Quote:
This could be a fun thread. Feel free to add more or suggest methods/concepts.
|
Wade -
Your thread prompted me to jot down my list of mods. Like yours, it turned out to be longer than I expected.
DONE:
Installed a three-mode automatic battery charger from Guest Industries in the battery compartment at the rear. I mounted it on the wall above the battery, and brought the AC cord out through the compartment in the rear bumper, so I can plug it in without opening the TM. Keeps the battery perfectly charged forever.
Installed an aux AC cord to bring power to the converter and the refrig when the TM is closed. Automatic switchover - when the aux cord is plugged in, the converter and refrig automatically switch over to this source of power, but when it is unplugged, they automatically revert to the normal hookup through the 30-amp main cord.
Added a second fan to the refrig compartment. This one runs on AC, so when I plug in the aux power cord with the TM closed, this fan comes on.
Built and installed drawers on roller slides in the kitchen cabinets. My knees are much happier - so is my wife.
I have a thing about wanting to know what is happening to the battery at all times, so I installed two ammeters in the battery charge line. One can be seen from the outside of the TM when it is closed. The other is inside, mounted in the wall panel just to the right of the storage compartment under the rear bed.
Cut my 50-foot water hose into two pieces - 15-feet and 35-feet - and installed new fittings on the cut ends. The long length is there if I need it, but most of the time, I can just use the 15-foot piece. It is a lot easier to clean and coil than the 50 foot length.
Cut my 20-foot sewer hose into two pieces (10 and 10) and added an extension fitting to the cut ends. Lots easier to clean and stow a short length. I have never needed more than 10 feet of hose, but the extension to 20 feet is there if I do.
Added a support - another caster - under the center of the slideout floor. Denny A did the same thing, and his solution is much easier and simpler than mine.
Installed AM/FM/CD/CD-RW radio.
Added a paper towel holder above the kitchen sink. I got a couple of the WalMart plastic over-the-door hooks and screwed them to the back of a plastic paper towel holder. The thing hangs on the top of the bathroom wall - a little too high if you have children, I admit.
Glued a couple strips of velcro to the wall above the stove. Glued the other half of the velcro to the back of two multi-hook utensil hangers, again from WalMart. Now we hang pot holders, can opener, butane lighter, corkscrew, etc etc above the stove.
Cut down the shower curtain. Made Hal's hands-free shower holder. Added over-the-door (over the wall, actually) towel hooks in the bathroom.
The rubber plugs at the ends of the sewer hose storage compartment in the back bumper are incredibly hard to insert and remove. They also trap water in the compartment. I permanently removed the plug on the roadside end, then drilled two 1/8 inch holes, in line with each other, in the top and bottom of the compartment, 1/2 inch from the end. Now I shove the wet hose in there and drop a long skinny nail through the holes to keep the hose from coming out. LOTS easier.
On the slideout models, the propane tanks are horizontal and bolted in place. To remove/refill them, you have to remove the nuts from the bolt ends. I got tired of not being able to find the right size wrench when I needed it, so I clipped an open-end wrench of the proper size to the A-frame, right beside the tanks.
Rerouted the propane hose that leads from the regulator to the trailer-body connector. This hose originally hung down under the A-frame, the lowest thing above the road. Scary.
STILL TO DO
Lots more caulking
Install mud flaps on the tow vehicle. The amount of sand and salt and road crud that builds up on the front of the TM is incredible.
Build Oilspot's microwave stand/drawer to fill the space between the wardrobe and the stove.
Install an automatic safety switch in the power line to the electric water heater element, to prevent burnout.
Add the water tank fill-through-the-drain-line fitting.
Scotchguard everything!
Replace the outside shower head, which I allowed to freeze last week. Grrr!
Install low-drain fluorescent lights in place of one or two of the incandescent fixtures.
Install a flush cable TV fitting to the outside - the 2003 TM's have this, I understand.
Remount the light over the rear bed to see if this will prevent the switch from moving to the ON position while we travel.
You're right - there is no end!
Bill