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Old 06-08-2020, 11:45 AM   #21
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Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Maynooth
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Ontario
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobberan View Post
I have a 2019 Kodiak Cub 185MB. I suspect most of you with Cub's have a similar under bed storage area. I found that lifting up the mattress to access the storage area to be cumbersome and difficult. I elected to install under bed drawers. The bottom mount drawers are from Rev-A-Shelf. In addition, I purchased panel mounting brackets from the same company. I contacted my RV dealer and was able to purchase two door fronts that have the matching finish to my trailer. The door fronts were turned sideways to become the drawer fronts. The drawer handles were purchased at Home Depot. Using the aluminum bed frame structure as I guide, I cut out the two openings in the end panel. The wood is thin, so it was fairly easy to cut. I added two stringers across the floor bottom. This is necessary to account for the 1" height of the aluminum structure and provide the appropriate surface for the bottom mount drawers. The stringers were made from 2 X 2's (1 1/2" X 1 1/2") with one side cut down to 1" to match the aluminum structure. This is not absolutely necessary-I just wanted the drawer to sit as low as possible. In an effort to minimize floor penetrations, I used metal brackets to fasten stringers to aluminum structure. In the end, I had to add a few screws to the center of the aft stringer, as it would bow upwards when extending the drawers. I probable spent around $300.00, so this is not a cheap modification. It does however add substantial, easy to get to storage. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions.
Thanks for this idea, I was thinking of doing a drawer idea for the passthrough cubby but trying to think of what to do with the small chunk next to my water heater.
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Old 07-13-2020, 09:57 PM   #22
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Join Date: Jan 2018
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Wisconsin
Yesterday I finished covering the two dump valves on my Kodiak Cub KD176RD18. This completes the previous posts detailing sealing, insulating, and venting spaces for winter camping. I expect to be able to camp in 0 deg F weather. Covering the dump valves should allow dumping tanks in freezing weather.

The covers are made from black 5 gallon buckets purchased at a local farm hardware store. The buckets are cut to fit all the odd shapes surrounding the dump valves.

Bucket bottoms are facing out and a close fitting hole is cut in the bottom to go over the dump fitting. Openings for the gate valve extending parts are cut in the side of the buckets. The gate valve handle extends outside the buckets.

A custom fit plastic board fills the open previously top of the bucket. The board is attached with several small screws through the bucket wall into the board. Screwing to the belly cover was judged to be too fragile. A strap is wrapped around the bucket and attached to the frame to secure the bucket in place.

Pictures of the finished project are attached.

Inside, the dump valves and pipes are wrapped in a thick layer of insulating tape. Remaining air space inside is filled with fiberglass bat insulation. All seams and edges are filled with closed cell foam insulation and exterior grade tape. A 1/4 inch hole is drilled into the low point to drain any water that gets in.

Heat flow is planned to come from the liquid in the tanks. The black water tank has a short 3 inch pipe. The gray water tank has a short 1 1/2 inch pipe.

Testing will commence in the fall of this year (2020) and winter of next year (2021).
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Old 08-16-2020, 04:20 AM   #23
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Michigan
Thumbs up Awesome Mod

bobberan: Thanks for sharing this mod. We just purchased a 2020 185MB, and after the first two outings, we discovered how much of a pain it was to gain access to this storage area. I will most likely copy your mod into our cub now.

How much weight do you typically place on the Rev-A-Shelf?
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Old 09-08-2020, 06:20 PM   #24
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Location: Erie
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Colorado
Quote:
Originally Posted by persistent View Post
I installed magnetic door latches to hold the annoying overhead cabinet doors open. I used the same magnetic latches used on the outside pass through doors. I bought them from an Amazon retailer.
What size screws did you use? I liked your color matching and ordered some from amazon, but they don't come with screws. Not sure what size screw I should use when drilling into the top of the trailer.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 01-04-2021, 04:10 AM   #25
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Location: Vaca
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California
2021 Kodiak Cub 198BH

One of the first mods I did to my Cub was install some hinges on the panel that houses the water heater in the pass through. I wanted easy access for winterizing/de-winterizing and to inspect frequently as needed. There is a catch on the driver side interior wall and the door clips nicely into place. The door knob, hinges and catch can be purchased at a big box store.



