Storage pass through?

[pjnlorrie]

We have a 2014 6501. The brouchure shows a storage access between the living area and the underbed storage area. Ours is all solid. Anyone have a unit with the pass through, and how does it work?

[rana]

The whole thing should lift upward on a hinge. Meaning the bottom step and the forward kickplate in one piece.

As far as I know anyway.. if you feel along the face of the bottom step.. you don't feel a handle of any kind?

[pjnlorrie]

No handle, the kickplate is stapled in place and the carpet covered step is screwed to the floor.

[rana]

Hmmm.. I would touch bases with your dealer.. the whole step and back plates should lift right up. It's possible that the factory might have made some type of change, but I really can't imagine why.

[Happy Vibe]

I have a 2012 6501 and the whole step that leads to the storage lifts up. I don' think I have ever used it as it would be a real pain to try and get something out that way.

[jgallo1]

My 6501 also has the pull up step. This is a pretty important feature for us since we use it to access two stacked poly 66 quart clear storage bins in the hold. We use these for his/her clothes storage.

The 4" deep 'closet' wasn't cutting it for us, so we turned it into a kitchen pantry for dry goods, spices. The shelf unit left a little room to one side for 2 coat hooks for daily jackets.

Back to the the hold access...in a perfect world I'd replace the plywood and carpet door/step with 3 drawers...somewhere around 1 ft. talk each by 3 foot deep.

Its funny that so often I get comments on the size of the pass through hold when I have it open...even from travelers with much bigger rigs. It was a major selling point for me. I've often wondered if I could get an RPod in there if I had a running start.

[pjnlorrie]

Thanks for the responses, esp. jgallo1. Our first thought was what you are doing with the storage containers, but I like your drawer idea. We also did the same as you with the closet. The huge pass through was in the top 3 reasons we chose the Vibe 6501 (shower height and fridge size were the other 2).
We can store full size solar panels (great for boondocking or CGs w/o power) and our big folding chairs, you know, the ones most folks strap to the back of the camper!
I think our unit was part of the last production run and FR cut some corners. On the plus side, I have found some late changes to address problems with previous years; fresh water tank moved closer to front, battery located forward, which results in an optimal 430 lb tongue weight, and a WD/anti-sway hitch (Blue Ox). After we use the camper more I will make a decision to modify or not.