Jay Flight 174BH little review and simple mods

[rigger4343]

Originally Posted by fisher

Hi Dutch,

The two racks are 24"L x 20"W. I have about 19" hanging out the back. I used 1.5" x 1" u-bolts (i believe) from home depot (pics below). I stuck a piece of foam on the bolts sticking out.

Also wanted to report on a solar charger I picked up. It kept us 3/4 to F on battery throughout our trip up in the mountains (5 cold nights) with intermittent sun. So happy with the results and will keep me from adding any additional battery capacity in the near term.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I like that rack you have and the idea of the solar charger. I was thinking of getting a solar charger but since I have had our TT, I have always had access to power. I would love to get out and away from the normal campgounds and boondock it but it my area, I do not know of any places to do it.

[rigger4343]

I read some people complain about the mattress but overall I have been happy with it. My wife thinks it is fine and has had no complaints at all.

But, there have been some mornings that I woke up with a little bit of pain in my shoulder or my back. I can't really blame that on the mattress though because I already have some joint and back pain due to just life stuff. Right before this last weekend trip, I was in Walmart and decided to grab a cheap Walmart brand foam topper. It is only 1-1/4" thick but I have to say, it made a big difference. This past weekend I woke up with no shoulder or back pain at all.

It was only $16.00 ! Can not beat the price on that. Even if it only last a year, it is worth that.

[EarlD]

Originally Posted by rigger4343

Earl,

I used 1-1/4" long screws. Actually used stainless steel truss heads screws, just happen to have them laying around. I also used them because they look nice. The wood studs are 1-1/2" plus your outer and inner skin. Mark your drill bit with some tape so you will not go too deep and just predrill for the lag. If your TV is as light as mine is, it will be more than enough to do the job. I have several trips on mine since installing the TV and it has not moved at all.

You could probably use up to a 1-1/2" long lag because you have the inner skin, plus the mount and a washer. You can check the length of your lag by looking at the thickness of the materials on yours in your forward storage compartment.

Do you do anything special to hold your tv in place while traveling? Thinking about adding some kind of a webbed retaining strap to hold it to the bulkhead while trailering down rough roads.

[EarlD]

Originally Posted by fisher

Hi Dutch,

The two racks are 24"L x 20"W. I have about 19" hanging out the back. I used 1.5" x 1" u-bolts (i believe) from home depot (pics below). I stuck a piece of foam on the bolts sticking out.

Also wanted to report on a solar charger I picked up. It kept us 3/4 to F on battery throughout our trip up in the mountains (5 cold nights) with intermittent sun. So happy with the results and will keep me from adding any additional battery capacity in the near term.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for the measurements Fisher! Where may I ask did you find the rack that is in the front of your TT?

[rigger4343]

Originally Posted by EarlD

Do you do anything special to hold your tv in place while traveling? Thinking about adding some kind of a webbed retaining strap to hold it to the bulkhead while trailering down rough roads.

The mount I have is very stiff. It does not move at all. Originally I was going to strap it but so far there is no need for it all.

[fisher]

Originally Posted by EarlD

Thanks for the measurements Fisher! Where may I ask did you find the rack that is in the front of your TT?

Hey Dutch,

I found it on Amazon while looking for other stuff. I figured to have a nice sturdy platform for additional water/propane/gear or generator (which it is meant for).

https://www.amazon.com/Stromberg-Car...omotive&sr=1-2

Let me know if I can provide any additional info!

[fisher]

Originally Posted by rigger4343

Exhaust Fan

Well I ended up ordering the Vortex 2 fan to install. I think the single speed fan really would have been just fine but I did like the idea of this one having mutable speeds and is reversible.

Since we had no fan to start with, there was no power. Easy fix though, just grabbed a little power from the light right there. Fished wire over to the fan hole. Had to move the little knob thing over to work on my vent but that only took a minute. Hooked up the power and it was an easy two screws to mount. Put the trim ring back on and done!

