2016 (or earlier) Thor ACE owners - what have you done?

k6ncx wrote:
2016 (and presumably earlier) Thor ACE owners - what have you done about lack of lights in the cab area and step area? I know what Thor has done as of 2017 - put lights there. But we bought a new 2016 today - just couldn't see spending $20,000 more for a few lights.

For cab area, I'm talking both about map lights and about area lighting, like when it's night and you're going to drive and you want to be able to see your way into the cab.

For step area, yes, we could turn on the six overhead lights in the living area from the door, but we'd rather not. We've grown accustomed to being able to turn on a single light over the steps.

For that matter, home about light for the overcab bed?

I just realized I forgot to reply to the second question. To illuminate the switches we installed an LED light as shown in this post: http://www.irv2.com/forums/f121/ace-mods-upgrades-139997-54.html#post2463911. I felt that not only was it best to be able to see the switches at night, I was worried that having a black stairwell could be dangerous walking around at night.

And, since you're also asking a general question, if you follow the thread containing the above post, you'll see lots of mods and upgrades done by Thor owners. Here's a list of some of the mods and upgrades I've done:

• Added 12-volt West Mountain Radio RIGrunner 4005 power panel
• Added shelf to kitchen cabinet
• Replaced Jensen TV with Visio
• Added CB and NGP CB antenna
• Added 2-meter radio and 1/2-wave antenna
• Added Oxygenics shower head
• Replaced Jensen radio with Audiovox
• Added front speakers
• Added VIZIO S2920w-C0 29-inch 2.0 High Definition Sound Bar
• Added shelves to EAK closet
• Added two towel racks to shower
• Replaced original mattress with Original Mattress Factory custom short-queen mattress
• Added two Fantastic Fans (LR and BR)
• Added drain gutters (left and right)
• Purchased Winegard G2 satellite dish
• Added shelf to rear storage bay
• Ran coax to battery bay to allow hookup of satellite dish
• Installed RIGrunner power panel to battery bay
• Replaced shocks with Koni shocks front and rear
• Added rear trac bar. (Included removing factory rear sway bar and fixing damaged nuts and spacers
• Added Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer

I'm sure there are more, but you get the idea. Except for the suspension items, nothing really major but a lot of piddly stuff to make the unit more usable for us. And, as a bonus, tinkering with a motor home is a ton of fun!

Skip

We purchased LED battery operated strip lights for the cab (one for each side) from Costco (also at other warehouse or home stores). They can be motion operated or not. Works well for lighting the cab area as needed. Our 2015 30.2 came with a light for the drop down bed, mounted on the side of a cabinet. We use the LED light in the "shoe bin" on the side of the steps to provide step lighting. Uses little electricity and generates practically no heat so we feel comfortable leaving it on all night. Don't know if the 30.1 has that shoe bin feature. Not all of our lights were LED in the 2015, first thing I did was to upgrade every basement and overhead light (fan light over stove too) to LED for safety.
Enjoy your coach, we love ours.

k6ncx wrote:
2016 (and presumably earlier) Thor ACE owners - what have you done about lack of lights in the cab area and step area? I know what Thor has done as of 2017 - put lights there. But we bought a new 2016 today - just couldn't see spending $20,000 more for a few lights.

For cab area, I'm talking both about map lights and about area lighting, like when it's night and you're going to drive and you want to be able to see your way into the cab.

For step area, yes, we could turn on the six overhead lights in the living area from the door, but we'd rather not. We've grown accustomed to being able to turn on a single light over the steps.

For that matter, home about light for the overcab bed?

We don't drive our 2013 ACE 30.1 at night, so a simple makeshift solution was OK for us. We used little clip-on, battery-powered, LED Lights that are clipped on to the underside of the frame that supports the drop-down bunk. Like these: LED Book Light. For the few times we've left early a.m., for example, they've been fine.

As for lighting in the drop down bunk, the grandchildren just use magnetic LED lights (like the kind you get for $1.99 at Harbor Freight) plus flashlights. A to-do project is to run 12 volts up there, but since flashlights are part of their "secret fort" experience, there's no rush.

Incidentally, congrats on the new motorhome. I hope it brings you many hours of happiness. Feel free to PM me any time with more questions and ideas as they come up.

73 Skip K4EAK