Modifications
Exterior Mods
The most significant exterior modification to our new Trail Sport was the addition of a Carolina Carport. We intend to protect our RV investment this time around.
Carolina Carport.
The RV was ordered with two Fan-Tastic 4000R roof vents. I added a pair of MaxxAir II covers so the vents can be left open in all weather.
MaxxAir II vent covers.
Interior Mods
The Trail Sport 24BH has more hanging space than we need. So I added a narrow plastic drawer unit to the rear closet. First I cut a piece of ½" plywood to cover and strengthen the closet floor. Then I set the drawer unit and screwed its frame to the back wall of the trailer. The drawers are secured with a bungee cord while underway. There's a tall narrow space on each side of the drawer unit for storing thin items like brooms and trays. And we still have some hanging space in smaller closets at the front of the trailer.
Rear closet with plastic drawer unit.
There are several areas where R-Vision failed to take full advantage of potential storage spaces. The pictures below show the cabinet below the rear hanging closet. A rear bulkhead protected a heating duct, but also walled off a lot of potential space. To the right of the cabinet was a hidden nook that could only be accessed by disassembling the lower rear bunk. I removed the rear bulkhead and cut out the right-side dividing wall. Then I boxed in the heating duct. The cabinet is now about 8" deeper and 8" wider.
Before and after. The modified cabinet space is about 8" deeper and 8" wider.
Before and after. The aforementioned hidden nook is now part of the enlarged cabinet.
Shown below is the rear external storage compartment. Inner bulkheads protect the heating duck and tail light wiring. Again, I removed the bulkheads and boxed in the duck and wiring.
Rear external storage compartment before and after expansion modifications.
The plywood under the rear lower bunk was screwed in place. I wanted easier access to the water heater and furnace (especially for winterizing the water heater). I cut the plywood lengthwise and added a piano hinge. The narrow wall-side piece is still screwed down. But the larger piece simply lifts up and out of the way.
Rear bunk plywood with piano hinge down and up.
There was a shallow storage cabinet under the refrigerator. Removing the bulkhead revealed a bunch of utilities over the wheel well and a propane supply line for the refrigerator. The propane line is made from heavy copper tubing with plastic sheathing. I decided the line was sturdy enough to go unprotected so I moved the bulkhead back to the wheel well. Nevertheless, we'll reserve this storage space for items that are light and soft.
Shallow storage under the refrigerator.
Expanded storage under the refrigerator.
Opening the cabinet door in the bathroom revealed a lower access panel for a pipe chase. I simply removed the access panel. This is a good place to store extra paper towels and toilet paper - items that won't damage the plumbing.
Pipe chase storage at the bottom of the bathroom cabinet.
We had no intentions of using the upper rear bunk as a bunk (no ladder was provided anyway). The upper bunk does make a good storage shelf. But it juts out too far. The corner was a source of bruises. The upper bunk was too wide for comfortable seating on the edge of the lower bunk. Also, the upper bunk was too wide to reach the upper window knob without a stepstool. I disassembled the upper bunk components, made some cuts and reassembled the parts. The bunk/shelf is now a narrower "L" shape and is flush with the refrigerator. The lower bunk is a bit more comfortable, I can reach the upper window and the RV feels a little bigger.
Upper bunk (left) to storage shelf (right).
While I had the upper bunk/shelf disassembled, I ran internal wiring for an under-shelf reading lamp. The lamp is meant to provide a variety of lighting effects for someone reading or sleeping on the lower bunk. The product is from Star Lights Inc. and comes with a modular selection of optional features. I configured the unit with a dimmer knob for the main lamp and a small separately-switched night light.
Star Lights Inc. lamp unit with a dimmer knob for the main lamp and a small separately-switched night light.
The cabinet above the dinette table has a shallow nook for a small flat screen TV. I added some slats and made a bookrack.
Book rack.
