Cool Mods - Thread restored 10/18/2012

[2Rad4U]

My daughter was getting a little warm in her bunk during our last camping trip, so I decided to put her a fan in to keep the air flowing.

I had been wanting to add a 12-volt fan to the main living area anyway, so I decided to tackle both jobs today. A trip to Wal-Mart for two fans($8.48 each) and we're halfway there.

She picked the spot, and I got to work -



I picked up the power from her overhead light. All I have left is to install a short piece of wire cover and I'm done -



I added one in the main area -



I dropped by Lowe's and found this cool soap dispenser. I also just installed these Pop-a-Toothbrush holders -



I added a sopa dispenser to the kitchen area as well. I also installed a Pop-a-Napkin under the radio -



Here's an easy mod. I found this over the door towel rack at Walmart and it works great -

[dirtengineer]

Jeffzee160 wrote:
I got a package of Lynx leveler blocks and a Lynx chock. I made the system a bit more versatile by cutting one of the blocks in half...

What tool did you use? The cuts look very clean.

[Bob_Landry]

The "A" frame wasn't wide enough to put two Gr27 battery boxes. This one is built out of 3/4" plywood, primed and sprayed with truck bed liner. The battery on/off switch is a Blue Sea. The hot wire for the break-away switch is wired directly to the battery so I can tow with the batteries off if I want to. I also cleaned up the factory wiring and put all of the exposed wires in loom. Not necessary, but it looks clean.

A Marinco Shore Power Inlet replaced the factory cover where you have to push a stiff cable back through the hole.

I also "T"d off the LP low side and ran a line to the side of the trailer for a gas grill. It has a cut-off and a quick-connect and a PVC cover that slips on to keep trash out of it. No photos on that one yet. Maybe this weekend.

[jerry1946]

I bought a barker tote tank 32 gal 4 wheel from JCWhitney but they don't always have them, I got free shipping for fathers day which made it the best deal at that time. you can do a search for price and shipping, sometimes the best price is not the best because of shipping cost.

[rtyauch301]

computer shop

[Merrykalia]

Boozecamp

J. C. Whitney has them in their catalog for $18.99 each that are wall mount/dash mount and have a cigarette plug, but come with stuff to wire them directly into the 12V system.
Clicky for fan

[jblz51]

Boozecamp wrote:
I was wondering where I could buy 12v fans for our new TT. I had a popup with those Rediculously priced "Light Fans" that clip onto the overhead brace in bunkends ($70 ea.) Really like those fans for sleeping. They provide just enough white-noise to drown out the sound of silence, or the wife snoring.:Z

Try Walmart's automotive section or just about any auto parts store should have them.

[Boozecamp]

I was wondering where I could buy 12v fans for our new TT. I had a popup with those Rediculously priced "Light Fans" that clip onto the overhead brace in bunkends ($70 ea.) Really like those fans for sleeping. They provide just enough white-noise to drown out the sound of silence, or the wife snoring.:Z

[joeprinter]

aaronttrv wrote:

Things I'd like to do are get one of those Barker totes, but since I haven't even been out yet, I'm still not sure how long we can go with just the stock black/gray tanks. I'll wait 'til after the trial run to see if/what-size we should get. I like the pics of people who've mounted that under their trailer instead of attached to the ladder.

I just bought a 35 Gal Tote @ camping for $199.00 Vrs Amazon.com 42 Gal @ $424.00 Just A thought, enjoy your Mods

[Community Alumni]

I got a package of Lynx leveler blocks and a Lynx chock. I made the system a bit more versatile by cutting one of the blocks in half. If half-blocks are used then only one side of the ramp pyramid need be built. This frees up a few of the blocks, which can be used elsewhere like under jacks and stabilizers. The half-blocks can still be used as a full block by rotating them 90 degrees such that the seam interlocks with other full blocks.

[Community Alumni]

I was having no success with the fresh water fill. I'd get more water on me than in the tank. I think there may be a dip in the fill hose and/or vent hose acting as a water trap. In any event, I cut three or four feet off the end of a garden hose and snaked the cut end down the fill hose and right into the fresh water tank. Now I connect my supply hose directly to the garden hose and no more mess. I probably should have used one of those white hoses that's made for drinking water. But we keep the water chlorinated and don't drink it anyway. After a little whittling on the plastic fill housing, I was able to stuff the hose coupling far enough back to close the hatch.

[Winged_One]

aaronttrv wrote:
I just bought a 26' TT (Keystone Hideout, 2010 brand new) and I made the "mistake" of reading through this entire topic before even hitting the road.

