29.5 Dining Room Table Mod

[Aero_Dave]

OK, so the DW & I were getting real tired of the wobbly dining room table in our 29.5 so I decided to figure something out. At first I was considering a rail like some TT use for outside grills. But I think the Camco kit is only 1 rail as it assumes your grill already has the 2nd rail built-in. Anyways, I went to my local Lowes to have a look around. I found this rail:







which is made for the use of hanging tools and things. They offer different hooks you can mount but they also have these Brackets. The brackets drop down on the top part of the rails and then swing down and Snap into place. They are designed for you to add your own shelve. So I thought these might work. Once I got home and took the table out, I noticed that the brackets had a small lip on them:








keeping the brackets from being flush with the table. Nothing a hack-saw can’t fix in about 30 seconds:








Then just file it smooth. Now just drill some holes in the brackets and screw them onto the underside of the table:








Make sure your screws are not too long. Don’t want them poking through the other side:








Now dry-fit the table in place and mark where the rail should be mounted and screw in-place. BTW I did cut the rail down from the original 50" length.








Now that I no longer need the rear table leg, I just removed the brackets from the floor and the table:








I also had to move the front table leg floor bracket out about 1” due to the rail and brackets now cause the table to be about an 1” more away from the wall.
I used a black sharpie pen to hide the silver on top of the brackets:








Now just set the table on the rail, with the front of the table raised about 6-12” then just lower in place while using one hand under to guide the leg into its bracket.











The table is now extremely sturdy and removing 1 of the legs just give you more leg-room under it. All in I think this mod cost me around $22.




Dave...

[Cdash]

That's great!

[Force]

Great solution! And one less table leg to bump your feet on under the table.

[X213_2015]

I think this might be something I do in ours. The two "wobbly" legs isn't doing it for me

[LarryJ]

Very nice indeed! Wish I could do that but our TT has window instead of wall. But on the bright side we rarely use area as cook and eat outside most the time.

Larry J
2015 264bhw

[troutslayer]

I like this mod but it will not work for me. Here's why: About a year after purchasing my 5er, the floor in the slide (where the table is located) drops dramatically when the slide is pulled in. When this happens, the table follows the floor, drops and pulls away from the wall about 1". I tried to fashion a bracket, similar to yours, using wood and attaching it to the wall and underside of the table. However, when I retracted the slide, the floor dropped and pulled the screws and bracket right out of the wall. As a precaution, if someone is thinking of doing this, you may want to see if your table pulls away from the wall when the slide is retracted. Not intended to rain on anyone's parade

[Aero_Dave]

Originally Posted by troutslayer

I like this mod but it will not work for me. Here's why: About a year after purchasing my 5er, the floor in the slide (where the table is located) drops dramatically when the slide is pulled in. When this happens, the table follows the floor, drops and pulls away from the wall about 1". I tried to fashion a bracket, similar to yours, using wood and attaching it to the wall and underside of the table. However, when I retracted the slide, the floor dropped and pulled the screws and bracket right out of the wall. As a precaution, if someone is thinking of doing this, you may want to see if your table pulls away from the wall when the slide is retracted. Not intended to rain on anyone's parade

Yes, my table does the same motion. Thanks for reminding / letting everyone know this. With my mod, you must break-down the table for travel (as we normally do).FYI, my mod does Not make the table a perminate mount, it's still easily removable by just lifting the front and then the rear off of the rail.


Thanks,
Dave...

[havnfun]

Great mod. Thanks Aero Dave. Been trying to figure out that wobbly table solution and you just provided it for us. Headed to Lowes tomorrow to pick up the K-rail and 2 shelf brackets.

Happy RVing,
Jeff

[Aero_Dave]

Originally Posted by havnfun

Great mod. Thanks Aero Dave. Been trying to figure out that wobbly table solution and you just provided it for us. Headed to Lowes tomorrow to pick up the K-rail and 2 shelf brackets.

Happy RVing,
Jeff

Jeff, its an easy job for sure. The brackets already have 3 holes in the sides of them, you'll just need to drill a hole on the back side to get a screw into them. I angled-drilled the holes as the screws kind of need to go in at an angle though the holes already in the sides. Then after you cut the rail to the length you want, you can snap the rail onto the brackets before dry-fitting the table into place. Makes marking the wall with a pencil easy to do, before mounting the rail onto the wall. I used 1 1/4" screws for the rail. There isn't much wall thickness for the screws to grab onto. But since all of the weight is straight down, I think the 8 screws I used should hold ok.



Rail snapped into place to dry-fit the table.


Dave...

[BJR]

Originally Posted by Force

Great solution! And one less table leg to bump your feet on under the table.

Agreed!

Better patent your solution before the manufacturers start doing it, too.

[Aero_Dave]

Originally Posted by BJR

Agreed!

Better patent your solution before the manufacturers start doing it, too.

Nah, I think they won't use it because as a precious poster noted, you can't leave the table connected like this and bring the slide in. So you Must take the table down before opening or closing the slide.
But this mod gives me what I need, so I like it.

