Any idea what these seats are called? 1984 Xplorer 228

Joeman200

New Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2021
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Location
South Carolina
Hello,

I have recently purchased a gutted 1984 Xplorer 228. It originally came with a dinette of which the seats could face each other, make a bed, or both face forward "bus style". I'm bran new to RVs, but I can't for the life of me find these seats or type of seats. I've searched dinettes, bus seats, jackknife seats, futons, captains chairs, van seats, etc... but I can't find these.

Any help finding what these seats are called would be greatly appreciated!

For reference I have attached an image and copy form the manual.
 

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Have no idea. We have an 1987 Xplorer and have pretty much gutted it. We removed those seats and replacing it with a bench seat that can make into a bed. Free's up a lot of room.
 
Welcome to the forun Joeman200!

This forum is being overrun with Xplorers. But in a good way.
 
Oops... I missed the word "gutted." I'm thinking these types of seats are no longer being made due to crash safety standards. Unless you can find a salvage from another Xplorer, you'll probably have to punt.
 
I think they are simply called benches. They are pretty common in cabin cruisers. Maybe you can search the boat dealers and see if they can get some or have an upholsterer up build them for you
 
Ok, thank you for the replies! I also had a hunch that they are no longer made because of safety issues (headrests and all). Because of this, I'm leaning more towards finding a jackknife sofa/futon to put in it's place and have passengers sit sideways. I suppose the safest thing would be a dinette setup with passengers only allowed in the left dinette and no one allowed in the right.
 
In your google search you might have also seen some conversions from dinette booths to captains or bucket chairs. If you only use the dinette for 2 people then one or both of the benches could be converted to captains, allowing you to swivel the chairs forward, to maintain safety standards, add seatbelts, etc. However, you would lose the ability to convert to a double bed, if you need that so there are actually two downsides (less capacity both eating and sleeping).
 
Joe

We have a 1995 xplorer on a Dodge 3500 frame. Drivers area has 2 swivel high back seats. Instead of dinette it has a jack knife sofa. All the way in back is our double bed. I have the original sales brochure showing all the other modles and configurations. Wish I knew how to post it. I found 2 new front seats on line. Had to use original swivel mounts and made adapter plate to bolt to seats.
 
I suggest going with a folding bench seat. My 230 XLW is configured that way from the factory and I just love it. Unfolded it will seat three passengers (factory set up with three sets of seatbelts). I don't know how much fore-aft room your model has, but by moving the driver's seat a few inches forward it makes a very comfortable single, even for me at 6'2" tall. A big additional bonus is a giant storage area under the couch. I mounted my TV on the forward bulkhead of the bathroom, which not only gives a nice viewing angle from the pivoted passenger seat, but by angling the driver's seatback forward, it provides a recliner-like seating position for reading, watching the tube, etc. And finally, if you are travelling with someone you would rather not share a bed with, it gives you a comfortable option of two beds, something that not too many Class B's offer.
 
Ok, ... I'm leaning more towards finding a jackknife sofa/futon to put in it's place and have passengers sit sideways. I suppose the safest thing would be a dinette setup with passengers only allowed in the left dinette and no one allowed in the right.

I have the standard double bench set that both that face a table, that also converts into a bed. But it's not comfortable turning 90 degrees to watch TV or chat with anyone in the gallery, so I'm working on a plan to modify my existing seats.

I'm going to cut them in half. Make one half of lower cabinet into a removable hassack, and the other part into a permanent bench, but the cushion set on that part will work two ways, facing the table or the aisle.

Then hopefully I get the best of both worlds... or maybe three. TV mode, dinette mode, and a bed when it's all flat.

It won't be the best mattress with all those extra seams, but class Bs have been doing that for years.
 
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