The Trail Sport 24BH features a big pass-through storage compartment at the front of the trailer. It's a great place to keep Scruffy's litter box. She can get to the litter box through an inside cabinet door. I can get to the litter box through an outside hatch. I added a hook latch to the inside cabinet door. This creates a fixed opening that's big enough for the cat, but too small for the dog. The door remains closed while underway.
Inside access to pass-through storage and litter box.
The front queen bed lifts up to access a large storage space. The bed was originally equipped with a metal rod that was awkward to set up. I replaced the rod with a self-deploying prop stick made from two boards and three hinges. When the bed is down the prop stick folds against the underside of the bed. The stick unfolds as the bed is raised. I also added a 20 lb. gas spring to make the bed a bit easier to lift. The gas spring isn't strong enough to hold up the bed, but it does push the middle elbow joint slightly past center. So as the bed is raised the prop stick automatically locks. Lowering the bed requires a gentle forward push on the elbow to unlock the prop stick.
Prop stick partially deployed as the bed is raised.
Prop stick fully deployed with the elbow locked.
Gas spring detail with prop stick fully deployed.
Plumbing Mods
I added a small accumulator tank at the output of the water pump to cut the noise of excessive pump cycling. This was a simple installation since the pump was already hooked up with threaded hoses. One additional hose completed the installation.
Accumulator tank.
I wanted an easy way to drain the water heater without messing with the plug. So I replaced the plug with a metal braded hose and a ball valve. A lot of people warn not to mix metals with the water heater tank, so I used a nylon nipple between the tank and hose. I also cut down the valve handle so it doesn't interfere with the burner. Cracking the pressure valve helps drain the tank.
Water heater with hose and drain valve.
The gray and black tanks each have their own dump valve leading to a common outlet. Each tank is 30 gallons so the gray reaches capacity long before the black. I cut the pipe behind the bayonet outlet and inserted a third dump valve common to both tanks. By closing off the common valve I can gravity drain a portion of gray water into the black tank until the two tanks equalize. For even greater effect I can put the tongue jack all the way up before transferring. I only leave the black valve open long enough to facilitate the transfer such that no black water mixes back into the gray tank. This procedure can extend our stay at locations without full hookups. I can also use this valve arrangement to back-flush the black tank with gray water.
Third dump valve.
I only had two major complaints about the fit and finish of the new trailer. The bathroom door opening wasn't quite square. I fixed that by planing down the hinge side of the door. The second problem was more complicated. The structure supporting the floor of the tub was a smidge too high relative to the perimeter support. So the ledge around the tub sloped out toward the walls instead of back into the tub. Shower water would collect on the ledge and run out onto the bathroom floor.
The tub floor support comprises a table-like structure of plywood and legs. I decided to cut ½" off the bottom of each leg. Fortunately the table was only pinched in place and not screwed to the floor of the RV. I bought a Dremel Multi-Max tool with a flush cut blade to do the job. I can't think of any other tool that could have squeezed into such a tight space. The job still cost a lot of contorting and sore muscles.
After I shortened the table legs I cut a piece of plywood to apply weight to the inside edges of the tub ledge. Hopefully the tub will reshape itself over time.
Here's the tub area with bathroom door, access panels and furnace vent removed. Not much room to work.
Two of the four table legs. The two legs out of view were difficult to get at and there was plumbing and wiring to be avoided.
Plywood and weights applied to the inside edges of the tub ledge.
Electrical Mods
I added a battery cutoff switch to isolate the battery from the converter and all interior loads. The switch can prevent the battery from being drained if the RV is disconnected from shore power for an extended period. The cutoff switch does not disconnect the battery from the tongue jack and breakaway switch.
Battery cutoff switch.
I added an extra AC outlet below the rear bunk.
Extra outlet.
Since we don't use any of the connections at the TV nook, I added a plug-in polarity checker, an AC voltmeter and a DC voltmeter.
Plug-in electrical testers.