FR3 Pictures of Mods

[bigduke1956]

Originally Posted by Technorick

200 W Solar installed.

Attachment 80853. Attachment 80854Attachment 80855

Works well with the previously installed Go Power 1000w inverter.

Attachment 80856


2014 FR330 DS

pardon my ignorance, what does an inverter do? what are benefits, I want to learn .....TY

[Technorick]

Power inverter converts DC from the coach battery banks to AC to enable the use of electrical appliances. When camping in a field with no hook ups the inverter can keep you from running your generator and burning fuel.

The problem is 1000w inverter will not run the air conditioner or microwave. And the inverter left to run continuously would drain the batteries. The solar array and solar charger replenishes the battery charge without having to plug in or run the generator.

IE. As long as there is sufficient sun I can run my living room tv on the 115v plug and the satellite while not plugged in to shore power and not have to run the generator. I can also run my DC powered vent fans (either while driving or sitting in a Parking lot) to keep the coach cool and know that the solar power is replenishing the coach batteries.


2014 FR330 DS

[kvillars]

Originally Posted by ssaavedra

I got mine 3 months ago and I've done plenty of modifications. Here my top 6. Hope it helps

-6) 42"TV where the previous 32 was
-5) 30 Amp to 50AMP upgrade
-4) adding 2nd A/C
-3) storage on bunk bed
-2) sliding BBQ outside
-1) Washer/Dryer

Enjoy
Attachment 73118Attachment 73119Attachment 73120Attachment 73121Attachment 73122Attachment 73123

I have to know more about that 42" TV.
I have one ready to put in there but the holes obivously do not line up & the back of the TV does not touch the plate that it's suppsed to screw into.
I'm ready to make some modifications to get the TV to attach to the door but I would love to see how you pulled it off before I do more work than needed.

[twojump36]

Originally Posted by Go_Postal_91

Picked up my 2015 FR3 30 DS one month ago. So far I've added; bathroom shelves (Amazon.com Spice Racks), sewer hose holder over tank, wood dowels stained to match wod to support bed over cab (fell repeatedly on first trip), stop by bath mirror to keep door from hitting/breaking, hat rack, shower hooks, vent covers and other shelves throughout. Best (and most needed) was the grill insert.

Craig Thomas
US Air Force-Retired

I notice the new 2016 comes with a grill screen insert...
How did you do your grill insert?... I've been wondering how to do it and I want to keep the birds and bugs out of there.

Nice mods

[red1skin1]

Was your FR3 pre wired for the rear AC? If not how did you run the power to it?

[David and Cindy]

I, too, used Smart Tile for kitchen and bathroom backsplashes.

[bigduke1956]

Originally Posted by David and Cindy

I, too, used Smart Tile for kitchen and bathroom backsplashes.

that looks great

[vacationlovers]

We wanted to replace the perforated metal strip with a regular clothes rod. But most of you know that it is difficult to attach anything to the paper-thin hollow walls. So I wanted to the method I came up with.

I made a trip to Home Depot and got the following items:

1) one ordinary 6-ft wooden clothes rod (long enough for both closets)
2) two sets of "metal closet pole sockets"
3) one roll of "Scotch Extreme Mounting Tape"
4) four free samples of cabinet material (even though they offered "walnut", I chose "antique birch" because it seemed to match the existing cabinetry color better).



I then used the tape to attach the free sample wooden squares to each closet wall. Next, I screwed the metal sockets to the wooden squares (the screws were long enough to go through the wooden square into the closet wall). Lastly, I cut the clothes rod to the to the proper length for each closet, and slid them into place.

[vacationlovers]

We wanted to add a shelf to the kitchen cabinet above the sink.

I made a trip to Home Depot to get the following items:

1) One Rubbermaid brand 24" x 12" laminate shelf
2) One roll of Scotch Extreme mounting tape

Here's a photo of the shelf:



And here's a closeup of the label:



Here's the tape:



I cut a strip off each end of the shelf, creating two pieces 12" long by 1" wide. These would be used as supports for the shelf. I used the mounting tape to attach a support strip to the left and right walls of the cabinet.

