My butt went through the seat

[Junkers12]

We are new to tt and we picked up our 2014 184 bh Baja edition trailer this past Saturday and we were putting our camping stuff in the trailer. I went to sit down and I heard a loud crack and my right side went down. I lifted the seat cushion and found a piece of 1/8" plywood as my bench top. I decided a quick trip to the local Home Depot was in order. I picked up two 4 x 8 by 3/8" thick sheets of plywood for around 34 bucks. They even cut them for free, a nice surprise. I went home and drilled some thumb holes and pulled all of the cushions and replaced the thin sheets of plywood. What a difference the benches now feel more sturdy. My oldest boy who is only 5 put his knee through the wood on the top bunk.
I think the quality of this trailer is still better than some of the TT of the similar size from other manufactures. The cabinets have real wood doors. My trailer was a bit more money but the investment is a good one. Jaycos are screwed together as compared to staples and nails. We went to an RV show this weekend and had a look around and seen some nice trailers though.

[Locky66]

That's what I figured I would do when it happens.

[Threebutchers]

Good job - at least one similar complaint has been noted on here previously. We've not had issues with our 154BH....

BTW - If the plywood you purchased is not a luan or tight grained birch - you might want to seal it on all sides to keep it nice and straight.

[Redhorse 823]

Something I need to keep an eye on...
Thanks for sharing

[bigbird]

Really, 1/8' plywood for a seat board. That's amazing, mine is 3/8 I believe (in storage) and I still put an added crossmember in to support the cushion. What were they thinking? Cost, certainly not weight factor. lol

[Ladywendolyn]

Thats really dangerous.. yikes… we had an accident in our old trailer (not a jayco) the first time we went to use the table bed I went to climb on it and it collapsed onto the floor. The braces that hold the table in place as a bed we only screwed into the particle board with no wood backing. The wood backing was there..lower down, and I guess someone glued it too low and the person who installed the braces never looked.. just screwed the braces into the normal spot. When it happened I remember thinking.. oh my.. what if this had been an elderly person. I was pretty bruised.. they would have had a broken hip.. ever since then I take nothing for granted when it comes tot he trailer.. I double check!

[Tex1961]

Same thing here.. I have yet to replace the 1/8" plywood but it is on my short list to do before our next spring outing. I hate having to pull or lift the entire panel out when I need access so I plan on going with something closer to 1/2 thick and cutting them in half. This way I only have to pull half of the panel out instead of the whole sheet. I am also rolling around in my head a thought to just cut out the side of the bench and put a small door over it. Install a slide tray and be able to just open the little door and slide everything out instead of having to pull everything up.

[Crabman]

IMO 1/8" is just too thin for seats or bunks. The plywood under the seat and beds on my Jflight is 15/32" or just under 1/2". The bunks are rated to 300lbs and I`ve had no issues with either. But the Jayflight is not considered a "liteweight" unit. Sometimes when striving to keep weights down on these lite weight units I think these problems can arise, such as the use of the previously mentioned 1/8" seat bottoms and them breaking.

[bigbird]

Originally Posted by bigbird

Really, 1/8' plywood for a seat board. That's amazing, mine is 3/8 I believe (in storage) and I still put an added crossmember in to support the cushion. What were they thinking? Cost, certainly not weight factor. lol

I was thinking that after making this comment someone might say that these boards are in fact more then 1/8" thick or at least that the bunks were. Now I'm truly amazed. lol

[xkuzme1]

I also have a 184BH. We are in our second year of using our camper and we have not had any issues with the 1/8 inch plywood. I will probably consider putting half inch in at some point in time... Especially under the bottom bunk and couch.

X

[BlueHaul]

Originally Posted by Ladywendolyn

ever since then I take nothing for granted when it comes tot he trailer.. I double check!

This friend speaks my mind! I've come to the conclusion that at some point I'll have to upgrade or beef up just about everything that's in my trailer!