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Old 07-29-2005, 12:43 PM   #1
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2005 Classic 28'

I have been asked about what modifications I have made to my new Classic 28 to date. Here are some photos of what has been done so far.

1. I added an oak knife block and a small spice rack in the galley. The knife block is sized to hold my 4 Chicago knives. The spice rack holds the 3 things that I use just about every time I light the stove: salt, pepper, and cooking spray. I don't mind having to open the little cabinet to get things thatare not constantly used.

2. I added a flashlight holder by the entrance door.

3. I added a holder for a bottle of deoderizer spray in the bathroom. There is a tiny 12# magnet hidden behind the can.

4. I modified the bedside cabinet by hinging most of the the top so that it is now useful space. It is divided into two bins inside that I use for my for shorts and socks. The deep and narrow stock cabinet is totally useless.

No photos for the following:

5. I added a combination lock safe externally on the trailer so that I can never lock myself out. The safe is similar to those used by realtors and is permanently rivited to the winding plate for the AC service. Out of sight and out of the weather.

6. I modified the front Fantastic fan into a two-way fan.

To do list:

A. Wide magazine rack. Move the current rack into the bedroom.

B. Magazine rack under the folding table.

C. Reading lights on the valances over the folding tables.

D. Marine battery switch allowing selection of either or both batteries.
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Old 07-29-2005, 12:46 PM   #2
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Forgot one to do list item

Add 12V DC outlet in the bathroom for plugging in hand vacuum or "Endless Breeze" fan.
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Old 07-29-2005, 02:04 PM   #3
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I was waiting for this one to show up.

Thanks for sharing the pics....nice mods!
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Old 07-29-2005, 02:45 PM   #4
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As always John: excellent mods and work, and I might add , quick.
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Old 07-29-2005, 03:15 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Craftsman
and I might add , quick.
You know I was going to say that too, but wasn't sure...it did seem faster than his other 2 coaches.
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Old 07-29-2005, 03:33 PM   #6
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There was a reason

Quote:
Originally Posted by Silvertwinkie
You know I was going to say that too, but wasn't sure...it did seem faster than his other 2 coaches.
I had most of a month between returning from the International and our departure 8/2 for my grandson's wedding in St Louis. I didn't get the registration straightened out till late last week. For a lot of reasons including weather, I had to stay near home during this time and the trailer stayed in the storage yard except for taking it out once to get inspected.

All the mods except the little spice rack and the key safe were repeats of those done on the 25'. It doesn't take more than an hour here and there to do everything I have done so far.

When I get back from St Louis, I'll build the new magazine racks plus an identical one for a friend's Airstream. That will take all of an afternoon to build them plus a couple of visits to the workshop to put on successive stain coats.
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Old 07-31-2005, 09:58 AM   #7
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Another small mod

The tiny wastcan that Airstream supplies on the door under the sink is simply not large enough to be practical. We have been carrying a small flip-top wastecan with us in the last several trailers. In the 25', I had it velcroed below the wardrobe door which barely cleared the top of the can.

In the 28, the only convenient place to put it is against the bathroom wall. In order that we don't have to stow it somewhere each time we tow, I wanted it to be fastened to the wall. However, in order to open the adjoining cabinet door fully to reach the water heater bypass, the can had to be easily removable.

I fastened a metal tongue on the back of the can on a spacer block. The tongue I used just happened to be a metal ring that I had in the workshop. The spacer block is covered with black velcro fuzz to protect the wall. I then made a slotted oak block to attach to the wall. With the tongue in the slot, the can is securely fastened in place, but it can be easily lifted out for access to the water heater..
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Old 10-22-2005, 02:33 PM   #8
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One more drawer for the galley

The galley has 3 drawers and space at the bottom for a fourth drawer which Airstream did not install. There is only a blank drawer front with no pull. However, there is plenty of room to install a drawer there. That bothered the heck out of me since I hate wasted space.

I used a wood block and a mallet to remove the "stapled in place" blank drawer front. I "stole" a matching drawer pull from the bedroom where a mismatch will be less noticed.

Airstream wanted $75 for a "drawer box", so I built my own for about $10. It takes a long reach to install the rear brackets, but by putting "legs" on the rear crosspiece, it was easier to set the alignment.

One more thing to make the trailer more "user friendly".
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Old 10-22-2005, 03:52 PM   #9
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Hi John,

Nice mods....and, when are you moving in next door?

I have the 30' Classic (with dinette), and I find the huge spice rack behind the stove to be useless! If you have the stove folded open, as you would when using it, the spice rack is covered!

