Interstate Mods - I'll go First

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Smallest mod ever:

I'm gradually consuming the back side of every cabinet face for organizational stuff like this.

INTERBLOG - Very nice organizer. Gotta keep all of them out of sight when not in use. I hate cable and wire clutter too (you know how bad I am ) Good tip and practice for everyone to use these un-utilized spaces, not just for cables. There is a lot in an AI. So much so that I firmly believe if I tried to utilize every square inch of storage in my AI, I probably would easily get way over GVWR without utilizing all of it.

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by Mansderm161

Here's my mod after 4 days with Lew at AM solar, 4 solar panels, weBoost with antenna at the rear, victron amazing blue power center with bluetooth apps, lithium battery, interior propane switch. I can reach control panel from driver's seat. I told him I needed to retain space in back for litter box since I travel with a cat and everything fit perfectly. The space now occupied by the battery and inverter was where the cat sometimes slept, but he has plenty of other places to sleep. And, now I can sleep while travelling without worrying about the lousy batteries. Lew does amazing work.

LEW - Nice work! Love how you do your wiring/routing. Definitely a different league than standard AS wiring job. AS not even in your ballpark

MANSDERM161 - Really nice stuff! You may need to add supplemental caging around your batt/inverter in case little kitty cat may find his/her old bedroom even more warmer & cozy with inverter heat. If/when you get chance, could you post better res pic of the batt & inverter trays, enclosures. Are they standard issue trays that can be bought or does LEW custom fabricate them for each job? Now I am itching to do this.

[Mansderm161]

I'll try to get better picks with better weather. It was still sprinkling, cloudy, dreary. There is no tray, just a bracket, appears to be aluminum, holding everything to the side. The rubber tray I had from a Honda odyssey that I put in back for cat and litter box. Lew cut it to fit around the battery and inverter. It is one battery, life blue 300, I think. The cat is too big to get on the inverter or battery. I spent the first night on way back home at cracker barrel with fridge, freezer, and fantastic fan on with absolutely no battery drain at all. Can finally sleep in peace when not hooked up. I just took it back to storage, but I bring it home every week, so I'll get some picks then. The pics posted were taken with my tablet. I'll use phone for next set. It was a lot of money, but now I really have freedom to roam, whereas before I had constant worry about finding a place to hook up or waking up with dead batteries.

[InterBlog]

Another mod for the T1N crowd's consideration.

Remember I switched out the rear hot water heater screwed-on face panel to a neodymium attachment system?

This is why I did that - so that I could convert the front void into more shoe storage.

The relevant design element here is that the bottom bits of those two bungees are attached via another pair of neodymiums, and the shelf is also unattached, held in place only by the bungees, just like the shoes. Therefore for vacuuming and retrieving lost items and messing with the water valves and generally getting back there under the couch, all of this stuff just lifts out of the way, and slips back into place after the work is done.

I haven't decided if I'm fully satisfied with this design, but it's much better than what was in that space to start with.

Instructions: EVEN MORE SHOE STORAGE FOR THE AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE

[Mansderm161]

That's pretty good! Shoes are a challenge, and I don't see your waterproof shoes for rainy days. Or I guess you can just put plastic bags over your shoes like I had to do at Alumalina. I currently have no place for shoes!

[bugsbunny]

IB,

If you have a picture of the Bypass valve, would you please show it? Thanks!

Love the mod!

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Another mod for the T1N crowd's consideration.

Remember I switched out the rear hot water heater screwed-on face panel to a neodymium attachment system?

This is why I did that - so that I could convert the front void into more shoe storage.

The relevant design element here is that the bottom bits of those two bungees are attached via another pair of neodymiums, and the shelf is also unattached, held in place only by the bungees, just like the shoes. Therefore for vacuuming and retrieving lost items and messing with the water valves and generally getting back there under the couch, all of this stuff just lifts out of the way, and slips back into place after the work is done.

I haven't decided if I'm fully satisfied with this design, but it's much better than what was in that space to start with.

Instructions: EVEN MORE SHOE STORAGE FOR THE AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Mansderm161

.... I don't see your waterproof shoes for rainy days. ...

Waterproof foot ware is going on the roof. If I count rubber boots, then we sometimes need to take 12 pairs of shoes between us, rather than 10 (it sounds absurd, but I explained it in the blog post).

But I'm waiting on an 8020 part that my husband ordered yesterday before completing that part of the roof mod.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by bugsbunny

IB,

If you have a picture of the Bypass valve, would you please show it? Thanks!

Love the mod!

Yes, given that it now takes me 30 seconds to pull all the pieces out and access this water heater, here is the pic with the lines configured to run water THROUGH the heater.

