modifications

Enhancements and repairs to our coach.

SnapPads

When we park our coach on an unlevel site, typically high in the back, our front hydraulic jacks sometimes can’t cope, so we need to add extra blocks between the jacks and jack pad:

Jacks, blocks, jack pad

To help with that, I purchased a couple of SnapPads, just for the front jacks. We can’t get them for the back jacks, as the jacks are too close to the rear wheels. SnapPads are permanently-attached pads that expand the footprint of the jack a little, and add an extra inch of height, so I hoped that’d help with unlevel sites.

(If you’re in the market for them, you can save 10% off SnapPads with the discount code: DAVID08638.)

Here’s a SnapPad before installation:

SnapPad

It’s simple to install a SnapPad; just squirt a little dish soap around the inner rim, to make it easier to get it on, then line it up below the jack, and lower the jack into place (it helps to have two people, one to control the jack, one to tweak the alignment. Here’s a SnapPad after attaching and lifting up a bit:

SnapPad

Two SnapPads:

SnapPads

Retracted jacks (fun fact: that big box between the jacks is our 150 gallon fuel tank):

SnapPads

The jacks on top of my usual jack pads, which I use on all surfaces other than concrete:

Jack with jack pad

A nice addition.

Replacing bathroom faucets and soap dispensers

Jenn didn’t like the bathroom faucets and soap dispensers that came with our coach, as the faucets were rather splashy, and the dispensers let water into them, diluting the soap.

So we bought replacements from Home Depot, and I installed them.

Here’s the old faucet in the rear bathroom:

Old faucet

The new faucet:

New faucet

New faucet

Looking under the sink, one can see manifolds of hoses to various parts of the bathroom (sink, toilet, shower, and washing machine); the sink hot and cold connectors are on the top:

Hoses

This being an RV, of course the hose for the faucet was non-standard, so I needed to get a “hex nipple” to adapt the 1/2 inch MIP hose connectors:

Hex nipple

Disconnected:

Disconnected

The old and new faucets:

Old and new faucets

A new hose, with the hex nipple adapter on the left, and the adapter that came with the faucet on the right:

Hose and adapters

Holes in the counter for the faucet and dispenser:

Holes

New hoses connected:

New hoses connected

New soap dispenser:

New soap dispenser

The soap dispenser bottle installed:

With soap dispenser

The new faucet and soap dispenser installed:

New faucet and soap dispenser

New faucet and soap dispenser

Similarly, the old soap dispenser and faucet in the half bath:

Old faucet in half bath

Hoses under the half bath sink, nicely labeled:

Hoses under half bath sink

Disconnected hoses:

Disconnected hoses under half bath sink

The new faucet mounted:

New faucet mounted

Connected hoses under the half bath sink:

Hoses under half bath sink

Hoses under half bath sink

The installed new soap dispenser and faucet in the half bath:

New soap dispenser and faucet in half bath

New soap dispenser and faucet in half bath

Finally, I also replaced the soap dispenser in the kitchen. That was the most difficult to get to. I accessed it by removing the drawers:

Behind kitchen drawers

A peek of the old soap bottle:

Soap bottle

To install the new one, I reached back through the drawers space and poked the assembled soap bottle and tube up through the hole, before screwing the top on:

Soap bottle and tube

The new soap dispenser in the kitchen:

New soap dispenser in kitchen

Basement subwoofer

In a basement compartment of our coach was a subwoofer, presumably synced with the outside TV. We hardly ever use that TV, and wouldn’t want to be booming loud bass sounds when we do, so I’ve had the subwoofer unplugged for ages, and recently removed it and put it into storage.

Here’s the subwoofer, nicely mounted on a shelf:

Subwoofer

Subwoofer

It is a wireless subwoofer, so the only attachment is a power cord:

Subwoofer

The empty shelf:

Shelf

Shelf

That seemed like a good place to put a fire extinguisher and first aid kit, so they’re out of the way, but always reachable:

First aid kit on the shelf

A much better use of that space!

