2017 Coachmen Freedom Express 246RKS Underbelly Mod Suggestions

[horn4life]

Well the wife and I did pull the trigger but I do not yet have the trailer in the driveway to work on. But I am going to get it this week and go to work on her before we hit the road. The unit is in great shape and hasn't been exposed to road salt nor the salt and sand at the beach, so I want to take some preventative action before putting into full use. Since one of my primary dry camping locations will be on the beach, I want to try and add additional protection to the underbelly area. So here is sort of what I am thinking, PLEASE criticize of make suggestions!

1) First off I plan to remove the cloroplast covering and add support for the 49 gallon fresh water tank. Should I add support to the grey and blackwater tanks as well???

2) I also want to seal every exposed piece of metal that would over time be exposed to the salt air that permeates everything at the coast. I was going to use a 3M rubberized coating that looked pretty durable, but I am open to whatever is the best DIY sealing process here. Any other exposure related ideas for me to protect my baby from the elementss?

3) I was going to add some red LED light strips and figured that running wire connections and sealing them from the elements would be best done with access to the underbelly before resealing. I want to use red under edge lighting for two reason. First is to clearly define the outline of the trailer on the beach to anyone driving by so they do not run into it. Secondly the red lights will not destroy my night vision if I am fishing at night. I was thinking of adding an on/off switch in the pass thru storage near the door.

4) I need to add a cigarette lighter connection somewhere and I thought running wire for this might also be best done with the underbelly cover off and before spraying the sealant. I thought at first I would just wire the connection into an areas near the pass through door, but it may be just as easy to drill a hole and put direct access to the lighter DC connection into the sidewall. My use for this will be for either air pumps for floats, or most often running a bait bucket.

Future potential Solar???? I am not sure if I am going to go this route or not, but IF you were me and thought you might add solar capacity and battery capacity later are there any underbelly modifications you would do at this point in time? Route wires? Drill holes? Whatever... my lack of not knowing what I do not know in this department is nearly total.

As a newbie I welcome any suggestions. I could see adding some solar capacity at some point and LiOn batteries. However the idea of $1400 in batteries on my A frame, seems like an invitation for theft.

Thanks in advance!

[horn4life]

38 views and no responses... i must be even smarter than I think I am! ;-)

[Jfkmk]

Hello, I have a 2019 FE 192RBS. It’s a great trailer, and yours should serve you well. I’ll answer where I can.
1 - my tt has supports for the fw tank on the outside of the colorplast. Yours may as well. I’ve never checked on the waste tanks, it might be worth checking them out.

2 - I’m not sure I would use a rubberized coating. After two years of use I had only some very small spots of minor surface rust. Rust converter and paint did the trick. A void in rubberized coating may allow moisture in and trap it.

3 and 4, can’t help. Sorry!

Good luck with your new camper, welcome from western NJand have fun!

[horn4life]

thanks Jfkmk!

I know they had the cloroplast resealed when they had the most recent inspection done, so it's probably put on pretty well and is gonna make a mess to pull off.

I figured if I really didn't see any rust when putting in the additional support I might just button it back up. I was going to look over all the electrical connections as well just to make sure everything looks good and make sure all the metal is painted sealed from water exposure.

Again thanks for the reply

[babock]

On my Freedom Express, my water tank supports are on the outside of the cloroplast. I just upsized the size of the supports. The original ones would bend.

[babock]

Besides the water tank mods, an even more important mod for your trailer is to beef up your spring hangers since you have a spread axle. On my trailer, I welded C channel across my trailer joining the hangers. I would suggest the same mod.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Jfkmk

2 - I’m not sure I would use a rubberized coating. After two years of use I had only some very small spots of minor surface rust. Rust converter and paint did the trick. A void in rubberized coating may allow moisture in and trap it.

I grew up and lived in northern Illinois and southern Minnesota. I had several cars rust away beneath me. None of the rust preventers worked. As JFKMK suggests, salt water infiltrates behind the coating, gets trapped, and rusts faster than if nothing were there.

It's a corrosive environment. Might as well plan on a 10-year life and consider yourself lucky if you get fifteen.

[Flybob]

I agree on not using rubberized coating. You are better off opening bottom every few years and touching up any rust areas. The rubberized coating may just cover up and encourage rust. As for the electrical work, I ran Electrical Nonmetallic Tubing Conduit down the frame using "C clamps" attached with the screws used to secure the Coroplast. This allows me to run current and future wire runs with ease.

[horn4life]

Originally Posted by babock

Besides the water tank mods, an even more important mod for your trailer is to beef up your spring hangers since you have a spread axle. On my trailer, I welded C channel across my trailer joining the hangers. I would suggest the same mod.

So to be clear, you joined all three hangers with one piece of C-channel, but not sure how you mounted it? I found this link and I assume this is what you are saying ai should be concerned about especially on the middle hanger?

[babock]

Each hanger across from each other is joined. 3 pieces.

Originally Posted by horn4life

So to be clear, you joined all three hangers with one piece of C-channel, but not sure how you mounted it? I found this link and I assume this is what you are saying ai should be concerned about especially on the middle hanger?

[simiHal]

I would against using rubberized coating for exposed metal. There a number of comparative videos on YouTube for rust inhibiting coatings. I suggest you check them out and make a choice that would fit your needs.

