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Mini Dinette for the Eagle


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#1 DLN

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Posted 27 May 2008 - 12:47 AM

After seeing the picture of a mini dinette posted by Stan in what appeared to be a shell camper I started taking a good look at the possibility of creating one in our Eagle. Turned out it was doable though with a few drawbacks. The trade off for opening up the camper window and having seating with the main isle open, not to mention a very sturdy table, is the loss of storage space. We decided we could just carry more portable containers and use the cab of the truck if we need the space. This set up is workable in the smaller camper but would work great in the larger 8' plus campers.

I cut the couch cabinet down to allow for 23" of foot space and two approximately 18" x 19" seats, just about the size of a typical dining room chair. The rear seat has a back formed by the existing couch back hardware and will fold over to form a bench in the table opening. Unfortunately the other seat can't have a fixed back as it would always have to move to get in and out of the camper. I'm working on a portable/easy solution for that one but for the time being that's my seat and my wife gets the good one, there's always compromise with that limited space. Cutting down the couch cabinet forced me to change the access ports to vertical slides from the existing horizontal set up. The biggest issue with the table was resizing the table support. Since I don't weld, and I'm not sure that material would weld that well anyway, I cut a piece out of the middle of the tube with a sawzall and added 3- 3/4" x 3/4" pieces of oak inside and screwed the two pieces together. A rather brutal approach but effective. The table top was made by FWC (thanks again Chicali) and shipped here in two days. I couldn't get matching carpet as FWC has changed their color but will be doing that eventually. I'll also be adding a wall cabinet next the rear seat back after we field test the set up and can see how much elbow room I can steal from that corner. Here are some shots of the new Mini Dinette.

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DLN Ex- 2006 Eagle - 2002 Tacoma TRD - Ride Rite Air Bags Current - 2004 17' Casita SD

#2 DLN

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Posted 27 May 2008 - 12:56 AM

Here are a few more shots. The house battery is still under the rear seat and will slide out through the hinged front panel on the seat for access to the turnbuckle ports. Also, we made the seat cushions from the existing couch cushion and the seat back from 3/4" plywood, 3" foam and some matching material we had gotten from FWC when we bought the camper.

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DLN Ex- 2006 Eagle - 2002 Tacoma TRD - Ride Rite Air Bags Current - 2004 17' Casita SD

#3 Tomas Tierra

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Posted 27 May 2008 - 02:23 AM

How long is the bed when it's laid out??

Nice looking work!

TT
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#4 chnlisle

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Posted 27 May 2008 - 01:01 PM

Pretty nifty.
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#5 lqhikers

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Posted 27 May 2008 - 03:51 PM

Really a good thought out mod.!:thumb: As some one who welds i think your way is better as the chrome would rust where you welded.
Make sure fwc pays you for your layout when they start putting it in new units!!(just kidding Stan)
Drive slow and enjoy "its the journey"
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#6 DLN

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Posted 27 May 2008 - 04:00 PM

TT,

The bed folded out is only 5', I'd cut the factory couch down to that size right after we got the camper to accommodate the porti-potti upgrade. Since we never have a third person camping with us we didn't need an extra bed. In the 8' campers it would be possible to set up two roll over backs in the dinette and have a 5'-6" plus bench or bed in that space. No such luck in the Eagle.
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DLN Ex- 2006 Eagle - 2002 Tacoma TRD - Ride Rite Air Bags Current - 2004 17' Casita SD

#7 bobg333

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Posted 29 May 2008 - 11:17 PM

DLN,
Very nice job! I too was inspired by Stan's dinette pix and am working on converting my Grandby's couch into one. I have been puzzling over how to support the table and was very excited to see how you did it. However, no luck for me. It seems that the lower ledge in my camper is narrower than the one in your Eagle and the table base wont fit on it, even cut down. Back to the drawing board. I will post pix of my dinette when it is finished.
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#8 DLN

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Posted 30 May 2008 - 12:02 AM

bobg,

Too bad the table mount won't work the same way for you, maybe consider adding a little width to the ledge for the table base. I only wish I had the extra space to work with that you have in the Grandby, you could have two roll over seat backs to form a bed/couch in the table opening. I'm looking forward to seeing your finished product. Best of Luck.
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DLN Ex- 2006 Eagle - 2002 Tacoma TRD - Ride Rite Air Bags Current - 2004 17' Casita SD

#9 the fisherman

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Posted 30 May 2008 - 12:07 AM

And that's very good work.
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#10 SunMan

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Posted 03 June 2008 - 03:51 PM

Top notch job DLN. I note the hinged, fold down door on the upper cabinet as well as the custom cabinet in the rear too. Very nice.
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