DIY Rear Table Swivel Adapter/ Roadtrek Rear Table Modification

Getting in and out of the rear table has been a problem for us, there is barely enough room to move around it. You literally have to suck your guts in to squeeze through around the table. Moving the tabletop base further off-center is not an option for me as it will put too much strain on the tabletop, not to mention the modification needed for its storage. The tabletop also doubles a bed platform and cannot be modified or shortened.

My solution is to modify the table leg and adding a swiveling arm. The swivel arm will add 6-inches off-set of the tabletop from the center pole and allows the table to easily swivel out of the way if needed. It only needs few materials which are readily available at your local home improvement store but it does involve some metal welding/fabricating.

The rear table swing-away adapter.

Materials needed:

• Two= 1 ½ inch to 1/2 inch PVC reducer bushing
• About 6 inches long ½ inch metal pipe (I used black pipe)
• About 8.25 inches long 10-gauge or thicker rectangular steel tube
• Fast setting epoxy and paint of choice
• Hand-tightened screw-in bolt and nut (salvaged from a desk chair) 

I started by cutting the table leg about 54-mm. from the top. You need to make a perfect straight cut as you will need both pieces in this project. Before proceeding to cut the other pieces, make sure the ½ inch pipe will nicely fit in the PVC reducer bushing center hole, if not, this is the best time to sand it and make it fit.

Next is to cut two pieces of ½ inch tubing of the same length about 60-mm. long. Cut the rectangular steel tube to about 8.25 inches long and drill a ½ inch through hole on each end to accommodate the ½ inch pipe you have just cut. Weld the ½ inch pipes into the rectangular tubing in same fashion as pictured below. If you don’t have a welder, a muffler shop or metal fabrication shop can easily weld it for you for a minimal fee. You also need to weld a nut on the table leg for the hand tightened screw-in bolt. Fit both PVC reducer bushings inside the longer lower and shorter upper table leg ends, use quick setting epoxy to glue it in place. After assembly of fabricated parts, fast setting epoxy was used to fill-in the PVC reducer bushing 3-hollow chambers to give it more strength.

 After cleaning/grinding the weld joints.

The swivel arm is about 6-inches long from center to center of the pivot post, any longer and the tabletop will hit the bathroom sink cover (located under the wardrobe) when swiveling.



I welded a nut on the table leg for receiving the hand-tightened bolt; this secures the swivel arm to a desired position.

 After painting with Titanium Metallic Silver paint. All it needs now are plastic end caps for the hollow rectangular bar ends for an OEM look. A thin nylon washer is installed between the pivot arm and the lower table leg post to prevent binding and scuffing the paint.

 With the tabletop mounted.

Swiveled all the way to the passenger side.

UPDATE:

I’ve modified the table swivel arm design using a 1” x 1” solid aluminum square bar with no welding needed. 

Things and tools needed:

• 9.5 inch long 1” x 1” solid aluminum bar
• Two 3” long x 0.5” OD diameter steel tube
• Fast setting epoxy
• X2 Push button hand lever with M10 x 50-mm threaded stud
• Nylon washers
• Power drill/ or drill press and drill bits
• Metal hand saw/ or band saw
• Metal tap/ or blind rivet nut tool set
• Sandpapers
• Bolts and screws to size

The table leg and the table top mount are slightly modified from the post above. The two pivot posts are now permanently mounted into the leg and into the short top table mount piece (see above post on how to mount the PVC reducers). 

The swivel posts are epoxied into the PVC reducers, a single screw through the leg tube/reducer/steel pivot post provides extra support to prevent the pivot post from coming loose. You need to tap a thread into the top inner wall of the pivot post, this is where the aluminum swing arm will be bolted in place. I use a blind rivet nut but a tap will be more robust.

The aluminum bar (swing arm) is about 9.5 inches long with drilled through ½ inch holes on both ends of the swing arm for the pivot posts. The holes are then split open on each ends of the bar to allow it to be cinch tight against the tube post using x2 push button lever.

The hole for the push button hand lever stud is tapped (left side only of the split, the other side is drilled slightly bigger than the lever threaded stud for play).

Make sure that the pivot post is perfectly flush with the swing arm top for snug fit and prevent extra play.

Do the same on the other side of the swing arm where the table top mounts.

That's it, enjoy. I do apologize for the late update.