Like others, I was pretty annoyed by the cabinets above the bed and after they hit me in the head for the fourth time I happened upon a video of someone who installed small door shocks on their 2021 and a battery powered motion sensing light. Needless to say it looks like it was installed from the factory and the shocks help to keep the door up as well as add a small amount of force to keep the door closed in transit. Note that I only installed one shock for each door, this was plenty of shock. And on the roof of each cabinet compartment is a motion sensing light. It has about a 30 second time out and is held by velcro to the roof of the cabinet.



In the summer, I anticipate wanting to get some fresh air flowing in and out of the Cub. On Amazon, I picked up a magnetic screen that is meant for house sliders and modified it slightly to fit the pack and play door. So far I am pleased, but we will see how it holds up to me removing and reinstalling every time I need to fold up the bunks and load up the pack and play cargo area.



Before I drove off the dealership lot I noticed my bastion electronic power jack interfered with my RAM tailgate. I have two dogs and it drove me nuts lifting my 80lb husky and my drahthaar pup at an elevated angle. Needless to say, I tried to modify the bastion so the head of the power jack was perpendicular to the trailer. I was unsuccessful. Instead of extending out my hitch I opted to purchase a lippert power jack and tapped two holes so my power jack clears the tailgate with ease. This mod will work on all pickup truck models. Why this is still a problem in the RV industry beats me.
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Old 01-04-2021, 04:26 AM   #26
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Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: Vaca
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California
Insulated Blackout Curtains

The sewing credit goes 100% to my wife. We both like to winter camp and I intend to use my Cub for hunting when I'm finished 'winterizing' the thing. The first step in that direction was putting in these blackout curtains that have reflectix installed between the curtain sheets. You can make out how big each reflectix strip is cut and they are separated by iron on seams that my wife ironed on. Once the reflectix was in the outsides were sewn holding the reflectix in place. The reason for the paneling is so we can roll them up in more enjoyable weather and get some sunshine in the rig. For us it was better than rolling out reflectix for each window then storing it once we got to our destination. Once the curtain is folded up it is held up by elastic cord that my wife hand sewed at the top on each corner of the curtain. Each curtain is attached to the rig utlilizing the existing blind support bar that came with the rig, but the bar is stripped of the original blind and a couple small zip ties (as a safety measure in the event the velcro comes off) are placed in the brass rivet holes with a large piece of velcro going along the top of the blind support bar. Sewn on the blackout curtain is about 3 or 4 (depending on the size of the window) pieces of velcro that then attach to the blind support bar. There is a slight sag on the dinette window, but the curtain is so light I'm not concerned about it over time.
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Old 04-17-2021, 08:09 PM   #27
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Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: Vaca
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California
Winter Proofing Kodiak Cub 198BH

Taking a page out of persistent's playbook, I tore open the belly of my kodiak cub and began to prepare it for winter trips. Some of this will be a repeat of what persistent did to his rig, but I thought it would be helpful to visualize some of the modifications that were recommended with pictures.

I started off by removing the belly with a cat’s paw (nail puller) and worked my way around. Instead of fully sliding the belly out of the area, I opted to let it fold over the axle so that I had a bit of padding between myself and the ground; being careful not to damage any areas while working on top of the corrugated belly plastic. The first picture is the BEFORE picture of wires crisscrossing and unsecured as well as surface rust on the propane line just from one trip out from Idaho in the Snow.

