What have you done to your Trailer today?

I hear a great story coming on this lol

 

Added some gas lift struts to the bed today. It's been a PIA accessing this area from within the trailer since you need to hold the bed up with one hand or your back while you grab what your looking for with the other.

Here is a list of parts I used. Some from Amazon and from home Depot.

Lift struts

$25 Suspa C16-08316 C1608316 20" Gas Prop, Quantity (2), Force 40 Lbs Per Prop, Force Per Set 80 Lbs, Camper Rear Window, Tonneau Cover Lift Supports, Window Lift Support, Struts, Made in USA

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007MUY6T2/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Upper ball mount

$8 10MM Ball Stud Bracket for Gas Spring/Prop/Strut (2 Pack)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004713BR2/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Lower ball mount

$12 JR Products BR-1020 10mm Flat Gas Spring Mounting Bracket

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BRF38Q/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Home depot list
4' piece of 1 1/4" box steel. Qty 1
2x4 at least 32"
3" 3/16 bolts with nuts. Qty 6
3/16" fender washers. Qty 12
3/16" rivots. Qty 6
Assorted screws I had on hand.

The bed frame for the travel trailer is made from non-dimensional 2x2 (I think). I knew my first priority would be to beef up the bed frame to keep it from cracking under the the repetitive use of the Dual 40lb lift springs.


To brace the bottom of the bed frame I cut a 2x4 to match the inside of the bed frame(a little less than 15 3/4" for my application). I gently hammered it in with a deadblow and screwed it into place with some 2" deck screws. Make sure you drill a pilot hole in the the original 2x2 or it will split. You can see in the picture that the lower strut mount is screwed in directly to the 2x4 for maximum strength.

I added rigidity to the upper bed frame with the box steel from home depot. I cut this piece in half so there is 2' on both sides. This is mounted to the bed frame with the 3/16 bolts and fender washers on both sides(in retrospect fender washers are probably only necessary on the wood side but they're cheap).

After I mocked up the upper frame supports I was able to measure the compressed strut length for my upper strut mount. I decided to drill and rivot the mounts to the box steel frame supports.

The amount of lift from the struts ended up coming out almost perfectly. In this pic the bed is raised fully and is just short of contacting the bedside cabinets.

Upper supports mounted and everything working together


Note*
If my bed frame design and cabinetry permitted I would have install the struts further back to permit more lift. I probably would have needed at least 60lb struts if I had done it that way.

 

Today I installed the Oxygenics water saving and pressure increasing RV showerhead.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00F...hower+head&dpPl=1&dpID=31pYE7uUb-L&ref=plSrch

After are first couple of trips my wife felt that the showerhead in the RV just wasn't cutting it. I thought it was fine but I don't have hair to wash and any kind of running water while camping is still a luxury to me.

Anyways this shower head uses some kind of air aspirating nozzle to save water and make it feel like there is more pressure. It also has a shut off right on the head for saving water while shaping.

Install is super easy and I didn't bother hanging the new shower head hanger since the one that was already there does a fine job ofholding it. It actually took more time to get the hose and regulator out to supply the trailer with water(So far we've only used tank water and the pump so I wanted to make sure there wasn't any issues with the city water connection system).


Before 45 PSI

Oxygenics 45 PSI

Cut away image of how the head works. I only posted it because it made me laugh. It looks like a jet engine working in reverse. You can see the intake, compression and combustion chambers and exhaust nozzle lol

 

Added the OX jockey wheel, I needed it for the adjustability up and down because the drawbar is high.
the company has a video of winching a trailer in the sand basically making a trench with it and it doesn't collapse. Very solid unit.



Also installed a pair of SaveAJack.com jack savers. Since the trailer is higher than when I bought it due to the new suspension, the ramp is too short to use safely while loading my MC I found these that make the stabilizing jack removable. I now have a great 'patio' when I need it and don't have to go down the road with the jacks sticking out. Win win!

 

Digging that ox jockey! Really cool upgrade. Your trailer also looks pretty sweet! Like a toy hauler/expedition trailer! I see the roof elevates, is it going to be a tent roof?

 

Appreciate it! I had the mfg. make the roof open so I could load the bike easier. I've pondered the thought to make some type of screen room but I have an awning that attaches to the roof rack when the top is down and is much more useable space. I've also have a 280w solar panel that attaches to the roof rack so I don't have it open all the time.

The OX was pricey but well worth it now that I have it on.

 

My choice for a generator was the Yamaha 2400is, runs my air conditioner and charges both batteries. Ordered mine through http://www.uscarburetion.com/ - had the propane conversion already installed by factory shop so no warranty issues. The cost, kit and free shipping from North Carolina and no tax was $300 cheaper than my local Yamaha shop in California for just the generator. Adding the LoPro security bracket makes it almost impossible to steal. http://perfectcasita.com/gepr.html makes the locking unit for a wide variety of generators.

Also added bonus, since the EPA makes the gasoline jets non-adjustable and set for sea level, there is a mixture control, just ran ours at 10,000 ft - you can't do that on gasoline!

 

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing. I'm still newer to RVing so I wasn't aware of the benefits of running propane on your generator. I'm running a 75537i Champion 3100 and found a couple conversion kits online for it. Maybe in the future.

 

We had the worst hammering noise anytime the water pump kicked on. Most likely caused by rigid pex water lines vibrating against the body. After installing the below pump silencing kit on the output side of the pump, all hammering noise has been eliminated. These flex hoses get looped which helps dampen the vibration caused by the water pump.

$37 SHURFLO 94-591-01 Pump Silencing Kit - 36"

https://www.amazon.com/SHURFLO-94-5...F8&qid=1474938379&sr=8-1&keywords=shurflo+kit

 

Awesome! Water hammer can cause a lot of damage. Thanks for sharing!

 

The silencing kit came w 2 hoses. Instructions were to put 1 hose on the input side and 1 on the output. I ended up putting both on the output side creating 2 loops. With only 1 hose and 1 loop, the hammering still occurred.

 

Here's the before/after pic for the water pump

 

My trailer has a pocket door for the bathroom and it came with a pin that locked the door in place while in transit. The pin is inserted horizontally into the adjacent wall to lock the door in place. However, we found the pin kept coming out and would not reliably lock the door in place. I replaced it with this pin that works vertically and it has worked much better.

 

Ordered LED's for the interior https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...bulb-36-led-pcb-lamp-ba15s-retrofit-rvb/2368/

The 1156 incandescents could barely light up on solar power, the lone LED in it lit right up, this Trailmanor 2619 has flourescents in the bathroom, those lit fine on 90W solar. Incandescents have to go.

Also ordered a propane conversion kit for the Honda EU2000i generator. http://www.motorsnorkel.com/ There's other outfits that do the same.

I'll be happy to no longer carry gas cans, we carry extra LP tanks for the furnace/fridge boondocking so one more for the generator is no big deal.

 

I was inspired by the deck plate mod for the intake system and was able to use a deck plate to cover up the stove vent hole in my trailer.

 

Also replaced my unreliable lift support for my overhead cabinets w a gas strut type made by apexstone. I bought a set of 4 lifts for $17 from Amazon.

 

Looks great! Definatly jelly of the deck plate mod

 

I'm thinking about putting a 24-27" led/Blu-ray combo tv in the camper. The trailer is wired up with a coax port and 12v connector from the factory. Is anyone familiar or expierenced with mounting a TV in a travel trailer? Specifically mounting the bracket to the wall? I've done it countless times with standard construction but this lightweight trailer has be a little worried!!

 

Added a shotgun mount to my trailer

 

Nice little security system! Is that a mag conversion or something else? Really dig the size of that little beast!