280BH Modifications

[Flyguy]

Here's a list of modifications to my 2008 Passport 280BH that I have done and those that I have yet to do:

1) Change out power cord to a removable cord (Marinco 30ARVKIT) done!

2) Change out LP gas bottle cover to the Camco cover with valve access from the top through removable panels so as not to have to pull off the cover just to open or close a gas valve. done!

3) Change out the cheap gas regulator with tee (Marshall 290) to a Marshall 250 two stage regulator with automatic change-over. done!

4) Change out the OEM AWM910 Jensen radio with a Jensen AWM950 radio that adds DVD, MP3, and remote to the CD/AM-FM radio. done!

5) Change out the cheap Duo-Therm thermostat to a digital White/Rodgers 1F86-0471 with auto temp control. done!

6) Change out manual crank tongue jack to an Ultra-Fab 3002 3000lb 12v electric power jack. done!

7) Change out the Bargman 92 series tail lights to Bargman 92 series with back-up lights. done!

8) Add 12v outlets at the wheel wells on both sides of the trailer so I can use my 12v air pump to keep the tire pressure @ 50psi and also to use my 12v impact wrench to remove and install the wheels on the road. done!

Now for the Mods I have yet to do!!

1) Install the Monroe shock add-on kit to the suspension for a smoother ride.

2) Change out the OEM ST205/75D14 bias ply tires to the General Altimax RT E205/70R14 98T XL automotive radial tires ( I'm sick and tired of Chinese made ST tires that put my family's safety at risk).

That's about it for now, I managed to collect and post all of the info and manuals that I have for my Passport on my webpage, just click on FLYGUY on the upper left of this post and then on visit homepage.

[grizzlygiant]

Here's a list of modifications to my 2008 P***port 280BH that I have done and those that I have yet to do:............................

2) Change out the OEM ST205/75D14 bias ply tires to the General Altimax RT E205/70R14 98T XL automotive radial tires ( I'm sick and tired of Chinese made ST tires that put my family's safety at risk).

.

Tires designed for automotive use generally do not have the sidewall strength of tires designed for the extreme twisting experienced on trailers.

[Flyguy]

If you have an alternative to ST tires that can be used on my trailer I would love to hear about it. My Dexter axle manual that was supplied with my trailer says on page 70 that ST, LT, E metric, and P metric tires all can be used.

[Flyguy]

Of all the modifications that I have done to the trailer, the one I use the most are the 12v outlets at the wheel wells. Pictures of this modification can be seen on my webpage (click Flyguy, visit homepage, 12v folder), I first installed the conduit for the backup light (look in the folder called Backup Lights) modification, I have pictures on the homepage showing the conduit run under the trailer for this and I used this run to also include the wiring for the 12 volt outlets, you can see that it runs from the rear to the battery box and includes a 30a fuse at the battery box. It wasn't very difficult to install and made a nice neat install, take a look and see what you think.

[texaslandman]

flyguy, your mods are interesting. Is your spare tire located under the tongue of the TT like mine is? If so, have you ever considered moving it to a custom bracket on the rear of the trailer?

[Flyguy]

Yes it is, and I have never used it, the dealer demostrated it to me when we bought it, I guess I never have given much consideration to it. I noticed that most other trailers have it mounted on the rear bumper, but my model dosen't have a rear bumper persay, just a piece of steel that's pretty much flush with the rear wall. Keystone started putting an extended bumper on the 280BH the next year. I don't see anything as to a signature on your post so I don't know the type of trailer you have, I assume that it's also a Passport.

[texaslandman]

My 2008 Passport 285RL has the spare tire mounted under the tongue. It has no rear bumper! We were camping last weekend and noticed another guy with a Passport like ours. He had a flat and called road service. The road service guy couldn't get the spare out from under the tongue mount.

I'm trying to figure if there is a practical way to mount it on the rear end.

