Storing dinette table in 1966 8' NCO

[Denver Alaskan]

I am ready to reintroduce the factory dinette table into my 1966 8 foot Non-Cab Over (NCO) Alaskan camper. Here is the dinette table in dining position:



When I had that area converted into a bed, the bottom seat cushions (with their plywood bottoms) were pulled together and rested on 3 slats that bridged the open area underneath those seat cushions. Here are the slats installed:



When that area is converted into a bed, the dinette table will have to be stored somewhere. I hoped to lower it and have it rest between the two seat bases on either side, but the table is narrower than the two wood strips on either side that the slats rested on and it falls between them, as seen here:



My first question is: why didn't Alaskan make the dinette table wide enough to rest on the two wood strips on either side of the open floor area? Were they worried a large guy might sit on the bed and break the supporting dinette table in half?

Most campers are built so the dinette table can be lowered to rest on the seat bases and bridge the open floor area while supporting the cushion bed.

There are two ways to solve my problem. First, I could remove to two thin wood strips from the seat bases and replace them with wider ones that extend far enough into the open foot area to support the table on both sides. By doing this I could eliminate the slats. This is a simple direct approach, assuming the table is thick enough to handle my 180 lb. weight when sitting on the bed.

Second, I could add wider wood strips below the existing thinner wood strips so the table could be stored on the wider strips. I would then then place the slats on the thinner wood upper strips just above the top of the table so only the slats would support the bottom cushions for a bed. This more involved approach would duplicate the pre-table set up of only the slats supporting the bottom cushions while providing for table storage just underneath the slats.

My concern is understanding why Alaskan avoided the first direct approach back in 1966? Any ideas why?

Finally, does anyone have a better storage solution for the dinette table when that area is converted into a bed?

 

[huskyrunnr]

Mine is ‘65 or thereabouts, the table latches onto the roof, straight above. But you have a light there. Interesting they didn’t take care of storage in yours. I’d go for replacing the bed rails with your table rather than delete the nice ceiling light you have.

 

[thisoldcamper]

On my 1956 Shasta I have to use slats between the benches to support the cushions and lay the table on the floor. The narrower table on mine allows easier access to the bench on the road side. I can't figure why yours would have been made just slightly too narrow.

The table fits just right between the benches on my 1978 Alaskan 8'NCO so I don't need slats on it and I haven't broken the table yet.

 

[Denver Alaskan]

Given thisoldcamper’s assurance he has not yet broken his suspended table, I followed huskyrunnr’s suggestion to replace the 3 cross-ways slats that supported my bed with my dinette table and store it at the top of the foot well.

The original too-narrow longitudinal rails were 1” tall and ¾” wide. They rested on top of the panels beneath them and were held in place by 2” finishing nails. Because the full width slats also rested on top of the panels, the 2” finishing nails were sufficient to keep the rails in place.



The new longitudinal rails I made are each 1-½” wide to accommodate the narrower table. But the table rests on the inside edges of the new rails away from the panels, and wants to bend the inner rail edges lower and pull out the 2” finishing nails I used to attach the rails to the seat boxes. So to provide additional support for the new rails, I installed two ¾” x ¾” x 2-½” shelf brackets under each rail, one near the front and the other midway along the rail. With these brackets, the wider new rails adequately support the table.

The new rails are only ¾” tall, not 1” tall like the original rails, so the table sits ¼” lower on the new rails than the slats did on the old rails. This keeps the top of the table off the plywood bottoms of the seat cushions.



But the table can still slide sideways in the new rails, and if it slides all the way to one side the other side of the table comes off the inner edge of the opposite rail. So I installed spacers along the panel edge of each rail to keep the table from sliding sideways. I used ½” x ¾” wood for these spacers, with a ½” depth on one side and a ¾” depth on the other side. Now the table can still be easily placed on and removed from the rails yet barely moves sideways when stored there.

I “C” clamped both the new rails and the spacers tight against the seat boxes before nailing them in place. To protect the new wood against my erratic hammer blows and marks from the drift used to drive the finishing nails, I temporarily placed a ½” x ½” angle iron on their top edges during nailing.

