Closet Too Short

[oilfieldcowboy]

Hi All, looks to be a helpful place here. Just purchase 2012, cougar X-lite 26bhs. Young family of 4, this unit meets our needs very nicely. Only has two really big draw backs. One problem is that glide room has to be extended a small amount to get into bathroom. How critical is it that trailer be perfectly level to extend glide room 1 ft ?
The other problem, which I consider to be the biggest problem with the unit, is that there is really no place to hang cloths. It has two short closets on sides of the bed, but you cannot even hang a large t-shirt w/o the bottom of shirt resting on closet floor. From reading other posts I guess this is done to accommodate cpap machines. In our case however, it would be nice to have a place to hang clothing w/o the bottom part being in a wad. Thought about cutting bottom out of closet and just letting cloths hang out bottom. Concerned about making a mess and making it look bad. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions for a clean fix ? Thanks

[B&T]

Your outside storage area is under your closets.

[KanTC]

to the forum oilfieldcowboy (& family) and congratulations on your new Cougar.

There shouldn't be a problem opening the slide-out a bit for access, as long as the trailer is towing fairly level. If the trailer is several inches nose-high or nose-low when hitched to the tow vehicle, then you should re-evaluate & adjust your set-up. As close to level as possible is best.

I see (from the Keystone website) that you have the short bedside shirt closets... I would suggest, instead of cutting the bottom out of them that maybe you could modify the upper portion of the pantry (next to the frig) and add a bar for hanging longer clothes. I'm not familiar with the pantry in your specific model, but some RV's have that pantry/wardrobe with an optional hanging bar & adjustable shelves below... maybe this would work for you too.

Some folks add wire shelving to the bedside shirt closets & simply fold/stack tshirts, shorts, jeans, etc.

Other ideas -- look for creative ways for better use of empty space (as long as it doesn't compromise the integrity of the structure). Add a small 3-4 hook coat rack (inside) at the end of each bunk for children's jackets, pj's, special blankets, a small mesh (garment/laundry) bag to hold toys, etc. If you don't already have storage drawers/doors in your dinette booth, you might consider adding those for pantry/kitchen items.

Another common modification is to add easy-access doors (with storage baskets) or drawers below the main bed or bunks... of course that depends on the amount of open/usable space.

Check the "Modifications" section of the forum... several members have posted info/photos & good ideas.

Hope this helps,
Terri, the Chevy co-pilot

[GaryWT]

While camping we have never hung anything up. Tshirts shorts bathing suits sweatshirts etc are all folded and stacked in the closets. Works for us. We just added shelves to the large closet out by the bathroom. I hope you find a way to make it work.

[Bob Landry]

Our first trailer had the same short closets on each side of the bed. With no other storage, it was necessary to install the wire shelving to get any storage at all. That wasn't a big deal, since we fold everything anyway. The Outback has a full length closet but the only thing that hang are the winter coats and windbreakers.

[oilfieldcowboy]

Some very helpful information, we appreciate it !

[pappy]

Is there room in your's to raise the hanging rod?It worked for us.

[campingcpl]

I was able to raise the bars in our TT to keep the shirts from bunching up at the bottom. In a previous trailer I took the bar out and put adjustable shelves in which actually gave us more storage.

[camper 2010]

We have a 27RLS with the same problem. To solve this we placed an expandable shower curtain rod in the bathroom above the sink and toilet. This gave us some room to hang the shirts without wrinkling.

[oilfieldcowboy]

We had thought about moving those up, but wasnt sure about doing it. Thanks