I also got a set of SteadyFast stabilizers (wife didn't like the rock and roll motion), x-chocks,

I have found, for our Keystone Passport Express Super-Lite (shew) 199ML, that the x-chocks made a huge difference all by themselves. Highly recommended.

[itsmike]

Wow.. I just went thru 55 pages of Mods.. I will be busy this weekend Modding!!! Lol

[Gnarly]

Great report! and Welcome,aaronttrv!

I am often guilty of 'overkill.'

But after watching too many OOPS!!!! I made up my mind to avoid one particular hassle.

When you get ready to buy the Barker 4 wheel blue tote (for there really is no reasonable substitute / second-place contender!),get the 42 gal.; the biggest one.

Reason: the travel trailer black tanks I'm familiar with are 40 gallon.

So even if it's FULL, you avoid the mess of overflow! that is possible/likely? with smaller tanks.

Best price we found was Amazon.com,IIRC.And it takes up very little more room than a smaller OOOPS!!! tank.

Check the thread here for the pneumatic tire upgrade.You'll thank us later.

~Gnarly

[aaronttrv]

I just bought a 26' TT (Keystone Hideout, 2010 brand new) and I made the "mistake" of reading through this entire topic before even hitting the road.

Well, by the time I was halfway through the posts, I'd already gone out and bought a pair of Trojan 6V batteries and a new batt box for 'em, upgraded some of the lights to LED (Command Electronics, those things are awesome, I ordered enough to finish off the whole trailer now). I also got a set of SteadyFast stabilizers (wife didn't like the rock and roll motion), x-chocks, and the good old PVC fence post sleeve to hold my large RhinoFlex pooper tube.

And after reading the rest of the way through, I've realized I'll probably be in for more fun mods, but I've had to put a hold on some ideas because I need to actually get out in the thing and camp! 🙂

As far as the mods went, the SteadyFast struts went in great. The instructions tell you to install the front/back bar on the same foot-plate as the front side/side bar, but the front stabilizing jacks on the TT were just too close to the front tongue, and it wouldn't have worked out. Fortunately I ordered a full set of 4 base plates so they'd all match and give a steady platform, so I was able to mount the front/back bar on it's own jack. It worked out great, still steady, and now all 3 of the tightening nuts are on the same side of the trailer so I can tight/loose pretty fast.

The sewer hose holder went on great. I found a 5x5 vinyl post sleeve at Home Depot but those turkeys didn't have a 5x5 flat cover for it, all they had were the big gothic, spired covers. That'd be ugly underneath my rig. Fortunately I found some 4x4 flat covers at Lowes that, with a little dremeling, fit into the 5x5 post (it had some beveled detail that just happened to mostly fit, so it was more about squaring off some corners). Bungeed in to make it snug, and I like it.

I made one end lower to allow drainage, and I was just about to cement one cap to the far end, but then I thought, what if I ever drop something in there and can't fish it out? So I bungeed both ends, and found a nice pack of white bungee cords to go with the white post sleeve. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I made a typical bumbling carpenter mistake and cut the piece too short (shoulda done 78", but I cut 68" because I wasn't thinking), but it worked out well anyway. I place it at an angle going from one of the main beams to a center strut underneath which actually ended up working better for access.

Things I'd like to do are get one of those Barker totes, but since I haven't even been out yet, I'm still not sure how long we can go with just the stock black/gray tanks. I'll wait 'til after the trial run to see if/what-size we should get. I like the pics of people who've mounted that under their trailer instead of attached to the ladder.

It would also be nice to do something on the back bumper to hold my 2 Honda generators, but I'd really want to find some way to make them as secure as possible... those things were expensive, and the thought of leaving them out, even all cable locked, gives me the willies. Maybe some kind of truck box on a hitch so I could close/lock it and nobody would know what was in there. Might make the thief think twice about spending the time and energy to bust in if they weren't sure what the reward would be?

[revrnd]

revrnd wrote:

TURK2500 wrote:

revrnd wrote:
I'll be finishing up a dual battery setup on my trailer this weekend....snip

Are you using 6volt or 12volt batteries? What amp? Series or parallel circuit? Post some pics of your finished system.

I'm looking into a possible dual battery setup with my TT as well, but want to maximize amp output with a dual setup..

Turk2500

I just mounted 2 Group 24 12 V RV batteries in the box & wired them parallel (2 "jumpers" connecting - to - and + to +) as per the 2nd sketch in link:

Click

Not sure what the amperage of them is. I'll check tomorrow.

Here's what I found on the label:

Part: DC24
Rating (CCA): 24RV-150
Rating (CA): 625
Rating (RC): 150