Tieing down chairs

jamess2345 · Jul 28, 2017

I am an owner of a 2008 Heartland Sundance 30 ft fifth wheel. For the first few trips I did not use the supplied tie downs for the chairs at the back of the RV. The RV comes with a strap attached to anchors in the floor to strap the chairs down. On one of my early trips the chair moved and when I ran the slide out it caught on the arm and damaged a trim piece on the slide. After that I started using the tie down. But now after a few trips I noticed that the back wall is separating from the side walls. I believe it is being cause because the recliners are tied down and against the wall. I think they may be acting as a force to move the back wall out. I had to remove the short 1 inch factory screws securing the back wall to the side wall and install 3 inch screws to draw it back in. Now that the wall is again fixed I am concerned how to tie down these recliners. I am thinking it may be good to not tie them down but to just let them ride and before I run the slide fully out to check for clearance so I do not again damage the slide trim or recliner.

Has anyone else had this problem and found a solution?

James

Mrsfish · Jul 28, 2017

I can only speak for myself - but we have always tied our chairs down. We pull them away from the wall, put them back to back, place a folded towel between the backs of the chairs and take the tie down over that whole set up. I have connected the 2 small tie downs into one big one and tie down both chairs as one unit. Nothing moves, nothing touches. Oh, and we put a small towel on the seat edge of the chairs where the tie down is crossing to prevent any rubbing.

jamess2345 · Jul 28, 2017

Mrsfish said:
I can only speak for myself - but we have always tied our chairs down. We pull them away from the wall, put them back to back, place a folded towel between the backs of the chairs and take the tie down over that whole set up. I have connected the 2 small tie downs into one big one and tie down both chairs as one unit. Nothing moves, nothing touches. Oh, and we put a small towel on the seat edge of the chairs where the tie down is crossing to prevent any rubbing.

Thank you for your input. I will try that on my trip home.

donr827 · Jul 29, 2017

Mrsfish said:
I can only speak for myself - but we have always tied our chairs down. We pull them away from the wall, put them back to back, place a folded towel between the backs of the chairs and take the tie down over that whole set up. I have connected the 2 small tie downs into one big one and tie down both chairs as one unit. Nothing moves, nothing touches. Oh, and we put a small towel on the seat edge of the chairs where the tie down is crossing to prevent any rubbing.

X2 same thing we did
Don

JohnD · Jul 29, 2017

I only used the tie downs once . . .

And that was the first drive home from the dealership.

Too much of a PITA to get to them.

I lay a 2x4 on the floor right behind the back feet of the recliners and that seems to keep them in the same spot while rollin'.

I am thinking about just screwing the 2x4 to the floor to be safe.

Sometimes I do find our recliners half reclined after going down a rough road . . .

jamess2345 · Jul 29, 2017

JohnD said:
I only used the tie downs once . . .

And that was the first drive home from the dealership.

Too much of a PITA to get to them.

I lay a 2x4 on the floor right behind the back feet of the recliners and that seems to keep them in the same spot while rollin'.

I am thinking about just screwing the 2x4 to the floor to be safe.

Sometimes I do find our recliners half reclined after going down a rough road . . .

Thank you, I think I am going to go back to not tieing them down. I will run the slides out slightly to get by them and check if the recliners have moved and then finish moving the slide out. We will see how that works on our 1000 mile trip back home.

Thanks everyone for your help and comments.

JohnD · Jul 29, 2017

Here is a shot of our recliners in the slide:

mlburst1 · Jul 30, 2017

James,

If you are installing 3" screws in the rear cap and they won't hold the wall in place, you may want to read through these two threads for the possible real cause of the problem:

https://heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/62353-Poor-Quality-Work-7-Years-Later

https://heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/61976-Hope-I-fixed-corner-leak-surprised-at-findings

Mike

jamess2345 · Jul 30, 2017

mlburst1 said:
James,

If you are installing 3" screws in the rear cap and they won't hold the wall in place, you may want to read through these two threads for the possible real cause of the problem:

https://heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/62353-Poor-Quality-Work-7-Years-Later

https://heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/61976-Hope-I-fixed-corner-leak-surprised-at-findings

Mike

Mike,

Thank you for your threads and pictures. I think I have a similar issue. While installing the 3 inch screws I found a number of areas where I could not get a good bite with the screw. Also in one area I was able to pull the aluminum siding away to look at the wood behind. Showed signs of rot. I think I have had some water damage causing my issue. I am returning home from a 5000 mile trip and have another 650 miles to get home. I checked and the last 250 miles we traveled today the back wall held with the 3 inch screws and moving the chairs away from the wall. I said I would not tie the chairs down because prior to this I was tieing the recliners down against the back wall assuming they were acting as a force to hammer the back wall out while on rough roads, only a guess. Before leaving this morning I did tie them down but I kept them away from all walls and tied them down. I made the 250 mile trip today on some very rough roads. When I arrived at our site tonight, everything remained in place and the rear wall is still where it should be. I am hoping this temporary fix will hold for the next 650 miles to get us home.

I really appreciate all the input and guidance.

James

jamess2345 · Jul 31, 2017

jamess2345 said:
Mike,

Thank you for your threads and pictures. I think I have a similar issue. While installing the 3 inch screws I found a number of areas where I could not get a good bite with the screw. Also in one area I was able to pull the aluminum siding away to look at the wood behind. Showed signs of rot. I think I have had some water damage causing my issue. I am returning home from a 5000 mile trip and have another 650 miles to get home. I checked and the last 250 miles we traveled today the back wall held with the 3 inch screws and moving the chairs away from the wall. I said I would not tie the chairs down because prior to this I was tieing the recliners down against the back wall assuming they were acting as a force to hammer the back wall out while on rough roads, only a guess. Before leaving this morning I did tie them down but I kept them away from all walls and tied them down. I made the 250 mile trip today on some very rough roads. When I arrived at our site tonight, everything remained in place and the rear wall is still where it should be. I am hoping this temporary fix will hold for the next 650 miles to get us home.

I really appreciate all the input and guidance.

James

We made it another day on our trip home. The back wall is still in the correct place. No longer being pounded outward. Strapping the recliners down away from the walls and tightening the walls down with 3 inch screws have held to this point. Only a couple more days of driving left and we will be some place where we can repair properly.

Thanks for all the comments and guidance.

James

jamess2345 · Aug 11, 2017

Well we made it the final 1000 miles to home. Chairs stayed in place and the wall stayed in place. Thanks for all the comments and help.

James

Tieing down chairs

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