2008 Jayco Jay Feather Sport 199 (our MOD journey)

[Wild Honey]

I'm going to use this thread to show a few things that we modified to the trailer and share trip experiences. We purchased our Jayco new in 2008. I'm hoping that others who have a Jayco Jay Feather Sport 199 will post up. Here are a few specifications:

Unloaded vehicle weight 3,550 lbs.
Hitch weight 285 lbs.
Gross vehicle weight 4,750 lbs.
Cargo carrying capacity 1,200 lbs.

Exterior length 20' 7"
Exterior height w/AC 117"
Interior headroom 78"
Exterior Height 108"




Here's our color scheme and tow rig:

[Wild Honey]

I’m not sure how often spare tires get stolen. I'm pretty sure that a 185/80D13 is not a highly desirable tire/wheel combo, but we feel better knowing that it's secure with a cable lock.



The factory spare tire cover didn't last long. The elastic band wore out and needed to be replaced. It was replaced with a tire cover manufactured by ADCO. This particular cover had great customer reviews and came in many different sizes to fit specific tire sizes. The new cover is felt lined and has a corded cinch design. As you can see in the photos, the fitment is perfect. According to the reviews, this cover will hold up to harsh winds, UV rays, and extreme hot and cold temperatures.

[Wild Honey]

Our dogs get really excited when we are gone for the day and return to the camper. The result of this excitement comes in the form of scratching on the screen door. As you can see in the bottom pic, they have managed to destroy part of the door screen. To remedy this problem, we purchased a metal door screen saver that was universally designed for RV’s. The screen saver was a little too wide widthwise but was an overall better fit. It would have fit lengthwise using the adjustable brackets but would have left a few inches of space between the frame and screen saver. I wanted a clean looking fitment, so I decided to discard the brackets and cut down the screen. I drilled out the rivets and removed one side of the outer frame. The screen was cut at the desired width using tin snips. I then reattached the outer frame, drilled the new holes and made the final test fitment before mounting. Everything checked out good, so I aligned the screen saver to the inside door, drilled pilot holes, and screwed it to the door. Now we can leave the screen door open during the summer months and not worry about the dogs scratching on the screen.

[glsimms]

Looks like a very nice combo....

Here's hoping you have a lot of good times!!

[exjay1]

Looks good!

[Wild Honey]

Originally Posted by glsimms

Looks like a very nice combo....

The Cummins makes towing incredibly easy, especially in mountainous terrain; and the smaller footprint increased our options and accessibility to maneuver and camp in tighter (remote) places. The combo is good, although, our next trailer will be a high quality thermal (4 season) camper. Due to how much these trailers depreciate in value, we'll keep our Jayco and buy a second camper. For now, we'll make our Jayco work for cold weather camping.

Originally Posted by glsimms

Here's hoping you have a lot of good times!!

Thank you for the kind words!

[Wild Honey]

Originally Posted by exjay1

Looks good!

Thanks! Hopefully we can keep it looking good. We have some interior mods coming.

[Wild Honey]

The A/C filters can get dirty fairly quickly. A dirty filter causes a loss of air volume which in return causes the evaporator coil to ice up and not blow cold air. The owner’s manual recommends replacing or cleaning the filters after two weeks of use. They are fairly easy to clean; you simply wash them out with a mild detergent and let them air-dry. The manual recommends that you carry spare filters.

[Wild Honey]

Our Atwood hot water heater has a nylon/plastic drain plug that fits into an aluminum thread. I’ve read that the plug can eventually wear out causing leaking. Anyway, I decided it might be good to carry a spare drain plug. The package came with two replacements, which makes me believe (with enough use) that these plugs can go bad.

[Wild Honey]

Our factory RV battery was dead, so it was time to reevaluate the electrical system. Good battery power is important, especially when boondocking for multiple days in a row. We plan on doing more long-term boondocking in the future. I did a little research and decided to upgrade to the largest maintenance free AGM RV/Marine battery that we could find (DieHard Group 31). This battery weighs 75 lbs! In order to get this battery to fit, I had to replace the small factory battery box with a larger box.



