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07-12-2018, 03:32 PM
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#21
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 98
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Thanks guys!
Did my first maintenance and repairs to it.
All the locks were really difficult to use, hit 'em up with some graphite spray, they're like new! Also took off all the dealer decals they put on.
And I notice there were some wires hanging down around the axles. Took a look underneath, the wiring for the brakes was really sloppy. Put some zip ties on them, tied them up.
The undercoating was still a little wet in a few spots though, ended up with it all over my fingers, hands, and a big spot on my arm :/
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07-21-2018, 04:29 PM
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#22
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 27
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Installed this shower curtain rod today makes the shower feel twice as big.
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07-21-2018, 05:09 PM
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#23
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 65
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Very nice. I replaced mine too. Well worth it. I also took my sky light apart and tinted it. It's nice but if you get in hot temps, it REALLY hearts to that bathroom. Made a huge difference when I was in the Southwest last summer.
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07-21-2018, 07:09 PM
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#24
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 98
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@Fireguy205 - That curtain rod looks great! Where did you get it from?
We've been tinkering with Timmy whenever we've had a chance, still working on figuring out where everything goes. I'll post some interior shots once we finalize everything.
Today I finished running an HDMI cable for the living room TV, along with tidy up the wiring in there. I also took measurements to build a bed frame, which I will be posting more about once it's completed.
Here's what I found when I took the rear panel off the entertainment unit:
I forgot to take a picture before I started, in the top picture I had already pulled out the rats nest of wires, and ran the HDMI to the TV, but not through the radio compartment.
Next I cut off all the stripped ends, and electrical taped everything that is currently unused into a bundle. Then I fished the HDMI through into the compartment below the radio.
And completed!
The HDMI is just tucked in the shelve where the plug is for the TV. I was thinking about buying a male to female adapter so you could plug anything into the TV without having to take the back off again.
After I cleaned up from that I focused on something that has been consuming my thoughts since we purchased the trailer.. how to turn the back bedroom into a single mattress under the bunk, like this:
When we were looking at this floor plan, then looking at it in person, I was sure there was a way to make that one big bed from the factory, but that just wasn't the case, at least to my knowledge.
So I came up with a plan. At first I was going to use plywood, double layered, with a single 2" x 10" out front as my support, then I was going to stain and trim it out to match. However, once I got the raw material in my hands I realized it was going to be to heavy.
I went back to the drawing board, and with the help of a friend, we're going to build a small aluminum frame with removable legs that will fit under the couch when not in use. It wont add nearly as much weight, add it will be just as strong or stronger then my original design.
I was hoping to have it completed in time to go camping at the end of the month, but I don't think that is going to happen. My friend is on holidays now for a few weeks, but once he gets back we'll start building it.
Do you guys think I should start a new thread to document my trailer mods, or just use this existing one?
Also, a note to the mods, my apologies for an earlier post in this thread. I posted a link to an image, I hadn't yet read the thread about not using hosting sites. I would change it, but I can no longer edit the post.
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07-21-2018, 07:21 PM
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#25
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 98
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Another project I got completed recently was installing a TV in the bunk house.
I purchased a fixed mount for two reasons, I figured it would be more solid, and also it was dirt cheap.
The issue with the solid mount is getting the TV hooked on to it. I had to put the top of the TV into the opening on an angle, then force it down enough so I could hook it on, and straighten it out. I also had to drill two holes into the shelf below. I used them to tighten the screws for the mount, and run an HDMI through. I also installed an RG6 cable before I buttoned it all up.
Before and after:
My wife picked out the bedding at Ikea, and the stuffies came with it, the RV dealer included them with the purchase.
We also picked up a ton of storage things from Ikea and Home Depot, I'll post some of that stuff soon, we're hoping to get it done tomorrow.
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07-21-2018, 08:29 PM
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#26
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 27
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I got it from Amazon- Stromberg Carlson EXT-3542 Extend-A-Shower
I used the screws that come with it for the interior wall, but didn't want to take the risk with the outside wall so I used a few of the screws like the ones used for the shower panneling. Found a few in random places throughout the trailer when looking around, glad I kept them.
Love your mods so far...I would just keep going with this thread.
Did you ever find put about bunkroom heat? I looked at mine again. I have 2 vents for the outdoor kitchen by the step for the bunk, and my heat vent is located below the tv.
