duke_26
Senior Member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2015
- Messages
- 387
Hello Everyone!
I did the first real mod to our new 2016 Jay Flight 26BH Elite Yesterday, replacing the center panel section of the queen bed overhead cabinet with a matching door that I ordered from the dealership. Jayco does not ship directly to the customer.
This mod greatly increases the accessibility to the center section of the overhead cabinets. I specifically ordered the door to match the right overhead cabinet door, with the hinges on the left and handle on the right, so we could open the center door from the right side of the bed and not have to go around the bed to the other side to access.
I am kind of surprised that this is not included. It seemed like many of the models we looked at have this same scenario. Maybe it used to be there in previous years, I'm not sure.
This mod was fairly straight forward. The panel was only attached with staples, no glue, so it knocked out with a rubber mallet fairly easily.
The opening behind the door is the same exact size as the opening behind the other two overhead doors.
Tools used:
- Sheetrock knife to open cardboard box
- Rubber mallet to gently knock out panel
- Flashlight to see inside overhead cabinet
- Needle nose pliers to remove remaining staples from back of the cabinet face frame
- Pencil to mark new screw locations
- Cordless drill
- 1/16" drill bit to pre-drill holes
- #2 Phillips bit
- #2 Square drive bit
- #2 Phillips hand screwdriver
- 2ft level to align bottoms of cabinet doors
First and foremost, here are the before and after pictures:
Before:

After:




The new door just barely clears the center button on the LED ceiling light, but this is no different than the right overhead door when opened up all the way, just barely clears as well.
For those interested in the details:
Ordered the new door assembly and hardware kit:

- Door Assembly:
- Door (measures 18-3/4" X 12-3/4")
- Handle
- Hinges


- Hardware Kit:
- Latch
- Catch
- Screws

There was a couple of issues I must warn about:
1) The hinges on the new door were not in line with hinges on the left door next to it. They were each about 1/4" off. Functionally, this would have been totally fine, however it was easy enough to move the hinges on the new door to be in line with the other hinges, so I just removed the screws, marked the new hole locations, pre-drilled the new holes and screwed the hinges back on. Two of the old holes are covered up by the hinge, the third hole is visible. This is not a big deal since it is on the inside of the door.
2) The handle that came on the new door is about 1/2" lower than the other two door handles. I did remove the handle and try to seat it all the way to one side of the holes, but there was not much adjustment. The holes for the handle screws are about 3/16" - 1/4" or so in diameter. At this point in time, I've have decided to leave well enough alone. Since the handles are about 20" apart it is not too noticeable unless you are looking for it or it is pointed out to you. This could be fixed by removing the handles on all 3 doors and slotting them in the right direction to align closer. It doesn't appear that you could move the handles any more than 1/4" up or down before the holes start to show. If I did decide to fix this someday when I'm bored and looking for things to do, in my situation, I would slot the center handle holes to raise the handle, and slot the outside cabinet door handles to lower them. This would be about the best I could do to get them more in line.
If I had to do it over, I would order the door, handle and hinges separately so I could measure the existing hardware and mount them myself.
If I remember correctly, these doors are the same as the doors under the dinette seats.
Cheers!
Duke
I did the first real mod to our new 2016 Jay Flight 26BH Elite Yesterday, replacing the center panel section of the queen bed overhead cabinet with a matching door that I ordered from the dealership. Jayco does not ship directly to the customer.
This mod greatly increases the accessibility to the center section of the overhead cabinets. I specifically ordered the door to match the right overhead cabinet door, with the hinges on the left and handle on the right, so we could open the center door from the right side of the bed and not have to go around the bed to the other side to access.
I am kind of surprised that this is not included. It seemed like many of the models we looked at have this same scenario. Maybe it used to be there in previous years, I'm not sure.
This mod was fairly straight forward. The panel was only attached with staples, no glue, so it knocked out with a rubber mallet fairly easily.
The opening behind the door is the same exact size as the opening behind the other two overhead doors.
Tools used:
- Sheetrock knife to open cardboard box
- Rubber mallet to gently knock out panel
- Flashlight to see inside overhead cabinet
- Needle nose pliers to remove remaining staples from back of the cabinet face frame
- Pencil to mark new screw locations
- Cordless drill
- 1/16" drill bit to pre-drill holes
- #2 Phillips bit
- #2 Square drive bit
- #2 Phillips hand screwdriver
- 2ft level to align bottoms of cabinet doors
First and foremost, here are the before and after pictures:
Before:

After:




The new door just barely clears the center button on the LED ceiling light, but this is no different than the right overhead door when opened up all the way, just barely clears as well.
For those interested in the details:
Ordered the new door assembly and hardware kit:

- Door Assembly:
- Door (measures 18-3/4" X 12-3/4")
- Handle
- Hinges


- Hardware Kit:
- Latch
- Catch
- Screws

There was a couple of issues I must warn about:
1) The hinges on the new door were not in line with hinges on the left door next to it. They were each about 1/4" off. Functionally, this would have been totally fine, however it was easy enough to move the hinges on the new door to be in line with the other hinges, so I just removed the screws, marked the new hole locations, pre-drilled the new holes and screwed the hinges back on. Two of the old holes are covered up by the hinge, the third hole is visible. This is not a big deal since it is on the inside of the door.
2) The handle that came on the new door is about 1/2" lower than the other two door handles. I did remove the handle and try to seat it all the way to one side of the holes, but there was not much adjustment. The holes for the handle screws are about 3/16" - 1/4" or so in diameter. At this point in time, I've have decided to leave well enough alone. Since the handles are about 20" apart it is not too noticeable unless you are looking for it or it is pointed out to you. This could be fixed by removing the handles on all 3 doors and slotting them in the right direction to align closer. It doesn't appear that you could move the handles any more than 1/4" up or down before the holes start to show. If I did decide to fix this someday when I'm bored and looking for things to do, in my situation, I would slot the center handle holes to raise the handle, and slot the outside cabinet door handles to lower them. This would be about the best I could do to get them more in line.
If I had to do it over, I would order the door, handle and hinges separately so I could measure the existing hardware and mount them myself.
If I remember correctly, these doors are the same as the doors under the dinette seats.
Cheers!
Duke
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