Sir, you are the sort of everyday genius that built this nation. Way to go! You took an affordable rig and gave it the amenities of one costing five times as much, and more important, you made it yours. That's a process I'm looking forward to, when I'm finally done shopping and I choose a rig. But I doubt even my clever husband could do as well. I'm bookmarking this, and intend to watch it several more times, for ideas and inspiration. Thanks!
this is the VERY BEST video I've seen on camper mods. Most bang for your buck timewise, and ideas I've not seen watching at least 30 other videos. I'm new to RVs, , just bought a truck camper , and had to deploy quickly to start a job out ofstate. so I am learning on the fly. THANK YOU, THANK YOU !!
I just love the cabinet door idea! I don't think I would have thought of that. Then of course there is the whole storage thing in the bunkbeds. Great ideas. Ren
I appreciate the practical and thoughtful ideas that you shared. Your visual documentation and comments were very helpful. Great video production also.
Very helpful ideas. We did some of the projects that you did on the popup camper. Hopefully, later we'll be able to also purchase a full size camper. Happy camping!!
TWO thumbs up . Had to watch it twice,first time said thats a good idea to everything. then got paper and pen out. stopped video after each item ,wrote it down and so on. THANK YOU. New to camping , just bought a R-POD 181G
As a newbie to the whole camper/trailer life I appreciate your videos. I have learned a great deal and will be implementing many of the changes you have completed in your own unit.
I'd like some directions on how you made the slide for the dinette bed. I want to do this to our Rpod dinette as it may be a bed from time to time or a sofa per say on a rainy day. Can you post some directions? Thank you.
I was impressed and can see watching again so That I can use a lot of them. I love the picture frame and plywood cabinet Idea to make more ways to get into storage areas. I'm going to watch a couple times and get those made... I also like the minor over Kitchen sink. I will be like you it is a work in process. But I will be following in your foot steps on a lot of them...
An idea for utilizing the top bunk. Enclose the back half and make it accessible from inside the bathroom through cupboard doors. It would be handy for towels, bathroom products and ect.
Can you please tell me how you attached the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. We have a Jayco with the same layout. Thanks for this video. We love the bed conversion on the dinette. We did a lot of the same mods you did. Thanks.
Incredible information. I’ve been taking my self converted Econoline out on occasional trip, but I’m picking up a 2018 travel trailer of similar size tomorrow to go full time. This is some of the best little tweaks I’ve seen anywhere. Looks like you haven’t had any content here in a while. Hope all is well.
How did you add the shower surround ? My shower looks exactly the same and I'm concerned about the RV walls in the shower. Where did you get the shower surround ? Did you have to cut it yourself to fit ? Did you glue it up ? Thank you SO much for this video !!!
Love your Mods!!!! I tried searching for some things. Perhaps someday if find time, you link up your mods for ladies like me to bed able to find. Again nice work and great ideas. I subscribed.
very thoughtful modifications; consider a suitcase Solar panel and an additional battery. I have two batteries feeding into a 2000 watt inverter. I can run and extension cord from the inverter to the electrical hookup and have 110-volt ac, as well as, 12-volt dc for dry camping. Modifications are fun. try attaching to the flimsy walls with pop rivets....works great. Your changes are wonderful
Very ingenious and well thought out improvements. My wife and I are purchasing a travel trailer within the next year and I know how reality can dampen your dreams when sticker shock occurs. These ideas will make a travel trailer much more liveable. Thanks.
I noticed this was asked a few times...but...please could you do some detail on the dinette mod? I have a new Clipper 15FL that I want to do the same thing with. Thanks for your video...really had good info... Jay
Great ideas for mods there. Just a friendly word of advice, though... Regular refrigerators are not designed to operate in bumpy environments, so you shouldn't run a "normal" refrigerator while the RV is being towed via the power connection from the tow vehicle. Otherwise the refrigerator's compressor may be damaged over time. If the refrigerator isn't used during towing, then it's probably fine.
Thx for the tips like the AC plug in voltage monitor, stowage picture frame doors, roof vent rain covers. What keeps winds from blowing the plastic box off? any ideas? maybe hook on bean bag weights?
What is the name of the song, say at 7:47, and to the end? I think that I have heard it before. I don't believe it is the original version of the song, but a remade version. I figured it out. I think it is from Kenny Rogers' "Love Will Turn You Around".
