Wander the West: Grandby dinette comments wanted - Wander the West

Hi all,



It's been awhile since I have participated in this fine forum. My bad! I know. It's good to see some of the old familiar names still here.

Back in 2007 when I was searching for a truck camper you all were a lot of help to me with my search and with deciding what options to order on my new Grandby.
Well, I'm back again asking for information and opinions. Over the last 4-5 years, Sherri and I have gone on a lot of camping trips with the Grandby ranging from one day to about two months. The Grandby has held up well and everything still works as new. But, for the way we travel and camp, it seems like a dinette would be nice to have. At least we think so. Especially when it's raining or too cold outside and we just want to stay inside. The table we got with the Grandby is fairly useless. We have taken it with us maybe once.

However, I think there are both positives and negatives to a dinette in a FWC. I want to hear what someone else has to say, especially somebody who has, or had, a Grandby with a factory installed dinette. Likes, dislikes, issues, etc.

My Grandby has the extended bed with the 16" bed slider pullout and we usually leave the bed made up when we travel and camp. Right away I can see from the photos I got from Stan at FWC that the bed extension slider interferes with the forward seating position when pulled out. And with the table set up, it looks like it would be difficult to climb in and out of bed with the slider out? It also looks like there is a loss of storage with the dinette as compared to what is under the the bench seat. One plus is that It looks like we could actually see out the big window on the passenger side with a dinette. But the big plus I think is that we could use the table to eat, read, etc. and not be blocking the isle.

Tom at FWC says they can do the mod to my camper for around $900 depending on the fabric. I have the tools and shop space to do the mod myself and I could save a little money, but I think in the long run the camper would hold it's value better if it was done by the factory. Sean Dempsey from Go-Anywhere (http://www.go-anywhere.us/) stopped by last fall and we talked about it. He agrees that the camper would hold it's value better if the mod was done by FWC. But I'm not even sure I want to mod this camper and it's a big deal to do this.

Here's some pictures of a Grandby with a factory dinette that I got from Stan. Let me know what you think about the usefulness of the factory dinette.
Thanks,
Buzz

To each his own on the dinette there has been lots of threads on what is better. I converted my Hawk to a dinette. With just me and the wife; it works for us and we like it much better than the couch. We did a 7,500 mile trip and used the table a lot with 2 PC or reading. Don't even want to think about eating without the table. I enjoy doing the work myself but you may be correct factory may help on the resale. I have pictures some where on the site of my conversion.


Bill in Stockton.

Bill is correct,there have been a lot of comments pro/con on dinettes. I have a 09 ATC Bobcat with the dinette.IMO it's the best setup for us.One major difference between the FWC/ATC install is the placement of the table tube support.ATC places the table support on the shelf away from your legs and makes the seating more comfortable.As for storage,I think you can store as much,but I have also added more storage areas to my floor plan that work for me.We have the extenda bed,which is standard on the ATC models.That said we are able to sleep across the camper so we don't have to carry the extra bed cushions and the bed is made up all the time.I vote for the dinette,but to each his own.

If you are good with your woodwork you could do it yourself.I see you are in TN,that is a long way from the Woodland factory.

Good luck,if you would like I could send some pics of my dinette,even though it's not a FWC the layout is the same.

Frank

I have a FWC Hawk and I converted my backless couch into a dinette last year and my wife and I just love it. It is more comfortable for eating and just hanging out. Note: our couch was backless making it more uncomfortable than a standard couch. I did a thread on it in EP, www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/62479-Interior-pics-before-the-conversion
If you are not a member of EP it might not allow you to open up the pictures. I ended up with more storage then I thought I would and one of the cabinets is dedicated to a porta potty with a 5 gallon waste tank.

My wife and I looked at both seating arrangements when we visited FWCCanada last summer. It took us about 5 seconds to choose the dinette. In addition to all the pluses others have mentioned, we still enjoy looking at each other while we eat, even after being married for over 30 years. We also enjoy looking out the window. These may be more aesthetic choices than practical ones but they mean a lot to us.

I don't own a Granby...but instead own a Hawk.

The dinette was a great upgrade that my girlfriend and I just love. It works great for us.

I originally had the couch and crappy table....but later had FWC do the dinette conversion. Much nicer now.

White Dog, on 12 March 2012 - 04:14 PM, said:

We did the dinette arrangement also when we rebuilt our old ranger II. No cushions, we use our pillows to sit on. We also did the bottom table support up on the first step - ATC style. Beside the benefits others have mentioned, we like to play scrabble on those long cold winter nights. We like having the table and game between us in the traditional "gaming" position.

Thanks to everyone for the comments. Yes, I do live a long way from the FWC factory. I love wandering the west and wish I was closer to the Rockies. Someday I'm just going to sell everything here and move west so I can be closer!!

Frank, please send some pictures of the dinette in your ATC. I'm curious to see how ATC mounted the table. Does the ATC with extended bed have a 16" slider like the extended bed Grandby? And you both can sleep there without using the slider? Sherri and I may have to try that, because if we could leave the extra bed cushions home and not use the slider, then that would solve a couple issues I have with the dinette.

Thanks,
Buzz

buzzman, on 13 March 2012 - 10:54 AM, said:

Check out this thread about table mounting:

http://www.wanderthe...hp?/topic/4643/

leadsled9,

Thanks for that link. Good info! I really like your dinette set up. Gives me some ideas for sure. I also notice that you have what appears to be an air conditioner in your Hawk? Hows does the wall mounted a/c work out for you? It would sure be nice to have a/c out here in the humid part of the country during the summer months.

Buzz