Truck canopy, slide tray, lift kit

We had a tonneau cover for our truck:

Truck with tonneau cover

Enabling us to securely store our folding bikes and a bunch of other stuff in our truck bed:

Truck bed

But to be able to store the bikes vertically for easier access, and better access to other stuff, we wanted to get a canopy, aka truck cap. We saved for it, and ordered one several months ahead from a Portland company. When back in Portland, we emptied out the truck bed, took the tonneau cover to our storage unit (we’ll probably sell it eventually), and cleaned out the bed as best we could:

Truck

Truck

Then we headed to Northwest Auto & Truck Accessories to get it installed:

Northwest Auto Accessories

Northwest Auto Accessories

Northwest Auto Accessories

Northwest Auto Accessories

They had a decent waiting area, where we spent the day, working on our laptops:

Northwest Auto Accessories

We also got them to install a lift kit to raise up the front by a couple of inches, to make it level with the rear, and give a little more clearance for dirt roads:

Lift kit

Here’s the installed canopy, the ARE MX, paint-matched to our truck:

Canopy

More pics of it at our campsite:

Canopy

Canopy

Canopy

Canopy

Canopy

Canopy

Canopy

We also got a CargoGlide CG1000 slide tray from them, to make it easier to access stuff at the back:

Slide tray

Slide tray

Slide tray

Slide tray

The window at the back of the bed:

Window

It folds down for cleaning:

Window

The canopy is attached via four of these clamps:

Clamp

We also got some 50-gallon totes for our folding bikes:

Totes

Totes

Totes

The bikes in the totes:

Bikes in totes

Less-frequently accessed stuff in the back of the bed:

Stuff in back of bed

The telescoping ladder is strapped to the side, so it doesn’t interfere with the slide tray:

Ladder

Fully loaded for a travel day; we sometimes remove the mats and folding chairs while at a campsite, or they can be shoved to the sides to provide a rearview mirror visibility tunnel:

Fully loaded

Fully loaded

We added Grand Teton and Yellowstone stickers to the back (with our coach’s Magne Shade reflected in the window):

Grand Teton and Yellowstone stickers

Grand Teton and Yellowstone stickers

Grand Teton and Yellowstone stickers

Truck with canopy

Truck with canopy

Some very useful additions.

15 amp to 50 amp power adapter

While staying at our Washington home base, we “moochdocked”, plugging our coach in to the house power.

15 amp power from a house isn’t enough to run air conditioners or multiple heavy-draw gadgets like the microwave, but is enough to keep our fridge going, power computers, and keep the batteries charged for the 12 volt lights and such.

To do this, I previously used a 15-to-30 amp adapter and a 30-to-50 amp adapter (“dogbone”). But this time I bought an adapter that goes straight from the 15 amps to 50 amps plugs, along with a surge protector:

15-to-50 amp adapter

15-to-50 amp adapter

I also bought a heavy-duty 30-foot, 50-amp extension cord to reach from inside the house to our coach (in addition to the cord on the reel built in to the coach):

Extension cord

I plugged the power cord from our coach into my Power Watchdog smart surge protector, as usual, then connected that to the extension cord, which went through a window into the house:

Cable through window

And into the adapter, which was plugged in to an outlet in the house:

Plugged in to house

(We did try plugging in to an outside outlet, but it popped the breaker, as that was on the same circuit as a freezer in the garage.)

We had to be careful not to use too much power at a time. The Power Watchdog was useful in monitoring this, since it has an app that connects via Bluetooth that shows the current power usage. But we managed.

Staying at campgrounds, we won’t need this adapter and extension cable, but useful to have when moochdocking.

Flagpole for Starlink dish

The Starlink service is a great option when we don’t have cellular service (or when we only have a network with limited data). But not so great when there are trees or other obstacles that block the signal.

RVs with a ladder will often use a FlagPole Buddy kit, that enables mounting a flagpole on the ladder. But our coach doesn’t have a ladder, so I needed a different solution.

Inspired by a post by Rick in my Tiffin Allegro Bus 2016-2018 Owners community on Facebook, I purchased a 20 foot telescoping flagpole and accessories to mount it on our coach, so we can raise the dish above our coach, giving it a better chance of a clear signal.

