Jackknife gone; LZB in!

[wiredgeorge]

I really wasn't thrilled with the jackknife sofa in our 5ver. I looked at replacing with an RV specific loveseat but they are $$$$$$$! Our jackknife sits next to a booth dinette in our slide out and the jackknife is nominally 68" wide. I found that La-Z-Boy (aka Lazy Boy, Lazyboy, if you are searching) loveseats are only about 65-66" width and the backs DO come off. The base goes through a 24" trailer door without too much manipulation. It fits perfectly but I may buy a different TV mount so both recliners can easily see the TV which will need to be rotated out and towards the love seat so both reclining folks can easily see the TV. The TV we have in there now is slightly too large to come out of the compartment so will either re-use it and keep it outside OR use the one that came in the RV which is a 27" and probably fine as we could keep it in the compartment while traveling (secured of course) and still swing it out.

The La-Z-Boy can NOT be fully reclined as it can go into an almost horizontal position but reclines far enough to be very comfortable. It has to sit away from the wall and yet the front can't sit too far forward or it will be off the slide. The foot rest is actuated by a side lever and there is plenty of room to operate.

To remove the old jackknife in my 2002 Keystone Courgar 278EFS 5ver was pretty simple. I will mention how I did it BUT your experience may be different as looking at youtube videos shows a number of different style jackknifes which require different removal methods. None seem tough.

To remove, I had to first lift the front of the jackknife and prop it to get to two screws on both side that hold the jackknife frame to what is essentially a box (bottom part of sofa). Remove them. Then pull out the jackknife part a bit and there are one more screw to be removed on either side. The screws are similar to deck screws and the heads are square type, #2. Once all six of the screws are out, the bed portion just lifts out and can be removed from the trailer. You are left with the box at this point. Mine had 4" wooden legs on each corner and had a sturdy metal bracket to hold them; each held with three screws. Taking the legs off makes pulling the box through the door much easier. The box on its side is a shade under 24". The top, with the head cushions just pulls off and out and both it and bottom/box part are light enough for one person to easily carry them out of the trailer. That is it except for running the carpet sweeper.

Anyway, glad I made the swap and we found a very inexpensive like-new La-Z-Boy reclining loveseat on facebook. It was MUCH less expensive than new.

[AbHDToyHauler]

Nice ! Good Job.

[ken56]

It is a shame that RV furniture is so poor yet so expensive. Its not all that much lighter either. We replaced our fine couch that came with the unit with a residential recliner love seat too and it is so much more comfortable. Now, go camping and enjoy it.

[wiredgeorge]

My wife informed me that the sofa bed was not a jackknife... it was a pull out. I have watched a zillion rv shows on tv and should know the lingo! We should be good with the La-Z-Boy! I have thought about a table/chairs to replace the dinette but although a tad uncomfortable if you sit for a long time, it isn't terrible. We added non-skid material to the underside of the cushions and that helps a lot.

[ckufehttahw]

I have been thinking about getting rid of the 2 chairs and putting in a love seat with 2 recliners in my springdale. But i was wondering if i should be concerned about the extra weight? It would going in the smaller slide that only has 2 chairs in it currently.

[wiredgeorge]

Probably no issue with the weight of a love seat vs two recliners. The LZB double loveseat recliner we bought is essentially two seats that recline and I doubt that the weight different is significant. My bitty missus was able to help hoist the thing into the trailer door off my pickup.

[Luvkoi]

VERY nice! How did you secure it? We've been thinking about getting rid of the jack knife sofa as well. Considering the 2 year old great-grand daughter rolled off of it twice last summer because of the way it "humps" where the back and seat meets it certainly would make her happy![emoji4]

[DetnNet]

Looks nice. DW and I have also talked about replacements for the fine love seat and pull out couch in our 5er.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by Luvkoi

VERY nice! How did you secure it? We've been thinking about getting rid of the jack knife sofa as well. Considering the 2 year old great-grand daughter rolled off of it twice last summer because of the way it "humps" where the back and seat meets it certainly would make her happy![emoji4]

The original pull out couch just sits where it sits and is not secured in back or on the floor. Weight is sufficient to keep it where it goes during travel.

[buvens]

When you find a TV mounts that works please put it on forum as we have the same issue with our TV since we replaced the dinette with 2 lazyboy recliners. We just pull ours out to recline and push pack against the wall while traveling.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by buvens

When you find a TV mounts that works please put it on forum as we have the same issue with our TV since we replaced the dinette with 2 lazyboy recliners. We just pull ours out to recline and push pack against the wall while traveling.

We don't have a TV mount. We have a 40" TV sitting in the shelf right next to the sofa. When we camp, the TV comes out and sits on a "desk" that pulls out so we can turn the TV a bit as the person next to the TV can't see it well when on its shelf. When on the shelf, we pull a bungee cord between two eye hooks to keep it in place. The TV sits on two leg brackets that came from the manufacturer with the TV. The TV you see in this pic is not the one we now use... this one is in my office on the wall. Our TV fills the whole box. You can see the shelf that pulls out if you look closely. It is below the TV and pushed in in this pic.