Many great ideas, thanks for sharing them! I especially appreciate the pointers to products, because our local camping store doesn't have a great selection and what they do have is overpriced.
You have a lot of ingenious ideas that I am going to borrow. One thing that I do that I see you don't do, is to thread the male and female ends of my water hose together to keep dirt and bugs out of the hose..
I'm confused about the fridge replacement. So you now have no refrigeration without being hooked to shore power? How do you keep food cold while towing? What happens if you decided to spend the night in someplace like Walmart or a rest area? It's unfortunate you didn't talk to some other RV owners before doing this. My Dometic 3 way keeps food cold on propane no matter what the outside temperature. It's sometimes too cold on propane compared to shore power, and having a 12 volt option helps when towing so you can save propane.
We have a heavy duty cooler we transport cold food in, and when we hook-up fridge cools down to freezing in 20 minutes or less. Oh and by the way we have had 4 campers and and have RV'd for over 20 yrs, and know alot about gas absorption fridges.
As long as you only go to and from full service campgrounds, I guess that works. I travel around the country and don't always stay at places that have shore power, so unloading and then loading the fridge again when I get somewhere I have power isn't very appealing to me. My point about talking to other RV owners is that the fridge in your Coleman either wasn't very good or wasn't working correctly. There are hundreds of thousands of two way and three way gas absorption fridges in service that will keep food cool in almost any temperature. I've camped in the desert with the temperature over 100 degrees for many days and camped in the Deep South in summer with temperature of 90 and humidity of 70% and never had a problem with food staying cool. My first RV was a Cardinal 14 footer in 1976 so I've also been at it for a few years.
Ron, I don't think the small propane cylinders would work with a fridge. You'd have to set up a backwards set of adapters to use with a fridge. The 20 pound bottle isn't hard to install. Most people put it right on the trailer tongue where the extra weight would make the trailer a bit easier to control in crosswinds.
just got a Rpod 179 want to add that I use many 3M brand Command hooks, loops, cord holders, velcro tabs hold many things in place. I have them under plastic tubs on my counter to hold odds & ends, my paper towel rack and if you find you need to put them elsewhere they easily remove without harming the surface. I keep finding more uses for them but then... I work at 3M so...
Great tips FWIW I lost some fingers trying to cut regular PVC length-wise on a table saw. Not sure how you cut yours but just a warning anyone thinking about ripping the awning cover project. Sometimes when ripping PVC the pipe will want to contract, so when you get to the end, the pipe may clamp onto the blade and pull the pipe away from you be careful ; )
I have a sportsman that is almost identical to the trailer yall have. I would like to thank you for helping me get some ideas to upgrade some of the things I have seen on our first 2 trips. I have a question about the LED lights, do they put out a similar brightness to the stock bulbs? Also thank you for the pipe idea for the awning, that was an issue i could not thing of a solution for.
Thanks ever SO much. Will use many of these. Can't wait for my husband to see these. So nice of you to make this video for all of us to use. Happy Trails!!
I found this video very informative and entertaining. You have a great knack for doing these videos. Would love to see an update to this. Ironically we sold our Jayco pop-up and just purchased a Starcraft travel trailer. Thanks for the tips!
Oh, YES..!! Your camper modifications are SO HELPFUL...Thanks; i think my favorite hacks were using PICTURE FRAMES for cabinet doors (WOW!!), and, using the one bunk for a "garage"!! 👍👣
hello elanie, dave & barney, you guys have great ideas to modify a travel trailer. I like all your ideas, thanks for sharing. I just sold my 27 nomad; and in the market to buy another travel trailer; smaller since I recently got divorce over 5 years ago. I miss camping out and going fishing. I also have a dog (zorro), my buddy. I liked your ideas for pets, also. take care and happy camping.
Hello Jasmine We hope you folks get as much enjoyment out of your camper, as we do from ours. Next summer you guys should try Ceder Point Campgrounds (video ruclips.net/video/laMes4RXKqUa/видео.htmlt ) at the coast. Its one better campgrounds and inexpensive also. Hope the Trailblazer is what your son wanted. Happy camping.
