Cool Mods - Thread restored 10/18/2012

Cool mods GravelRider. did you have to install the counter extension low to clear the window shade?

Over the last few days I did a few things on my 2021 Grey Wolf 22 MKSE

1. I fixed my overflow siphon issue (when my freshwater tank was full, it would end up at about 1/3 full by the time I got to my campsite)

I trimmed the overflow pipe down a bit and added a ball valve. However, I put the ball valve on a T, with the other side's tubing angled upwards with the top of the tubing slightly over the top of the overflow outlet. This way, I still have the option of opening/closing the ball valve, but if I forget, no big deal, it'll just spill out over top.

Here are pictures:







2. I replaced the 12 V battery with two 215 Ah 6 volt golf cart batteries in series.

3. The murphy bed on this camper uses a folding mattress, and it is AWFUL. I mean, just terrible. I removed the couch, added some boards underneath the mounting point to raise it up an inch, and it's night and day. It's still a crappy uncomfortable mattress with a fold in the middle, but at least the mattress is level now.

4. I installed a curtain that separates our bed from the rest of the camper. We don't want our kids scarred if they wake up in the middle of the night at the wrong time... Lol.



5. I rigged up a sink cover holder to extend counter space while using the sink.

Quickly and easily goes from this



to this





I ordered another 12 V receptacle to put near the sink where we sometimes plug our TV into. It should be here tomorrow, so I'll get that installed this weekend. I also ordered a better battery monitor that should be here Monday. So I've got a couple other small projects in the works as well.

For years I used a small inverter to charge my cell phones from the only 12 volt plug up behind the tv. Yes I knew it was inefficient to convert 12 volt to 120 volt and then down to 5 volt to charge the phone. But it' was only a few phones so I figured why not. Well eventually I wanted my phone by my bed yet to allow it to charge so I decided it was finally time to act.

The first challenge was finding suitable outlet with no LED illumination. I am usually boondocking and that means that even a single LED illuminated at night is using up power. On top of that, I hate waking up at night and seeing the trailer interior partially lit up. Amazingly there was only one non illuminated outlet on Amazon and it cost about $5 more than the illuminated variety. But really at $15 I think I can afford the price. Link


Once I had the outlet I needed power for it. I really wanted to tap into an interior circuit so it would already be fused. I obviously also wanted to tap in close to the new plug and limit the wire length. In my trailer that unfortunately meant I was tapping into a light fixture above my head. The problem was there is no path from top to bottom that would be hidden inside the cabinets. So I had to use a short piece of decorative conduit. I ran this down the front left (drivers side) of the trailer so it's farthest from the line of site when sitting inside.
Unfortunately as you can see I did not pay attention to the wallpaper when drilling and the drill chuck chewed it up. For the bottom hole I used the cardboard from a freebee notepad that a realtor dropped on my porch placed between the drill chuck and the wall paper to prevent damaging the wall. I do have an idea how to fix the damage, but that's really low priority right now.

To make the hole for the outlet I went behind the cabinet and put the drill bit up tight into the corner of the cabinet to keep it all close to the bed. The hole was beautiful. It was right where I thought I wanted it and the outlet slid in nice and tight. I was happy, right up until I tried to screw the big nut on the back of the outlet. Apparently drilling tightly into the corner wasn't the best idea and I had to get out my vibratory cutter to make some clearance notches.
Once past that hurdle I used some screw in wire holders to keep the wire up put of harms way. I do plan to add some protective conduit since the wires are exposed, even though they are up out of the way.

And here is the finished product. 2 outlets and non illuminated.


Now I can plug my phone in by my bed and eliminate the inverter and adapters like I did before. As a side note you might notice that the outlet is 2.1A on one side and only 1A on the other. That was all that was available at the time. Since then the Amazon seller has updated and the outlets are now a double 2.1A so it charges fast no matter which port you use.

@WeAreFive Those are the most beautiful leveling blocks I have ever seen!