[Flyguy]

Well I guess I'll have to try to remove my spare and see if there is a problem there. If I were to mount the spare on the rear bumper I would weld up a bracket type of mount, and drill two holes into the bumper to mount the bottom of it with the top extending up just enough to have the tire clear the bottom of the bumper, the top would have a bolt welded horizontal to bolt the wheel to and I would make a cover for it too. There might be someone out there selling a mount like this which would save all the cutting and welding. I'm going to search the internet parts houses to see if I can find something like this. Your trailer looks to be about the same as mine except with the rear living room instead of the rear bunks.

[Flyguy]

Here's a link for you from Sears for a spare tire mount that looks promissing at http://auto.sears.com/ULTRA-FAB-SPARE-TIRE-CARRIERS/Product.htm?catalogId=10625&N=600026294&productId=2013579 and here's another that mounts the spare on the side of the front trailer tongue http://www.rvpartscenter.com/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=28902&StoreID=37&DepartmentID=193&CategoryI take a look and see what you think. Here's a link to the pdf file from Ultra-Fab on the tire carrier....... http://manage.ultra-fabproducts.com/images/pdfs/15-9547201.pdf

[Festus2]

Flyguy:
Friends of ours who have a Crossroads Cruiser 5th, have shocks that came with the unit. Apparently, they are a standard feature with Crossroads RV's. In an earlier post, you said you were going to mount Munroe shocks for a "smoother" ride. I am wondering how much difference having shocks on RV suspension really makes and is an aftermarket install a costly item. It is something that I couldn't do myself and would have to find somebody to do that. Any ideas about the cost involved? Richard

[Flyguy]

Glad you asked, I have posted on my homepage all the info for putting shocks on a trailer in the "Shocks" folder, the RB-11 kit is the costly item at about $50 an axle and you need two kits, that's not so bad but installing them takes jacks and removing the axle spring plates (one at a time) and replacing them with the RB-11 plate which has the shock mount tube, that's for the lower shock mount, for the upper end you have to drill into the frame to mount the upper bolt support then bolt the shocks on. The shocks cost about $20 each. I'm guessing that you don't really want to do this yourself and would probably hire it out. A better option in that case is to contact MorRyde in Indiana, they quoted me a price of $1950 to install their "IS" system on my trailer with shocks and their rubber suspension ride system, this involves removing your current axles and installing the new IS system axles I'm sure after that mod your 5ver will tow fantastically. A complete description of the IS system is in the "Disk Brakes and Suspensions" folder along with an animated color (or Colour if your English, good grief they can’t even spell) representation of the system. Also in that folder is a description of their "RE" system which Keystone is rumored to have put on their high end 5vers, so you might want to look at that one also but the shocks are extra for that system. I originally wanted the RE system but because the Passport has the spread axle design it wouldn't work.

[Festus2]

Another reason for my asking........the "Crossroads friends" just took their 2008 RV into a place that specializes in wheel alignments. Just over $1000 later, they emerged with a new brass wet bushing (with grease nipple) spring/equalizer, brakes adjusted and a wheel alignment. The factory installed bushing/equalizer was pretty much toast. The nylon/teflon bushing was worn paper thin. The new stuff looks twice as thick and far more studier. The old shackles and other parts were quite thin compared to the newly installed parts.
The trouble is, how does a person know if the nylon/teflon bushing has worn out and needs to be replaced? Unless you take it apart, is it possible to tell? What signs should a person look for or do you just replace the whole unit with something more substantial after so many miles or so many months? years?
The alignment was out of whack which resulted in uneven tire wear - so much so that they ended up replacing 4 Missions with 4 Maxxis tires.
So with the addition of shocks, and an upgrade in the equalizer/brass bushing thingmajig, a person should notice a softer and quieter ride (?) Also a much safer one I would think.
I am assuming that you have installed these kits before....... any words of wisdom?

