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Old 07-30-2018, 10:55 PM   #1
Neverness
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Just a few mods and accessories to make life more comfortable

I thought I'd start a thread listing the mods I've done to my 2016 Hideout.

We (my wife and I) purchased it in March of 2018. We felt more comfortable buying used as we figured most of the "new trailer" bugs would be worked out by the previous owners. All of the mods we've done so far have been plug and play.

The first thing done was to switch out all the interior incandescent lighting to led, even down to that little torpedo looking light in the fridge. Most of the lights were standard 921. I bought these based on a recommendation in a thread I read on this forum, actually.

Camco water hose filler attachment with shutoff switch was an impulse buy on Amazon after reading the reviews, but not something I'd ever want to be without. We use it to fill our extra seven gallon water jugs when dry camping, too. Which reminds me, I need to buy a funnel, those water jugs don't exactly flow into the filler valve of the trailer.

We also upgraded the bathroom some as well. The shower setup, was, for lack of a better word, inadequate. Also ugly. I replaced the white plastic faucet with the "crystal-like" knobs for the much classier looking dura faucet. Replaced the grey plastic shower hose with a 118" stainless steel wrapped hose, which in hindsight was a bit long. Something between 90" and 100" would have worked just as well. Apparently woman folks need to be able to wrap the hose around themselves twice in order to shower.

And also replaced the generic shower head with the nickel look Oxygenics Fury shower head. I won't post the link, since it seems like everyone makes that their first upgrade.

Used the hose that came with the Fury and the old indoor shower head to "upgrade" the outdoor shower. The end result was that both showers were improved and my wife thinks I'm a genius. That's always a win-win situation.

My favorite modification thus far has been to get rid of the old ceiling AC vents, and swap them out with closable vents. I looked at the Keystone Montana line and they have the same type of vents as The Hideout. I'm telling you, closable vents make even the most anemic AC seem like a powerhouse.

The screw holes didn't quite line up with the original vents, but they all get covered anyways. Even if a person doesn't do this, it's worth just buying a roll of ac silver foil backed duct tape and making sure the AC vents are all sealed properly. We initially just purchased one to close off the bathroom ac vent, because who wants to hop out of a hot shower into a frigid room? Shutting that one off increased the cold air from the others by at least 20%. If you close off all but one, you get the equivalent of doing an ac dump out of that one vent. Sometimes the vents develop a slight whistle when closed, and cracking the vent open slightly makes it go away.

Seriously, closeable vents should be a standard item on RV's.

Replaced the non-existent bed with a 10" lucid memory foam short queen. The previous owners must of upgraded the mattress and then took it with them when the bought a new rv. From the sound of it, the stock rv mattress would have been less than satisfactory anyways. So far, it's held up well. We've been using it daily for almost six months. I'm just over 200 lbs. I haven't noticed any sag or deterioration yet.

Got a little mail holder/key hook thing to hang by the front door. Replaced the light weight command hooks we used to hang it with heavier ones after the weight of a leather dog leash hanging off one of the key hooks caused it to crash to the floor...at 3:00 am.

Our particular model has a very large wardrobe closet in the bathroom. Despite the long length of the clothes bar, it's not actually designed to hold more than, say, 20 t-shirts. On our first outing it crumpled like tin foil and dumped all our clothes in the bottom of the cabinet. A trip to Home Depot later, we were the proud owner of a heavy duty bar, and a center support bracket, which was screwed into the back wall and ceiling. Because of the bracket, the clothing bar had to be moved further back in the closet, giving us more visible floor space in the front. Another win-win situation.

We also bought vertical plate holders. The small sized one works perfect for bowls. We filled them with those things Corning Ware ones. No breakage or movement during travel. They helped immensely with the kitchen storage space.

Now we move on to outdoor mods and accessories.

It's always fun to wander outside and notice your 10 year old autistic nephew standing on top of your trailer pretending to pot zombies with a Nerf gun. Not!!! We purchased a ladder cover a few minutes later.

It's surprisingly well made and has the equivalent of a "stay off my lawn" sign on it, which has been enough of a deterrent that he hasn't tried to take it off for a repeat try.

