Top Modding! (1 Viewer)

Aug 27, 2014
1,910
3,733
Shropshire
Funster No
33,077
MH
McLouis Tandy 640+
Exp
Since 2014
One of the reasons I look on t'internet forums is to get ideas from what others have done to their motorhomes to make them better for them - often the smallest ideas are the best, like the person who suggested using a neoprene laptop sleeve to put the grill pan in to stop it rattling, genius!

Some modifications are of course very common - bike racks, reversing cameras, air suspension, solar panels, wind out awnings and so on - but I'm not talking about those, I'm talking about the smaller and more minor modifications that can be so useful.......

So, what have you done to yours that others may find useful? I shall kick off with my trusty bus, Bertha, a 7-berth McLouis Tandy.

Is it a bird, is it a plane, ohh actually no it's just a towel rail, how unremarkable, although useful as it is on the wardrobe door opposite the sink:-

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Ah, but the clever bit is that you can also mount the table on it that would normally be on the single dinette at the front. Bertha suffers from a chronic lack of worktop space if both the sink and hob are in use.

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Next, Bertha had a nasty gash on the side of the toilet compartment, which bugged me as it was right in front of you every time you came in the door - and because it was damage of my doing, Ooops....

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Pretty much impossible to blend in a repair, but take a bit of thin MDF and cut some slots in the back so it will bend:-

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Then take a bit of fabric off the edge of a curtain that is wide enough to spare it (over-cab bed privacy curtain in my case), re-hem the curtain, stick on your newly acquired strip of fabric with contact adhesive to the MDF and screw the panel to the wall, and it looks OK I think.

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Next, reversing lights. Bertha's single reversing light is useless really, it indicates to people behind that you're reversing but in terms of actually illuminating behind the van, utterly hopeless. I have got a reversing camera which works very well on infra-red in the dark, but even so I want to be able to see in the mirrors - the camera doesn't give me a view of what's on either side if I'm reversing and turning. Some little LED lights, cheap as chips off Ebay all the way from China, have been great - really bright for their size, and because they are such low wattage you can just splice them into the existing feed to the reversing light, no need for a relay. Fully sealed, no problems so far at least with water ingress.

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Dashboard clipboard satnav holder - I've covered this on another thread:-

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The panel above the door - I've added a clock that has a timer function, handy when cooking. Also a cigarette lighter socket with a rechargeable LED torch - so, so useful, there's always somewhere where I know there's a torch, it's always charged and it's easy to grab as you go out of the door. They are amazingly bright for their size.

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Underneath that panel I've added what is meant to be an LED numberplate light, shining into the corner. It makes a fantastic nightlight - uses very little power and gives just enough light to see round the inside of Bertha if you wake up, very handy if like us you have young kids and they sometimes need attention during the night.

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And lastly, perhaps not so unusual, this 3 way unit that I've put inside a cupboard - gives a voltage reading so I know what state of charge the leisure batteries are in, 2 USB power sockets for charging all Ipads, Kindles, phones and Lord knows what else that needs charging these days, and a cigarette lighter socket for anything else that needs 12v.

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So what has everyone else done that is worthy of sharing, so I can nick all your good ideas? ;-) :whistle:
 
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Techno

LIFE MEMBER
Deceased RIP
Jul 28, 2010
15,475
20,752
Leeds the one up North
Funster No
12,905
MH
Rapido 7090F 3 litre 160
Exp
May 2010
 
Last edited:
Jan 25, 2013
1,083
22,720
Dorchester, Dorset, UK
Funster No
24,414
MH
Sad former owner
Exp
Since 1991
Simple and cheap:- tired of hangers falling off the rail in the wardrobe? Cover the rail with a section of old bicycle inner tube with the outside of the tube on the top of the rail. The inner tube "kinks" and hold the hangers in place and stops them sliding around and off.

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Jan 27, 2013
1,334
871
Stamford
Funster No
24,452
MH
Benimar Mileo 282
Exp
Seven plus years
Replaced bathroom mirror with home made backlit LED version with demister pad - lots of work and broken glass as the old one was STUCK ON.

Replaced round carousel under sink with pull out larder - massive job but very happy with the results.

Today I reduced the amount of heat that comes out of the convector (radiator) at the side of the bed. I used some 40mm rigid foil backed insulation.

And of course the usual bits...LED light strips including wardrobe, inverter, second battery, oyster dish, solar panel, safe, TV brackets, additional 12v and 230v sockets, gaslow and filler, retro fit Dometic WC fan, internal and external fans on fridge, alloy wheels, roof a/c unit, step vent (gone)
 

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