My list of mods over the years

I have been keeping a list of the mods I have done to my trailer (06bhwb) over the years. I have been leary about posting the list as I could never figure out how to post photos on this site. However, as of yesterday I have now figured that out so now I am ready to share my list with you all.

1. maxair vent covers x3
2. battery switch
3. fridge fan
4. hunter digital thermostat
5. separate dedicated battery charger
6. relocate second battery from factory
7. awning center support
8. dedicated heater plug hookup to outside
9. electrical outlet in front compartment
10. propane hose pass through hole (for buddy heater)
11. new coax and repair connections through out trailer
12. add 12 volt plugs x3
13. add shelves in cabinets
14. remove lazy suzan
15. different TV bracket that swivels
16. sewer hose tube
17. trimetric battery meter
18. remove bottom bunk (to fit dirt bike inside)
19. tie down locations in bunk room (for dirt bike)
20. upper tool boxes in front storage
21. relocate spare tire
22. new bumper with three receiver tubes
23. cargo box on rear of trailer
24. bike rack above cargo box
25. rear view camera
26. flag pole and holder (new one on order)
27. add shelf above entry door
28. remove false panels in cabinets in various locations

That is it for now. I do have a to do list that I have not gotten to yet.

1. Demco pin box
2. under carriage storage box
3. rear backup lights
4. couple more storage tubes

Hopefully I can get a couple of these knocked off this summer.

That's quite a list.

Where did you remove false panels in the cabinets? We'd like to see a photo of the shelf above the entry door, and a photo of the upper tool boxes in front storage.

Good mods.

Where are the photos???

That would be a lot of photos. It will take time to get them all posted.

I just thought that if we were interested, and made a request, Maxum1989 would post photos. Are there any specific mods you want to see? I'm sure Maxum willl oblige.

Tater

Tater is correct. I didn't want to fill the forum with a bunch of photos that were not needed. I will however post photos of the ones requested. Not a problem at all.

Tater,
I will post your photo requests later today.

Tater,

Here are a couple of photos of the front tool boxes I added. These boxes are designed to be used under a cabinet so there is an open top and open back to them. They fit above the landing gear rod and within a 1/2 inch to the motor as if they were custom made for my trailer. The front flips down and they even came with dividers that keep smaller items organized. This area was completely unused before so these boxes were a good find.




Next, this photo shows the shelf above the door plus one of the false panels that I knocked out of the cabinets. The spot where the black pot is was not usable at all so I just removed the panel and put in a shelf just above the cabinet door height and ended up with an open cabinet area. I plan on getting another bracket to mount on the right side of the door to make it look more balanced, even though it is not needed. I was going to put a small rod to keep the items from falling off this shelf while travelling but so far everything stays put without it so I am leaving that for now. The shelf itself came from Home Depot and matches the cabinet color quite well. Is seems off a bit to the sliding door, but that is just the lighting from the camera. It actually looks better in person.





Lastly, this photo is of the area above the microwave oven. I am not sure why they do this type of stuff, but they had this area blocked off because of the wires right against the back wall. I added a bottom to this area just above the top of the microwave and ended up with another open shelf area. I will eventually put a false back on this one to hide the wires.

Sorry in requesting all pic, I would like to see #16,#6,#26 Battery move, sewer tube, and flag pole and holder Thanks Jack

Maxum,
Really good mods.

The two tool boxes look great! I can see they hold a lot of stuff. I'll be sure Scruffy looks at these photos.

We have a rear lounge with the entry door at the back instead of middle, and the ceiling is lower there than yours - leaving less space from the top of the cabinet doors to the ceiling. I don't know if a shelf would work. The kitchen cabinet alongside the door has the empty space at the top, but it isn't as high as yours. If we put in a shelf, it would probably only be about 6 or 7 inches high. But, it might work. I'll have to stare at it for a few hours. That's how I do all my mods - just stare at it until I figure it out. I've been staring at that cloth insert in the space above that kitchen cabinet for a long time. I know it is wasted space - even with a step stool I wouldn't be able to reach it (but Scruffy is a foot taller than me, and he might be able to reach). He's a bit concerned about putting any more weight in that cabinet. We don't know how well it's fastened to the ceiling. Have you thought about putting sliding doors on the cabinet that has the black enamel pot? Or putting a piece paneling (prefinished shelving) up where the above-the-door shelf rests and a hinged door on the cabinet? We used the prefinished shelving in some of our mods - most matched perfectly, except the last piece we bought was a little lighter in color. I think if we converted the hidden space in that cabinet I'd want a long door with hinges at the top.

That's a good idea about converting the space above the microwave - such a waste on the part of Forest River. The space above our microwave is open with decorative trim, and we thought about enclosing it, but this is another place Scruffy is concerned about the weight. We have some of our outdoor decorations hanging from the ceiling above the microwave, so the space isn't totally wasted, and that works for us. I noticed the open space above your refrigerator. We put cabinet doors on that space to make room for food items - cereal, crackers, chips, etc. There are a couple photos of that in our picasa album, if you are interested.

I like the whiteboard/pegboard on the end of your cabinet. So far we haven't put anything there.

Tater

Here is a photo of the flag pole in action. Whenever I do anything on the trailer I try my best to have it accomplish more than one thing at once. So, with the flag pole, instead of buying a dedicated flag pole I decided to use a long extendable painters pole so it could be used for other things other than just flying flags. For instance I use this same pole with a broom head screwed on to clean leaves and needles off the awning when we pack up. Also, it could be used to wash the trailer. Just seems to make sense to me. So if you look carefully at the photo, you can see where the painters pole is extended to the max and then another broom handle is threaded on the end of it to hold the top flag. The overall height is around 15 feet above the roof of the trailer. I have a piece of abs pipe clamped to the ladder as a temporary solution to hold the pole for now. I have a new flag pole holder on order and will mount that when it arrives. I did it this way to test how the flag pole worked. Didn't want to invest in the real thing until I found out if I liked it or not. By the way, my sons favourite Nascar driver is Jeff Gordon.



