Share your RV mods...

[AH64ID]

Looking for some more idea's for RV mods, from simple to expansive. What I have done..Home digital thermostat non-skid in all compartments, planning on doingWater tank accumulator, 1" high pressure propane connections under frame rail, A/C hard start capacitor SPP6E, dual 12v's, (6's don't fit :banghead:)

[H.R.D]

The old man and I took some polished aluminum diamond plate and made bug guards on the nose of the trailer and rock guards down low on the front of trailer underneath the over hang. I will try and get some pics to help explain what we did. Not very expensive and it looks real sharp running down the highway.

[flagmanruss]

I've seen a few trailer trucks with V shaped skirts under the trailer to deflect air around the trailer tires... I'd like to know more about this. Obiviously does not go all the way to the ground.

[H.R.D]

I've seen a few trailer trucks with V shaped skirts under the trailer to deflect air around the trailer tires... I'd like to know more about this. Obiviously does not go all the way to the ground.

I would be interested to see that as well.

[Mopar1973Man]

I've seen a few trailer trucks with V shaped skirts under the trailer to deflect air around the trailer tires... I'd like to know more about this. Obiviously does not go all the way to the ground.

Where my trailer goes in the back country that kind of skirt would never last on mine.

@AH64ID...

As for the Water tank accumulator are you building your own or are you buying a small one and installing?

A/C hard start capacitor, SPP6E what is this going to do?

[AH64ID]

Where my trailer goes in the back country that kind of skirt would never last on mine. @AH64ID... As for the Water tank accumulator are you building your own or are you buying a small one and installing? A/C hard start capacitor, SPP6E what is this going to do?

I have a tall camper for the same reason! My ball is at 28", and the clearance is great. I am going to buy an accum, I have enough room for the 4 gallon Well-X-Trol. The SPP6E is a much better hard start cap than a/c's come with (if they even come with one) and will reduce the start time on the compressor, and decrease the start load on the gen's end, which leads to a longer gen and compressor life.

[Mopar1973Man]

Please do a write up for both when you get to doing them... Please!

[AH64ID]

After some measuring and researching I put a pair of 12V batteries in the trailer this afternoon. I have 2 great 6V's in the garage, but the design of this camper doesn't allow for their height. In fact I had to massage the Group 24 cases to get 2 of them on the tongue, it's TIGHT!The trailer came with a AC Delco Group 24 Dual Purpose, estimated at 70-73 Amp hours, not bad for a group 24, many of then are just 60 Amp hours; however, after having 225 amp hours last summer I wanted a little more than 70! I started doing research and there are only a few Group 24's that offer 85 amp hours, the most I found. The Costco's, and a few other $$$ brands. I decided to go with the Costco's, they are only $67/ea and are a deep cycle only, whereas many of the Group 24's are labeled dual purpose. I personally think the deep cycle's will be better deep cycles. They are not maintenance free, but with our usage and the price I can live with that. I was able to find a pair at the Boise Costco with 3/12 manufacture stickers on them, so I grabbed them.So now I am packing 170 amp hours, vs the 73 that it came with. I am only 75% of what I had last year, but to be honest we never needed all of them and I found myself running the generator every trip just to run it. In 29 nights of camping I think the batteries only demanded I run the generator once or twice, so I am pretty sure 170 amp hours will work, and the new TT has a 10w solar panel, which isn't much but it does do something. As far as other mods, my dad ordered a couple of the accumulators and will be bringing mine with him when he comes to visit next week. We ended up with the 2 gallon version. There is room for the 4 gallon, but the 2 gallon will work better with the 3GPM water pump. I need to order the capacitor, but I am still 1 generator short for running the a/c and am not really thinking about a/c stuff yet. I did get a couple of the camco vent covers installed on Monday. I had the Max Air's on my previous TT, but the camco's are 1/2 the price so I couldn't pass them up. I got them for "free" with the gift certificate that came with the trailer purchase. The vent covers are great, you can leave the vent open year round and not worry about snow/rain entering the trailer.

[Gerry R]

A friend with a 28 ft Montana 5er just had both right side tires blow or shread and did some damage to the underside of the trailer. I've seen this happen before and have thought about protecting the underside so I just had the underside of our bumper pull toy hauler lined with 18 guage sheet metal and hope it will do the job if my ''China Bombs'' go south before I replace them with 16 inch Michelins in a couple of years. Has anybody else tried this and have tire blow or shread because I'm curious to know how it works. Gerry

[Mopar1973Man]

WARNING!

