Truck and Trailer Modifications to our RVs

Updated: 11/26/08

Many of these modifications have been submitted to Trailer Life Magazine. Several have been published, others are in their file for future consideration. We have included the TL article and our original photograph when available. 

We will add new modification items at the beginning of this page.

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Space Heater Heat Shield

We frequently use a small electric space heater to conserve LP fuel. It works great to take the chill off the air.

However, we had a constant concern about what the heat was doing to the wood flooring or carpet. Now, we place the space heater on a stove top insulated cover we purchased at our local hardware store for about $5.

It may have been an unwarranted concern but we feel better using a heat shield – from both a safety and floor protection standpoint.

Door Holder

Our toilet room does not have an air conditioning vent. If the door remains closed, the heat builds up in the toilet room during hot weather.

When the toilet room is not in use, we use a 4” gate hook to hold the door open so the cooler air in the bedroom can be exchanged with the warmer air in the toilet room. The round end is enlarged so the gate hook can be removed when not needed. The faucet washer slides into the enlarged round end so the gate hook does not fall off the eye.

 It solves our heat build-up issue at a low cost.

Truck Bed Swapping

Holes were drilled in bed to mount a fifth wheel hitch in leased trucks.

Boards mounted on the hitch bars are used as attachment locations for storage boxes.

Outside Drawer

Hardware Case

Fifth Wheel Pin Box Cover

Avoid Water Leaks in Electrical Door

A Needed Safety Reminder

After arriving at our destination without the fifth wheel hitch handle locking latch padlocked on a couple occasions, I now store the pad lock below the landing legs control where I can not miss seeing it when hitching up. The cost would be less than 25 cents for a screw eye. I store the safety nut for the living room slide-out mechanism on the lock’s shank as another reminder.

Reducing Light Fixture

Battery Power Usage and Brightness

We installed switches on our bathroom and dining area light fixtures to reduce battery power usage and brightness. Each fixture provides more illumination than necessary for most activities. We seldom use all the bulbs even when plugged into a power source.

The switch on the bathroom fixture was installed first. It disconnects two bulbs. To wash our hands, brush our teeth or comb our hair, the light from one bulb is all that we use. Three bulbs are used only for applying make-up. I used a common hardware store SPST switch and wire nuts.

Recently, we installed two switches on the dining area fixture which permit us to select the use of one, two, three or four bulbs. We like the light from one or two bulbs during meals but table games and writing require three or four bulbs. I used smaller switches in the dining area to improve the appearance - Radio Shack 275-634B Mini SPST Flat Lever Switch costing $2.79 each. The terminals on the mini switches require soldering.

The condition of our batteries is carefully monitored while we boondock. We may be more sensitive to our power usage than necessary - our two solar panels generally return our batteries to a full charge by dusk each day. But, by being conservative, we are confident we have adequate battery power for the length of our stay even during cloudy weather.

Set-Up Organizer

To eliminate searching through a single plastic tub containing a pile of items necessary to set-up our fifth wheel when we arrive or depart camp, I built in two small plastic drawer assemblies and a large/heavy item storage area. I used a 1x6 and a piece of ¼ inch tempered peg board for the frame and platform. The wood frame is an odd shape to take advantage of all available space. I installed a piece of carpet to stop the large items from sliding around. Everything is screwed or bolted in place. The drawer assemblies that fit our application are Iris Table Tops #TC-A421 from my local office supply store ($14 each). One drawer is dedicated to each of the following items: electrical items, water fittings, awning accessories, work gloves, small tools and lubricants. The drawers have stops to prevent them from falling out when fully opened.

On The Level

On our return trip to Michigan we discovered that the suspension on our fifth wheel had broken sometime during our three week New England tour. We could not obtain service fast enough. We do not know how many miles we drove unaware of the damage but the fifty miles we drove to service was harrowing. Our fifth wheel has an adjustable chassis - two of the three bolts holding the axle cradle to the frame had sheared off on the right side. When would the third bolt break?  

After this experience, I discovered that when viewed through the rear view mirror, one of the doors on the front of our fifth wheel lines up perfectly with the top of my pickup truck’s tailgate. Now, I check the level regularly as we travel. Especially, after feeling a bump in the road.

It does not cost a penny. It is worth a million. If you do not have a door, two strategically placed pieces of reflective tape could be used.

Garbage Storage  

What do you do with the small amounts of garbage from lunches on the road? 

We put ours in a cylindrical potato chip container and store it in our refrigerator. It prevents an unpleasant aroma in the living space and does not attract little critters. We accumulate empty containers during the year to insure we have a supply to use throughout the camping season.

 The cost is zero.

Photo Display  

When we purchased our new fifth wheel, the large number of windows and the large size of the windows were selling points. However, that left us with no wall space to hang photographs of family members and interesting places we visit.

We used plastic moldings that cover the exposed ends of wall paneling to form a picture frame on the face of our slide-out. The moldings were spaced to accommodate 4”x 6” photographs and centered in the space. The photographs cover the small nails used to mount the plastic moldings. Drill holes in the moldings so they do not splinter when nailed in place. Also, we found that a very small dab of rubber cement was needed on the back of each photograph to keep them tight against the slide-out face and to keep them in place during travel.

The moldings are available in several colors at your local builders supply store. The total cost was about $8.

Photographs are easily exchanged as the family changes and we visit more beautiful places.

4" Drop Running Boards

Splits the difference between the ground and the truck floor.
Makes entry into our 4x4 truck easy.

Battery Wiring Photograph

A photograph of the battery wiring is mounted
on the inside surface of the door to the battery compartment.

It is an easy reference when installing batteries.

Pull-Rite Super Glide

It consumes a lot of room in the truck bed but the automatic operation gives you peace of mind.

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