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07-21-2018, 09:30 PM
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#27
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 27
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One of the more fun mods to Frannie (wife named her).
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07-22-2018, 03:37 PM
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#28
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 98
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@Fireguy205 - Lol @ Frannie, that's a great name!
My wife wanted something more "serious", but I said it had to be fun, and it just stuck.
I like your sign, the words are so true!
We're going to be ordering some prints of our trips to put up inside. So far we just have one up, it's of our trip to Niagara Falls, and it just feels more home like already with just that one up.
Thanks for your compliment, and for the info on that shower curtain rod, that will be something that goes on the list for sure!
I forgot about the furnace duct in the bunk house. I did notice well installing the TV that you can see the small vent pipe from the fridge through the grille.
When we did our PDI it was so hot in the unit, even with the AC on full we were all dripping in there. When I turned the furnace on I waited to hear it kick in, and feel heat come out of the nearest vent, and then shut it down. Again, I meant to try it today after reading your post but I forgot.
Today the plan was for my wife to do some cleaning inside, well I install the sway bar that came with our hitch, and do some other messing around with things.
We ordered some 4" mattress pads from Amazon for the queen, and the two twins. We also ordered some covers for the beds, the small ones being water proof, just for some added protection, and help keep the foam on. The cover on the queen we bought at Costco.
Here's how the queen turned out:
It looks like a real mattress now, and it feels fantastic!! I'm so glad we sprung for those!
After all that we took Timmy over to my parents place so we could plug it into shore power. We live on a busy street, and the only place I could put it is in the back lane, which would totally block it off. Not only that, but we're currently in the process of getting a new driveway, patio, and side walk installed. Our neighbors have been nice enough to let us use their driveways, I didn't want to push my luck!
So we tested out the new TV, and made sure everything worked in the entertainment unit after I messed around with the wiring.
I did find one thing I'm unsure about though, when I turned on the rear TV, it didn't seem to be picking up the powered antenna signal. Is that normal? Or is there something I need to do in order to make it work? It's not a huge deal, just curious more than anything.
Here is what I used as my HDMI tester:
Is it bad I'm looking forward to rainy days so I can hang out in the bunk house playing video games? Lol
We never finished organizing the interior, after doing everything we did today we're both pretty pooped. We're also so close to being done now we can relax on going crazy over at Timmy. Pretty soon we can kick back and just enjoy it!
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07-22-2018, 04:13 PM
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#29
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 27
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My rear tv worked with the antenna just fine. Just had to hook up the coax and turn the antenna amp on.
Rear vents- on mine the one at the bottom below the tv is the heat. You can see the flexible vent pipe attached. I can't remember if you can see it from where the water pump is (behind the lower drawer in the bunkhouse) or from under the outdoor sink. On Frannie the 2 vents where the bunk step is there is nothing hooked to them.
Shower tips- I replaced our shower head with one from Walmart for $15. It is that Pearless brand comes with a 4ft hose and has 4 patterns one being off. Also I replaced the cheapo water regulator with one of the brass full flow adjustable ones. The cheapo one really restricted the flow. First time I used it was at a campground that had really high water pressure. 115psi according to my pressure gauge. I put the new regulator on and tried going with 50 to 60 psi but found that to be too much for the toliet, kept splashing up under the seat. Now I keep it at 40 to 45 without issues.
If you have any other questions let me know. Also I have attached a few more decal pics, helps to have a neighbor with a vinyl printer.
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07-22-2018, 10:26 PM
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#30
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Lexington, NC
Posts: 2,621
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fireguy205
My rear tv worked with the antenna just fine. Just had to hook up the coax and turn the antenna amp on.
Rear vents- on mine the one at the bottom below the tv is the heat. You can see the flexible vent pipe attached. I can't remember if you can see it from where the water pump is (behind the lower drawer in the bunkhouse) or from under the outdoor sink. On Frannie the 2 vents where the bunk step is there is nothing hooked to them.
Shower tips- I replaced our shower head with one from Walmart for $15. It is that Pearless brand comes with a 4ft hose and has 4 patterns one being off. Also I replaced the cheapo water regulator with one of the brass full flow adjustable ones. The cheapo one really restricted the flow. First time I used it was at a campground that had really high water pressure. 115psi according to my pressure gauge. I put the new regulator on and tried going with 50 to 60 psi but found that to be too much for the toliet, kept splashing up under the seat. Now I keep it at 40 to 45 without issues.