[horn4life]

First off thanks for the replies and input. Finally got "Charlie" home today with a near disaster with a semi in a construction zone. So now can start crawling around underneath in the AM, when it's not 95 degrees.

One thing I am going to need/want to do is get a few more inches of lift in the suspension. My driveway has a steep lip at the curb and backing in and squaring it up the scissor jacks in the back rub just barely. Same with the scissor jacks and the tongue jack. Not terrible, but 2-1/2 or 3 inches would be perfect.

Since I am going to reinforce the spring hangers anyhow, this is probably a good time to get a couple inches of lift.

I wondered if perhaps when reinforcing the hangers I should just add some more length to those for the lift? I sort of envisioned triangles of metal welded ton both sides of the hangers for support and additional length, but again I don't know what I don't know yet. I've seen where some folks get the lift by repositioning the axle underneath the spring. But I have no idea about what is best and most durable solution over time. Suggestions?

[Jfkmk]

If you need 2 1/2-3” more, you could consider flipping the axles.

[babock]

Originally Posted by horn4life

I wondered if perhaps when reinforcing the hangers I should just add some more length to those for the lift? I sort of envisioned triangles of metal welded ton both sides of the hangers for support and additional length, but again I don't know what I don't know yet. I've seen where some folks get the lift by repositioning the axle underneath the spring. But I have no idea about what is best and most durable solution over time. Suggestions?

I sure wouldn't extend the hangers...Not with spread axles.

[babock]

Originally Posted by Jfkmk

If you need 2 1/2-3” more, you could consider flipping the axles.

At least on my Freedom Express, the axles are already under the springs.

[horn4life]

My axles are on top so a flip would be a great option, and would give me about 5-1/2 inches of lift when the thickness of the springs is included. So that might be the best option. For the lift.

The bottom is very well sealed so I am not going to mess with opening it up. Eventually I may have to, but now it would just be stupid. There is an extra nipple(?) to add an additional Gas line. Which could be used to run the generator, or gas burner for crawfish style cooker. It would be great to be able to blacken or fry fish outside from both a smell and heat perspective.

How well are the metal plates that the rear scissor jacks are mounted on welded to the frame? Looks like I could run and additional 1 inch square across the width of the underside and just bolt it into that plate? That might be my first glance solution to supporting the water tank. But do I need to put some additional welds or bolt support to that that plate?

I guess the other good discovery was that when I turn on the orange bug light, an under step white like comes on as well. So I could wire my under frame Red LED lighting into that fixture and install a marine grade switch to cut the power to the white light and keep the Red LED's on.

I thought I had MaxxAir fans because of the covers but instead a crappy ventline v2094. I need to replace it, to create some decent airflow. I think that if I replace the bathroom vent with a strong exhaust, I can probably get by with just a vent in the bedroom.

Last worry is that dual fuel inverter generators are hard to find with the capacity I want in the Austin area that have the capacity I need. I am thinking of the Champion Dual fuel 3500. But with Propane the peak wattage is 3150, with 2880 running. Is that gonna be enough to start that 15K btu Air conditioner? I like that it's only 100 pounds, and I could add soft start if necessary... or haul gas... :-(

THANK YOU ALL!!!! So much for the advice!

[babock]

Originally Posted by horn4life

My axles are on top so a flip would be a great option, and would give me about 5-1/2 inches of lift when the thickness of the springs is included. So that might be the best option. For the lift.

If you do that, you will have to weld on a perch of some kind more than likely. You can't just flip the axle over.


BTW...I keep on bringing up those spread axles. I would never own a trailer with them because of the torquing on the frame that happens. By putting the axles under the springs, you are adding even more lever arm to torquing the frame and the spring hangers. Just be aware of that.

[horn4life]

Originally Posted by babock

If you do that, you will have to weld on a perch of some kind more than likely. You can't just flip the axle over.


BTW...I keep on bringing up those spread axles. I would never own a trailer with them because of the torquing on the frame that happens. By putting the axles under the springs, you are adding even more lever arm to torquing the frame and the spring hangers. Just be aware of that.

Yeah - the torque on the tires/wheels/frame when parked, is why I go up and back about 10 times in my driveway to square up and reduce the pressure on the tires. But the additional distance from the hangars would increase the stresses with additional torque. But what are my options other than reinforce the hell out of the hangars and flip the axles?

I will say that I had my buddy tow it home so I could observe the wheel balance, tracking etc. We came to a part in the freeway where there was construction and a good bounce. The trailer in front was swaying like crazy after the bounce, mine tracked perfectly with little to no movement. I also think that with so much of my use going to be parking in the sand on the beach that the torque pressures should be less with the sand being able to shift unter the pressures.

[babock]

Some people have put a 2' x 2" square tube welded to the original frame and welded new hangers to that. That way, the hangers aren't welded to the flimsy frame and you get 2" of lift. These Lippert frames on these light weight trailers are a major weak point without spread axles let alone with. You don't want to be doing more things to screw it up even more.


This is the Lippert fix that you do once you break your frame.
https://manuals.heartlandowners.org/...e%20Cracks.pdf

[horn4life]

thanks for the link babcock