And...the magazine rack by the door...I have always felt it belongs in the bathroom ... or in the bedroom, where you are moving yours.

It's nice to see folks out there who are always looking for ways to improve their Airstream living space!

Cheers, Dee
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Old 10-22-2005, 05:19 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by warbler5
Hi John,
And...the magazine rack by the door...I have always felt it belongs in the bathroom ... or in the bedroom, where you are moving yours.
Cheers, Dee
The original rack is now in the bedroom and a new 18" wide rack I made is in its place by the entrance door. I sent Airstream a suggestion that they ditch the useless small rack for a wide rack. Would only cost pennies for the material difference. Everything else is equal no matter what width the rack may be.

When I built my rack, I also built a duplicate (except for darker stain color) for a friend whose older Airstream did not have any magazine rack at all. Once I set up the router, pneumatic nailer, and cut-off saw, it took no time at all to make the duplicate.
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Old 10-22-2005, 09:44 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pahaska
The original rack is now in the bedroom and a new 18" wide rack I made is in its place by the entrance door. I sent Airstream a suggestion that they ditch the useless small rack for a wide rack. Would only cost pennies for the material difference. Everything else is equal no matter what width the rack may be.

When I built my rack, I also built a duplicate (except for darker stain color) for a friend whose older Airstream did not have any magazine rack at all. Once I set up the router, pneumatic nailer, and cut-off saw, it took no time at all to make the duplicate.
I like the idea of the wider magazine rack....too bad Airstream doesn't take up your idea. Maybe they are worried about paying you royalties!

Let me know if you have figured out a place for a small bookcase.... I always have plant and bird identification books that I drag along, and they currently take up storage place in our rig.

Please keep us updated on your upgrades to the '05 rig!

Cheers, Dee
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Old 10-22-2005, 11:41 PM   #12
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Hi John,

I would like to see those lights in the valance over the folding table when you knock that project out.

I have an idea for a modification for the twin bed configuration. I would like to retain the twin beds for the storage, walking and dressing room and for day or for guest use, but also be able to convert them into a queen/king. You know those swing bars that move the cabinets up off the floor into place i.e. the Jayco 1406 fold-downs? If I could rig up the night stand and drawer to swing onto the floor, the beds could be pushed to meet in the center. I could either make bolsters that would sit like cushions at the sides of the trailer like day beds have and fit them into the exposed space, or just carpet or cover the bed platforms. I like the idea because it would get us off the wall or even permit us to sleep with our heads towards the front of the coach in really cold weather or under the large window for warm weather. I don't think it would take much at all, just some good old fashion know-how. hint, hint.
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Old 10-23-2005, 10:57 AM   #13
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Hi John,

I would like to see those lights in the valance over the folding table when you knock that project out.
I did it in two different ways. On the 25, I built oak mounts that sit on the top of the valences to hold the light fixtures. I then ran the wires tucked between the valences and the walls to the front cabinet to get power there.

On the 28, I have the vista view windows, so the top mounts are not practical. The valences are simpler, too, so I mounted the fixtures on the valence proper. I used white plastic wire mold from Ace hardware to run the wires to the front cabinet for power. The wire mold has adhesive, but it doesn't stick to the fabric, so I used some plastic wire clamps to hold the mold in place. It is all hidden from casual view, but I still wanted a quality-looking installation.

The front cabinet has a double bottom with wiring inside. By popping off the white screw caps on the bottom of the cabinet, removing a few screws, and using a putty knife to pop open the vinyl-covered bottom panel, I was able to reach the wires to the lights under the cabinet. The bottom piece is pretty flexible, so only a few screws at the end need be removed. There is plenty of slack in the wires inside. I used the yellow crimp-on tap connectors to tie into these wires(the blue tap connedtors are too small). PM me with questions if you don't understand what I did.
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Old 10-23-2005, 11:18 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wheel interested
Hi John,

I have an idea for a modification for the twin bed configuration. I would like to retain the twin beds for the storage, walking and dressing room and for day or for guest use, but also be able to convert them into a queen/king.
Here are some quick thoughts.

If the night table top could be disconnedted from the bottom, it should not be too heavy to simply pick up and place on the floor. My old TrailManor had similar cabinets that rode on the floor when the trailer was folded.

The bed plywood could possibly be mounted on long slides to roll together. Swing-out or pull-out legs could be fashioned to take the strain off of the slides when the beds are pulled together. Some sort of latch would be needed to lock them together. This could be as simple as a window sash lock at each end.

Some vinyl or canvas could droop between the bed plywood and the wall and stretch out horizontally to fill the gap when the beds are together. The fabric could be quilted to insulation batting to isolate the interior from the underbed storage.

