How To Remove an RV Sleeper Sofa

Maybe you want to replace your sleeper sofa with one that is more comfortable. Maybe you would prefer to swap it in for a smaller bed, or something with more storage. Or perhaps you’re going for a full overhaul, and need to remove the sofa to access the floors. No matter what the time has come: you need to remove your RVs sleeper sofa.

To extract such a hefty piece of furniture from your RV may seem like a difficult task. However there are only a few steps needed to undergo this RV renovation. It will take some time, and some tools, but this seemingly daunting task is much easier to do than it looks.

First, take a look at every section of your RV sleeper sofa. Look at all sides, underneath and behind it. Take note of where it is fastened to the RV floor and to itself.

Next you will remove the bolts and the backrest, making it easier to take outside, and then you’ll remove the heel plate and the arms. Your RV sofa may be bolted down for safety, so you may need to remove these bolts before you get it outside.

How To Remove An RV Sleeper Sofa

Before you begin, there is some prep work you should need to keep in mind. Make sure you have a clear path through your RV to the door so that you can easily get the sofa out. Secondly, prepare a ratchet and socket set that is suitable for the hardware your RV sleeper sofa uses. Most of the time, you will need both a 14 mm and 13 mm socket. Be sure to measure your sofas bolts, since sofas could be different depending on your coach.

It might be a good idea to prepare a small container, or ziplock bag, to organize the hardware during and after removal. This could be helpful if you are intending to install another sleeper sofa in its place, or if you are going to be setting the same one in after undergoing maintenance such as reflooring.

Step One: Loosen The Bolts 

Fold the bed part of the sleeper sofa and lean the headrest forward. Lean it as forward as it will possibly go. Now that the bed is out of the way, loosen all of the bolts that attach it to the floor. You might need to climb directly into where the bed portion of the sofa is.

Be mindful of any exposed wires or coils that you might encounter as you attempt to remove this bed part. It could be easy to scratch yourself on these sharp metal bits, so move slowly and remain vigilant.

Some RV sleeper sofas are equipped with seat belts. They are an additional safety feature that may be necessary in some states. If yours has seat belts built in, remove them from the wall by loosening the hardware pieces. 

Step Two: Remove The Heel Plate 

Now that you have the bed portion of the sleeper sofa out of the way, you will need to look for the heel plate. These bolts will usually be 13mm, so have the socket of that size ready to go.

Some consider this to be the easiest part of the sleeper sofa to remove. If you think your sofa won’t fit out the door of your rv, it is best to start by removing the heel plate.

While the bed is still firmly within the sofa, look down along the inside. You should be looking between the front of the hidden bed and the heel plate that sits inches further out. Notice the four bolts here – two in each corner. If you aren’t sure if these are for the heel plate, look to see if these bolts are attached to it. They will be the only ones that are.

Remove all four bolts with your 13mm socket. Once these bolts are removed it should be easy to remove the heel plate.

Step Three: Remove The Arms 

Taking out the arms is going to be a bit trickier than removing the heel plate. Have the sofa as pulled out as you can get it while trying to remove the arms. Since every sofa is built differently, pay close attention to what each bolt here is attached to.

Because the metal frame of the bed is held together by bolts, you will see a lot of them at work here. Take a look between where the sofa is attached to the wood of the arms. You should be able to see which bolts are attached and which are not. Loosen and remove all of the bolts that connect to the wood of the arms. 

Your sofa will have between 6 and 8 bolts, spread evenly between both arms. Carefully remove all of these so that you can easily slide the arms away.

Step Four: Remove The Backrest 

Now that you have the heel plate and the arms removed, you are ready to remove the sleeper sofas backrest. There will be a series of nuts that are connected in place. Typically these will be behind the bed portion of the sleeper sofa. Remove the hardware pieces and store them in the container or Ziploc bag you set aside to keep track of all of your pieces. 

Once you have the wood pieces separated from the bed mechanism, you should be able to successfully remove the sofa from the RV.

All of the sofa pieces will be heavy, so it is best to lift from your knees and get help if you need it.

Final Thoughts on How to Remove an RV Sleeper Sofa

Removing your RV sleeper sofa is a fairly easy process that can be done in only a few hours. You simply need to loosen the bolts, remove the heel plate, and remove the arms. Once you are done you can remove the backrest and easily get the furniture out of your RVs front door. Now you are free to replace the sofa, upgrade the floors, or replace it with something entirely new.

However, not every RV or camper is the exact same, these steps will help you in most cases. The sleeper sofa we just removed from our RV was a bit different as it had the bed that pulled out, not tucked into the sofa. But, the steps were just about the same.

What to Replace and RV Sleeper Sofa With

Did you remove an RV Sleeper Sofa, and now are wondering, what to put in it’s place? Well, we removed ours because of a few reasons. One, the placement of the TV meant only one person could actually watch TV from the sofa, so it just wasn’t very convenient. Two, the sofa wasn’t super comfy to begin with. Three, nobody else ever stays with us so having a sleeper sofa didn’t make much sense for our style of RVing.

Here is what our RV Sleeper Sofa looked like.

My husband and I have Lazyboy recliners in our home, and that is our chair of choice. So, it only made sense to find the same chairs and put them in the RV. There are many rocker recliner chair options which is great as everyone has their color and style preference.

In our RV we have the recliners where the sleeper sofa used to be, while we are in transit. Then, when we are parked, the one recliner that sits closest to the driver seat gets pulled over in front of the kitchen sink area. That way, we can both kick back and watch TV from our recliners.

Here are some pictures after we removed the sleeper sofa and placed the recliners in the spot.

These two images show what the RV looks like with the recliners in place and the slide pulled in.

You can see how our RV is set up by watching my RV Walk Thru video.

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