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Carrying Your Zero Gravity Chair on an Older RV

| Updated Sep 7, 2015

Class B owners tend to be experts in compact packing. Among other things we tend to have compact camp chairs. The Pico Telescoping Chair is one favorite small packing chair. And “bag” chairs come in a variety of sizes.  Such chairs can be comfortable or not so comfortable depending on design.  We were always a bit jealous of travelers with “zero gravity chairs”.  They looked so comfortable.  When friends with a tent trailer let us try theirs, we were astonished at their comfort and lamented not having space for such a chair.  We had bag chairs and we really didn't use them often enough to warrant fancier chairs.  But these were so comfortable.

Caravan Chair
A Zero Gravity Chair

We checked the measurements of the zero gravity chairs.  Nope, they just would not fit in our Stowaway2 Cargo Box.  Rats!  We listened to how other Roadtrek owners carried them by sticking them inside their camper.  Not for us – our camper had to have things put away and we wanted to use the inside without moving stuff outside.  Everything has to have an “away” place or a Class B will soon be cluttered and claustrophobic. We bought one chair and considered all our options.  Then we came up with a solution.  It would probably work for many of the thousands of Dodge Roadtrek owners out there.

Chair Rack without Chairs 2We noticed that many Class C owners have a ladder on the back of the camper that goes up to the roof.  Occasionally you see these on Class Bs as well.  Camco (and others) make various types of chair racks that fasten to the ladder.  Our Dodge has a single big back door with a continental kit on the door that carries the spare tire.  We figured the right ladder chair rack and our continental kit frame could be used.  Note: That spare tire weighs a lot, and the door is already stressed with the heavy tire, so remove any chairs before opening the rear door.

Chair Rack AttachmentWe bought a piece of 3/4 inch galvanized electrical conduit from the local hardware store and had the store bend two 90 degree bends about 11-12 inches apart and cut the legs to the same length.  It looks like a big croquet wicket. Cost $5.99. Length of the legs was not critical but ours are 32 inches.  We also bought two rubber feet for the ends.  We picked up three stainless steel U-bolts and nylon lock nuts while we were there.  The stainless steel U-bolts were the expensive parts!

Chair Rack with chair from sideWe bought a Camco 51430 Clamp-N-Carry Chair and Bike Rack from Amazon (click here for link).  We installed the arms on our U-shaped conduit to form our chair rack.

Chair Rack with chair close upWe used the three U-bolts to fasten the rack to the continental kit frame next to the spare tire.  There is just enough room between the cargo box and the back of the van to hang two chairs on the rack.  A bicycle cable lock can be used to secure the chair or chairs.  We may need to get a second chair since there is room for two!

Mike Wendland

Published on 2015-09-07

Mike Wendland is a multiple Emmy-award-winning Journalist, Podcaster, YouTuber, and Blogger, who has traveled with his wife, Jennifer, all over North America in an RV, sharing adventures and reviewing RV, Camping, Outdoor, Travel and Tech Gear for the past 12 years. They are leading industry experts in RV living and have written 18 travel books.

2 Responses to “Carrying Your Zero Gravity Chair on an Older RV”

May 08, 2016at8:51 pm, kelly w. said:

Hi, I am looking to buy a spire tire carrier so that I can too carry a spare tire, storage basket, and zero gravity chair on the back of my Roadtrek. Where did you purchase the spare tire carrier as I cannot find one like it anywhere online?

Thanks,
Kelley

September 14, 2015at11:59 pm, ron said:

Nice chairs Rogers,it sure pays to shop around,question on your rv,mine is white also,however cant seem to get rid of those darn black streaks,have tried black streak remover from camco with no luck,how do you keep your unit exterior so clean?

Comments are closed.

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