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? ;-)
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:-
Broken Link Removed
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.
Broken Link Removed
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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....
Broken Link Removed
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:-
Broken Link Removed
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.
Broken Link Removed
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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.
Broken Link Removed
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Dashboard clipboard satnav holder - I've covered this on another thread:-
Broken Link Removed
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.
Broken Link Removed
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.
Broken Link Removed
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? ;-)
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