Good luck.
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Old 11-07-2005, 02:22 PM   #15
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Wire shelves

The two wardrobes are much deeper than required for hanging clothes; especially the wardrobe on the road side. I noticed that the clothes rods were attached with 2 screws at 45 and 225 degrees. By moving one screw, I was able to rotate the rod toward the door about 1 1/2" to leave more room behind.

I installed wire shelving at the rear of both wardrobes. I installed the wire shelves bottom-up to provide a lip so that items on the shelves stay put.

In my wife's wardrobe (the larger one, naturally), I installed a wide shelf with two plastic bins underneath for slippers and the like. There is a ledge on the left side and rear of the wardrobe, so the little legs on the plastic bins are cut as required so that the bins sit level. Above the ledge that accommodates the shower plumbing, I installed 2 narrow shelves for long items such as her umbrella. I made the narrow shelves from scrap pieces of the shelving.

In my wardrobe (the smaller one, naturally), I installed two wide shelves below and two narrow shelves above. The cat food and litter containers reside under the lower shelf with a piece of molding nailed to the floor to keep the containers from sliding out when underway. The narrow top shelves hold TP, paper towels, and similar items to augment the limited bathroom and galley storage.

My idea is not to carry more; just to better organize what we must carry.
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Old 11-07-2005, 05:05 PM   #16
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John you should be put on Airstreams payroll as a consultant. They could use some fresh ideas. You know, not "designer " ideas but down to earth,real world, "hey this really works" ideas., and looks good too.
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Old 11-18-2005, 04:10 PM   #17
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More shelf space

The overhead cabinets are hard to manage. I especially disliked the ones in the galley where I had to dig larger dishes out from under smaller items.

I wanted to store dishes vertically, but there is not space enough for the dinner plates. I compromised by storing the dessert dishes vertically and adding an upper shelf so that smaller items could reside above the dinner plates.

The edges of the dessert dishes rest on hard plastic molding. I used some white velcro fuzzy part to pad the strut by the dessert dishes. I also used white velcro fuzz to pad over the screw heads at the ends of the shelf. There is room behind the vertical dessert dish holder for lower items such as mugs.

The space is a lot easier to manage now. Time to go on to some other cabinets for the same treatment.
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Old 11-18-2005, 04:27 PM   #18
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Quote:
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John you should be put on Airstreams payroll as a consultant. They could use some fresh ideas. You know, not "designer " ideas but down to earth,real world, "hey this really works" ideas., and looks good too.
When I worked as an engineer for IBM, everything we did had to go through 3 major tests before it saw the light of day; a "proof of concept test", a production prototype, and an actual production machine. It amazes me to think expensive things such as RVs are put on the road without any real testing program.

Problems such drawers sliding out when underway and small items falling behind the pantry in my old International 22 would be discovered and a fix worked out before a customer had to contend with the problems.

I'll bet they could get volunteers to actually use a new model for a month and report back problems and suggestions. I sure would do something like that.
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Old 11-18-2005, 04:34 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pahaska
When I worked as an engineer for IBM, everything we did had to go through 3 major tests before it saw the light of day; a "proof of concept test", a production prototype, and an actual production machine. It amazes me to think expensive things such as RVs are put on the road without any real testing program.

Problems such drawers sliding out when underway and small items falling behind the pantry in my old International 22 would be discovered and a fix worked out before a customer had to contend with the problems.

I'll bet they could get volunteers to actually use a new model for a month and report back problems and suggestions. I sure would do something like that.
I second Craftsman's nomination of you as the official Airstream product tester. I bet it wouldn't take even a month of testing for a new model.

John
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Old 11-18-2005, 05:12 PM   #20
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A-men!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pahaska
Problems such drawers sliding out when underway and small items falling behind the pantry in my old International 22 would be discovered and a fix worked out before a customer had to contend with the problems.

I'll bet they could get volunteers to actually use a new model for a month and report back problems and suggestions. I sure would do something like that.
Yeah I'll volunteer and even go to Jackson Center. Some of these problems are SOOOOOOO obvious I'd spot them before I left the driveway!

On the new 25 FB, they finally noticed that the ole' "suicide door" won't open more than 90 degrees when the awning is out - slams into the back rail. Guess what, the new ones have the hinge forward... a design almost all other RV manufacturers have long favored because the door won't fly open and whack the side of the RV when underway.

A "hinge forward" door would also be a great idea on my 22 CCD. You'd better not let go of the door in a breeze if you've got your front dinette window open or it's gonna be bye-bye window and scratches on the door. I treat that window as non-operating just for that reason.

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