Very easy install and did not take long at all. Seems like it can move a good bit of air even on low speed. Should be a nice little addition.

Hi Rigger, did you move the knob on original vent? I ran out of time before my first trip, had everything ready to rig and couldn't figure out how to couple or move the knob. Any pictures or info is appreciated.

[rigger4343]

Originally Posted by fisher

Hi Rigger, did you move the knob on original vent? I ran out of time before my first trip, had everything ready to rig and couldn't figure out how to couple or move the knob. Any pictures or info is appreciated.

Honestly that was a while ago so I don't remember for sure but I do think I did have to move the knob. I went outside and took a quick picture for you to compare.

That fan does seem to work well and it is niceto have different speeds to choose from. I think you will like it.

[EarlD]

Originally Posted by fisher

Hey Dutch,



I found it on Amazon while looking for other stuff. I figured to have a nice sturdy platform for additional water/propane/gear or generator (which it is meant for).



https://www.amazon.com/Stromberg-Car...omotive&sr=1-2



Let me know if I can provide any additional info!

Thanks fisher. My tanks are 30 lber's and from the comments it looks like this is for 20 lb tanks.

[rigger4343]

Simple little thing I did the other week was throw a 110v receptacle up under the back of the trailer. The one that is above the axle on the outside normally gets used when we camp and having one more was just for convenience.

I was going to try and find a cover to match the existing one and cut it into the camper at the back. But after I thought about it, I decided to just not cut another hole in the side of the camper and do this instead.

Just got a simple weatherproof box and mounted it up under the trailer, straight to the frame. Ran the power under the trailer and up into the breaker box. Pulled some power off of one of the 15amp breakers in there and that was it.

Now I have a nice and easy 2nd location for 110 power on the outside of the camper.

The biggest reason I wanted this one is when it is hot outside, that location is a nice spot for a fan that can blow across the area under the awning.

[pbratz]

Great idea.

[rigger4343]

Another simple little thing I did was make a spot for some fishing rods to sit. Not that I get to fish when we go but I still like to take some rods just in case I get a moment to wet the line. Putting them in the back of the truck did not work because it is always full and that is how I broke one rod in half. Never was a good spot in the trailer for them to ride that worked out either. So I finally decided on a spot in the bathroom. The corner behind the toilet seems to be an out of the way spot.

I just took some battery box plastic strap holders that I had laying around and some extra boat cover straps and screwed them to the studs in the wall. I only take a couple of small rods, both only 5'5", so they fit okay in the bathroom. Made the straps long enough so they could be used to hang a shirt or something like that too. Not sure how well it will really work but it has to be better than what I was doing.

[rigger4343]

My wife and I always like walking around and checking out other rigs. One thing I always noticed was a lot of people put signs up saying where they are from and a family name.

This gave me the idea to make stickers instead of a sign. I had our home towns made and put them on the front corner of the camper so you could see them as you walk by our site.

I actually did this over a year ago, just never posted it on here.

[rigger4343]

Fridge Mod update.....

I think now that I have been on a couple of hot weather trips, (just got back from 4 days 90 degree temps), I do believe that my fridge mods seem to do the trick. It works much better than it did the first summer I used it with no mods at all.

The little heat baffle I put in the top of the firdge, adding the second fan and relocating the temp/fan switch down low all worked together to get the fridge to work as it should.

I have learned that in warmer weather I need to adjust the thermostate to its coldest setting and in cool weather I need to lower it so the it runs a little warmer. If I don't, it will get too cold and freeze things in the fridge like eggs and veggies.

[yishenc]

Originally Posted by rigger4343

Jacks...

The camper did come from the factory with two jacks on the rear of the trailer but I did not like how the TT still bounced around when someone would move or walk, especially in the middle of the night. Even if one of the kids were to just rollover in a bunk, I could still feel it in the trailer.

I took my time shopping and found a set of 4 new jacks. They are a lot stronger than the original ones and now I will have them on all 4 corners instead of just at the rear.

