Tri-fold sofa in Transcend Xplor

[Hiking Girl]

Hello Everyone!

I am new to this forum.
My husband and I did our final walkthrough of our new Transcend Xplor 240ML. While doing so, we noticed that the tri-fold sofa does not open flat! The salesman said, "None of the tri-fold sofas in ANY brand TT open flat. You could buy a foam pad for it." That's a weird response. I later noticed that when the sofa is pulled out, the support legs aren't flush with the floor! They legs are u-shaped. Only the front of the "U" has contact with the floor! THAT can't be right!

Unfortunately, we had already done the closing before I noticed the legs.

We are scheduled for our demo and pick-up in two weeks. I have been in touch with the salesman expressing my concern with the sofa. He has told me twice he's not sure what can be done about the sofa, "but, we'll see." Whatttt???

I'm looking for some feedback on this matter.

(1) Does anyone else have a tri-fold sofa that doesn't lay out flat when opened?

(2) We chose NOT to upgrade the tri-fold to theater seats when ordering because we wanted a place for another couple to sleep. Our friends camp with us a few times a year. But honestly, I wouldn't have them sleep on that sofa as it is now. I'm thinking an air mattress in the kitchen area is a better solution. If this is the route we'll seek, does anyone know what my chances are of asking the dealer to install theater seating since the tri-fold is useless/unacceptable?

(3) If we choose to install theater seating, I'm wondering if they will charge us more than what the original upgrade would have been if we had done it at the time of ordering our camper.

I'm SO bummed about this. I already don't love this camper and we haven't even taken delivery yet!

Thank you!
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

~ Kathy

[geotex1]

That trifold sits up in a slide room correct? You will need to make some shims to support the center and front leg at the same height of the slide floor. Most folks use some lumber covered with carpet that can be stowed in the couch base before folding the mattress.

If you change to theater seats, you will pay more for them after the fact with likely little to no credit for the sleeper. You would do better buying the the theater seats yourself and selling the sleeper on the forum, Facebook, etc.

[Hiking Girl]

Thanks so much for your timely and thorough response goetext1! I figured as much regarding the upgrade. I just wanted to hear it from someone else!

Yes! The trifold sits in the slide-out. Naturally, that would make it uneven with the rest of the floor of the camper. I didn't even think of that.

After reading your response and doing a little more research, I am hoping that we can adjust and/or perform some hack on the legs of the sofa and then use shims.
Nonetheless, I am disappointed that I found threads from 3-4 years ago complaining about this issue and frustrated that a manufacturer appears to not care that this is an issue for their customers. I thought GD was a solid brand and a good choice. They shouldn't be advertising the sofa as additional sleep space, IMHO. Maybe they should put an asterisk next to the tri-fold in their brochure and note, "sofa doesn't open to a level position, customer repair required for proper use." Doesn't making modifications to anything void a warranty???

So, it looks like I have to settle with what I've got. Thank you again for your input.

~ Kathy

[NB Canada]

Grand Design didn’t make the furniture
Unsure what they could do?

Like the salesman said it is the same in every trailer
They all buy the furniture from basically the same place


2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew

[Hiking Girl]

Thank you NB Canada!
I appreciate your response.

What could GD do? Maybe use another sofa? Be transparent about the "issue"? I don't know. Maybe I'm just too old school with too much faith in people's integrity.

I wouldn't be a good sales person that's for sure!

[geotex1]

It's not as straightforward of reason as compared to the level of frustration... Do know, however, very few brands have furniture designed to their units. Mass production units use generic furniture.

To give you our perspective, we don't even look at the furniture in a unit anymore. After so many campers, it's not a factor over floorplan, storage, finish colors, etc. We find RV furniture too uncomfortable/too small-scale (I'm 6'-5"). We have replaced our RV furniture for residential for many campers now. For instance, our Solitude has residential, real leather theater seats (had them in our last unit too), a residential European design sleeper sofa that I can lay on comfortably as a sofa (took awhile to find one of the right depth to clear the slides), and I built a pub table and we bought comfortable padded stools. My long point is that you might find a solution out there that works better for you all the way around, and in the meantime a little ingenuity gets it functional to tie-over.

[huntindog]

I have no idea what this sofa looks like.
But I think I would look towards a solution that modifies the legs to the proper length rather than shiming them with lumber etc.
The lumber idea, easy as it is would get old for me in a hurry.

[geotex1]

I have no idea what this sofa looks like.
But I think I would look towards a solution that modifies the legs to the proper length rather than shiming them with lumber etc.
The lumber idea, easy as it is would get old for me in a hurry.

Not to easy to do because there generally isn't room to fold extended legs with the way these fold and stow. That's why they're usually shimmed. It is possible to customize the legs to make them adjustable with push button releases- I did this once for friends. However, if you're not handy with tools and have the right tools, it's going to a conversion that is expensive.

[huntindog]

Not to easy to do because there generally isn't room to fold extended legs with the way these fold and stow. That's why they're usually shimmed. It is possible to customize the legs to make them adjustable with push button releases- I did this once for friends. However, if you're not handy with tools and have the right tools, it's going to a conversion that is expensive.

I often forget.
that many don't have handyman skills.. I can do most anything. I have welders, grinders saws.. I have actually made tools after looking at what was available for sale.

[geotex1]

I often forget.
that many don't have handyman skills.. I can do most anything. I have welders, grinders saws.. I have actually made tools after looking at what was available for sale.

Lol! I'm with you. I've got a fully functioning, but ancient 3-axis machine in the basement that gets plenty of use!