Rockwood 2109S

[fanrgs]

There are lots of good ideas for expanding the factory storage in the Rockwood Mini Lite 2109S travel trailer on this forum. But I have not seen discussed anywhere a couple of storage mods that I made before our trip to Alaska in 2013.

First, I completely removed the paneling in the cabinet below the coat closet next to the door. Then I bought some white plastic-coated wire shelving with short legs at Walmart and set it above the wires and plumbing lying on the floor of the cabinet. That way nothing is stored directly on the utility lines, but a lot of space is opened up for light- to medium-weight items.

Second, I put two large, stackable wire storage baskets between the door and the sink drain pipe in the bathroom vanity. They are large enough to hold black tank chemicals, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and my wife's hair dryer.

Finally, I opened up the bottom cabinet "door" below the TV/stereo cabinet. It has hinges to match the cabinet door for the TV and stereo cables and remotes, but is screwed shut. I just removed the "lock" hardware and replaced it with a brass cabinet slide lock. Then I attached a series of shallow white metal trays (sold as a set at Walmart for spices, etc.) inside the cabinet. I use this cabinet for spare electrical parts (tape, batteries, bulbs, fuses, etc.), plumbing supplies (Teflon tape, hose fittings), Gorilla glue, Gorilla tape, nylon cord, cans of WD-40 and silicone spray--anything that is tall, narrow, or hardware-like.

And, just a suggestion, I replaced most of my light bulbs with LEDs before the Alaska trip. I ordered a set of 20 from a company in Hong Kong through an eBay auction. I was a little concerned about the quality I might get with bulbs costing less than $1/each (compared to $13/each at Camping World), but most are still working. However, the first pure white set weren't very bright and the light was too harsh, so I later ordered another smaller set of cheap daylight LED bulbs that are much brighter and have a more natural, soft white light.

Now, when we are on a winter trip where we will nearly always have 120v AC electricity, I change a few of the LEDs back to the original factory incandescents. That's because turning on those lights and lighting the burner under the tea kettle warms the trailer faster than the furnace. Amazing how much heat those DC bulbs put out!

Maybe that's why the light fixture at the end of the bed burned out during our Alaska trip. But, more likely it's because the rough roads rubbed two wires together until the insulation frayed and they shorted out. I guess it all worked out in the end because the new light fixture I bought in Fairbanks is much better quality than the factory fixture. It also has a switch that allows just one or both bulbs to be turned on, a feature my wife really likes. In fact, she wishes all the kitchen fixtures worked like that.