I built this 6 inch stool to help my mother step up into my Suburban. I chose the height of 6 inches because it matches the height of the sidewalk curbs in my area. Before I built the stool I would always have to look for a curb side parking spot where I could pull up close while scraping the tire sidewalls against the curb. This artificial curb makes it much easier for mom to get in no matter where I park.
As a bonus, since I did a spring over conversion to my travel trailer (unbolting the leaf springs from the bottom of the axle and repositioning them on top of the axle); The bottom step was now six inches higher than stock. So the new stool does double duty as both a mom assist and a trailer step.

The stool was mainly built from scrap materials that I had laying around the garage which are listed below.

• 30x24x1/2 inch plywood shelf repurposed from my kitchen pantry cabinet.
• Scraps of 2x3 inch wood 5 3/4 inch tall (qty 7) that I had laying around.
• Dove white paint (leftover from a paint project).
• A handful of sand from (I don't remember where).
• Two strips of 1/4 inch plywood 8 feet long by around 4 inches wide that I pulled out of the "Cull" or scrap bin at Home Depot. They were free so I grabbed both.
• A box of 1 1/4 inch long #8 screws $2.99.

All screw holes were pre-drilled to prevent splitting the wood. I put one screw through the step top and straight down into each leg (the center leg got two screws). This is an end grain attachment and not very strong. But it holds the legs in place and allowed me to add the sides.

I then used the strips of 4 inch wide 1/4 inch thick plywood to prevent the legs from folding over in use. I used two screws on each side of the legs. I also used 4 - 5 screws through the top of the strips and into the side of the plywood top.


Here's a view of the bottom where you can see the support webbing that keeps the side and center leg from tipping. In all each leg has 5 attachment points (top screw and 4 side screws).


I painted the top white and sprinkled sand across the top to help prevent slipping.


All in all the stool works great and I wish I had built it years ago when I lifted the trailer. The step size is large enough that I can step in and out of the trailer without having to make sure I'm putting my feet in the right place. Mom loves it because she can step up, and then take a moment to reposition her feet before trying to step up again into the Suburban.

When not in use the step sits upside down in the back of the suburban. This upside down positioning takes up very little room and has the unintended benefit of giving me a divided area to prevent things sliding around. If necessary it can be tilted to stand on it's side to allow for a wider load on the floor.



The step in place. No I did not use it straddling the gutter like in the picture. I just placed it there for this shot.


Thoughts:

The center step may be overkill. But the wood was basically free and the weight addition is small so I figured why not?

I considered cutting an hand hole in the center of the top to help pick it up. But did not want anything that could possibly catch and hinder mobility in any way.

Each added leg adds the possibility of not being able to sit level on the ground. This is one factor that had me really debating the risk benefit of the center leg.

Nice.

CA83 wrote:

everymilesamemory wrote:

Installed a Flat Panel in our Bedroom


It has a built in DVD so that saved space and kept wires to a minimum. This is great for laying in bed and watching a movie, and also keeps the walk-around space to a minimum.

Pat
www.everymilesamemory.com

Wondering how to put one of these in on a flat wall with no stud close by, need to put a TV on a wall but don't want to bolt through the wall to the bath room.

Everymile, what brand of tv did you use...the built in dvd would be very useful

Keith Haw wrote:
Probably is but was going by what he said about the only thing that happen to the tire was it deflated. Just wanted to make sure he knew the tire was probably damaged to.

That much damage means the tire has been compromised.
Be save and Bite The Bullet.

OleManOleCan wrote:

PenMan wrote:
The only thing I have had stolen while camping in a campground was food. It was stolen by a black bear. I had my battery stolen while my trailer was in the driveway where it is normally parked. I have added a locking steel box that now has two 6 volt batteries.

I lock up my Equalizer Spring Bars...
Other things not so much.

I also lock up my spring bars.

PenMan wrote:
The only thing I have had stolen while camping in a campground was food. It was stolen by a black bear. I had my battery stolen while my trailer was in the driveway where it is normally parked. I have added a locking steel box that now has two 6 volt batteries.

I lock up my Equalizer Spring Bars...
Other things not so much.