# 21Rs - Thinking About Tearing Out Dinette And Sofa



## rwil_colorado (Sep 10, 2015)

Hello all:

So, my wife and I just bought a "new to us" 2006 Outback 21RS. We love the trailer and are so looking forward to many years of use and camping but I have one complaint about it. The dinette is very tight and the sofa is not comfy to sleep on because of the crack in the middle. So, I am thinking about ripping the dinette out and sofa out and redoing the entire thing with a large u-dinette that could be turned into a king bed at night.

I have not measured it up yet but just from looking at the layout I think this would work out very well and make for better hangout space and a nicer sleeping area. If I do decide to take this project on I would build everything myself and then take it to an upholstery shop to have the cushions built.

Any thoughts or ideas on whether this is a good idea or not? Has anyone else done something similar that could share their experience and before/after thoughts on the project? I am fairly handy so I am not concerned with the overall build or whether or not I can handle the project, but mainly does everyone feel that this would add to the trailer or am I making a mistake.

Thank you all for your time and comments.

Robert W. 
Colorado Springs, CO


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

I love the idea!!

Customization!!


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## kmsjs (Apr 14, 2008)

The only thing to look out for would be the water heater and water pump that is under the sofa. In my 21RS, there isn't anything in the dinette benches, so no problems on that side.


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## Leedek (Nov 28, 2010)

TEARING OUT THE DINETTE AND SOFA..... That's it!!! OMGosh!!














I have been trying to figure out how to keep my 210RS and you my new friend may have come up with my answer.

This past May I had multi-level lumbar back fusion surgery. The trailer has been sitting dormant all summer. I am finally getting to where I can maneuver better so I have been scratching my head on how to "fix" the trailer so I don't have to crawl clumsily in and out of the rear bed. I am going to be very interested in how you complete your project.

I'll go out this weekend and take a look at what may be problematical. I'm betting that the water heater and pump will fit nicely under a portion of the U-dinette. I like the you think Sir! KUDOS to your DW for her audacity!


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## lanceracs (Oct 29, 2008)

On my 06 21rs the water heater is not under the sofa. It is very front of trailer rt. side.


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## LongBeachLarry/Betty (Sep 14, 2008)

rwil_colorado said:


> Hello all:
> 
> So, my wife and I just bought a "new to us" 2006 Outback 21RS. We love the trailer and are so looking forward to many years of use and camping but I have one complaint about it. The dinette is very tight and the sofa is not comfy to sleep on because of the crack in the middle. So, I am thinking about ripping the dinette out and sofa out and redoing the entire thing with a large u-dinette that could be turned into a king bed at night.
> 
> ...


Love to see someone thinking outside the box like that! Great idea. My 21RS is a 2005 model with the waterheater up front under the closet. The waterpump though is somewhere under, I think, the front section of the couch. under the bench on the forward side is part of the wheel well cover, so you don't have a flat area there. Another concern would be loss of storage space as under the couch stashes all my hoses, tools, blocks, etc. The bench side has the extra blankets, extension cords, spare parts in the drawer. A further consideration would be whether you would have a net gain or a reduction in weight for the trailer, which already is at a near limit of its cargo carrying capacity. You wouldn't want to overload and create tire/axle problems.

Larry
SoCa


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## rwil_colorado (Sep 10, 2015)

Hello all:

A quick update and thank you to all that posted. I did not get to this project this fall like I had hoped, but during my winterization I did note 2 things, the water pump is located under the rear dinette bench and the water heater is up front. There is also an outside door and compartment under the sofa.

So, here is my plan.


This spring when I go to take the cover off and pull the trailer out I need to get my measurements together so that I can create my drawings. I am an engineer and proficient at AutoCAD so putting together plans will be pretty easy. My mistake was not taking measurements before putting it away. Anyone out there have easy access to their trailer and can measure their trailer? I would trade plans for measurements.
I have taken all of your thoughts and ideas into account and plan on keeping the storage under the sofa (this is where i keep all of my hoses and weight distribution stuff) but I plan on making that box a little more functional with some dividers and dedicated compartments. I also plan on having the entire u-dinette have storage under it so it should actually increase the amount of storage available.
I also plan on building 2 dinette tables that can be put together to make the king bed. Need dimensions of the inside so that I can figure out exactly how this will work but shouldn't be too dificult.
Lastly, I am considering turning the existing bed area into an entertainment area. I know I can't add much weight up there but I figure if I keep it under 200 lbs it will be fine. Not sure about this one yet and I am not a big fan of watching tv while camping, but it is nice when you are trapped in the camper.