[Flyguy]

No, I haven't installed any of these kits before, mine will be the first, but I'm not afraid to tackle the job, just not anxious to lift the trailer up. Yes, I've seen pictures of worn shackle bushings before, might be a good idea to lubricate the spring bolts at the shackle points, what to lubricate them with is the question, oil or grease would probably attract dirt and sand and that would most likely eat up the nylon sleeve even faster, so maybe silicone spary would be a lot better. I think the RE system might be better in your case and cheaper too, but your wheel base has to be between 33" to 35" (measure between the center hubs of your wheels) for them to be a candidate for this system. my wheelbase is 41 1/2"s so I would have to go with the IS system. I think that shocks (in my case because the Passport has a spread axle design) would keep the trailer from pitching when I go over things like RR tracks, the only shocks that dampen the up and down pitching now are the rear shocks on my Tundra and they would like a little help from the trailer.

[nanaof4boys]

Our 2008 29BHDS came with a back bumper and the dealer added a spare tire to the back bumper for us when we bought the camper.

[Firecapt]

Flyguy,

When you switched your radio out, were you able to use the current speaker connections or did you have to re-wire?

[nanaof4boys]

The wires that were there may have been sufficient. Our camper came with the upgraded Jensen DVD/radio/MP3/Remote but funny enough it wasn't connected to the TV. My SIL hooked it up for us so we could watch movies and he didn't say anything about having to get new wires....and they were with us camping when he wired it up....worked great. It whupped up on him for a minute finding how to get to the wiring though :confused: untill I showed him how to get to it from the back....our entertainment center has the swing around tv where you can watch tv in bed or from the living room when you turn it around either way but you have to have the bedroom doors open to get to the back of the entertainment center...he figured it out though. :D

[Flyguy]

I went from a Jensen AWM910 radio to a Jensen AWM950 radio and I used the same OEM plug, same cutout, same mounting screws and holes that was there as it is compatible with both radios, they both use the 2 inside and 2 outside speakers and both can be switched to use both inside and outside at the same time, the only thing I had to add was a three conductor cable with "red, white, and yellow" leads from the radio to the TV shelf, boy, what a rats nest it was behind the radio, I vacuumed out the cavity and bundled the wires so it would be neater, Keystone left a mess in there. I also found that one of the speaker wires had gone open due to a faulty splice connector so I pull tested all of the connectors and repaired any that were bad. Keystone is now using the Jensen AWM970 radio, but this radio has 4 speaker surround sound in the coach plus 2 outside speakers (a 3 zone sound system), my 2008 Passport 280BH only has 2 speakers in the coach and 2 speakers outside (a 2 zone sound system) so if I upgraded to this radio I would have to eliminate 2 of the inside speakers on the wiring harness or else wire in 2 more speakers, but that's not important to me, I don't need surround sound in the coach so the 950 is just fine as is shown here, and it adds a remote, and a DVD player that can read MP3 coding so you can burn a CD with folders full of MP3 music. All the Jensen manuals can be found on my homepage. I have pictures of the AWM910 radio in the "For Sale/Wanted" section.

http://keystonerv.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=27 http://keystonerv.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=29

[Flyguy]

Since my first post in March of 2009 I have revised my mods list, and here is what I have done so far:

1) Upgraded to backup lights
2) Upgraded to the Marinco removable power cord conversion
3) Installed 12v outlets at the wheel wells on both sides
4) Upgraded the radio from a Jensen AWM910 to an AWM950
5) Upgraded the axles from 2800#s to 3500#s
6) Upgraded the key locks on storage compartments to Combi-Cams
7) Upgraded the analog AC thermostat to a digital one
8) Upgraded the bathroom faucets to lever handle antique brass ones
9) Upgraded the LP tank cover to the removable hole access type
10) Upgraded the gas regulator assembly to an auto changeover type
11) Upgraded the manual crank tongue jack to a power jack

Now for the “to do” list:

1) Install shocks (this has been on the list for quite a while)
2) Install Fan-Tastic fans (4000R model) at both the queen bed and bathroom locations, this will give plenty of flexibility for ventilation as this model is reversible and has three speeds.

Now we come to the tires! My TT came equipped with bias ply tires and I thought about replacing them with radials so here’s the question in my mind: Will radial tires decrease the side load on the rear axle over bias ply tires? Will bias ply tires contribute to better sway control over radials? Will it make any difference at all as to which type of tire I use? I’m wide open for some input on this issue.