We also bought a pair of X-chocks. Those were just a common sense purchase. Extra peace of mind. We use regular rubber chocks too, as a kind of double insurance.
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Old 07-31-2018, 02:22 AM   #2
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As a note/warning about closing off A/C vents....be careful how many you close. All A/C units are designed to operate efficiently and do their work effectively based on a certain amount of air flow across the evaporator coil, rated at SCFM. If you close off too many vents, thus reducing the amount of air flow the evap. needs, the unit will begin to freeze up.
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Old 07-31-2018, 04:33 AM   #3
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As a note/warning about closing off A/C vents....be careful how many you close. All A/C units are designed to operate efficiently and do their work effectively based on a certain amount of air flow across the evaporator coil, rated at SCFM. If you close off too many vents, thus reducing the amount of air flow the evap. needs, the unit will begin to freeze up.
Very true. I would just add that another issue in creating a high static pressure in the ductwork is the fan will labor under the increased pressure causing the fan to draw a higher amperage leading to premature fan motor failure.
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Old 07-31-2018, 05:05 AM   #4
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great ideas!
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Old 07-31-2018, 06:20 AM   #5
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Since you probably have some of that foil duct tape left and want to do things right, remove the white inside cover from your a/c unit. Note there is a front part that is the intake and a back part which puts the air into the ducts. If you make sure that front/back don't mix air by sealing properly, this will aid a/c cool air getting where it should and make sure that the ducts themselves are sealed so cold air isn't blowing into the ceiling void instead of the ducts.
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Old 07-31-2018, 09:00 AM   #6
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Since you probably have some of that foil duct tape left and want to do things right, remove the white inside cover from your a/c unit. Note there is a front part that is the intake and a back part which puts the air into the ducts. If you make sure that front/back don't mix air by sealing properly, this will aid a/c cool air getting where it should and make sure that the ducts themselves are sealed so cold air isn't blowing into the ceiling void instead of the ducts.
The trailer has four vents. I've always left at least two open. Looks like I might have dodged a bullet on that one.

As for the AC unit itself, I will definitely look into that as well.
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Old 07-31-2018, 02:49 PM   #7
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I had to remove the a/c lower unit and re-seal between the in and out sides AND around the entrance to the ducting. My a/c had been blowing some cold air into the void. The area around vents must also be sealed properly. Mine was not. I had to seal there as well to prevent cold air from getting into the ceiling void and last, at the end of each duct, the air was just pushing out as there was nothing to stop it. I put in styrofoam and then sealed with foil duct tape there as well. It does make a difference. I live in the garden of Eden (Texas Hill Country) and triple digit temps are the norm and even with an upgraded 15K btu a/c, doesn't hurt to make sure all cold air is going where intended. Next mod is either EZ Snap shades, Gila window tint or something of the like.... still working on which is most cost effective; all say they are the best, of course. Much of the heat that gets into the cabin in unshaded camping is via the windows.
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Old 07-31-2018, 02:57 PM   #8
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No pics? None of this happened. . .
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Old 08-01-2018, 08:20 AM   #9
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No pics? None of this happened. . .


One thing I forgot to mention. When I reinstalled the shower setup, I flipped the white mounting enclosure upside down. This put the slope on top and lowered the handles by a couple inches. It just looked better and made it more "short human" friendly. I used ASI 502 RTV silicone to reseal all the edges.
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Old 08-01-2018, 08:30 AM   #10
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I think the proper phrase is "BooYAH!!"
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Old 08-01-2018, 08:44 AM   #11
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I had to remove the a/c lower unit and re-seal between the in and out sides AND around the entrance to the ducting. My a/c had been blowing some cold air into the void. The area around vents must also be sealed properly. Mine was not. I had to seal there as well to prevent cold air from getting into the ceiling void and last, at the end of each duct, the air was just pushing out as there was nothing to stop it. I put in styrofoam and then sealed with foil duct tape there as well. It does make a difference. I live in the garden of Eden (Texas Hill Country) and triple digit temps are the norm and even with an upgraded 15K btu a/c, doesn't hurt to make sure all cold air is going where intended. Next mod is either EZ Snap shades, Gila window tint or something of the like.... still working on which is most cost effective; all say they are the best, of course. Much of the heat that gets into the cabin in unshaded camping is via the windows.
The ends of my ducts were sealed, though the vents themselves were haphazardly sealed. Your RV AC must have been installed on a Friday. The AC unit on mine was actually pretty well sealed, so no need to reseal all the edges.