I then the cut the shelf to the correct width (taking into account the little trim molding pieces at the front & back of the right wall), and set it on the two supports.

Here's a "before" photo:



And an "after" photo:

[vacationlovers]

We wanted to add a hand towel ring in the kitchen. As most of you know, it is difficult to attach anything to the paper-thin hollow cabinet walls.

I first tried using a "hollow wall anchor", but the wall is so thin that there is nothing for the anchor to grip, and it just rotated when I tried to tighten a screw.

I considered extra-strength mounting tape, but the towel ring mounting bracket didn't provide enough surface area to attach a sufficient piece of tape.

I finally decided that the only workable method was to use bolts, rather than screws. Fortunately, the back of the bolts could be accessed from inside the pantry (aka coat closet) by the door.

Here's a photo showing the bolts & nuts on the inside of the pantry:



Here's a closeup view:



And here's the finished installation:

[vacationlovers]

We wanted to add a kitchen backsplash to snazz-up the appearance a little, as well as for the practical purpose of improving clean-up. Allowing cooking grease to splatter on wood paneling didn't seem like a good idea.

So we went to Lowes to buy a six-pack and a one-pack of "Smart Tiles Vinyl Mosaic Subway Peel-and-Stick Wall Tiles":



They were fairly easy to apply, although having two people helped, so that one could help keep the tile from sticking to the wall prematurely, while the other person got the first edge perfectly aligned.

Here's how it looked when finished:



We're happy with the result. It seems to be staying in place, even when the RV has been closed-up on very hot days. And friends can't believe that it isn't really glass and tile.

[vacationlovers]

We really need to add more places to hang towels in the bathroom, but as you may already know, it's difficult to mount anything like towel bars on the paper-thin hollow walls in an RV.

The right=hand wall by the sink has one stud where Forest River already mounted a towel hook. It was easy to remove that towel ring (assuming you already have the necessary Square screwdriver type), and mount the new towel ring in its place:



The left-hand wall seems to have only one stud, roughly in the middle, where Forest River already mounted another towel hook. But that one stud is useless for mounting a towel bar.

After considering various options, we settled on a floor-to-ceiling towel caddy:



It's hard to show in one photo, so here's the upper half after installation:



And here's the lower half:



One nice feature is that if the towels seem in the way when you're standing (or sitting) in the bathroom, you can swing them out of the way, and they can also be swung out into the hallway so that they're easy to reach from the shower.

[Go_Postal_91]

Vacation,

Love the towel rack! Agree there's no good spot to mount and this seems a nice alternative.

Craig
U.S. Air Fotce-Retired

[fpo1123]

Like the towel rack. We did the backslash awhile ago but the wife didn't like the plastic tile because of the heat of the stove. So we went to Lowes and found real tiles with self sticking backing and a thin plastic grout line. It is a little heavier but won't melt or discolor.

[757Dave]

Thanks VacationLovers, just ordered the towel caddy! Appreciate the post.

[bigduke1956]

Originally Posted by fpo1123

Like the towel rack. We did the backslash awhile ago but the wife didn't like the plastic tile because of the heat of the stove. So we went to Lowes and found real tiles with self sticking backing and a thin plastic grout line. It is a little heavier but won't melt or discolor.

Top Kick, in the picture for this post, you something covering the burners on stove, I can't make out what it is or the function . Is it a cutting board?

[Technorick]

My standard issue Walmart cutting board. Added two wooden dowels. Upside down they keep the board from sliding off in transit.




Fits nicely on the stove.

[fpo1123]

Yes bigduke1956 it is a cutting board from CW. It has a rubber bottom so it doesn't move at all on the road. It works well for us. And thanks for your service.

[Lexi2007]

I can't wait to get one. It looks another one could be used in the bedroom to hang stuff over if a person wanted to.

[leisurelarry]

I bought this cutting board off of Amazon I believe it was a Camco.
Never slides or rattles no matter how rough the road maybe.[ATTACH]85059[/ATTACH}
It came with a two pack of chopping mats.