RT Zion side sofa vs rear elec sofa.

scroller · 10-25-2015, 04:15 PM

Are there any Zion owners on here,that can offer ideas re their storage on the side sofa vs electric across the back, just wondering where you store lawn chairs grill etc without either having them in the aisle or in a pod on the back bumper. It makes me think the cross the back sofa with under neath storage may be more practical. Although I do see benefits to the open aisle if you need to transport lengthy items. Just curious how you are handling these items.

Cheers,
Scroller.:

gerrym51 · 10-26-2015, 12:17 AM

i have the side sofa. i put 37 inch folding chairs standing up in the hanging coat closet.

we found a coleman stove that is 6 inches and fits the overhead compartment over the drivers.

we really like the side couch and the permanent bed side-which my wife uses and always keeps made up.

many times we also enter from the back.

however every thing you said is correct-with the side sofa you need to make some size allowances

booster · 10-26-2015, 12:24 AM

If they do the power sofa like they did on the Chevies, I wouldn't count on getting much storage under it. The supports were placed in places that made the horribly in the way, breaking up the already limited space. A low hanging crossbar also made is so you couldn't get anything past it, even though the rest of the area was higher.

scroller · 10-26-2015, 01:05 AM

Thanks for the response! In our prev 210 we were able to store two lawn chairs a Coleman stove. As well as a small gas bbq. Perhaps the under brackets were wider on that model than the reg chevy sofa! Just our experience in the past. We had the spare on the outside carrier. I have not seen the Zion with the spare except on video under the sofa. Not sure why they are not showing the continental kit.?

gerrym51 · 10-26-2015, 01:18 AM

Zion with engine generator has tire under the van

booster · 10-26-2015, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scroller

Thanks for the response! In our prev 210 we were able to store two lawn chairs a Coleman stove. As well as a small gas bbq. Perhaps the under brackets were wider on that model than the reg chevy sofa! Just our experience in the past. We had the spare on the outside carrier. I have not seen the Zion with the spare except on video under the sofa. Not sure why they are not showing the continental kit.?

The 210 may have had more room as it is wider. I just looked at some pix of new ones, and they appear to be a bit different than ours was, especially the center cross bar that on ours was actually offset down a couple of inches, and the new ones look flat across even with the bottom of the sofa. The lowered bar also had the awning parts velcroed on it, so they were also in the way, and the jack was right against the R/H support for the sofa, on the inside, right inside the door, so it was in the way and taking up 6-8 inches of the space between the support. On the models with no tire on the rear, the spare would just fit in, and the spare is about 31" diameter and 9" wide.

Hopefully, they have changed them since our 07, as they did get a bunch of complaints about them.

mumkin · 10-26-2015, 03:13 AM

Under my 170 sofa there might only be space for very small folding chairs. It is very restricted. We need to find someone with a across the rear sofa in a Zion so that they can measure for you.

scroller · 10-26-2015, 12:08 PM

Having the spare under the body would certainly be the optimum ,I prefer seeing the access to the rear doors freed up . Also much easier to clean ,it,s my understanding the one at the local dealer has the onan genny so that leaves out that option. Thanks for the feedback , scroller.

Jujupang · 10-26-2015, 05:26 PM

is there room under the rear elec sofa for a bag of golf clubs?

scroller · 10-28-2015, 07:20 PM

I have an appointment with the Dealer on Friday morning and will get some measurements of the storage area under the elec sofa for anyone interested and will post the results. I hope to also be able to go for a test drive at the same time .

scroller · 10-30-2015, 07:00 PM

My wife and I went this am to roadtest the 2016 Zion. Weather was clear with strong gusty winds, the demo unit we drove had some pros and cons. It handled well in the wind gusts and was very stable under these conditions. There seemed to be ample power and pickup , The visability was excellent from the cab as well as the rear sofa area. The cons and these could be because we are not familiar with the knobs on the seat. I found I was unable to adjust the seat back from a very upright position, also it would have been nice to have tilt on the steering and not just telescoping .The screen door had been damaged and was in-operable. Three of us including the salesman were unable to swivel the front seats nor were we able to locate any knob button or lever to release them.i believe the swivel base must be missing on this unit.also there did not seem to be a tv cable input receptacle. I measured the storage area beneath the sofa for anyone interested and it is as follows. 40in across between the supports 14in high and 27" deep. There is also an area on either side of the support brackets approx 16" wide by 27" deep. I think if we were ordering today I would opt for the underhood generator ,allowing to spare to go underneath. I would also love to have the option to have a pass thru that could be opened should the need arise to carry lengthy items. Overall we were impressed and when our home sells will likely order this unit.