Edit: the previous owners may have sealed it? Who knows? The latch on the bathroom vanity mirror was installed backwards, so it was holding via friction fit rather than actually latching closed. Stuff like that was a real head scratcher.
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Old 08-05-2018, 08:44 AM   #12
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Nice... stole some of your ideas and saved em for later ;D
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Old 09-29-2018, 09:49 AM   #13
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Great list of upgrades!

I got the tank filler, x-chocks, shower hose, head, and faucet, A/C vents (and retaped them all - some had an atrocious job from the factory).

Other things I have done on my new Hideout include replacing the Furrion DV3100 with DV3300 so that I have HDMI as well as adding a spark igniter to my stove (came with a match light only model). Installed a Husky Super Brute Power Jack as well. I still plan to upgrade the 20# LP tanks to 30# ones and get 2 high quality 12v Deep Cycle batteries in parallel. Researching cameras now for the back.
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Old 09-30-2018, 02:50 AM   #14
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"I still plan to upgrade the 20# LP tanks to 30#" Just go ahead and buy the 40# instead.
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Old 09-30-2018, 10:05 PM   #15
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"I still plan to upgrade the 20# LP tanks to 30#" Just go ahead and buy the 40# instead.
Touche

I guess the cost delta isn't much more That will make for more furnace time for the perpetually cold wife haha
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Old 10-02-2018, 07:03 PM   #16
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Also, not a quality of life (unless you count feeling safer) upgrade, but I just ordered new tires for my trailer. The OEM ones are only rated up to 65 Mph which was hard to feel comfortable with (and made overseas which comes with its own concerns). Getting a set of Goodyear Endurance tires - looks like they are solid and popular.

10 posts now and this forum has already cost me like $1500 lol

After reading some more about upgrading the propane tanks, I think I will stay put at the 20# ones. Replacements are easily obtained in a pinch pretty much anywhere. If I am going on a trip where I am worried about capacity, I can easily just throw a couple more 20s in the truck bed to have for a quick swap out if needed. With 30s or 40s you pretty much have to find somewhere that can refill a tank which is not always easy or convenient vs buying another 20 or doing an exchange. And apparently no one makes a hard cover for the 40s :P
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Old 11-13-2018, 06:01 AM   #17
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Watch out for that LED bulb in your fridge. I did that and my fridge was always ending up with a huge puddle in the bottom every week. The bulb needs to give off heat for a defrost cycle and the LEDs don't do that. Switched back to a regular bulb and problem solved. Your fridge may or may not have a defrost cycle.
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Old 12-02-2018, 04:08 PM   #18
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Watch out for that LED bulb in your fridge. I did that and my fridge was always ending up with a huge puddle in the bottom every week. The bulb needs to give off heat for a defrost cycle and the LEDs don't do that. Switched back to a regular bulb and problem solved. Your fridge may or may not have a defrost cycle.

Never would have thought of that. I did replace most bulbs in our second 197 Jayco, but not the fridge one.
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Old 12-02-2018, 07:54 PM   #19
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I’m upgrading my shore power connection. Swapping out the “mouse hole” style for a detachable power cord. I have the kit but I haven’t installed it yet. It is supposed to be pretty good.

https://www.amazon.com/Marinco-30ARV.../dp/B000NUYZQC
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Old 12-03-2018, 04:39 AM   #20
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I’m upgrading my shore power connection. Swapping out the “mouse hole” style for a detachable power cord. I have the kit but I haven’t installed it yet. It is supposed to be pretty good.

https://www.amazon.com/Marinco-30ARV.../dp/B000NUYZQC
It was an easy upgrade, you'll love it!
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