The sewer tube is nothing special. Just a pvc pipe secured to the rear bumper. I plan on adding a couple more and moving it closer to the sewer outlet on the trailer this summer. I will probably use the square pvc fence posts that I see others using for this.



The battery move is also something not too exciting. My trailer from the factory came with a battery on each side of the front storage compartment with wires running back and forth. I decided it would be better to have them closer together with thicker guage connections so I moved the one on the passenger side to the drivers side. This is where all the electrical changes are in the front compartment. The battery charger, cutoff switch and batteries all together in one spot. I had to drill a new hole in the floor of the front compartment for the drain hole for the battery box. Other than that, pretty straight forward.

Tater,
If I could find some cabinet doors that would match I would use them for sure. I visit my rv dealer from time to time and they usually have extra cabinet parts but have not had any the right color yet.

Can I see what you did with the awning. It is nice to see they mounted your pump high enough so the covers will go on your batteries. Nice mods.

I bought a sewer hose tube on line. Camping World did not carry a long enough one. I mounted it on top of the bumper. My main sewer hose is carried in there and I carry a extra hose in the bumper.

I moved my spare underneath the front storage to try and balance out some of the weight I added to the back of the trailer. It is mounted the same way some others have done. I believe Scottz did it this way as well. Just some threaded rod and a couple of lock nuts.





The awning support is just one of the cradles that supports the awning while travelling. I found this is when my awning tube tends to flex a little so this helps that out. After I mounted this cradle, I saw that you can get one that also has a rafter to help support the awning when in use. I wish I would have known this prior to putting this one on as my door tends to rub my awning unless I have it as high as it will go. The rafter addition would have helped this situation out a lot.

maxum1989 wrote:I moved my spare underneath the front storage to try and balance out some of the weight I added to the back of the trailer. It is mounted the same way some others have done. I believe Scottz did it this way as well. Just some threaded rod and a couple of lock nuts.





The awning support is just one of the cradles that supports the awning while travelling. I found this is when my awning tube tends to flex a little so this helps that out. After I mounted this cradle, I saw that you can get one that also has a rafter to help support the awning when in use. I wish I would have known this prior to putting this one on as my door tends to rub my awning unless I have it as high as it will go. The rafter addition would have helped this situation out a lot.

Thank you. I like the awning support. Now time to do research and see if I can find what you have.

maxum1989 wrote: Tater,

Here are a couple of photos of the front tool boxes I added. These boxes are designed to be used under a cabinet so there is an open top and open back to them. They fit above the landing gear rod and within a 1/2 inch to the motor as if they were custom made for my trailer. The front flips down and they even came with dividers that keep smaller items organized. This area was completely unused before so these boxes were a good find.




...

Where did you get the tool boxes? Or at least a part number?

The tool boxes came from a Canadian Tool Outlet (KMS Tools). I purchased these about a year ago. I looked at their website and these boxes were not listed. They also don't have any model numbers or markings at all except for the name on the front. I will try and swing by where I got them to see if they still have any in stock. I will post again when I find anything out about them.

The tool boxes are bolted to the floor somehow I am assuming? I wonder if they will fit above the generator that I have installed?

I used metal self tapping screws into the metal supports that make up the floor of the bedroom. It was a very small space to work in. I was a little concerned about them hanging that way, but they are rock solid and have held up well.

Thank you. Now to see if they fit over the generator. Add more weight to my hitch.

I went by the store where I got the tool boxes today and they still have them. They are called pigeon hole boxes which is why I couldn't find them before. Below is a link to them on their website. The fine gentleman at the store said they do ship to the USA if anyone is interested in purchasing them. Has to be done online for shipping to the US but of course that is a mute point.

In the picture on the website, it is showing the dividers in place. On mine they just fit into slots so are removable if you wish. I am assuming these dividers would be removable like mine but maybe not.

http://www.kmstools.com/search/results?securityToken=89dbf2c6f454d2ff6972d0ec6f693120&search_in_description=1&keyword=pigeon+hole&x=9&y=3

maxum1989 wrote:I used metal self tapping screws into the metal supports that make up the floor of the bedroom. It was a very small space to work in. I was a little concerned about them hanging that way, but they are rock solid and have held up well.

Can I ask a dumb question. How did U locate the supports. Old hammer method.

Everything I screwed into was exposed and fully in view in my trailer. There was no need to hunt for something to screw into. I would have much prefered to screw into wood but the metal was where the box touched when I held it up to test it for fit. It is a little hard to explain but the boxes are screwed into the area where the bed is raised. It is a pretty serious piece of metal running side to side in the front compartment. It is even harder to take a picture as the space is so small you can't see very much. Hope this helps.

I thought of one more thing that might make it a little clearer. The screws go through the back top edge of the box not the top. The serious piece of metal I refered to above is what these screws hit. I would have liked to have been able to put some screws straight up through the top but the space was too small to fit.

Also, I was just outside looking again and I noticed that the top is the only thing open. Previously I said that the top and back were open. That was a mistake. Hopefully this didn't add some confusion to this.

Thanks for the link. For $40 bucks you can't go wrong. Just need to double check that area to see if they will fit.

Thank you for all the info. If I can not fit above generator I going to look at inside the pass thru on each side.

All my mods are shown on the link below......

shooter wrote:All my mods are shown on the link below......

Looked at all that rotten wood around your door. Silicon time for sure.