Painting the Rear Wheel Wells

I've never liked the shiny frame that was exposed in the (dark) rear wheel wells, and was glad to see an easy fix, compliments of a Revel 4x4 Facebook member.  I got some of this wheel well paint, masked off the tires, and used a single can for both sides. (I'd recommend using some sort of respirator with this stuff - - it got me high as a kite for a little while.)

I cleaned the wheel wells pretty well with some water and a brush, let it dry, and taped some packing paper over the areas where I didn't want overspray or drips. Goodbye silver frame...

Hello darkness, my old friend...

28-August-2020

Bumper Step (Shuksan)

I use a hitch-mounted bike carrier, but also need a bumper step. The solution for this is usually to put an extension on the hitch, which I didn't want to do because we have some very heavy e-bikes that we carry. After looking at a lot of bumper steps, I found the Shuksan Rear Hitch Step that will fit my needs. It has a cutout in the center for easier access to the hitch pin, and doesn't require a hitch extension. The owner of Shuksan, Kris, confirmed that he's a biker and he built this step for those of us that are hitch-mounted bike carrier people. 

The step is solid steel, so it showed up in a very stout box, and cost about $70 to ship from Seattle to central California.

It attaches to the hitch with two steel U-shaped brackets. Mine fit almost perfectly, but one of them required a bit of smacking with a rubber mallet to get it to seat properly. It took about 20 minutes to install it.

The cutout allows for easier access to the hitch pin & lock.

It extends about 5.5 inches from the van, and is probably a shin-killer if you're not careful.

This replaces my old bumper step that served us well for a few years.

26-August-2020

Tire Replacement

I ordered the 'upgraded wheels' option with our Revel, and Winnebago supplied the K02 245/70/17 tires on the 17" Method wheels.  After 41K miles, they had gotten very noisy, and to be frank, they were probably more aggressive than we need. We spend 95% of our time on asphalt, and the rest on fire roads, jeep trails, etc.  I also felt that they were a little too small for the van, proportionally speaking. 

After doing some research, I decided to buy Cooper AT3 LT 265/70/17 tires. Early results seem to indicate that these tires are much quieter, and the ride seems a bit smoother. The change to the speedometer and odometer is 3.6%.

26-August 2020

Hitch Connector Box Removal

The 7-pin hitch connector box is in an awkward location for hitch-mounted bike racks. I have never towed anything that requires the connector, nor do I have any plans to do so soon, so I finally got around to removing it.

Just removed 4 screws with an allen wrench.

The red clip slides to the left, then the plug comes apart.

Removed 2 reverse torx screws with a ratchet. Some people have a welded box here, but mine is not, fortunately.

I wrapped the plug in a ziploc bag and taped it shut, then used a cable tie to attach it to a bumper support.

Unlimited space now for weird hitch pins, locks, etc.

25-August-2020

Rodent-Proofing Under the Galley

Mice in a van are terrible, and I've been concerned for a long time about possible ingress points, especially above the fresh water tank under the galley. I finally got around to doing something about it. I cut a piece of hardware cloth about 6"x10" and covered the opening securely. I had to loosen all 4 screws on the bracket that holds the junction box, but otherwise it was a 20-minute job. To access the space, I took off the vent cover near the coach power switch, and I took out the lowest drawer.

(Note: I used hardware cloth because I thought it would possibly be useful to have warm air from the cabin circulating around these non-insulated pipes in a cold climate. Update 2021: I decided to go ahead and seal this area off due to excessive road dust coming through here. See this post.)

26-August-2020

Sink Organizer for Gloves

I use cleaning gloves for doing the dishes, and they're frequently in the way when I'm not wearing them. So I bought some bulldog clips that I could attach to the sink cover with a single wood screw.  Works great, doesn't impede the sink, and folds away when we close the lid without having to do a thing.

Aug-01-2020