It was not a big deal to throw them on it. Big improvement in stability too. I think it was worth the effort.

Hi,
I will pickup my 174BH next week. how did you install the extra 2 jacks for the front? Are there existing screw holes or you have to drill it?

thank you!

[rigger4343]

Originally Posted by yishenc

Hi,
I will pickup my 174BH next week. how did you install the extra 2 jacks for the front? Are there existing screw holes or you have to drill it?

thank you!

If you look up front on the frame, there is some suare tubing welded on. I assume it is there for front jacks and that is what I used them for. I just place the jacks, marked and drilled some holes and bolted them one. Wasn't too much to it and it made a big difference in how much less the camer moved around.

[FTFW]

Joined the forum just because of this thread. Thanks for documenting all of the upgrades, etc that you did. I bought a 2020 model back in March and have done a few similar updates.

1) I added strip LED lighting to the front "basement" like you did. I also ran a strip down the pantry too. This was a big must since the light by the pantry doesn't reach in very far. Adds a ton of light for little effort.

2) I added the vortex fan too. I took a slightly cheaper route though, I ordered the vortex I and installed an PWM/reverse switch so I could have a little more control. The fan in general does a great job of clearing out the air in the trailer in no time. I still need to get a top cover for the vent.

3) I made a stove/range cover as well. That had been on my list for some time.

A couple things I still need to do are the quick connect propane for the blackstone and a back rack for a sewer stuff box. I had been wanting to do that one for a while. The other modification I am working on is a $30 bluetooth level. I think they go for like $200 online, but I have a simple one I made that works, except the range isn't very far (can't see level from inside the truck, which is what I want because I use the Anderson auto-levelers.)

BTW - not sure if you knew this or not, but the 2020 model has the sheet metal baffle in the fridge compartment that you worked up... I wonder if they were paying attention

[EarlD]

Originally Posted by rigger4343

Exhaust Fan

Since we had no fan to start with, there was no power. Easy fix though, just grabbed a little power from the light right there. Fished wire over to the fan hole. Had to move the little knob thing over to work on my vent but that only took a minute. Hooked up the power and it was an easy two screws to mount. Put the trim ring back on and done!

Very easy install and did not take long at all. Seems like it can move a good bit of air even on low speed. Should be a nice little addition.

Hi again, Rigger! Our Vortex ll fan will be arriving next week (with my luck, it will be delivered AFTER we pull out to go camping). What gauge wire did you use and did you use in-line connecters or wire nuts?

Going back to your fridge mod of installing an extra fan, how did you make the frame that holds both fans. I have a son-in-law that builds desk-top computers and he's given me a couple of fans.

My storage place for my fishing rods is tucked between the wall and the mattresses of the rear bunk. Since we're going camping next week and taking a grand little or two, I'm gonna have to rethink my fishing rod options.

Thanks again for posting your mods. I'm slowly working my way thru the list.

[rigger4343]

Originally Posted by EarlD

Hi again, Rigger! Our Vortex ll fan will be arriving next week (with my luck, it will be delivered AFTER we pull out to go camping). What gauge wire did you use and did you use in-line connecters or wire nuts?

I used some 14 I had laying around. Its a bit large for that little fan though. I think you some 16/2 would be a great choice for it if you go looking for it. That fan probably does not even pull one amp.

[FTFW]

Originally Posted by rigger4343

I used some 14 I had laying around. Its a bit large for that little fan though. I think you some 16/2 would be a great choice for it if you go looking for it. That fan probably does not even pull one amp.

My trailer is wired with 18 AWG but it is deceiving because the wires have a thicker jacket than most red/black 18 AWG manufactured for 12V. I used 18 AWG just to keep it the same.

I measured the vortex fan... draws about 1.3 Amps at max.

As far as connecting it to the light over near the fan in the bathroom... mine luckily, for some reason, had a 3 pole wire clamp with one empty, so it just used the empty tie-in... although I had my 16AWG crimp connectors on hand like I had to use to tie into the light for the pantry LED strip.