Here’s a synopsis of what I modified:

-Cut out 4 inch holes in the following areas: water pump, under the shower/bath tub, and under the bathroom sink. Put a 4 inch vent cover to allow air to work into or out of the area. This was a great idea posted by ‘Persistent’ that I copied. I ended up making the bottom panel below the bathroom sink into a door with a magnet catch and added Velcro with a wood backing to the removable cover under the shower/bath tub. Inside this area I placed a battery operated temperature sensor that is placed between the gray and black tanks in the belly. I can monitor the temperature of the belly by simply pulling the white cover off (since it is now held on well using Velcro and easy to remove and put back on) and re-velcro when done.
-Removed old 2 inch heater duct from furnace and replaced with a 4 inch duct that goes into the belly. Since the distribution panel fit snug against the 2 inch heater duct I had to move the hole slightly over to the left. I accomplished this with a jig saw, handsaw, and utility knife. Once the hole was to my satisfaction, I used the 4 inch duct piece that came with the vent covers I purchased at a big box store and lined the hole with that 4 inch duct. This gives a smooth air delivery into the belly. The furnace already had a 4 inch hole in the side, so, again, using another 4 inch duct piece that came with another vent cover I modified it using tin snips to act as the holder for the flex duct. I sealed the flex duct to the furnace using aluminum foil tape. For the other end I purchased a 4 inch plastic duct mounting plate. See pictures below. Since I moved the hole over I had to fill in the part I wasn’t using. I did this with a piece of foam board insulation at the top of the hole and from below I spray foamed the remaining gap.
-Insulated all plumbing in the belly with pipe insulation as well as the exposed drain valves.
-Cleaned up wiring and padded hard edges with weather stripping
-Spray foam area where the frame meets the bottom body of the travel trailer. Cut away excess.
-Cut select pieces of 1” x 4’ x 8’ and placed the upper inner channel of the frame and used spray foam again to seal the gap at the top of the foam board. Then with about a 1 inch gap below the insulation foam board on the inside channel I cut select pieces of 1” x 4’ x 8 insulation foam board and placed them horizontal in the lower channel of the frame where applicable. The idea here being that the furnace would hold the heat in better than using only the corrugated plastic. I was not able to use insulation foam board for all areas of the underbelly, but I got most of it. I was not able to put foam board on the bottom of the tanks. For this I used bubble wrap (reflectix) and casually wrapped the bottom of each tank to help keep them insulated. Note: the belly may have a hard time reaching the back when reinstalling, since you have now added reflectix to the tanks, making the belly cover a bit smaller at the back end. I ended up stretching a few holes here, so keep that in mind. To fix the issue I installed a thin piece of aluminum in the existing frame holes in the rear, with foam board insulation wedged between, and then drilling new holes in the corrugated plastic into the aluminum wedge that did not stretch the corrugated plastic and put nice fat stainless steel washers on there. Be careful not to puncture your black tank if you drill holes in this area. Spray foam the gaps when you're finished.
-Added a 1” thick insulated foam board at the front cross member where no other plumbing exists. But I also opted to put 1.5” thick foam board casually in the front frame channels just as an added layer of insulation. Aside from spray foaming the frame to the trailer body at the top of the I beam, I did not put insulation foam board on the interior frame channels. I just have the insulation foam board resting at the bottom of the I beam channels.
-The area behind the black tank does not have an accessible inner channel, so I opted to place a piece of 1” thick insulation foam board outside the frame but still in an inner channel. I then used spray foam to seal this well. Now the entire belly is surrounded by 1” thick foam board insulation at a minimum.
-Heat pads on each tank (fresh, gray, black) wired to a switch in the trailer
-Replaced thermostat with a digital thermostat. The idea here being I could set the thermostat at a temperature and leave the RV for when I hunt in colder weather. As opposed to fiddling with the mechanical one that came from the factory.
-Re-painted the propane line, frame, axles and other areas I saw surface rust with POR 15.
-Predrilled all holes where the old nail holes were in the frame holding the belly cover; using WD40 to cool the drill bit or else it will break off in the frame. I then put #12 x 1” self-tapping roofing screws with ¼ x 1-1/4” stainless steel washers in each hole I drilled. Drill bit used was 3/16”.
-Replaced #14x1-1/2 inch screws with stainless steel self drill screws where applicable (propane line, power jacks, etc.)
I’m confident all these upgrades will get me into the 20 degree or lower area without having to worry about water lines freezing. Yes, this is how they should come from the factory, but it is not a terribly expensive upgrade. Just time consuming.

** I don't know why some pictures are sideways and upside down, all of mine are right side up**


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