More 2801 mods

[Tombsy]

I've sure seen a lot that do but we bought ours with 5000 miles on it and someone else ordered the options I guess. But the good thing is all the bugs seem to be out and we haven't had any problems or warranty work.


Brian

[RedLdr1]

Originally Posted by AbdRahim

Yikes, Brian. I guess I lucked out. Thought the 2801 came with the leveling system.

They are a $2,993 (MSRP) option on the Sunseeker... I always get a laugh out watching ours level the coach. They remind me of an old Cheech and Chong routine of a low rider bouncing around at a stop light...

[AbdRahim]

Originally Posted by Tombsy

I've sure seen a lot that do but we bought ours with 5000 miles on it and someone else ordered the options I guess. But the good thing is all the bugs seem to be out and we haven't had any problems or warranty work.


Brian

Well, hoped I was through the bugs, but my passenger side camera died on the way home today. Warranty expired two months ago.

[Tombsy]

Uh oh I don't have side cameras either


Brian

[AbdRahim]

Less to fix. 😎

[Tombsy]

Originally Posted by RedLdr1

My next step would to be to put a tracer tone on the cable and see where I could find it next. You'll need a Toner / Tracer like the one shown Here to do that. Make sure the 12VDC power is off when you are tracing the wires. The Tone Generator can do a very good job appearing as a a short and blowing fuses! The Tone should appear at one of the two 12VDC fuse blocks unless there is a blown in line fuse or bad wiring.

I purchased the tone generator and worked on tracing it out today. Nothing at the fuse block but really strong around the bathroom lights. Bingo the outlet is wired to the bathroom light switch, it works fine when the lights are turned on. I'll be fixing that Lol.
Turns out the bedroom tv is 12v as well, it was plugged into 110 with a 12v adapter I just need the Furrian cord for 12v.
I tapped into the power at the light switch in the front cupboard for the Alpha wifi booster so I didn't need to take up a 12v outlet for it.




Brian

[RedLdr1]

I'm glad the toner set found the issue for you. Someone screwed that up royally as our GTS is not wired like yours....

[newRVer]

Found some old chair slides in the basement so I used them to eliminate the screeching sound the bed makes when the slide goes in/out due to wood on wood contact when sliding.

[Tombsy]

Looks good but my bed doesn't look like that at all I'll have to check it out.
I installed the Levelmate Pro in the centre of the front cabinet, pretty slick, I levelled the rig for a baseline and entered the wheelbase measurements. Now I via Bluetooth my phone shows in inches how much blocking I need under the wheels.




Brian

[sgtlm17]

Looks pretty cool Brian. I'm sure you've tested it a few times. Is it accurate. I would love to get this for one of my next mods.
Lou

[Tombsy]

I just installed it today and it seems bang on, it was showing down to .25". I used a 4ft level to get the mh level then you do the one time setup.
Last thing on my list is awning poles, I've had the brackets for awhile but shipping the poles was too expensive to Canada. I have to go conduit shopping.

Brian

[Tombsy]

I tracked down some aluminum tubing to make my awning poles for the hold down kit. Did my best guess laying out the holes, all drilled and polished up.



Brian

[AbdRahim]

I just discovered the center of the gaskets over the dinette and living room slides are pulling the wallpaper off the wall. There is no support other than one screw on either end. Anyone else experience this. I am thinking of adding screws along the the length. Anyone done this? What kind of screws would be most effective?

[RedLdr1]

My son and I installed a Roadmaster Spare Tire Carrier on our GTS this morning.

I went with this modification as I've never thought much of where, and how, FR mounts the spare tire. Removing the spare from its factory installed position was not fun, even in a nice controlled environment at the storage yard. I don't even want to imaging trying to get the spare out on a dark, wet, muddy, roadside from underneath the GTS. If you don't know how your spare is secured I suggest you take a look...and carry the necessary tools to remove it.

