does anything really fit?

photobug wrote:
I guess the most frustrating this is coming up with a good idea, but now it's 40 degrees and raining out :P

But that rain has a lot to do with what makes your part of the world "oh, so beautiful".

Ditched the rear wheel simulators. They do nothing and just get in the way. Have made lots of modifications. Switched TVs to 12 volts and ditched all the inverters, changed everything inside to LED to save battery, added shelves and rebuilt storage, installed new stereos, added electrical systems monitors, all fun projects. Added a built in compressor to the rear cargo compartment, got rid of the electric steps, etc. Anything I could do to make things simpler and better for dry camping and boondocking. The bumps along the way are just part if the fun.

Life is short. This is suppose to be fun and relaxing.

Most of these project are fun and creative, if a bit expensive. Just frustrating when you have a good idea that should work, but it's cold and wet outside. Pretty much all the interior and exterior lights have been replaced with LED except for the florescents. Clearance and 3rd brake light are sitting in a box waiting to be installed. TV was challenging, but I think I've got that fixed, just need to finish wiring all the electronics (dtv, directv receiver, dvd, wifi, 4g and all the wiring and antennas involved.) Still working on inverter/ converter issues for various modes (plugged in vs generator vs battery vs in motion) cell phone booster probably should run off 12v while driving. wifi doesn't need to run except when parked. is there 110v available when driving down the road? DW wants to run the clothes washer while driving. Theoretically it should work assuming I can find a way to secure it from tipping over while driving. This thing is actually pretty cool, about twice the width of a garbage can, plugs into the sink and will wash a day or two worth of clothing.

Wheel simulators on the back are ok, it's the front ones. I'd ditch them all together, but the wheels are pretty ugly. could paint them but that looks pretty tacky. I suppose I could ask at some wheel places about longer studs, but seems a lot of the mechanics around here are grouches. Both the les schwab guy and the rv repair place were pretty grumpy last time I was in there. They do good work though, so it might be worth it.

Heading out on a several week road trip across the country, just a bit nervous.

It's interesting reading this thread after just coming from a discussion thread on the design quality and build quality in the RV world.

As "quality" relates to this thread ... many of you have done great things inside your RV's. HOWEVER, why did you have too!!!!!!!!!!! I lot of the stuff done by owners (other than updating to more modern onboard equipment) should have been taken care of at the time of manufacture through quality design and construction - by a manufacturer who knows and cares about how their RV is actually going to be used.

As for me, I've had to improve and rebuild some things on our RV. But I wish that I hadn't had to do it, as I had and have better things to do with my time.

Dealing with design quality and build quality, there always seems to be a trade off all relating to cost. The end result is the customer wants the highest quality at the lowest cost. Working as quality control on large aircraft, I see this issue all the time. Designers have to at some point compromise in cost, weight, space, available materials etc. Other times they have to anticipate the most popular accessories so they can design them in. Build quality on the other hand is one of those annoying things that all manufactures attempt to keep under control, and one of my main jobs, but happens when dealing with humans. Case in point, a mechanic is stapling a wire run through the interior. Out of 100 staples, he misalignes the staple on the wire and cuts through the insulation. 5 years later, corrosion eats through the exposed wire and it breaks at that point. The owner then has to go through the system to find the broken wire and fix it. Other example, the seal on the outside keeps the unit from leaking. Current technology has a life of 10 years before the chemical makeup of the seal breaks down. One section wasn't noticed and water leaked through to the structure, causing it to rot and fall apart. Who's fault is that? Seal is only good for so long, so long, so the owner is somewhat responsible. Why are rv structures build with materials that fall apart when they get wet? almost like they're made with cardboard. Mostly cost, weight and workability. Wood is cheep, relatively light, strong and easy to work with. Some higher end coaches use aluminum frames, which makes for a better product, but is much more expensive and still susceptible to corrosion and failure. I'd love to see a coach built out of the cfrp we build airplanes with, but that stuff is incredibly expensive, difficult to work with, and usually needs titanium stiffeners in critical places. Aluminum corrodes when in contact with cfrp.
So a lot of what I see people doing are correcting manufacturing defects, which really can't be eliminated, even robots screw up once in a while.
Another thing is with mass produced units, you can't make everyone the perfect coach, everyone has different tastes. my unit for example. LED light replacement -- technology upgrade. banks power pack -- upgrade from manufacture compromise. TV install -- technology upgrade, customer preference. wheel stud replacement -- design error. Fresh water sensor fail -- unsure, can't locate sensors to determine where the problem is.
Seems also that sometimes it's cheaper to add accessories after market than by factory as well. upgraded stereo wasn't available from manufacture.
in the end, some people just like to tinker with stuff, probably do the same thing with the house