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Old 09-26-2014, 04:35 AM   #1
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Wheelchair Mafia newbie owner

Hi all,
My name is David, and I just bought a 2005 Salem FBSRV toy hauler to modify to be completely wheelchair accessible and will be traveling the US and Canada for the next 4-5 years pretty much FT. I have been a T-9 paraplegic for 25 years now, so this will be a grand adventure. Have a 2004.5 Ram 2500 w/5.9l Cummins as a tow vehicle. Starting the bathroom and bedroom mods right after installing the widened door from the garage (what will be my lounge/office area) and getting new tires. Hope to meet some good folks here and on the road! I have a website and blog, as well as facebook page for the accessibility reiews and videos I will be doing, but I don't want to violate site rules by posting the links.
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Old 09-26-2014, 05:42 AM   #2
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Old 09-26-2014, 05:59 AM   #3
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Congrats, and welcome to the forum. Good luck with the mods and make sure you post lots of pictures
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Old 09-26-2014, 11:57 AM   #4
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Old 09-27-2014, 01:48 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Qchair62 View Post
Hi all,
My name is David, and I just bought a 2005 Salem FBSRV toy hauler to modify to be completely wheelchair accessible and will be traveling the US and Canada for the next 4-5 years pretty much FT. I have been a T-9 paraplegic for 25 years now, so this will be a grand adventure. Have a 2004.5 Ram 2500 w/5.9l Cummins as a tow vehicle. Starting the bathroom and bedroom mods right after installing the widened door from the garage (what will be my lounge/office area) and getting new tires. Hope to meet some good folks here and on the road! I have a website and blog, as well as facebook page for the accessibility reiews and videos I will be doing, but I don't want to violate site rules by posting the links.
Welcome aboard! If you enjoy your Salem as much as I do mine you are in for lots of good times. I would love to see the before & after pictures. You can create photo albums here where you can share your pictures.

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Old 09-27-2014, 02:38 PM   #6
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Thank you all for the kind welcomes! I will be starting the mods in Oct, hopefully to be finished in time to be at the Tampa show in Jan. I am lucky to have my uncle and first cousin just outside Camp LeJune to help. He is a USN Capt., ret., and has access to a lot of great Navy and civilian people that are going to help. I will post a set of starting pics inside and out on my website and on Facebook, and here as well. If anyone wants to keep up with my progress and travel, there will be weekly videos throughout this grand adventure on YouTube, as well as updates on the website and Facebook. As a non-profit, the goal of my travels is to bring increased accessibility to the travel world, specifically the RV industry. There will be reviews and ratings of everywhere I go in the hope that it helps others with mobility impairments to get out and enjoy RVing and traveling to see our great country(s). I am not clear on the site's link policy so I do not post my website in my sig. I do look forward to meeting lots of great new people, and seeing all of this great country, and the great country of Canada that I can with every day God gives me.
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Old 09-27-2014, 02:41 PM   #7
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Old 09-27-2014, 04:02 PM   #8
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Welcome to the friendliest forums around! Hope your mods go smoothly and quickly so you can head out and enjoy it! PM me a link to your blog. I'd love to follow along!

Thanks!
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Old 09-27-2014, 04:02 PM   #9
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In the meantime I am interested in the mods you do. You never know when one member's idea can help another. Even with a different type unit I borrowed a few ideas from the one of the "Pimp my...." mod threads.
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Old 09-27-2014, 04:20 PM   #10
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Welcome from Louisiana.
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Old 09-27-2014, 04:28 PM   #11
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In the meantime I am interested in the mods you do. You never know when one member's idea can help another. Even with a different type unit I borrowed a few ideas from the one of the "Pimp my...." mod threads.
I will certainly post full pics of all mods. I totally agree that if something we do can help another it should be shared!
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Old 09-27-2014, 05:15 PM   #12
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Welcome, Qchair62. Best of luck to you in your project. I had my first camping trip this week since my right leg above the knee amputation last month. My apprehension about driving the MH disappeared within 100 yards down the road, and I had a good trip. We met a couple camping in an R-pod, wife drove and did all the set up, her husband in a wheelchair, paralyzed on right side by a stroke. Maybe I can use some of your mods in my MH. Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to carry a coffee cup while using a pair of crutches.
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Old 09-27-2014, 05:18 PM   #13
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Welcome to the forum from Texas. Looking forward to following your adventure.


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Old 09-27-2014, 05:46 PM   #14
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Welcome, Qchair62. Best of luck to you in your project. I had my first camping trip this week since my right leg above the knee amputation last month. My apprehension about driving the MH disappeared within 100 yards down the road, and I had a good trip. We met a couple camping in an R-pod, wife drove and did all the set up, her husband in a wheelchair, paralyzed on right side by a stroke. Maybe I can use some of your mods in my MH. Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to carry a coffee cup while using a pair of crutches.
Glad you are getting back out there! I hope we can chat sometime. Two companies make fully accessible TT including a wheelchair lift, but I didn't have30k to drop on one, so I am taking a 29 FBSRV and doing the mods. Don't worry about the new ways you have to do things, because you will get it figured out!
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Old 10-02-2014, 03:00 PM   #15
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Qchair62 looks like your in the same situation I was in... I'm in a wheelchair to and to find a RV that a person in a wheelchair can get in is hard to find that I could afford ... But I fold a 2015 Coachmen 301 BLDS toy hauler that I bought an I got Coachmen I leave the sliding doors in the middle out so I would have a straight shot to the front of the camper and so far it's worked great..so maybe yours will work out to.
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Old 10-03-2014, 02:24 AM   #16
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Qchair62 looks like your in the same situation I was in... I'm in a wheelchair to and to find a RV that a person in a wheelchair can get in is hard to find that I could afford ... But I fold a 2015 Coachmen 301 BLDS toy hauler that I bought an I got Coachmen I leave the sliding doors in the middle out so I would have a straight shot to the front of the camper and so far it's worked great..so maybe yours will work out to.
Love to hear about your rig and your disability. If you get the time, pm me or email me and we can talk. I am not sure how much you want to share about your situation in open forum. I am already posting the first mod to my Salem. I am having a garage sale this weekend but will try to get some pics put up in the forum on Monday if I can. I have to put the website and associated stuff up first. Glad you are not letting anything stop you from enjoying your RV and traveling! Keep on! I fly my Wheelchair Mafia flag everywhere so if you see me stop and hollar!
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Old 10-03-2014, 03:20 AM   #17
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Man it's good to hear you are going to do some mods and get out there traveling. I just bought a toy hauler to make it easier to get my brother in the camper. He's a C-5 quad. And trying to get him into my old one was not too fun. And on top of that his chair is 27" and the doors are only 24". Good luck. Can you pm me your website info. I'd like to check it out.


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