For those not familiar with valving, long axis of the valve knob parallel to the line means open. Perpendicular means closed. Reverse the order of the knobs to isolate the water heater for drainage. Then drain the rest of the lines separately using the spigots underneath the van.

Oh look - there's a zip lock bag on the right side of the water heater that I didn't even notice until I uploaded this pic to Imgur. I wonder what's in it?? That's what I mean about things falling behind this couch.

[bugsbunny]

Thanks so much!

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by Mansderm161

I'll try to get better picks with better weather. It was still sprinkling, cloudy, dreary. There is no tray, just a bracket, appears to be aluminum, holding everything to the side. The rubber tray I had from a Honda odyssey that I put in back for cat and litter box. Lew cut it to fit around the battery and inverter. It is one battery, life blue 300, I think. The cat is too big to get on the inverter or battery. I spent the first night on way back home at cracker barrel with fridge, freezer, and fantastic fan on with absolutely no battery drain at all. Can finally sleep in peace when not hooked up. I just took it back to storage, but I bring it home every week, so I'll get some picks then. The pics posted were taken with my tablet. I'll use phone for next set. It was a lot of money, but now I really have freedom to roam, whereas before I had constant worry about finding a place to hook up or waking up with dead batteries.

MANSDERM161 - Thank you again. Stuff like this is an engineer's treat. I was wondering what the ribbed floor covering was. It was not obvious from the other pic (which showed the kitty box) that it was part of one unit. Since you had already trimmed it out losing the raised lip, if you want more coverage of that area, you can get one of these outdoor mats that are rubber-backed topped with washable carpeting. Lowe's or Home Depot carry them but only in 3'x5' size. In order to completely cover rear with 1 piece, need at least 4'x5'. Different sizes orderable online, then just trim to fit around cabinetry, furniture, and bolts. Makes it easy in case kitty has an accident

[Mansderm161]

Looks very nice. Funny thing is I had my cat toilet trained until I got the AI. I knew there was no way he'd use the AI toilet, plus I'd have to keep the bathroom door propped open...big hassle. Now he will only use box. I guess trying to balance while trying "to go" is not much fun![emoji71]*♀️

[Mansderm161]

That Honda odyssey rubber mat was $100 so when I sold that vehicle, I kept it, had it in the back of Subaru outback, then got AI and it fit almost perfectly in back. It is light weight, washes off easily and obviously easy to cut. Lew knew I needed the space for cat litter box and cut it further to fit beside mods and litter box. For anyone who wants to travel with a cat, you have to go with regular clumping, minimal fragrance litter. If you go with light weight litter, it will be all over your rig and fragrance will drive u nuts after a few days!

[Mansderm161]

And those are not my imogis!

[GETRIDAONE]

I got tired of fighting with the velcro straps that hold up the rear bed wings. A strip of plastic with small bolts, nuts, and washers took care of it. It is a one hand operation now, just lift and twist.

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by GETRIDAONE

I got tired of fighting with the velcro straps that hold up the rear bed wings. A strip of plastic with small bolts, nuts, and washers took care of it. It is a one hand operation now, just lift and twist.

GETRIDAONE - Good fix, nice & easy to use. In our case, since we are short people, we don't need the flip down extensions, so I just removed them in exchange for a teeny bit more storage.

[Mansderm161]

Better pictures of mods by Lew. It's been great. Ready to hit the road again. Feel much more confident that if I have to boondock, I can, and not worry all night about draining batteries.

[Alex AVI]

MANSDERM161 - Keep forgetting you have a GT, slightly diff. than mine. NICE stuff! You got enough power to supply 2 AI's. Thanks for posting the nicer pics.

[Titus]

Getradione,
I too like your fix. I don't find it hard to fasten the wings in the up position, but I don't like the Velcro straps dangling when the wings are down.

[Lotus54]

I can’t remember if I mentioned it before or not, but I carry along a new ‘A’ fuse box (fully loaded). They are not that expensive from SD-Euro and pretty easy to swap. There have been many reports of it having issues.
Mine had some corrosion on a couple of connectors- I cleaned them (and no issues since) but felt it was worth it to me to have one.


https://europarts-sd.com/item.asp?PID=3638

[InterBlog]

There are two closely-related threads and I think we covered the fuse box on one or the other, because I carry the same thing. Interstate Maintenance and Spare Parts.

Would that someone had previously mentioned the transmission dipstick on either. Although I am pleased with Amazon - after emailing me that they'd miss their Prime deadline by one or two days, the dipstick showed up on time anyway yesterday. We plan to attempt our own transmission repair tomorrow.