Great mods. Very useful information. I would check out your axle weight and how much your trailer weighs fully loaded. A lot of single axle trailers are grossly overloaded and need a bigger axle change out for safety.
great hints, great presentation, thanks for taking the time and sharing, in light of the improvements would you consider an alternative trailer that you had looked at but not purchased, we are now looking, our budget is a bit more flexible so some of the improvements are standard, most of your add-ons are great ideas, will adapt and use.
How does a 120v line meter protect electronic gear? It is my understanding that you need a device between the trailer and the power post, such as a Progressive Industries EMS surge protector, to actually PROTECT your gear. You plug the EMS into the RV park power post, then plug the trailer into the EMS device. This ensures that low voltage and power surges or lightning strikes will not reach the trailer wiring.
Thanks for the comment. We are talking about TWO different problems. You are correct about everyone needing a SURGE PROTECTOR to guard against a line voltage surge, but a surge protector does not help against low voltages that will seriously damage your RV electronic equipment. That's where the 120V LINE METER helps, its not an automatic shutoff device it only shows you that you have a damaging low voltage (any voltage below 107 Volts) input. You will need to disconnect manually. Hope this answers the question.
Thanks Dave for sharing, you have many good ideas that I'll incorporate for my new small Keystone Hideout TT that just acquired, has the common floorplan with the Queen bed up front, kitchen & dinette in middle, bunks and bath in rear. As recall from their website, the largest Camping World near me at Burlington, WA carries the new Dutchmen Coleman TT's with your floorplan. Also got the Oxygenics shower head at CW as on sale, but yet to install. Happy and Safe travels to you both and to Barney!!
Sir, you are the sort of everyday genius that built this nation. Way to go! You took an affordable rig and gave it the amenities of one costing five times as much, and more important, you made it yours. That's a process I'm looking forward to, when I'm finally done shopping and I choose a rig. But I doubt even my clever husband could do as well. I'm bookmarking this, and intend to watch it several more times, for ideas and inspiration. Thanks!
this is the VERY BEST video I've seen on camper mods. Most bang for your buck timewise, and ideas I've not seen watching at least 30 other videos. I'm new to RVs, , just bought a truck camper , and had to deploy quickly to start a job out ofstate. so I am learning on the fly.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU !!
1965 magnatone xephyr guitar
This has been one of the best trailer videos I have seen and I've watched hundreds of them. well done.
I just love the cabinet door idea! I don't think I would have thought of that. Then of course there is the whole storage thing in the bunkbeds. Great ideas.
Ren
PVC for a awning cover. So simple and effective yet i would’ve never thought of it! Awesome. Gonna do this with mine
Great suggestions....really appreciate how you included sources and pics of items you ordered...very helpful to me. Thank you for sharing!
I appreciate the practical and thoughtful ideas that you shared. Your visual documentation and comments were very helpful. Great video production also.
I wish more sites would present like yours. No chit-chat and you get to the point! Thanks
This is the most efficient mod video I've watched so far. You showed us 50 useful tips in 10 minutes with no wasted time. Outstanding!
Thanks for sharing your upgrades!!! Happy Travels.
Very helpful ideas. We did some of the projects that you did on the popup camper. Hopefully, later we'll be able to also purchase a full size camper. Happy camping!!
Thank You. Loads of things I had never thought of!
TWO thumbs up . Had to watch it twice,first time said thats a good idea to everything. then got paper and pen out. stopped video after each item ,wrote it down and so on. THANK YOU. New to camping , just bought a R-POD 181G
As a newbie to the whole camper/trailer life I appreciate your videos. I have learned a great deal and will be implementing many of the changes you have completed in your own unit.
great video! loved the mod for the dinette and memory foam storage!
I'd like some directions on how you made the slide for the dinette bed. I want to do this to our Rpod dinette as it may be a bed from time to time or a sofa per say on a rainy day. Can you post some directions? Thank you.
Great info. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the video! I am definitely going to use some of your ideas!
Thanks for taking the time to create this very informative video for those of us considering living in a Camper fulltime ... Very appreciated.....
You did a great job on the modifications . Thank you for the video.
a must see twice..so many great simple fixes...love the clothes line
Great tips and well thought out. You guys should consult on rv design !Thank you !