Another nice benefit of this system is that I can position the pole and dish anywhere around the coach, to have the most clear view of the satellites.

I bought the items Rick suggested:

Flag pole, adapter, velcro, suction cups

Dish

To attach the adapter to the flagpole, I removed the two screws that hold the top of the flagpole on, then the adapter simply slips in. I used the same screws to attach the adapter, only screwing one of them in partway, to avoid intruding into the tube space:

Bushing adapter

The Starlink dish simply slides into the adapter and clicks in place on the pole:

Dish on the pole

On this occasion, I put the Starlink modem in the wet bay, running the cord through the hose space:

Modem in wet bay

The cable and the flagpole sitting on the ground:

Cable

Suction cups and velcro straps holding the flagpole:

Suction cups and velcro straps holding flag pole

The dish has a nice clear view of the sky:

Dish

The dish on the flagpole:

Pole and dish

Later, the flagpole with the Starlink dish and a Mariners flag, mounted at the front of the coach:

Flagpole with Starlink dish and Mariners flag

Flagpole with Starlink dish and Mariners flag

With a US flag:

Flagpole with Starlink dish and US flag

Flagpole with Starlink dish and US flag

At another campground, mounted lower without a flag (more stable that way):

Starlink on flagpole

Dryer vent padding

Our coach includes a washer and dryer, which is very convenient when we’re living in it full-time. But in strong winds at certain angles, the flap that covers the dryer vent would bang in the wind. It is sheltered with a hood, but that doesn’t always help:

Dryer vent

The flap under the hood, that covers the vent outlet:

Dryer vent

To avoid that annoying banging, which would disturb us at night, I added some strips of self-adhesive felt around the flap, to muffle the sound:

Dryer vent

Dryer vent

That solved that little annoyance quite satisfactorily.

Tire covers

Back when we purchased the Magne Shades for our windshield and other front windows, we also purchased mirror covers and tire covers.

We used the mirror covers for a while, but don’t bother anymore. And we’d never used the tire covers, since we typically travel every week or so. But while staying at a sunny location for a couple of weeks a while back, we decided to use them, and have been using them regularly since then.

The idea of the tire covers is to protect the tires from harmful UV rays, that can degrade the rubber. We use 303 Protectant on the tires, which also provides UV protection, but more is better.

These EZ Fold Tire Shades are quite nice; they fold up compactly into a handy bag:

Tire covers

And are unobtrusive when in place, only covering the tire itself, not the rims, so you wouldn’t notice them without looking closely:

Tire cover

They are held on by straps that go over the top of the tire, and on either side.

Replaced chassis batteries and more at Oregon Motorcoach Center

We had a service appointment at Oregon Motorcoach Center in Eugene, Oregon:

Oregon Motorcoach Center

Several other Tiffins being serviced, which (along with our previous experience here) helps gives us confidence that they know what they’re doing:

Several other Tiffins

Waiting room:

Waiting room

Waiting room

We had them replace our engine air filter, an important annual maintenance item. Plus got them to fix a noise with our driver-side bedroom slide-out.

Lastly, we got them to replace our chassis batteries, as they weren’t holding their charge well. Our original batteries:

Original chassis batteries

New batteries (and nicely cleaned out):

New chassis batteries

Once done, they moved our coach so we could hook up our truck:

Moving our coach

Preparing to toad up

A nice easy half-day service visit.

Open Roads Freedom Pass toll transponders

As we travel around the country, we occasionally encounter toll roads. But different parts of the country have different systems:

Tolls

Our diesel fuel discount program also has a solution to that problem, called Freedom Pass. It is a set of transponders that support toll systems around much of the country:

Freedom Pass coverage map

The transponders come as a package with self-adhesive that can be mounted to the windshield:

Toll transponders

Toll transponders

We have it mounted in the top-center of the windshield, behind the TV (shown here with our Magne-Shade on):

Toll transponders

It works well. The toll charges go on the same account as our fuel purchases. Very convenient.