Grandby Shell Build

[BSMSbuddy]

great work!

Thanks, Vic! I've been looking at your Grandby build and am rethinking my benches idea. How do you like your Bonvivo chair system? Specifically, how well does it work with the flip-up seat where there is no back support for the chair? Does the person sitting there actually get to lean back or are they doing a partial sit-up the whole time?

 

[Vic Harder]

Thanks, Vic! I've been looking at your Grandby build and am rethinking my benches idea. How do you like your Bonvivo chair system? Specifically, how well does it work with the flip-up seat where there is no back support for the chair? Does the person sitting there actually get to lean back or are they doing a partial sit-up the whole time?

The chairs are great! We typically use them at 1-click from fully upright. The flip up brackets DO need those extra supports I made out of C-channel, or they will bend. Maybe because I wiggle too much? But with those brackets on, the seats still flip down to almost fully closed, and we love the "hall" space.

 

[BSMSbuddy]

The silver lining of quarantining so I can see my older parents for the holidays is that it gives me a weekend to keep working on the camper. I laminated and edge-banded the drawer faces and am now just waiting on a couple of latches. Originally I was going to use slam latches here, but these won't work well with the soft close drawer slides that I ended up going with. In hindsight, this should have been obvious.

I also installed the sink and instrument cluster to the cabinet. I'll probably wait until the spring to install any plumbing though.

Last on the kitchen side, I added a flip-up extension to the counter top. I'm really happy with how this went in. I made a jig to make sure that the counters were flush and snug when in the up position. The rubber edge band was perfect for a tight fit that doesn't allow the extension to wiggle when up. The down position allows for someone to sleep on the bench or for extra storage.

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

Very nice, clean work!

 

[BSMSbuddy]

As with all things, there's been a slight change in the design. And since I have nothing better to do this Saturday night, I thought I'd share. I've decided to raise the floor instead of dropping the bench in order to make a comfortable height for sitting. in hindsight, I'm not really sure why I was thinking of dropping the benches at all. Making a platform for the floor will create some nice storage and will be straightforward to build. The gap on the driver's side floor is for a few water jugs to slide, which will eventually be hooked up to a pump.

I've also installed the Lagun table and table top. I'm waiting for some edge band to come in to finish it. (For what it's worth, I'm going with a much thicker "bumper" style band for the table.) Another benefit of raising the floor is that now the table height is now also the counter height. This way the table can also serve as additional counter top space when cooking inside.

 

[OregonIan]

Hey Brian!

Your build looks great. I bought a 2000 Hawk shell about a month ago, gutted it, and am now figuring out how I want to design it. Some similarities to your situation and needs, wanting it to be flexible for multiple activities and differing amounts of people.

I'm super interested in the specifics of your bench, and how it converts to flip out to a bed. Any chance you could describe it in more detail, with pics? A couple of my questions are...

• how did you install the black edges they rest on? (when the bench is not flipped out to sleep, it is two boards tall, so I wasn't sure if that height makes the bench higher than the carpeted sides of the camper?)
• do the boards just rest on the edges, or are they secured in any way?
• what are the notches out of the ends for?
• so you used a piano hinge to attach them to each other?
• any other advice?

Thanks in advance! Ian

 

[longhorn1]

Very Nice. Outstanding build. I wish I had that type of skill. Ended up buying a fully loaded Grandby FD in 2014. Love the color choice. Well done.[emoji106][emoji106]

 

[Vic Harder]

Brian, how did you handle bracing the Lagun Table mount? I though-bolted mine to the outside of the camper to get enough strength.

 

[BSMSbuddy]

Hey Brian!

Your build looks great. I bought a 2000 Hawk shell about a month ago, gutted it, and am now figuring out how I want to design it. Some similarities to your situation and needs, wanting it to be flexible for multiple activities and differing amounts of people.

I'm super interested in the specifics of your bench, and how it converts to flip out to a bed. Any chance you could describe it in more detail, with pics? A couple of my questions are...

• how did you install the black edges they rest on? (when the bench is not flipped out to sleep, it is two boards tall, so I wasn't sure if that height makes the bench higher than the carpeted sides of the camper?)
• do the boards just rest on the edges, or are they secured in any way?
• what are the notches out of the ends for?
• so you used a piano hinge to attach them to each other?
• any other advice?

Thanks in advance! Ian

Hey Ian,

Thanks for the questions! I figure I'll answer your questions by telling you what I did, then I'll tell you what I'm going to do when I eventually rebuild it. After all, better is the enemy of good enough. Your first three questions are all related. The black rails that the bench rests on are doubled up 3/4" plywood bolted to the side. The 4" notches are there so that the bench top is flush with the carpeted sides no matter if the bench is folded close for a seat or open for a bed. The tabs are only on one half of plywood bench so that those get recessed when folded closed. This has the added benefit of securing the plywood when folded as a seat. The bench is not attached in any way other than just resting on the side rails and is only attached to each other with the piano hinge.

When I thought of this, I only had two functions in mind: 1) the long, simple bench and 2) an extra bed. It was only after that I realized it worked as a love seat, which is considerably more comfortable. This week, I've actually been on the road and using this as an office, which works well with the Lagun table The cushions I'm using for now are just the 16" extensions used for the pull out bed. At some point I'll make the cushions to fill out the space in the bed.