I was impressed and can see watching again so That I can use a lot of them. I love the picture frame and plywood cabinet Idea to make more ways to get into storage areas. I'm going to watch a couple times and get those made... I also like the minor over Kitchen sink. I will be like you it is a work in process. But I will be following in your foot steps on a lot of them...
Love your ideas! Thanx for sharing & ~HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU~
Best "mods" compilation I've seen. So many great upgrades.
An idea for utilizing the top bunk. Enclose the back half and make it accessible from inside the bathroom through cupboard doors. It would be handy for towels, bathroom products and ect.
Can you please tell me how you attached the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. We have a Jayco with the same layout. Thanks for this video. We love the bed conversion on the dinette. We did a lot of the same mods you did. Thanks.
Great mods, I did not understand the 12 power outlets installed on the light housings. What do you use them for?
Did you get rid of the pop-up? Your new trailer looks nice. Great video and I like the mods.
brilliantly simple ideas wonderfully executed. Many thanks for sharing
excellent ideas love the mods done new subscriber safe travels
Thank you for the great video. One of the best for editing and I love your ideas. I plan on doing many of them. Thanks for sharing.
Incredible information. I’ve been taking my self converted Econoline out on occasional trip, but I’m picking up a 2018 travel trailer of similar size tomorrow to go full time. This is some of the best little tweaks I’ve seen anywhere.
Looks like you haven’t had any content here in a while. Hope all is well.
Very helpful!! Just got a 2012 R-Pod and it needs work. Many of these ideas would be great for my little rig. THANK YOU!
WOW ill watch this over and over Great idea s
waw...beautiful and practical ideas. Tks Dave and Elaine.
Great vid! Love what you did to your seating/bed area. I'll get straps and do the same! Thanks!
This is the type of video I like, Quick and to the point Thank you!
How did you add the shower surround ? My shower looks exactly the same and I'm concerned about the RV walls in the shower. Where did you get the shower surround ? Did you have to cut it yourself to fit ? Did you glue it up ? Thank you SO much for this video !!!
Great ideas and imagination! Solves a lot of aggravations! Love it!
Love your Mods!!!! I tried searching for some things. Perhaps someday if find time, you link up your mods for ladies like me to bed able to find. Again nice work and great ideas. I subscribed.
Be
very thoughtful modifications; consider a suitcase Solar panel and an additional battery. I have two batteries feeding into a 2000 watt inverter. I can run and extension cord from the inverter to the electrical hookup and have 110-volt ac, as well as, 12-volt dc for dry camping. Modifications are fun. try attaching to the flimsy walls with pop rivets....works great. Your changes are wonderful
dude all those ideas were fantastic
This is one of the the best mod video yet
Great thoughtful video. Lots of info! Thanks.
u have some good ideas on here thanks
This is a very nice and informative video. You did a great job. Thank you!!!
I have watched a lot of videos and this is one of the very best! Thanks!
Very ingenious and well thought out improvements. My wife and I are purchasing a travel trailer within the next year and I know how reality can dampen your dreams when sticker shock occurs. These ideas will make a travel trailer much more liveable. Thanks.
I noticed this was asked a few times...but...please could you do some detail on the dinette mod? I have a new Clipper 15FL that I want to do the same thing with.
Thanks for your video...really had good info...
Jay
Jay Raxter thanks for the ideas, good vid.
Jay, I have decided I need to do a video on this. Its a little mode then I can address in the comments. I will start soon so it shouldn't be to long.
Cool..thanks!
Great ideas for mods there. Just a friendly word of advice, though... Regular refrigerators are not designed to operate in bumpy environments, so you shouldn't run a "normal" refrigerator while the RV is being towed via the power connection from the tow vehicle. Otherwise the refrigerator's compressor may be damaged over time. If the refrigerator isn't used during towing, then it's probably fine.
Thx for the tips like the AC plug in voltage monitor, stowage picture frame doors, roof vent rain covers. What keeps winds from blowing the plastic box off? any ideas? maybe hook on bean bag weights?
Great mods! I have a Coachman Clipper Cadet that is the same size and very similar layout. I can use many of these mods. 👍
What is the name of the song, say at 7:47, and to the end? I think that I have heard it before. I don't believe it is the original version of the song, but a remade version. I figured it out. I think it is from Kenny Rogers' "Love Will Turn You Around".
thanx, wish u the best ... enjoy ur camping any where any time.