The Roadmaster unit is a very well built unit that moves the spare tire to a much more accessible position on the rear hitch. The units workmanship is very high quality and it was fairly easy to assemble. Everything works like shown in the videos on their website at the page I linked above. I'm very happy with the unit...

There are some concerns with the unit. The first thing that comes to mind is it is very heavy, the shipping weight was 75 pounds! You have two heavy pieces of iron you'll need to bolt together. That is definitely a three handed job at some points. And if you're loading to near CCC capacity this iron beast won't help your rigs weight a bit...

The second issue is per Roadmaster you must reduce your hitch capacity by 1/3. Since the GTS hitch is rated at 7,500 pounds that isn't a problem for me. The recommended reduced hitch rating of 5,000 pounds is still well over the weight of our TOAD.

The third issue is the units cost. At around $600 these are not inexpensive... Mine was a present from the DW so I'm not going to complain.

The last issue is GTS specific. With the hitch / carrier installed you cannot extend the rear slide without moving the carrier to the down position. It will not clear the spare tire mounted on the carrier. I may be able to resolve this by rethinking how I mounted the spare tire on the carrier. I followed the instructions and used one of the mounting holes and one slit. If I were to use both slits, instead of just one, that may drop the tire down a few inches and allow the slide out to clear it. I'll follow up on that here after I've had a chance to play with it some more. The weather, as in +90˚F heat and high humidity, wasn't cooperating very well today...

Overall I'm happy with the unit. Even if I need to continue to "drop" it to extend the rear slide out. I now know that if I needed to change a tire I'd be able to do so without a lot of drama. And it give me a nice rear bumper protector....

[sgtlm17]

I hooked up a 12v rechargeable flashlight. While I was doing the wiring I decided to add a USB outlet and 12v receptacle below it. I took power directly from the converter from a spare 12v fuse location.

2016 Forester GTS 2801QSF

[AbdRahim]

Originally Posted by sgtlm17

I hooked up a 12v rechargeable flashlight. While I was doing the wiring I decided to add a USB outlet and 12v receptacle below it. I took power directly from the converter from a spare 12v fuse location.

2016 Forester GTS 2801QSF

Looks good.

[RedLdr1]

Today I had the cheap tire valve extenders removed and new steel tire stems installed on all six wheels. I cannot believe FR used not one, but two, cheap valve extenders piggy backed on the inside dual tires. My local truck tire shop was not impressed with that setup either... At least they had everything on hand to correct it and to set us up for the next mod:

Now that we have real valve stems I also added a TST507 TPMS I purchased from Great RV Products. While replacing the valve stems the rear wheel covers were "notched" to allow the anti-theft cap style wheel sensors to fit without any interference. At least now I'll have some visibility as to whats happening with the tires...

The other "mod" news is I went to the "darkside" and had my Ford Edge set up for flat towing. Based on our local installers recommendations, and some serious web research, we went with Blue Ox for this system. My first tow, leaving the installer's shop, was in a bad thunderstorm with Atlanta traffic as well so that was a real "interesting" experience!

This darn RV'ing is starting to get expensive....

[sgtlm17]

Oh the money! So much money. .
Great mods though. Hope your loving that GTS as much as we are.

[RedLdr1]

Originally Posted by sgtlm17

Oh the money! So much money. .
Great mods though. Hope your loving that GTS as much as we are.

The CFO is in love with her GTS... I just drive it for her.

[Creativepart]

Originally Posted by RedLdr1

Today I had the cheap tire valve extenders removed and new steel tire stems installed on all six wheels.

Since installing solid valve stems on my 6-tires I have not had to add air to any of my tires for over 6-months.

The other "mod" news is I went to the "darkside" and had my Ford Edge set up for flat towing. Based on our local installers recommendations, and some serious web research, we went with Blue Ox for this system.

We flat tow the Lincoln MKX which is a cousin of the Ford Edge. Tows great. Already have about 4,000 mi worth of towing on our new Lincoln.