Anyone have any other thoughts on the current bed area? Or any other thoughts on this build?

I do plan on making this happen this spring before camping season hits. I am 6'4" tall and barely fit in the queen bed and would really like some extra room to spread out. I can then keep the queen for others to sleep on or re-purpose the area.

Please post any suggestions or ideas and I will consider them all when doing my build. I will keep track of my build as it goes and create a build post for everyone to view.

Thanks and happy holidays

Robert


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## rwil_colorado (Sep 10, 2015)

Good morning all:

I have put together some prelim drawings based on some measurements provided by Leedek, thank you Leedek for the help. I played around with several ideas and wasn't really happy with most of them, the biggest reason being that I would have extra cushions that were going to go unused and would have to be stored somewhere when the couches were converted to a bed. I was also going to have carry extra wood to fill the gap left when the table was down, which I did not like the thought of.

So I started searching the internet for ideas and came across a great build already done by someone else. Why reinvent the wheel if you don't have to, right. Here is the link to the site where I took the idea: http://deepredmotorhome.com/bed.php.I basically took this guys idea and adapted it to work in my trailer.

As you will see I have decided to go away from the udinette for now and am just going with 2 couches. I played around with the depth of the seats so that I would not have a gap when using the back cushions for the bed. I did some searching online and sofa's seem to come in around 24-32" deep so I figured 26" deep would be ok for my application. What do you guys think?









Here is the dinette down in sleeping position:









Here is the dinette slid out without the custions so you can see the sliding part.









Here is the storage that will be under the 2 sections, it is quite large and will actually hold a lot of stuff. I will modify the right section once I start framing to account for my existing storage access to the outside access door.

















I still need to figure out the table situation and how that will work, and where the table will go when not in use. I am thinking 2 skinny and long tables might work best, similar to what you see in the toyhaulers. The tables could be broke down and stowed under the extended section when in the sleep position, not sure what to do with them when you don't want them up but have the dinette in the sitting position.

So, if everyone agrees that this is a good plan I will move forward with putting together my materials list and in the spring when I pull the trailer out of storage I will get started on the build.

Let me know your thoughts and ideas/suggestions. And if anyone else wants plans PM me.

Here is a pdf with the pictures, I could not figure out how to get the pics to come in the size I wanted.

View attachment 21RS dinette-sofa modifications.pdf


Thanks

Robert


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## rwil_colorado (Sep 10, 2015)

Hello all again:

I played with the layout and design a bit more over New Year's and came up with a great plan for the udinette, which I like so much better. This layout is perfect and what I plan on building this spring.

Here are few pictures of what it will look like. This plan will have cushions left over at night or when you have to retract the bed, which I don't care for, but you can leave the cushions in place at night so it shouldn't be too big of an inconvenience.

Here is the dinette with the table folded down.









the table has 2 leafs that will unfold to make the table wider.









The udinette with table stowed, not sure where it will go at night. Will have to figure that out still.









Udinette with slides extended and cushions down to create the "king" size bed. The bed is not a true king size, but it is close. The finished dimensions are 86" long x 61" wide. If you get rid of all of the cushions at night you can gain 4" in length and width.









This pictures is of the slides flipped up to reveal the under bench storage. Lots of storage.









So, what does everyone think?

Thanks

Robert


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## rwil_colorado (Sep 10, 2015)

Our existing queen bed is left to right. I am 6'4" and have about 2" to spare between my head and the wall, so it is not very comfortable for me to sleep in the bed. Since we plan on spending a lot of time in our camper this summer I figured I needed to make some modifications to make for a better sleeping situation.

The u-dinette also will make better use of the space and then we have guests sleep in the queen bed. Not very private but it is family that would be joining us so no real worry there.

Robert


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## Dan H. (Jul 14, 2006)

Can't wait to see this project when complete. I have thought about doing the same thing, or similar, just to make more room at the dining table. Keep us informed.


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## TheMillers (Aug 8, 2005)

rwil_colorado said:


> Our existing queen bed is left to right. I am 6'4" and have about 2" to spare between my head and the wall, so it is not very comfortable for me to sleep in the bed. Since we plan on spending a lot of time in our camper this summer I figured I needed to make some modifications to make for a better sleeping situation.
> 
> The u-dinette also will make better use of the space and then we have guests sleep in the queen bed. Not very private but it is family that would be joining us so no real worry there.
> 
> Robert


Whatever happened to your u-dinette? I'd like to see it if you did it.

Regards

Bruce


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