BigJohnD's Mods to 28BHBE

[LiftedAWDAstro]

In that case, as long as your wife doesn't mind being the bread winner for now, I would stay put and get your shop opened up for business. It is better for the kids to have 1 parent at home especially if the new job requires both parents to work for the same money.

[Doug]

Hi Bigjohn,
Was running out of new threads to read do I opened up this one about 2-1/2 hours ago lol. Lots of good mods and information. Really appreciate the documentation and pictures explaining your mods. Well, my dogs upset with me being on the computer so long so I'd better get off here. I was just glued to the next post and it's a heck of a read from the beginning to the end.

Really like your shop. Have you ever contacted shops or businesses in the nearby cities to see if they have any work to sub out to your shop? Fabrication or welding might be something they would like to grow without hiring more full time employees. This would be little risk on their part and provide a stream of work to your shop. Maybe none of them have a large amout of work to sub out, but combined could keep you busy. Maybe a one or twice a week run into town to deliver and pick up work/materials might be a decent setup.

Best regards,
Doug

[dpi7800]

I don't know much about you and your family of your life John, all I know is you are one hell of a fabricator.

So I'll only talk about my own life experience. I am on my second career right now. My first career started out as a just a paycheck( at the young age of 13), then it became a job, then a career and ended in a passion. My current employment started out as a passion, turned to a career, then a job now it is just a flipping paycheck. But one constant between the two is this, family. At this point in my life I don't care about money. I don't care about the job because it is not who I am and once I leave I will be forgotten the next day. I do what makes me happy and the family happy and what provides us with the most amount of time together.

Let's face it nobody at the office is going to help you wash yourself in the shower 20, 30,40 years from now when you need that help. But if you invest every second you can into your family they will repay that time willfully, gladly and with tender kindness, love and respect when you need it.

Just my thoughts on work and life. Live long and love a lot.

[BigJohnD]

dpi7800, VERY well said, and I really appreciate it. Sorry for the late reply to the thread. I will probably never be where I once was; 6 figure salary, living practically retired 6 months of the year, buying a new RV every couple of years, never looking at how much that Walmart receipt is, and on the list goes. But, I have accepted that. Life is what it is now. The previous chapter is closed. It has taken time for the family to get adjusted to NOT traveling as much and not doing other things, but everybody seems to be relatively happy at the moment. Lots of water has passed under the bridge over the last few years. At this point, we still don't have answers. At the moment, we're actually debating the possibility of moving, maybe full timing again, plus a few other options. Only God has the answer, but I haven't received that answer yet. For now we're planted here, and still praying.

From the other members, thank yall for the comments. Yall are great.

VERY soon to happen, new shoe rack with Keurig area, and new stainless sink. A new mod is actually fixing to happen. In the next week though, 2 new 30" exhaust fans and 36" powered intake louvers in the shop. Got enough to keep me busy for a bit.

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by BigJohnD

Ok, I'm back. I'm not exactly slim pickens, or larger than life. I weigh in at a mere 220 I think. I can't remember what these crap ladders are rated at, but I'm thinking somewhere in the 225 to 250 range. Either way, I went up to clean the roof the other day, and couldn't help but notice that where the ladder is screwed to the wall, the mount was kind of stressed and the sealant cracked open a little.

Hey, no problem. I've looked at doing this mod for a while. All I did, and I hope you can tell in the pictures, is secure a 1"x1" piece of aluminum tubing to each side of the ladder (To the ladder mounts going to the back wall) utilizing SS 1-1/8 u-bolts, some old black water hose (serves as chaffing between the u-bolt and ladder - hence using 1-1/8" u-bolts opposed to 1" as the ladder would normally require), and nyloc nuts. It is solid as a rock now. The 2 pieces of tubing rest on top of the bumper, thus holding all of the weight. Plastic inserts on each end of the square tubing finish it off.

Did this to my ladder the last 3 days. WOW, What a huge difference. Ladder don't flex at all. I used rubber chair feet on the bottom and top of the 1 x 1 aluminum bars, filled them with adhesive silicone and used hose clamps to keep the rain out.

THANK YOU!

[Victoria]

John, does that Toledo Bend mean Toledo Ohio?

[BigJohnD]

Toledo Bend lake. West Louisiana and runs the Texas / Louisiana border.

RAurand, got a picture of your version?

[dup7]

Hey folks, and specifically BigJohnD:
I just acquired a 2010 Jay Flight 32bhds. I don't intend to travel with it - it will be connected to sewer/water/power on a beautiful site on Cape Breton Island.
Here's my question: what are the basic modifications I should consider?
PS: The first thing I'm going to have to do is cut out a space in the back of the entertainment cabinets so that I can stretch out in bed (I'm 6'5).
Other than that, just curious what the 'lowest hanging fruit' is, in terms of modifications.
Thanks!