I just had a new thought. You might be able to leave the table mounted if the bottom of the leg had a wheel instead of being mounted into a whole. The wheel only really needs to move / roll front to back of the table, not any side movement. So the wheel could be a fixed type and not a swivel one. Then the table could move as the slide floor goes up & down during movement. The wheel won't hurt the table when using it for eating because the rear of the table is mounted into the rail.Something I'll have to explore further.



Dave...

[troutslayer]

Dave, what I ended up doing was leaving both legs attached to the table then, attached a 2X2 horizontally to the wall just under the table edge (at the wall). This gives some support but allows the table top to slide in and out. Not the best solution but if there's a better one, "I'm all ears"!

[Aero_Dave]

My head in spinning as I think adding a wheel on the bottom of the front leg will work. I will just remove the floor leg bracket and try it. If it doesn't work ( but hopefully doesn't pull the bracket out of the wall) I will just leave it as is. Like I said, we normally break the table down before travel but it would be great to be able to leave it up. We never used it as a bed anyways and probably won't

Dave...

[BJR]

Originally Posted by Aero_Dave

My head in spinning as I think adding a wheel on the bottom of the front leg will work. I will just remove the floor leg bracket and try it. If it doesn't work ( but hopefully doesn't pull the bracket out of the wall) I will just leave it as is. Like I said, we normally break the table down before travel but it would be great to be able to leave it up. We never used it as a bed anyways and probably won't

Dave...

I was thinking channels for the grey brackets to allow them to slide in and out from the table but retain your lateral stability. The wheel works, too, but then I'm thinking a similar captured greased track at the top of that front leg. I'm sure the problem can be solved.

To be honest, if you take the sway out of the table and nail down the slide issue I see no reason to break the table down for transport.

[Aero_Dave]

Originally Posted by BJR

I was thinking channels for the grey brackets to allow them to slide in and out from the table but retain your lateral stability. The wheel works, too, but then I'm thinking a similar captured greased track at the top of that front leg. I'm sure the problem can be solved.

To be honest, if you take the sway out of the table and nail down the slide issue I see no reason to break the table down for transport.

I don't see how this would work, since the front of the table would be fixed to the floor by the front leg. If someone with a 29.5 could shoot a quick Vid of how the table at the wall, reacts during the slide coming in & out, that would help. I can no longer do that myself now.

Thanks,
Dave...

[havnfun]

Originally Posted by Aero_Dave

Jeff, its an easy job for sure. The brackets already have 3 holes in the sides of them, you'll just need to drill a hole on the back side to get a screw into them. I angled-drilled the holes as the screws kind of need to go in at an angle though the holes already in the sides. Then after you cut the rail to the length you want, you can snap the rail onto the brackets before dry-fitting the table into place. Makes marking the wall with a pencil easy to do, before mounting the rail onto the wall. I used 1 1/4" screws for the rail. There isn't much wall thickness for the screws to grab onto. But since all of the weight is straight down, I think the 8 screws I used should hold ok.



Rail snapped into place to dry-fit the table.


Dave...

Dave- Thanks for the additional installation tips...very helpful. I stopped by Lowes today and got the parts. Now need some time to hook it up. Like you said it's relatively easy but now I'm concerned. As I read the replies, the sinking floor issue concerns me. I don't think my slide floor drops like you and Troutslayer mentioned, but I better check that before I get started.

Good luck on yours, figuring out how to leave the table up without pulling the bracket out off the wall. I really want to leave it up when we travel and we also never use the dinette as a bed anyway.

Happy RVing,
Jeff

[Aero_Dave]

Originally Posted by havnfun

Dave- Thanks for the additional installation tips...very helpful. I stopped by Lowes today and got the parts. Now need some time to hook it up. Like you said it's relatively easy but now I'm concerned. As I read the replies, the sinking floor issue concerns me. I don't think my slide floor drops like you and Troutslayer mentioned, but I better check that before I get started.

Good luck on yours, figuring out how to leave the table up without pulling the bracket out off the wall. I really want to leave it up when we travel and we also never use the dinette as a bed anyway.

Happy RVing,
Jeff

Jeff, not every mod works for everyone. But like I said, we always break the table down before travel. The main reason is, if we ever want to get anything from inside the camper while traveling, its way easier. You can just sit on the flat platform, swing your legs around and get into the fridge and cupboards if needed. If the table is up, there is no room to get around it.
Good luck with your mod.

Dave...

[havnfun]

Aero_Dave ---
Wow, wow, wow!!! I gotta tell you that you gave me the best mod I have ever done to my TT. I installed the wall bracket like you said and my dinette table is rock solid. It's just about as solid as my dining room table in the house. That darn wobbly table was driving me nuts! Thanks again for all the pics and instructions.

I was able to locate 2 wall studs and fastened six #8, 1-1/4" wood screws thru the bracket and into the 2 studs (3 each). Also deleted the back leg and moved the front leg forward as needed. Worked like a charm.

Next time you come up with some good mods as you shop Lowes, please let us all know. This one is a winner.

Happy RVing,
Jeff

[Tunce the traveler]

Great idea for almost everyone and I nominate it for " Mod of the year award ".

[havnfun]

Tunce-
You are correct, it's the best for sure!!
Happy RVing,
Jeff