RE: seat hinges

[badonahue]

 
I know I ve seen posts in the past about adding a hinge to under seat storge compartments.
 
 Every time I lift the cover to a compartment, one of the corners falls in.  It s so frustrating.  I know I ve seen people adding piano hinges.  I m not at all mechanically inclined but it doesn t look very difficult.
 
 Does anyone have a link to pictures or direction for such a project?
 
 Thanks

[tlhdoc]

 badonahue
I added doors to the ends of the dinette seats so I could get in there with out lifting the seat.  On the Coleman trailers the seat cushion is slid all the way to the back of the seat when you have the table down and made up into a bed (or for traveling).  When the seat is up for sitting, the bottom of the back rest cushion is between the bottom seat and the back of the seat (is this confusing?), so it would not work on a Coleman trailer.  The bottom of the seat is located in 2 different spots depending on if the seat is a seat or bed.  I don t know how you put the seat up and down on a Jayco, so I don t know if it will work or not.

[Joe Buskirk]

 badonahue
I put hinges on the lid of the underseat storage on my previous P/U.  Just sold it and have a new Jayco 12A and must put some on these since my DW keeps complaining that she has to hold it open while retrieving items.  The hinges I get from Home Depot are lockable, similar to the ones found on some foldable tables.  I will install these within a week and I can take digital photos and post these.  The hinges are called Support hinges and come as Left hand and Right hand.  Try this link and click on Hardware/Specialty/Ornamental and Hobby and go to page 2 and this should show the Support hinges.
 
 http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=NAVIGATION&CNTKEY=market%2fpg_zip_code.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@0644555666.1054908382@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccgadcihldfhkgcgelceffdfgidgjl.0&search_text=hinges&DRC=4
 
 

[luvourjayco]

 badonahue
check out 5gonefishing s website for pictures. She did it to her PU last summer.

[ThunderRock]

 badonahue
About 3/4 down the page is my mod for the seats:
 
 http://thunderrock0.tripod.com/trkamping/id12.html
 
 Yes, I used a piano hinge just cut to length, then put duct tape over the hinge to keep the seat cushion from snagging - Good Luck!! []

[sandykayak]

 badonahue
I camped with a Taos and Yuma owners this weekend.  I really do like the Coleman dinette cushion glued to the storage top....but now I can t remember if it had hinges - don t think so.
 
 i was going crazy with the stupid lids falling in.  a dear friend made some new lids out of plywood (cos the chipboard/wood would disintegrate) and put the piano hinges (thanks for the duct tape tip).
 
 another friend came up with this idea.  cut a 1/2"  (or a bit less) dowel to size with the ends cut diagonally.  glue a large circle of velcro to the inside of the lid (roughly in the middle) and the other velcro piece to the slanted cut on the dowel.  that serves as a very good prop.
 
 another mod my friend made was to make me a wooden platform instead of the dinette table (too heavy and takes up too much room in an 8  box).  I can slide it under the mattress and have some precious floor space.  I use a TV table or the $20 adjustable height personal table from Sam s Club.
 
 my friend (who unfortunately moved to california!) did something really wonder.  I had opted for the U-dinette (I can even sleep on the inside of the " U" ) so I could have more " sofa"  space.  
 
 he made a new piece (plywood again) that continues from the dinette platform to the bunk bed.  this is removable so if both bunks are being used, the sleepers don t have to climb over the cushions.  the added bonues is all that extra floor space.

[oldmoose]

 badonahue
One of the first mods I did was to put piano hinges on my dinnette seats. On the Jayco they hinge the seat back to the cover to the storage area. I cut the plywood, added the piano hinge and some additional support wood and voila, it s easy to get in without moving everything.

[Gone-Camping]

 badonahue
Kind of makes me miss my old Starcrafts, they came with hinges on them from the factory!!! Guess they figured
 they could save $5-10 by doing away with them, and passed on that savings by charging us an extra $50-100 for
 the inconvenience!!! []