If you have any other questions let me know. Also I have attached a few more decal pics, helps to have a neighbor with a vinyl printer.
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Question about the heat vent shown at bottom of your bed: does it blow out much heat? You can just barely feel air blowing out of ours, but dealer checked and said it's ok. Other heat vents have good output.
__________________
2018 Coachmen Apex 249 RBS
2010 Silverado LT 5.3 V8
The world is a great book, of which those who never stir from home
read only a page. - St. Augustine
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07-23-2018, 06:12 AM
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#31
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mjones12
Question about the heat vent shown at bottom of your bed: does it blow out much heat? You can just barely feel air blowing out of ours, but dealer checked and said it's ok. Other heat vents have good output.
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All of mine seem to push out the air equaly. We have only used the furnace once this year. Temps were down to around 50 maybe even upper 40s. Furnace did a great job.
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07-24-2018, 09:48 PM
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#32
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 98
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This evening the wife and I took a trip over to Timmy with a load of things that arrived from Amazon, along with a new BBQ I purchased.
I wanted to see if I could fit the BBQ in the outdoor kitchen compartment, well doing so I noticed that our outdoor kitchen doesn't truly lock. If you lightly pulled on the door well it was locked it would just pop open.
Here's a picture of the frame where it's popping over:
It's chipped the paint and marked up the seals a bit.
Well looking at the frame head on you could see the lower portion of it dip down toward the belt line trim. Once I noticed it I couldn't leave it, so I looked at what I had in my vehicle to make it work. I had either rubber equipment feet I could trim down, or pipe insulation.
I decided to cut a section of 3/4" pipe insulation in half, I placed about 12 inches of it in the area where the locking latch hits. I then trimmed off the excess.
After that it seemed to catch a little, at least it wouldn't pop open when you pulled on the handles. I really wanted to see how much of the latch was catching, I tried putting my phone in the compartment, but that didn't work.
I decided to paint the area with a green marker (what I had on hand), and quickly close the latch to try and get some transfer.
I forgot to take a picture of it, but I was getting around an 1/8th of engagement now. Just the tip was green, doesn't sound good, and it certainly isn't lol.
I think my easiest solution is to put some sort of striker plate there to raise it up as much as I can. If anyone has any ideas I'm all ears!
Well I was messing around in there I noticed a lot of saw dust under the cabinet. I pulled out the spice rack and cleaned up inside there. Well I had everything opened up I was able to confirm that there is indeed what appears to be a heat duct going into the wall.
When I first looked at it I noted how it had some weird bends in it, one roughly a 45 toward the back, and then a softer angle bringing it back before it tied in.
With one hand I compressed the flex and made it more of a straight line into the grille. I then thought maybe it was done like that for drawer clearance, so I checked that. The drawer cleared just fine with how I had it now, nice!
Maybe one day I'll pull it a part, and trim off the excess, gain a few CFM out of it. I've yet to actually try it however.
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07-25-2018, 12:51 PM
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#33
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 27
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I changed that lock out, I went to the local locksmith and bought a whole new cylinder lock for like $5. With the new lock there were 2 different size latches so I put the bigger of the 2 on and that worked. I wanted to change out all the compartment locks just to make it harder for a thief but that was the only one that can be changed. I even called the manufacturer of the latches for the front passthru storage and they said that those couldn't be changed.
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07-25-2018, 02:32 PM
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#34
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 98
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fireguy205
I changed that lock out, I went to the local locksmith and bought a whole new cylinder lock for like $5. With the new lock there were 2 different size latches so I put the bigger of the 2 on and that worked.
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Thank you, great advice!
I first went to a local hardware store since I needed something else for a different Timmy project. They sell complete sets, but it looked to me like they were around the same length.
Decided to take your advice and go to a local locksmith by my work.
The guy was a bit of a turd, talked to me like I was a complete idiot. I made an assumption that these things are probably all standard, and expected it would be easy to find. I also think he probably talks to a lot of dumb home owners who most likely describe parts as thing-a-ma-jigs.