Many great ideas, thanks for sharing them! I especially appreciate the pointers to products, because our local camping store doesn't have a great selection and what they do have is overpriced.
Noemi Yesfir Ur so right, many items so overpriced and even junky don't work right it's criminal.
Wow, nicely done. Thanks for sharing.
I love your mods. I also loved your popup mods as well. Great videos.
Very well done video. Thanks for sharing.
Great, clever, practical and inexpensive mods, thanks!
You have a lot of ingenious ideas that I am going to borrow. One thing that I do that I see you don't do, is to thread the male and female ends of my water hose together to keep dirt and bugs out of the hose..
I'm confused about the fridge replacement. So you now have no refrigeration without being hooked to shore power? How do you keep food cold while towing? What happens if you decided to spend the night in someplace like Walmart or a rest area? It's unfortunate you didn't talk to some other RV owners before doing this. My Dometic 3 way keeps food cold on propane no matter what the outside temperature. It's sometimes too cold on propane compared to shore power, and having a 12 volt option helps when towing so you can save propane.
We have a heavy duty cooler we transport cold food in, and when we hook-up fridge cools down to freezing in 20 minutes or less. Oh and by the way we have had 4 campers and and have RV'd for over 20 yrs, and know alot about gas absorption fridges.
As long as you only go to and from full service campgrounds, I guess that works. I travel around the country and don't always stay at places that have shore power, so unloading and then loading the fridge again when I get somewhere I have power isn't very appealing to me. My point about talking to other RV owners is that the fridge in your Coleman either wasn't very good or wasn't working correctly. There are hundreds of thousands of two way and three way gas absorption fridges in service that will keep food cool in almost any temperature. I've camped in the desert with the temperature over 100 degrees for many days and camped in the Deep South in summer with temperature of 90 and humidity of 70% and never had a problem with food staying cool. My first RV was a Cardinal 14 footer in 1976 so I've also been at it for a few years.
We don't have propane except the small canisters so that is the way we have been thinking of going.
Would small propane canisters work on any of those. I will research it though. Avoiding a large tank for now. Plan to follow the good weather.
Ron, I don't think the small propane cylinders would work with a fridge. You'd have to set up a backwards set of adapters to use with a fridge. The 20 pound bottle isn't hard to install. Most people put it right on the trailer tongue where the extra weight would make the trailer a bit easier to control in crosswinds.
just got a Rpod 179 want to add that I use many 3M brand Command hooks, loops, cord holders, velcro tabs hold many things in place. I have them under plastic tubs on my counter to hold odds & ends, my paper towel rack and if you find you need to put them elsewhere they easily remove without harming the surface. I keep finding more uses for them but then... I work at 3M so...
Great tips
FWIW I lost some fingers trying to cut regular PVC length-wise on a table saw. Not sure how you cut yours but just a warning anyone thinking about ripping the awning cover project. Sometimes when ripping PVC the pipe will want to contract, so when you get to the end, the pipe may clamp onto the blade and pull the pipe away from you be careful ; )
Yes I agree. I used a saber or Jigsaw to cut the one seen in the video. thanks for your comment.
I have a sportsman that is almost identical to the trailer yall have. I would like to thank you for helping me get some ideas to upgrade some of the things I have seen on our first 2 trips. I have a question about the LED lights, do they put out a similar brightness to the stock bulbs? Also thank you for the pipe idea for the awning, that was an issue i could not thing of a solution for.
generally they are brighter
Those were all awesome tips, thank you for sharing!!!!
Thanks ever SO much. Will use many of these. Can't wait for my husband to see these. So nice of you to make this video for all of us to use. Happy Trails!!
Job well done. You have shown that you can do a lot for a little money.
I found this video very informative and entertaining. You have a great knack for doing these videos. Would love to see an update to this. Ironically we sold our Jayco pop-up and just purchased a Starcraft travel trailer. Thanks for the tips!
Oh, YES..!! Your camper modifications are SO HELPFUL...Thanks; i think my favorite hacks were using PICTURE FRAMES for cabinet doors (WOW!!), and, using the one bunk for a "garage"!! 👍👣
Maybe you could show how to use fan replacement
hello elanie, dave & barney, you guys have great ideas to modify a travel trailer. I like all your ideas, thanks for sharing. I just sold my 27 nomad; and in the market to buy another travel trailer; smaller since I recently got divorce over 5 years ago. I miss camping out and going fishing. I also have a dog (zorro), my buddy. I liked your ideas for pets, also. take care and happy camping.
