My Mods to Date

[Brownie]

I've been busy over the last several days/weeks "personalizing" the Eagle. Finished up several yesterday, and wanted to post some pics. First, I installed a door knob bumper on the hallway wall, so the bathroom door knob doesn't much it up. (I can't imagine why Jayco doesn't do this at the factory.) Next, I added some coat/hat/leash hooks under the "Command Center" at the end of the cabinet over the dinette; then, I added a pet protector, a pillow (which I made myself) and an afghan (which my niece made for me) to the sofa; added a 3" memory-foam mattress topper, heated mattress pad, sheets, etc. and some pillows to the bed. I made the center pillow, as well. The pillow on the right is not my dog, but looks just like him. I was given to me by a friend. Then, I inserted a wine rack into the cubby hole above the radio/cd/dvd player; made and installed "Nesting Racks" out of 1/4" plywood, rubber shelf liner, dowel rods, and Plasti-Dip" to keep the dishes, glasses, pots & pans, and small appliances from banging together during travel.

(Out of attachment space. See next post for more mods & pics.)

[Livinglife2]

Looking good

[Brownie]

Finally, I removed the adjustable shelves from the pantry, and installed roll-out trays - which I also made. Because the trays and glides have to be able to fit through the door opening, I ended up loosing about 4" of pantry width. But, I gained access to the full depth of the pantry. Since mine is only 15" wide, reaching the stuff in the pack and pulling it out was a real pain. Will be so much easier to get things in the back with the roll-outs. I had to remove the lambrequin from above the outside door, because the pantry door wouldn't open 90 degrees with it in place. No biggie. Never could see much sense in them, anyway. I also mounted a swivel-arm T.V. mount in the bedroom, but didn't take a picture of that. I want to insulate the under bed and front pass-through storage areas, as others have done. Already have the foam board, just need to get 'er done.

[havnfun]

Real nice work! Especially liked the dowels for dishes and the wine rack. Did you make the wine rack or find oer that just fit? And how are the dowels attached to the shelf floor?

[Jmooney]

Really like the nesting racks. Nice job

[Rustic Eagle]

I like the "Nesting Rack" idea

Bob

[Brownie]

Thanks, everyone for the kind words. I actually already had the wine rack. It was a lucky happenstance that is fit. The dowel rods (coated with "Plasti-Dip" for a little extra cushion) are attached to the plywood by pre-drilling both the plywood and the dowels, then screwing up through the under side of the plywood, into the bottom of the dowel. The shelf liner is sort of "sandwiched" between the dowels and the plywood. Since I have C.R.S. and Can't Remember S***, I labeled each "nest" with a magic marker, to remind me what goes there. I also thought it would be a good idea to place a scrap of the rubber shelf liner between each dish, bowl, and pot/pan . . . just for a little extra protection.

Happy Camping!

[Tunce the traveler]

Love all your work, your my kind of guy. It gets on my wife's nerves sometimes because I just sit back and look at everything and think ( how can I improve that space). She'll say" just don't look at it and enjoy your vacation" but doesn't understand I AM enjoying my vacation, this is what I like to do.

[Brownie]

Forgot to mention a couple of things about the "Nesting Racks":
The dishes are in the cabinet above the sink, which has three doors with styles in between. I cut the plywood into 3 pieces, then fit them together inside the cabinet to form the base. Big problem - there's a permanently-mounted shelf in that cabinet which prevented me from getting the racks in with the dowels installed. It was also too low for my highball and wine glasses to fit. I determined that the shelf was pin nailed to the supports, which were screwed into the cabinet side walls and the back wall of the trailer. So, I removed the screws and raised the shelf. But the microwave cord and the outlet for it (in the left side of the cabinet) prevented me from raising it enough for everything to fit. So, I removed the outlet, cut the hole taller, slid the outlet up, scabbed in a piece to support the bottom of it, retightened the "old work wings", pulled the microwave cord through below the outlet, and was then able to raise the shelf (about 3") and reattach it - using the original screws. Ta-da! Room for everything, including getting the glasses in and out.

As Dr. McCoy said in the Star Trek episode about the Horta, "By God, Jim, sometimes I think I could cure a rainy day"!

[The Happy Campers]

Nice looking mods. Thanks for sharing.

[Brownie]

Have completed a couple more mods/additions, and thought I post a couple pics. First is a picture of my Pot & Pan Drawer "Nesting Rack" in use. (By the way, they worked great during my first trip out 2 weeks ago!) Next is the Radio/T.V. Remote Caddy attached to the wall next to my sofa. It's actually a 3M Command Strip "Spice Rack". Then, there's the power strip above the countertop in the kitchen. Works great for plugging in the toaster, coffee maker, blender, etc. Then there's my little freestanding electric fireplace, setting next to the dinette. I run an extension cord carefully through the seals around the slide-out, and into the 120V/20A plug on the CG electrical post. Keeps things toasty warm without compromising my use of electric WH, Refr., microwave, and/or coffee maker. Finally, (and most importantly) are my JOF Decals: one on the front & one on the rear. Am currently working on insulating the front pass-thru and under-bed storage areas, and adding shut-offs to the fresh water vents/overflow drains. Will post pics of them when I finish.

[nylyon]

I'm stealing the remote control holder idea, I like that one a lot!

[Threebutchers]

You've been busy! It's nice to have organized storage.

[bluie5]

I'll be stealing, or borrowing, your nesting rack mod for our dishes. Nice work on your mods.

[milw156]

Looks great! Will be showing the DW tonight as she's excited to be personalizing the trailer. Extra work for me but a happy wife is a happy life.