Cheers,
Hope everyone has a great weekend.

scroller · 10-30-2015, 07:32 PM

My wife and I went this am to roadtest the 2016 Zion. Weather was clear with strong gusty winds, the demo unit we drove had some pros and cons. It handled well in the wind gusts and was very stable under these conditions. There seemed to be ample power and pickup , The visability was excellent from the cab as well as the rear sofa area. The cons and these could be because we are not familiar with the knobs on the seat. I found I was unable to adjust the seat back from a very upright position, also it would have been nice to have tilt on the steering and not just telescoping .The screen door had been damaged and was in-operable. Three of us including the salesman were unable to swivel the front seats nor were we able to locate any knob button or lever to release them.i believe the swivel base must be missing on this unit.also there did not seem to be a tv cable input receptacle. I measured the storage area beneath the sofa for anyone interested and it is as follows. 40in across between the supports 14in high and 27" deep. There is also an area on either side of the support brackets approx 16" wide by 27" deep. I think if we were ordering today I would opt for the underhood generator ,allowing to spare to go underneath. I would also love to have the option to have a pass thru that could be opened should the need arise to carry lengthy items. Overall we were impressed and when our home sells will likely order this unit.

Cheers,
Hope everyone has a great weekend.

wincrasher · 10-30-2015, 07:51 PM

The front corners of the seat bases are actually levers. On one side is the swivel, the other is the recline.

gerrym51 · 10-30-2015, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scroller

My wife and I went this am to roadtest the 2016 Zion. Weather was clear with strong gusty winds, the demo unit we drove had some pros and cons. It handled well in the wind gusts and was very stable under these conditions. There seemed to be ample power and pickup , The visability was excellent from the cab as well as the rear sofa area. The cons and these could be because we are not familiar with the knobs on the seat. I found I was unable to adjust the seat back from a very upright position, also it would have been nice to have tilt on the steering and not just telescoping .The screen door had been damaged and was in-operable. Three of us including the salesman were unable to swivel the front seats nor were we able to locate any knob button or lever to release them.i believe the swivel base must be missing on this unit.also there did not seem to be a tv cable input receptacle. I measured the storage area beneath the sofa for anyone interested and it is as follows. 40in across between the supports 14in high and 27" deep. There is also an area on either side of the support brackets approx 16" wide by 27" deep. I think if we were ordering today I would opt for the underhood generator ,allowing to spare to go underneath. I would also love to have the option to have a pass thru that could be opened should the need arise to carry lengthy items. Overall we were impressed and when our home sells will likely order this unit.

Cheers,
Hope everyone has a great weekend.

i have a zion both seats swivel. the the plastic corners of the seats in front of the seats-you pull up on them. one does swivel the other side does lean back-these are promaster options-they are not installed by roadtrek

there is no cable tv outside outlet-i had one installed free of charge because i complained before taking delivery.

scroller · 10-31-2015, 10:59 AM

Thanks Gerry and Wincrasher. I assume these corner buttons on the seats are noticeable and not hidden! Could one of you snap a pic and send it along for me to show the dealer . Also on checking out the ram pro master van they are now offering tilt as well as telescopic steering. Makes one wonder how long before they need to order new chassis for production and it will be available for us. Perhaps it could be an up fit?

Thanks Scroller.

scroller · 10-31-2015, 11:08 AM

Also I just noticed in the latest issue of Fmca magazine there is a write up about the Zion it was used for a trip to Alaska from Edmonton Alberta. A short read for those interested.

gerrym51 · 10-31-2015, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scroller

Thanks Gerry and Wincrasher. I assume these corner buttons on the seats are noticeable and not hidden! Could one of you snap a pic and send it along for me to show the dealer . Also on checking out the ram pro master van they are now offering tilt as well as telescopic steering. Makes one wonder how long before they need to order new chassis for production and it will be available for us. Perhaps it could be an up fit?

Thanks Scroller.

they are not buttons -they are rectangles of black plastic-you put your hands at bottom and pull

scroller · 11-02-2015, 04:44 PM

I passed the info on the seat swivel release to the salesman this morning and he replied he has found the release as you stated. Thanks for the info.

Cheers,scroller.

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