Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-18-2019, 03:14 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
mdstudey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Rio Hondo, TX
Posts: 608
"Pass through" storage question

One of the things that bother me about my 2015 23BD Grey Wolf is that there is no "pass through" in the storage area. There is no reason as far as I can see why there can't be. Why did the Cherokee designers or engineers decide this.



Being a disabled person it would be nice to keep my hoses and electrical cords on the side they are used on. Plus you can utilize the space much better without having to lift the bed or a pole with a hook to get the stuff from the other side.



Instead of buying another trailer I need to make some changes to this one to make it user friendly. Like adding USB charging ports.
__________________
Chuck & Denise + Pata, The Purple Princess Peanut, Ziggy the pole cat and Kazumba the parrot

2015 23 BD Gray Wolf
2008 Dodge Ram 2500 TX Edition 2015 - 7 nights, 2 trips, 2016 - 2 trip, 24 nights, 2017 1 trip, 3 nights 2018 1 trip, 93 nights

mdstudey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2019, 03:40 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
K2Kevin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 362
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdstudey View Post
One of the things that bother me about my 2015 23BD Grey Wolf is that there is no "pass through" in the storage area. There is no reason as far as I can see why there can't be. Why did the Cherokee designers or engineers decide this.
Being a disabled person it would be nice to keep my hoses and electrical cords on the side they are used on. Plus you can utilize the space much better without having to lift the bed or a pole with a hook to get the stuff from the other side.
Instead of buying another trailer I need to make some changes to this one to make it user friendly. Like adding USB charging ports.
Must be the simple cost of manufacturing and parts. There is a LOT that can be done at the factory they just never do. From the looks of it, adding a pass through door doesn't seem like a huge undertaking.
K2Kevin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2019, 03:42 PM   #3
The PI Camper
 
Steelsun's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 124
USB ports are easy. You can buy normal 110 outlets at any big box that have a few USB ports in them, and just swap them out. Depending on your camper you may have to add some extra support for the outlet.
__________________
The Houston, TX PI Camper
2014 Flagstaff Micro Lite
Steelsun is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2019, 03:54 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
mdstudey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Rio Hondo, TX
Posts: 608
Will be adding the cargo door. I had sent the question to FR Cherokee line and got a reply back from Greg Vogt in a short time and he also provided me with a part number. I have also thought about adding a cargo door under the outside of the middle storage in the u-shape storage. That would be a real handy spot for keeping electrical and fresh water hoses. The space is very difficult to access or maybe putting cubby holes from the inside to keep things like the shoe pile from under the table.


I am also working on adding a fuse box in the pass through to add 12v usb connectors and an additional light or two.
__________________
Chuck & Denise + Pata, The Purple Princess Peanut, Ziggy the pole cat and Kazumba the parrot

2015 23 BD Gray Wolf
2008 Dodge Ram 2500 TX Edition 2015 - 7 nights, 2 trips, 2016 - 2 trip, 24 nights, 2017 1 trip, 3 nights 2018 1 trip, 93 nights

mdstudey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2019, 09:31 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
K2Kevin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 362
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steelsun View Post
USB ports are easy. You can buy normal 110 outlets at any big box that have a few USB ports in them, and just swap them out. Depending on your camper you may have to add some extra support for the outlet.
Only issue with using the AC outlets, is just that. It will only work on AC. All the USB ports in the camper currently run off 12V.

I am thinking of changing out one of my outlets near the front door though.
K2Kevin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2019, 09:49 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 5,712
On our 2018 Cherokee, the brochure shows "Pass Through Storage" in the floor plan drawing. It's shown on other models also. In reality...there is only a door on ONE SIDE. This does NOT qualify as PASS THROUGH and I've brought this to the attention of FR numerous times with absolutely NO response.
TheWolfPaq82 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2019, 10:26 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: California
Posts: 7,616
Quote:
Originally Posted by K2Kevin View Post
Only issue with using the AC outlets, is just that. It will only work on AC. All the USB ports in the camper currently run off 12V.

I am thinking of changing out one of my outlets near the front door though.
If you go through the trouble of putting in 12v supplied USB outlets, Make sure they are high quality and high current models. This is what I installed. To me, its pointless to put in the USB outlets in an AC outlet. Just do the 12V supplied ones.

https://shop.pkys.com/Blue-Sea-1045-...er_p_4757.html
babock is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2019, 01:11 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
mdstudey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Rio Hondo, TX
Posts: 608
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWolfPaq82 View Post
On our 2018 Cherokee, the brochure shows "Pass Through Storage" in the floor plan drawing. It's shown on other models also. In reality...there is only a door on ONE SIDE. This does NOT qualify as PASS THROUGH and I've brought this to the attention of FR numerous times with absolutely NO response.

I almost did not buy the trailer for this simple reason. The Salesman told me it was no big deal. We just keep things we don't use very often in the back and then have to dig everything out. DH and I will really like being able to access both sides. I asked Greg Vogt and he said it was something they did not add onto a lot of their models.
__________________
Chuck & Denise + Pata, The Purple Princess Peanut, Ziggy the pole cat and Kazumba the parrot

2015 23 BD Gray Wolf
2008 Dodge Ram 2500 TX Edition 2015 - 7 nights, 2 trips, 2016 - 2 trip, 24 nights, 2017 1 trip, 3 nights 2018 1 trip, 93 nights

mdstudey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2019, 01:29 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 209
Some of the Grey Wolf models locate the hot water heater up front, where the opposite (street side) passthrough door would be. My 20RDSE was configured this way.