[Brownie]

Well I think I've finish up the trailer mods . . . at least for now. At least I'm ready to hit the road in another 11 days for my full-timing adventure!

Got the entry steps covered with the carpet pieces that match my patio rugs. I think they'll keep the inside cleaner, and will be easier on the dog's paws. Installed a toilet flush-handle screen door opener and painted the flat rod black to match the screen door. Also installed a pet guard over the bottom screen on the door. Got all of my pictures, plaques, trophies and do-dads mounted; most with 3M Command Strip Velcro or clear silicone sealant. Shouldn't have to remove & store anything for traveling. Got the T.V. mount installed in the bedroom, along with a wall pad and tie-back to keep the T.V. in place while traveling. Got my front pass-thru (and the underside of the bed) insulated with 1-1/2 thick pink Styrofoam insulation, and the hooks & brackets installed for all the fishing rods, WD bars, hoses & electrical cords. Also discovered that putting the 3" memory foam mattress pad under the mattress sealed off the 1/2" gap between the bed platform and the nightstands (necessitated by the overhang of the nightstand's countertops). Also put a heated mattress pad on the bed. Should stay a lot warmer in bed while cool/cold weather camping.

Next, I mounted an 18' "warm white" LED rope light outside under the awning. A lot of you have used the thin strip lights with mounting tape, only to find that they don't weather well and/or come loose after a season or two. That's why I decided to go with the "rope" lights. After cleaning the area under the awning with rubbing alcohol, I attached 3'-long clear plastic "mounting channels" (also from Menard's) to the side of the trailer using the self-stick tape that came pre-mounted on the channels. Then, just slipped the rope light into the channel. Covered almost the entire length of the awning. The really neat thing about these rope lights is they're solar powered! I won't have to eat up electricity/battery to light up my patio area. The wire leading from the lights to the solar cell was only 6' long, so I had to extend it with speaker wire and a couple of the "bullet-style" quick connects. Right now, it's just hanging loose, but I plan on running it down the awning arm channel (behind the rubber weather strip), then storing the solar cell inside the forward pass-thru. The solar cell came with a ground stake, and I added enough extra wire to place the cell in front of the trailer (where there's generally some direct sun).
There's also an on/off button and a constant/flashing button on the back of the solar cell. Will definitely use the on/off button, but I think the flashing LED's would really get irritating after a few minutes. Maybe I'll save that setting for the camper next door that insists on playing his outside stereo at 180 db at 1:00 a.m. !

Final mod was maybe the best, at least for my circumstances. I have a 4' x 8' plastic fishing boat. I believe it's a Coleman "Bass Buster" (or something like that), made out of the same plastic as an ice chest. I've hauled it before in the bed of the pick-up, but have to leave the tailgate open to do that. Unfortunately, the tailgate hits my electric trailer jack, so it will only open about 1/3. That means loading the boat into the truck, lifting the boat, closing the tailgate (so the boat rest on top of the tailgate), and then hooking up the trailer. Quite the PITA! You may recall that I had the pull-out bike rack/storage tray installed on my trailer shortly after I bought it. I had planned on hauling my generator, tools, wastewater tote, ladder, etc. on it. It occurred to me that those items would be better stored in my lockable truck bed with hard tonneau cover, IF I could figure out a way to haul the boat on the trailer storage tray. After a great deal of arduous thought (and several "adult beverages") I came up with the solution! I used some of the leftover Styrofoam to build a "cradle" for the boat, and used the strip of memory foam I cut off the end of the mattress topper as a sort of "bumper" between the boat and the back of the trailer. Used a couple of heavy-duty ratchet straps to secure the boat, and a 15' hd cable with padlock to keep it from disappearing while I'm in a rest stop or truck stop. Only problem (as you can see) is the boat blocks my tail lights and license plate. "What problem?" I just picked up a trailer light kit with 25' wiring harness and some cable wrap at Home Depot. Drilled a couple of holes in the storage rack frame to mount the lights, used some of the harness wire through the cable wrap to run to the trailer tail lights, removed and reattached the license plate, and I'm in business. Oh, and I left enough slack in the wires and cable wraps to extend or retract the storage rack, if necessary. The boat weighs less that 150 lbs., which is far below the GWLC of the storage rack. It seems to be very stable, but haven't tested it yet at 65mph highway speeds. Will test it on a lonely country road first. If it decides to get "airborne" on me, I'd rather retrieve it from some farmer's corn field than from some highway-driver's windshield. If all works well, and I'm able to haul it this way, when I get to my campsite I'll just remove the boat, retract the rack and store the boat under the trailer. Then I can haul it to the water in the back of the truck - with the tailgate down.

Pretty clever, hey! Like I've said before, "Mrs. Brown didn't raise no dumb boys!"

(Pictures posted in additional threads, due to size limitations.)

[Brownie]

Lock on trailer latch, front pass-thru storage mods & insulation, step covers and jacks, screen door latch (having a couple of "rotation" issues).

[Brownie]

Interior pics, plaques, trophies and do-dads. (forgot to mention, I also installed a new brushed nickel, single-handle lavatory faucet, too).

[nevercominhome]

Looks great! How did you attach the shelf above the towel rack in the bathroom?

[Brownie]

Bedroom tv mount, photos & trophies; boat mount onto storage rack and light rope under awning. (Sorry, but camera went dead before I could get shots of lights after dark. Will recharge battery and try again this evening.) Oh, and lock on boat mount matched lock on tongue latch, so one key for both.