[BigJohnD]

Welcome to the forum dup7. At the moment, I'd recommend starting a thread with maybe your user name and rig type in the modifications section. Something like "dup7's 32BHDS Mod Ideas".

This way, when the ideas for your rig get posted, they'll be in one go to place for you to check. Makes it easier and it's why I started this one for the my 28BHBE.

Start a thread and I'll jump on board over there.

[dup7]

Done! Thanks

[BigJohnD]

BAM! New mod came in. Thank you Amazon gift card. New Dayton stainless steel sink to replace the plastic one in the kitchen. Cost me around $116, but worth it. Now all I need is TIME. Stay tuned. I hope to do this really soon, and will post detailed pictures as it's done.

[BigJohnD]

Well the easy part is done, taking the old sink out. The new one is just sitting in there. Still have to do a little cutting in the countertop to get this one to fit. Then I'll probably reconfigure the hot / cold lines a little to include shut off valves and flexible hoses going to the faucet. It looks like I'm going to have to cut and modify the drain line a little as well. I was hoping to not have to do that, but not a choice really.

In the picture of the countertop with no sink, somebody surely will notice the messed up looking contraption on one of the water lines. Just in case somebody asks, I plugged the lines off. I had a 1/2" plug for one, and had to dig through my stash of old junk and found this contraption, which at one time was a piece I added to a low point drain (there was no valve, just a plug). Forest River just had a plug under the RV, and I wanted a valve, and there wasn't enough room to cut and install a pex valve on the tubing due to not enough sticking out underneath.

[need-a-vacation]

John,

Nice to see the mods continue!!! And Thank You for making the "light bulb" turn on with the sink post!!! I state that because we are actiually getting a new counter installed in the house, with a new undermount sink. Didn't even consider taking the old stainless sink and putting it in the 32!!! Just one question, is the tt sink the "standard size"? Our tt is still stored over at my wife's grandmas, so cant just run outside and measure.

Keep plugging away at the mods (shop and the 28!) and keep the spirits up!

TY!

[BigJohnD]

I wouldn't call the stock plastic junk sink standard size. The cut out is rectangle with NO normal radius corners. Corners are the size of a small drill bit, so practically a square cut out. I can measure tomorrow if you'd like. The sink size I got is 19x25 off of Amazon, and it will require a little enlarging of the hole cut out. Here's the link to it if interested:

https://www.amazon.com/Elkay-D225193...l+kitchen+sink

Better to need to cut out than not have enough sink to fill the hole. I have a feeling your sink is plenty big enough and you might could make it work. Depends on what you're working with. I know the residential sinks I've dealt with in houses were a little TOO big for this application, but then again, you might have a little more space to work with.

[RedHorse1]

BigJohn, is your countertop the engineered stone or Formica-like? If "stone", how will you cut it?

[BigJohnD]

I wish it were corian or solid surface. No, it's the almighty wonderful particle board with laminate.

[RedHorse1]

Our counter is the corian wanna-be. I think it's an LG product and were finding that it scratches surprisingly easy. We redid the house counters a few years ago with quartz which has proven itself to be incredibly durable.

[Camper_bob]

AH HA!! I've been waiting for you to do this one!

I dunno though, cutting even a little out of the counter top might be a deal-breaker for DW. Maybe I just don't tell her. Then just show her the finished product?!

[BigJohnD]

That's what I do sometimes. I just do it since wife's never over at the shop. Years ago she thought I was crazy for axing into a brand new camper first week home, but now that she's an experienced RVer as well, most modifications just make good sense to her. Her favorite so far, the fridge and soon to be sink. My favorite, all of them.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by BigJohnD

That's what I do sometimes. I just do it since wife's never over at the shop. Years ago she thought I was crazy for axing into a brand new camper first week home, but now that she's an experienced RVer as well, most modifications just make good sense to her. Her favorite so far, the fridge and soon to be sink. My favorite, all of them.

Convo with DW last night:

Me: I found our next mod to the trailer.

Her: Good! How much?

Me: Oh, I don't know, about 150 ish. It's the stainless steel sink I've always wanted.

Her: Uh...

Me: Oh, and I will have to cut the counter top just a little bit to get it to fit.

Her: No.

LOL! So predictable!! I'll just do it when she's not looking and just show her the finished product. I think she'll be happy... And we just won't talk about the counter cutting thing...