Something to remember all ST tire typically sold have a speed rated of only 60-65 MPH beyond that you risking a blow out. But check with the tire manufacture of what the speed rating really is.

Most upgrade to LT tires to get a higher speed rating. Like the tires on mt trailer are Tow Max Load Range D's with a speed rating of 65 MPH so I typically tow at 55-60 MPH tops... No problems here!

[Gerry R]

What you've said is true except LT tires are rated for less load than the same size ST. In my size of 225 75 15 STs are rated for 2540 lbs whereas the same size in LT is a bit under 1900 if I remember correctly. But as you say the LTs have a higher speed rating. The answer for me is next time I change out tires I will get 16 inch rims rated for 80 lbs and go with 225 75 16, probably Michelin as I never hear anything but good about them.

[flagmanruss]

The previous owner of my toyhauler... I don't consider him very knowledgeable as I found the shim pack missing from the load leveling hitch (I'd never used a LL hitch before and after a white knuckle drive home with inadequate front tire contact with the road, I did some research to make that discovery. The trailer has trailer ST type tires on it. Apparently somewhere between Montanna & the East Coast he blew both tires on the front axle which did indeed shred the plastic wheel well. The previous owner stapled a piece to tarp in there which was an acess point for the mice. I used a molded section I cut out of a mason's cement mixing tray which I calked & screwed in place. It seems to have stopped the mice finally. I have no expectation it would withstand a steel belt blowout. I thought I'd posted a picture when I had it open, ok, here's the picture:

[gassernomore]

I have seen ( a couple of times) a tire blow a hole in the wood of a box van big enough that I could pass thru it. You would have to use at least 1/4" steel for a plate to prevent any damage.

[Mopar1973Man]

I have seen ( a couple of times) a tire blow a hole in the wood of a box van big enough that I could pass thru it. You would have to use at least 1/4" steel for a plate to prevent any damage.

I think the key to it is not to operate the tire outside its designed limits and the tire will not blow out.

[*]Proper Tire Pressure

[*]Operate below the speed rating

[*]Don't overload the tire weigh capacity

[flagmanruss]

Trailers are very tough on tires it seems. At an event, I met a trader who had blown 4 new tires on his trailer enroute. With the size of his box trailer (race car hauler size, I bet he was grossly overloaded. I don't recall what they were but I think he was sold a bill of goods. I was called upon to tow his trailer out of the primitive camp after the transmission failed on his F-word truck, a 350 I think. I was the only other truck in camp with a gooseneck hitch. With a trip like that, I'd give it up! His hometown dealer put in a good word for him with the dealer there & he had the truck back with a rebuilt transmission before the camp was done 10 days later.

[AH64ID]

I have towed above the 65 mph limit on my ST tires for quite a few miles, mainly because I didn't realize they were only rated at 65. But I will say I wasn't even close to max load, and I was also at max air. I also never really exceeded 72, but have held 70-72 for hours on end without an issue. All 3 of my flats were low speed rock punctures.

[Mopar1973Man]

Yeah... Like me though I'm really close to weight rating of my LR D's ST Tires aired up at 65 PSI so it wouldn't be wise to push my luck...

[dripley]

All my flats were blow outs. I used to run 70 to 75 mph with the tires pretty weel maxxed out on load and tried to watch the pressures pretty close. I also did not know about the speed rating until recently. This last move from Tenn. to Iowa I ran 65 and slower with the tires at about 90% capacity. Pickep up 1.5 mpg also.

[riddle family]

I have had 1 blowout. Tire looked bad before our trip to the beach took the spare and put it on and bought a new tire. The spare blew coming home. About 300 miles of travel before it popped. Luckily I bought a new for the spare. Good thing no major destruction as soon as it popped the side out I was able to pull over. --- I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?mr0pzx 2003 Ram with gauges and a Smarty! Not much more. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AH64ID]

Did a couple dopey little things for $3.50 yesterday. I put a 90° coax fitting where the cable hooks up for the TV to the AMP. It's much cleaner, but I still don't understand why they can't have the hookup hidden and just the amp switch exposed.... anyways, less obtrusive for sure.I also bought the cheapest can of red rattle can Wally World had and painted a thin coat on one of interior lights. It now puts out a nice red light, which won't effect night vision and shouldn't bother the sleeping kids like a white light does. I started thin, and will see how it works on the next trip, I can always go thicker.