If yours is also, it will be a pretty major undertaking to relocate the WH and the plumbing leading to it, along with adding another vent opening for the WH on the outside wall.
Reprise is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2019, 02:58 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: California
Posts: 7,616
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reprise View Post
Some of the Grey Wolf models locate the hot water heater up front, where the opposite (street side) passthrough door would be. My 20RDSE was configured this way.

If yours is also, it will be a pretty major undertaking to relocate the WH and the plumbing leading to it, along with adding another vent opening for the WH on the outside wall.
From the pictures, looks like that's not the case. Looks fairly simple if the framing is open enough.


https://www.paulsherryrvs.com/rv/piq...grey+wolf+23bd
babock is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2019, 04:54 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
DouglasReid's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Maurice, LA
Posts: 4,095
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steelsun View Post
USB ports are easy. You can buy normal 110 outlets at any big box that have a few USB ports in them, and just swap them out. Depending on your camper you may have to add some extra support for the outlet.
Most RV 120 V outlet receptacles are not wired the same way as residential receptacles. They use an "insulation displacement" technology and dong' have the traditional "box" as residential wiring. So they don't have the long pigtails that are contained in the box either.

You could add a box, a two gang "pop in" box may work, because it would be wide enough to contain both ends of the wire and any connections you added to install the two receptacles. It would have to be shallow though because the RV walls are usually 2x2 instead of 2x4 framing.

If like ours the Load Center is in a cabinet at the back of the camper near the floor and you have an open space, or use a wafer breaker you could add a dedicated circuit to a single or two gang box and have plenty of room for USB ports.

I did this very thing to add a circuit for our "Scare" lights under the camper that we turn on at night to keep Critters from roaming under the camper.

An easier solution may be to add a 6 receptacle cover to allow you to plug in cords and multiple USB chargers to an existing duplex receptacle.............Like this:

https://express.google.com/u/0/produ...8aAhbBEALw_wcB
__________________
2012 Wildcat Sterling 32RL, Gladiator Qr35 ST235/85R16 Load rating G, TST 507 TPMS w/ Flow-thru Sensors & Repeater, Reese Sidewinder 16K Pin Box, PI EMS HW50C
2009 Chevy Silverado 2500HD CCSB LTZ Diesel, Fumoto Oil Drain Valve, Turbo Brake activated, 39 gal Aux Tank W/ Fuel Pump transfer, Air Lift Loadlifter 5000 air bags.
DouglasReid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2019, 05:04 PM   #12
Always Learning
 
ependydad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Four Corners, FL
Posts: 21,888
Quote:
Originally Posted by DouglasReid View Post
Most RV 120 V outlet receptacles are not wired the same way as residential receptacles. They use an "insulation displacement" technology and dong' have the traditional "box" as residential wiring. So they don't have the long pigtails that are contained in the box either.

You could add a box, a two gang "pop in" box may work, because it would be wide enough to contain both ends of the wire and any connections you added to install the two receptacles. It would have to be shallow though because the RV walls are usually 2x2 instead of 2x4 framing.
I replaced 3 outlets and added a 4th.

I used these "old work" boxes:


(We'll ignore the fact that that's the new outlet and my dumb-ass didn't run it through the actual box. I had to redo that one.)

I did get it right eventually:


But again, for anyone thinking of it- the limitation is that you'll have shore, generator, or inverter power.
__________________
Officially a SOB with a 2022 Jayco Precept 36C
Checkout my site for RVing tips, tricks, and info | Was a Fulltime Family for 5 years, now we're part-timing on long trips
ependydad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2019, 07:31 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: California
Posts: 7,616
Quote:
Originally Posted by ependydad View Post
But again, for anyone thinking of it- the limitation is that you'll have shore, generator, or inverter power.
Seems like a huge limitation. Would kinda suck for me to run a 2000W inverter with its power overhead to power some USB outlets. Running 12V to 120V and then back to 5V is pretty inefficient.
babock is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2019, 08:15 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
DavidBo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Texas Coastal Bend
Posts: 844
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steelsun View Post
USB ports are easy. You can buy normal 110 outlets at any big box that have a few USB ports in them, and just swap them out. Depending on your camper you may have to add some extra support for the outlet.
My MiniLite didn't have any kind of outlet located convenient to the dinette slide (aka guest room), so I installed an aforementioned combination USB/110V receptacle into a residential old-work PVC box. The little swing out feet that clamp the box in place don't offer much surface area and can easily crack and pull through the paper thin "wood" used to construct the cabinetry, so I reinforced the area with a cut-up paint stirring stick.



I used double stick tape to hold the wood bits in place, awkwardly working through the hole I cut only to later realize I had perfectly good access from the forward storage area. Fortunately I had plenty of space because the combination outlet is larger than a standard 110V receptacle and needs a deeper than normal box. I only needed a few feet of Romex because there's an existing outlet nearby, but it's inaccessible with the Murphy bed raised so it's nearly worthless. I'm glad I found the easier outside access so I could safely tack the wire up with some insulated staples.
Obviously this needs shore power or a generator, but that's usually how we camp and not needing extension cords is much more convenient and safe.
DavidBo is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
storage

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:50 AM.