broken bench seat

[massatari]

HI, I was hoping for some advice on what to do here. I have a fleetwood bayside with slideout dinette.  After entertaining a rather large guest,  we noticed that the back to the back plate for the dinette bench seat had been broken.  there is a small plate that flips up to hold up the back rest that is secured to the particle board by a few screws.. basically the weight against the top of the back of the chair had turned the plate into a lever and popped the screws right out.  So.. there isn't much holding the back of that seat up.  And I'm unsure as what I can do to prevent the back of the seat from popping out again.. I was thinking of filling the holes with some kind of wood filler. and bolting in the back plate to another small peice of aluminum on the other side of the slideout.  I included some pictures so any thoughts would be appreciated.

Sorry my pics didn't work out .. this should do it.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/shawnpdoherty@verizon.net/albums

[tlhdoc]

I included some pictures so any thoughts would be appreciated.

I don't see any pictures and I am not sure about the problem.  My seats don't have a piece to hold it open.

[jbalash]

I had the same problem with my Bayside. I just drilled through where the existing screws were and installed bolts with fender washers. Instead of the fender washers you could use an aluminum plate. I did this fix 4 years ago and haven't had a problem since.

Jim

[massatari]

I had the same problem with my Bayside. I just drilled through where the existing screws were and installed bolts with fender washers. Instead of the fender washers you could use an aluminum plate. I did this fix 4 years ago and haven't had a problem since.

Jim

Great .. thanks for the reply.  I think i will try the aluminum plate.. did you do both benches? I'm thinking maybe as a preventative thing I should do both.

[jbalash]

Great .. thanks for the reply.  I think i will try the aluminum plate.. did you do both benches? I'm thinking maybe as a preventative thing I should do both.

Yes, I did both. That way You won't have to do it again. I figured that if one side broke, it was only a matter of time until the other side did also.

Jim

[AustinBoston]

I haven't had this problem, but the moment I read your description, I thought "I'd drill through and bolt the hinge on with some large washers."  Fender washers (very big washers with a small hole) or an aluminum backer plate like you described would do the job permanently (unless your large guest can bend the steel plate or break the particle board).

Austin

[massatari]

OK.. this sounds like a "winter project". thanks for all your input everyone.  
I don't care for the design on those bench seats, doesn't seem to be very well thought out. I'm completely average size and I can tell if you sit a wierd way it looks like it will just snap. I don't want to have to worry if a guest is going to sit the "wrong way".