Great video. Thanks a bunch.
Wow! These are great! Can you do some 'how-to's'?
Hi, How did you attach the towel rack outside? I'd love more info! Thanks!
That's glamping to me lol. Camping is with a tent and a sleeping bag. Looks like fun though!
Use to think that also, then I hit 50 and decided sleeping on the ground is for youngsters.
this was nice and gave me some ideas for our 2014 coleman camper.
Hello Jasmine
We hope you folks get as much enjoyment out of your camper, as we do from ours. Next summer you guys should try Ceder Point Campgrounds (video ruclips.net/video/laMes4RXKqUa/видео.htmlt ) at the coast. Its one better campgrounds and inexpensive also. Hope the Trailblazer is what your son wanted. Happy camping.
He is very very very happy for the blazer and i was just looking at campgrounds at the beach. Thank you for the link. Talk about good timing.
Nicely done. I like the way you think.
I'm looking for a topper for my bed. Would you please tell me the name of the topper you have?
I have a Coleman 2016 15bh. Luv it! I love your mods. I put a sink in the bath.
Is there a way I can send you a pick of our bath mod?
Great ideas, I'm looking at a similar trailer. What is your tow vehicle?
2004 chevy trailblazer 6 cyl.
Thanks!
LOVE THIS. GREAT JOB.
you are a genius! thanks for sharing. I think we will try some of your mods out. Happy Camping. :)
Great mods. Very useful information. I would check out your axle weight and how much your trailer weighs fully loaded. A lot of single axle trailers are grossly overloaded and need a bigger axle change out for safety.
Thank you for teaching me.
great hints, great presentation, thanks for taking the time and sharing, in light of the improvements would you consider an alternative trailer that you had looked at but not purchased, we are now looking, our budget is a bit more flexible so some of the improvements are standard, most of your add-ons are great ideas, will adapt and use.
Great ideas :) You had your thinking caps on !!! :-)
Can you tell me how you did the slide out board for the bed?
very good vid ty
Great mods! Wish you would be e been able to provide links of you miss to purchase.
Love making our camper our own. Thanks for sharing and happy RVing!
Thanks for sharing!
The Progressive Industries EMS devices DO protect against low voltage. They shut off electricity to the RV if low voltage is detected.
If I am not mistaken those devices only work for Large RV's with 50amp services, not for your RV's with standard 30amp service.
Lotsa great mods for our little 10’ 2010 Campfire, thanks!
Progressive industries also makes 30 amp system that would work on your travel trailer. I have one on mine.
Very good presentation, now with all the new mods the camper is worth a lot more.
Great video, I had a hard time trying to find the Solar powered campsite lamp/flag post, where did you find it?
It was a DIY Project. I got all the parts A Home Depot.
How does a 120v line meter protect electronic gear? It is my understanding that you need a device between the trailer and the power post, such as a Progressive Industries EMS surge protector, to actually PROTECT your gear. You plug the EMS into the RV park power post, then plug the trailer into the EMS device. This ensures that low voltage and power surges or lightning strikes will not reach the trailer wiring.
Thanks for the comment. We are talking about TWO different problems. You are correct about everyone needing a SURGE PROTECTOR to guard against a line voltage surge, but a surge protector does not help against low voltages that will seriously damage your RV electronic equipment. That's where the 120V LINE METER helps, its not an automatic shutoff device it only shows you that you have a damaging low voltage (any voltage below 107 Volts) input. You will need to disconnect manually. Hope this answers the question.
Thanks Dave for sharing, you have many good ideas that I'll incorporate for my new small Keystone Hideout TT that just acquired, has the common floorplan with the Queen bed up front, kitchen & dinette in middle, bunks and bath in rear. As recall from their website, the largest Camping World near me at Burlington, WA carries the new Dutchmen Coleman TT's with your floorplan. Also got the Oxygenics shower head at CW as on sale, but yet to install. Happy and Safe travels to you both and to Barney!!
Fantastic and simple ideas. thanks, Gary