Our frustrations with each other aside, he did find a long straight one in his parts drawer, and he just gave it to me for free. I'm not sure if that makes up for his attitude, but it was welcome either way.
I don't have the other one on me as it's keeping the compartment locked, but I gave it my best shot from memory:
I guess we'll see if it works.
It's raining today, so I'm not sure if I will get a chance to try it tonight. Either way I have work to do inside with the AV stuff again, we'll see.
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07-25-2018, 11:43 PM
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#35
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 98
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My apologies for bumping my thread to the top, I can't seem to be able to edit my posts to add information.
I got around to wrapping up my AV mods as far as wiring this evening.
When I had the entertainment unit open before I noted how many speaker outputs weren't being used, and thought it would be nice to one day add some.
Then I started thinking about doing something custom like enclosing the cabinet beside the radio and doing a nice 4-5" driver. Maybe one day, but that's to much work for right now.
What I ended up doing was looking on Amazon, and found a cheap pair of drivers that met the specs I needed, here's what I got:
Nothing fancy, but they'll get the job done.
So I took the back panel back off, and cut into the nice bundle of wires I put away not that long ago. I used a small amount of the wire included with the speakers, and wired them to the C channel. Couldn't be a more perfect label for them!
After roughing that in I ran an audio out cable from the TV to the radio for audio in if you're using the HDMI in on the TV, and wanted it through the amp.
I also picked up some stick on cable tie connectors so I could secure the wires neatly. I also used them to tie up the TV power wire under the radio, it kinda bothered me the way it was just laying there. I noticed well under there that above the RG6/booster wall plate there is a nice slot for me to hide my HDMI cable, tucks it away nicely!
Here's what behind the panel looks like now:
Before I buttoned everything up I placed two strips of thin foam insulation on each of the speakers sides that would be resting on the shelf. Helps give them some traction, and to improve the acoustics.
It turned ok, pretty much what I was expecting. I was picturing them looking a little bigger when I ordered them, however they sound not bad for what I paid. Combined with the overhead channel well listening to music I find they fill in quite nicely.
I wish the speakers had a true left and right format, but they're both identical. Don't mind me, it's just my OCD.
I may come up with some sort of grille to go over the whole opening, clean it up a bit. Something with magnets perhaps? I still like the idea of rotating the TV, so it would need to be removable.
Next I installed that longer catch on the outdoor kitchen. It certainly seems to be grabbing more material now. I pulled on the door a few times and it didn't pop open like it had previously. It still needs a bit of tweaking, I need to tighten my offset up a bit to get a snugger fit.
Once I was all done I was cleaning up, and noticed this in the kitchen:
I'm not sure what that cable is, but it comes from the fridge direction, goes in front of the wheel-well, then it looks to go into the under belly, but I'm not 100% sure, I couldn't get a good look at it.
Anyone know what that is, or seen it before?
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07-26-2018, 07:10 AM
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#36
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 27
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I have a few cables/wires that come from under the slide. I was told this was normal and to just tuck them away after opening the slide.
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07-26-2018, 08:02 AM
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#37
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 98
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fireguy205
I have a few cables/wires that come from under the slide. I was told this was normal and to just tuck them away after opening the slide.
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Weird, you think they would have some way of keeping them up off the floor. It's the first time I've seen it in the 5-10 times we've opened the slide. I was about to tuck it under the flooring that is lifted by the wheel well, then I remembered the slide has to come in lol.
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07-26-2018, 08:55 AM
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#38
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 27
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There was a piece of tape on mine that looked like at some point it was holding it up.
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07-29-2018, 05:37 PM
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#40
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 98
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fireguy205
There was a piece of tape on mine that looked like at some point it was holding it up.
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My guess is mine was probably the same thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcGruther
I put together an album of mods and random things comments on pics to explain some things.
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Wow, glad your wife is okay, that accident looked really serious.
Very nice TV and trailer!
I'm really curious about your opinion of the different suspension setups you've tried. I was looking at ordering what appear to be the same if not very similar air bag setup, that was until recently.
I had my TV at a local performance shop to have the muffler changed out, and a new tail pipe assembly ditching the rear resonator. I was talking with the owner about the different suspension options out there for the 4th gens, he highly recommended a pair of Super Coils over air bags. So now I'm on the fence about which way to go.
What has your experience been like with the different setups?
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