I drilled mounting holes through the new battery box where the old box was mounted to the frame. I then used the existing hardware to mount the box. I also drilled a hole on all 4 sides of the box for water drainage.



The battery is mounted and fits nicely in the new box.
Sears DieHard Marine/RV
Group Size: 31M (AGM)
Amp Hours at 20 Hour Rate: 100
Capacity Amp Hours at 10 Hour Rating: 92
Reserve Capacity (RC): 205 min.
Height (in.): 9.5
Length (in.): 13
Width (in.): 6.8
Item Weight (lbs.): 75
Free Replacement Warranty Term: 3 Year



The factory battery had some corrosion on the positive terminal that spread to the battery cable. I made up a quick 50/50 baking soda/water mixture and cleaned the cables.

The battery is used to power the slide, water pump, lights, heater fan and other miscellaneous electronics.

[Wild Honey]

We added the IQ4 Smart Charger to the DLS45 charger. The IQ4 is an automatic 3-stage (Bulk, Absorption, and Float) charger that plugs into the existing DLS RV battery charger. In essence, it will prolong the life of the battery and decrease the amount of time it takes to charge the battery, which is nice when using a generator. The IQ4 Smart Charger also keeps the battery from overcharging, which is good since I oftentimes leave it plugged in during long term storage. The LED indicator lets you know the status of the battery and the charging time.



I had to remove a drawer to get to the charger.



I located the dual voltage jack on top of the DLS charger.

[Wild Honey]

I wasn't sure where to mount the charger. The LED light informs the user of the DLS charging state and the status of the battery charge. In addition, the LED light will indicate overvoltage and let you know if it goes into fault mode. I didn't want to install the charger inside the cabin since the LED light could be annoying at night, although, I would like to be able to monitor the charger, so I decided to mount it inside the storage compartment. In this manner, I could at least visually inspect the light periodically.

[lennyl]

we have a 2011 Jayfeather Sport 197
i think the only difference is 199 has a sofa and 197 has a u shaped dinet
we love this model

[Wild Honey]

Originally Posted by lennyl

we have a 2011 Jayfeather Sport 197
i think the only difference is 199 has a sofa and 197 has a u shaped dinet

I believe you are correct. From what I can gather, they manufactured the 199 for a very short time. I personally would prefer the dinette, though. Do you want to trade?

Originally Posted by lennyl

we love this model

Agreed. We wanted a practical floor plan, tandem axle trailer, and a queen sized bed on a small footprint. The Sport 199 met all those criteria.

[lennyl]

lol not really
when we were buying ours the dealer had both of them side by side
but really how many times do you eat inside, i think we did once in 3 years

[Wild Honey]

Originally Posted by lennyl

lol not really
when we were buying ours the dealer had both of them side by side
but really how many times do you eat inside, i think we did once in 3 years

We eat inside fairly often. If the weather is nice, we try to eat outside as much as possible. I would also use the dinette as a temporary work station (a place to put my laptop, etc.).

[Wild Honey]

Since we do not use the microwave, I decided (with wife's permission) to remove it and cover the vacant hole with a matching door and hardware to expand storage space.

Before:







After:

[Brownie]

Your mods look great! A little tweak here, a little tweak there, and pretty soon it fits your tastes and lifestyle perfectly. Nice work!

[Wild Honey]

Originally Posted by Brownie

Your mods look great! A little tweak here, a little tweak there, and pretty soon it fits your tastes and lifestyle perfectly. Nice work!

Thanks Brownie. Unlike most people with a small camper, we take ours out for weeks at a time during the summer months. There are a few tweaks that we need to make to accommodate the longer trips.

[Wild Honey]

I added a screen door cross brace to the camper today. It's nothing fancy, but does provide a nice handle to grab ahold of when closing or exiting. The factory door has a small finger pull area to close the screen door, so this makes it more convenient.