doors on the dinette. We found some plastic storage bins that were almost the same size as the space. they have wheels on them and when set on the lids, they do not roll around. Easy to pull them in and out.

[robo]

Hmm a winter project i see young padawon