Simple Bench:

Bed:

Love seat:

Movie Theater??

Alright, now for what I'll do next time. I've found that there's really no need for the long, simple bench and that I'm either going to use this as a bed or a love seat. I also don't think the notch system is necessary then since it was only there to keep the height uniform when functioning as a bench. I've also found that to switch between the bed and love seat, I have to pull up the whole plywood bench and flip it like a giant wheel of pizza dough, which can be annoying when the camper is full. Therefore, I've dreamt up the following. I want to keep the same piano hinged boards but without the notches. I also want to permanently mount them on sliding rails on the sides that lock in place. Something like this. This way I can switch between the two modes pretty quickly without having to flip stuff around. I think I will also add some sort of metal frame across the rails to give a bit more support when sitting. The bench will support two people sitting on it, but there is a bit of sag in the plywood that will just get worse over time.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Brian

 

[BSMSbuddy]

Brian, how did you handle bracing the Lagun Table mount? I though-bolted mine to the outside of the camper to get enough strength.

Hey Vic,

I remember reading that in one of your posts about your seats. So far I haven't added additional support for the table, but am keeping an eye on it. The table load should be considerably less than the seat load? If I do have to shore up the board it's attached to, it'll be a little bit more difficult to do it your way as I don't have jacks to lift the camper so can't access the outside as easily. Thus I'd try to do it from inside the camper. My thought would be to either use pieces of 1-by_ with pocket holes inserted into the compartment that the table is mounted to. As I type this, I realize that this is pretty easy and should just do it even if it ends up being a bit of "belt and suspenders." I'll keep you posted.

Brian

 

[BSMSbuddy]

Very Nice. Outstanding build. I wish I had that type of skill. Ended up buying a fully loaded Grandby FD in 2014. Love the color choice. Well done.[emoji106][emoji106]

Thanks! A lot of the skills have been newly developed. I've done a fair bit of rough carpentry over the years but cabinets are totally new to me. There's been a lot of YouTube tutorials. It's been a fun project, but I definitely vacillate between wanting to work on it and just wanting to use it for the reasons I bought it.

 

[OregonIan]

Hey Brian!

Your build looks great. I bought a 2000 Hawk shell about a month ago, gutted it, and am now figuring out how I want to design it. Some similarities to your situation and needs, wanting it to be flexible for multiple activities and differing amounts of people.

I'm super interested in the specifics of your bench, and how it converts to flip out to a bed. Any chance you could describe it in more detail, with pics? A couple of my questions are...

• how did you install the black edges they rest on? (when the bench is not flipped out to sleep, it is two boards tall, so I wasn't sure if that height makes the bench higher than the carpeted sides of the camper?)
• do the boards just rest on the edges, or are they secured in any way?
• what are the notches out of the ends for?
• so you used a piano hinge to attach them to each other?
• any other advice?

Thanks in advance! Ian

Hey Ian,

Thanks for the questions! I figure I'll answer your questions by telling you what I did, then I'll tell you what I'm going to do when I eventually rebuild it. After all, better is the enemy of good enough. Your first three questions are all related. The black rails that the bench rests on are doubled up 3/4" plywood bolted to the side. The 4" notches are there so that the bench top is flush with the carpeted sides no matter if the bench is folded close for a seat or open for a bed. The tabs are only on one half of plywood bench so that those get recessed when folded closed. This has the added benefit of securing the plywood when folded as a seat. The bench is not attached in any way other than just resting on the side rails and is only attached to each other with the piano hinge.




When I thought of this, I only had two functions in mind: 1) the long, simple bench and 2) an extra bed. It was only after that I realized it worked as a love seat, which is considerably more comfortable. This week, I've actually been on the road and using this as an office, which works well with the Lagun table The cushions I'm using for now are just the 16" extensions used for the pull out bed. At some point I'll make the cushions to fill out the space in the bed.


Simple Bench:

Bed:


Love seat:

Movie Theater??



Alright, now for what I'll do next time. I've found that there's really no need for the long, simple bench and that I'm either going to use this as a bed or a love seat. I also don't think the notch system is necessary then since it was only there to keep the height uniform when functioning as a bench. I've also found that to switch between the bed and love seat, I have to pull up the whole plywood bench and flip it like a giant wheel of pizza dough, which can be annoying when the camper is full. Therefore, I've dreamt up the following. I want to keep the same piano hinged boards but without the notches. I also want to permanently mount them on sliding rails on the sides that lock in place. Something like this. This way I can switch between the two modes pretty quickly without having to flip stuff around. I think I will also add some sort of metal frame across the rails to give a bit more support when sitting. The bench will support two people sitting on it, but there is a bit of sag in the plywood that will just get worse over time.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Brian



Hey Brian,

Thank you! The explanation and pics were incredibly helpful. The notch idea is brilliantly simple I really like the sliding benches idea you're looking at incorporating, but I'm wanting to be able to pull the bench entirely out if I want to store 2-3 mountain bikes inside, so I may just copy your current setup. I hadn't thought about the love seat potential with the piano hinge attached bench section, so that's a bonus.

I'll post pics when I finish, hopefully in the next few weeks.

Much appreciated, Ian