 

[Denver Alaskan]

Because the table sits lower than the old slats, I placed the widest old slat flush against the round end of the table prevent the table from sliding forward and back. I also added 1/4" pieces of wood under each end of the slat to raise it higher than the table so it supports all the weight of the plywood seat cushion bottoms. To keep the slat in place, I drilled two holes through it and the ends of the new rails and placed common nails in each hole. The sharp ends of the nails have been ground off, and half an inch of each nail extends below the bottom of the new rail so the nails can be pushed up and their heads grabbed for easy removal. When the slat is not being used, the nails remain in their respective holes, ready for the next bed making.



The far ends of the cushion bottoms rest on the cover above the water tank, which is also higher than the table, so both ends of the plywood cushion bottoms should always be above the table top. Nevertheless, I'll place a piece of old carpet on the marlite table top to protect it when the bed in in place.

Note how thoughtfully the hydraulic rams at the front of the Alaskan hold the rigid cushion bottoms up in their raised positions when they are pushed slightly forward behind the rams, providing easy access to the storage compartments underneath the seat cushions. If the bottom cushions did not have plywood bases this would not be possible. I love all the great features built into Alaskan campers!

This underneath view of the stored table shows the shelf brackets that support the wider new rails, along with the bottom of the nails that hold the slat in place. The table leg is held in its raised position by a cotter pin, which also holds it in its vertical position when the table is in use. There is plenty of storage space underneath the table when the dinette is made into a bed.



I'm very pleased with this dinette table storage solution, which engaged my brain and kept me awake a few nights as I was spinning various solutions around in my cranium. Its nice to have the table on board full time and at-the-ready to be raised and used for dining, computing and general plotting. I also got to rediscover the very solid construction of my 53-year-old 1966 Alaskan, which made this solution possible. More improvements are in store for 2019, and I'll cover them in later posts.

 

[PackRat]

My '76 Alaskan stores the table on the ceiling mounts. My old 1960s NCO 8' had the LIGHT over the table and no place to store the table. If my memory serves me correctly, it was used to support the cushions when the bed was made up. I recall thinking that the cushions were somewhat unsupported where the curve at each front corner was but it never seemed to cause me any problem.

So...here is a thought...if you can measure the width of the table, maybe if yours is not as WIDE as those tables like thisoldcamper has or other members who do not have the roof storage mounts, then this might be a consideration...

What if...the early tables were a bit WIDER to fit the mounting strips on each side and those tables for the later roof mount systems were not as wide to make it easier to access the seats with the table was set up?

I'm not able to check on my camper today to see what the width on the roof mount style is but perhaps a couple owners could measure the WIDTH of their tables and post the YEAR and let up know if they have a CO or NCO Alaskan and if it is a roof mount style.

 

[Denver Alaskan]

FWIW, the dinette table in my 1966 8' NCO is 26-1/2" wide. My Alaskan was built in Fort Lupton, Colorado, and has a light above the dinette instead of a roof storage mount.

 

[Keith in Co]

For several months I’ve been mulling over how to replace the Marlite countertops in my ‘60s Alaskan, probably with King StarBoard, unless someone can recommend something better. Also, I’ve never liked having my table lying on the floor under the bed, and using the strips of wood to support the cushions when in the bed configuration.
Reading this string it occurs to me that I could copy the tabletop in 5/8” or 3/4” plywood, but make it wide enough to span across to the seat bases. It is now 26.5” wide and it would need to be about 27.75”. This would eliminate the wood strips needed to hold up the bed, and also get my tabletop off the floor. Both the spring-loaded table leg and the front aluminum hanger strip could be reused from the old tabletop.
To make sure this table width will not be too wide for comfortable seating, I may make a mock-up top out of cardboard or scrap OSB and see how it fits.
Not sure what to do about the wedge shaped pieces on the bottom of the cushion panels, which I assume were intended to create a slight slope to the seats? Maybe just eliminate them and see if I notice any difference.
Your thoughts?