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Double recliner vs jackknife sofa - the clear winner is...

myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
Well, it's not even close.

Our TT came with the standard Lippert jackknife sofa. *Looks* plush and comfortable at the dealer but that's as good as it gets. It got to be such a PITA to sit in - literally. Not well made either (more like cheap junk). Couple of months ago several of the plastic banding straps underneath that hold the foam cushions in place broke - that was the last straw.

We'd been thinking about upgrading to a double recliner for a long time and finally did it. The floor of our slide out is only 30-1/2" deep which severely limited our choice. The slideout is 74" wide (inside dim.) There is also not a lot of room across from the dinette seating.

We ended up getting a Lambright Harrison double recliner loveseat in a 54" overall width. It's a true wall hugger design and we have it about 1" away from the rear wall. The front feet on it are 33-1/2" away from the rear wall. This is about the shallowest (front-back) double recliner available out there. We checked every corner of the internet and went to a few local furniture stores (incl. Lazyboy). Just not much to choose from that would fit.

The Lambright Harrison is available in a 58" wide version. This would make the inside arm rest to arm rest distance about the same as the Lippert sofa. The 54" width is more than enough for the two of us. Could have made the wider one fit but wouldn't have been able to center it in the opening.

The problem with the Lambright recliner is that the front feet overhang the floor of the slide by about 3". I solved this by making a frame from some angle and flat steel and welded it together. The frame fits around the outer perimeter of the recliner and I bolted the the recliner to it. Had to drill a few holes in the recliner's frame. The outer frame got screwed onto the slide's floor and there's no way it can move or bounce. I also bolted on a pair of 3x3" angle pieces in the center area underneath that also overhang the floor.

The DW (the boss of me) insisted that the recliner be centered between the end walls. As a result, the recliner foot rest is close to the garbage can and wall at one end. Just means retracting it when needed and hasn't been an issue. I wanted to offset the recliner to give some space to walk around the footrest. (happy wife, happy life, sigh...)

I am planning to build a pair of nice side tables from maple and will stain them to match the existing interior finishes. The plywood pieces are just mockups for now.

We ordered the power recliner option. This operates on 120 volts. I installed a new receptacle on a sidewall next to the fridge. Easy to pick up 120 volts there. The recliners come with a 28VDC power pack and need 120 volts to operate the power recline. If the power ever goes out, the slide can be brought in with the footrests fully or partly extended. We never dry camp so not an issue for us but could use a small inverter.

There are many fabric type & color choices. We wanted a breathable fabric and sprayed it with Scotch Guard. Each recliner seat comes in two pieces and the whole thing clips together in seconds. Easily fits through a narrow entry door.

Our slide has a couple of recessed puck lights and the switch was on the ceiling where it couldn't be reached when sitting down. Solved that by installing a 3-way (on/off/on) switch at each end. Not an easy job and had to fish wire through the slide's ceiling, peel away the luan plywood inside the wardrobe closet to get access to the wall cavity and run wiring inside the cavity behind the fridge. DW totally loves the new switches, woohoo!! ๐Ÿ™‚

The Lambright recliners are extremely well made, esp. in comparison to the old Lippert piece of crapola. They have proper steel springs under the seat cushions. The power recline works very smoothly and is quiet. Most importantly, they are soooo comfortable. Just spent 3 weeks in them and they're just so comfortable. In fact, it's hard to get up and go outside. When the TT is at home, now we can just go watch TV in it and it will feel like we're in a CG, lol...

This is a mod/upgrade that is highly recommended. And if your slide isn't quite deep enough, you can make a frame for it so it can overhang a bit. Only downside is the cost - we're in it for over $2K (USD). Definitely worth it!!!!!!

Sold the old jackknife sofa on CL and got a whopping $100 for it. Would rather have thrown it on a bonfire.

Note to self: make sure the dog is not laying under the footrest when you retract it (sorry Dougal).

Photos show the footrests retracted & extended and slide retracted.

19 REPLIES 19

myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
clarkster wrote:


Please provide that link to the photos. Greatly appreciated


Sure, right here.

As an aside, just noticed an odd thing on that Jayco page. The photo at the top shows what appears to be a Lippert frame (top mount coupler) while the photos below the floor plan def. shows a BAL frame.

clarkster
Explorer
Explorer
myredracer wrote:
clarkster wrote:
I would love to dump my jack knife sofa.......it's just awful.
But the dang thing is in the rear of a rear living trailer and under it is the furnace.

I don't think a pair of recliners would make it......without ditching the entire furnace


Had a look at pics on the Jayco site.



Please provide that link to the photos. Greatly appreciated
2006 Dodge 2500 4x4 Laramie crew CTD
2017 Jayco Flight SLX Baja package

Bumpyroad
Explorer
Explorer
jack knife sofas suck
bumpy

myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
clarkster wrote:
I would love to dump my jack knife sofa.......it's just awful.
But the dang thing is in the rear of a rear living trailer and under it is the furnace.

I don't think a pair of recliners would make it......without ditching the entire furnace


Had a look at pics on the Jayco site. Furnaces aren't that wide but it looks like they centered it between the outer walls. If it were centered between the lower cabinet and opposite wall, *maybe* you could make it work.

Could you possibly relocate the furnace to the storage space under the cabinet? Would need to re & re the underbelly which is a job in itself. Or they make "front row" theater seating that has seats closer to the floor. Could make a false floor for ducts, propane line & wiring and the seats would then be at a "normal" height.

Another option might be removing the furnace and installing electric heat? I installed 3 permanent recessed heaters totaling 2K watts (on 30 amps) and we don't use the furnace anymore but don't camp when it's close to freezing. Made my own demand controller that shuts the heat off when appliances get turned on.

At least you're not restricted front-back like us.

clarkster
Explorer
Explorer
I would love to dump my jack knife sofa.......it's just awful.
But the dang thing is in the rear of a rear living trailer and under it is the furnace.

I don't think a pair of recliners would make it......without ditching the entire furnace
2006 Dodge 2500 4x4 Laramie crew CTD
2017 Jayco Flight SLX Baja package