Fixes and modifications to our 2005 17B

[BC Rockcrawler]

Our long term plans were to purchase a 17A in a few years for retirement. That changed when a 17B popped up for sale here on Vancouver Island. A deal was made and we became proud owners a little over 2 weeks ago. Have not used it yet as we needed to prep our 2009 Ford Ranger to be able to tow it. My brother from Calgary was out for Father’s Day Weekend and towed it home for us.


Although the trailer is in excellent shape, there were a few items that I thought need some attention. Because there is only the 2 of us, we plan to have the rear dinette made as the bed most of the time. I did not like how the table worked for this purpose and the supports for this showed their age.


I changed out the two small rails on each side to one continuous strip on both sides. I then made up a bigger piece to be the filler between the two seats. The table is now in the basement and will go with the trailer should we decide to sell it in the future. I made the new piece with a notch to allow it to slide over the seat on one side so if we need to have space for a couple of guests we can still accommodate that. I also made up some removable pieces to hold a couple of totes under the bed. Once I had that done I spent today trying out the pump, fridge, etc. to make sure it worked and more importantly that I know how to work them.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by BC Rockcrawler

Our long term plans were to purchase a 17A in a few years for retirement. That changed when a 17B popped up for sale here on Vancouver Island. A deal was made and we became proud owners a little over 2 weeks ago. Have not used it yet as we needed to prep our 2009 Ford Ranger to be able to tow it. My brother from Calgary was out for Father’s Day Weekend and towed it home for us.


Although the trailer is in excellent shape, there were a few items that I thought need some attention. Because there is only the 2 of us, we plan to have the rear dinette made as the bed most of the time. I did not like how the table worked for this purpose and the supports for this showed their age.


I changed out the two small rails on each side to one continuous strip on both sides. I then made up a bigger piece to be the filler between the two seats. The table is now in the basement and will go with the trailer should we decide to sell it in the future. I made the new piece with a notch to allow it to slide over the seat on one side so if we need to have space for a couple of guests we can still accommodate that. I also made up some removable pieces to hold a couple of totes under the bed. Once I had that done I spent today trying out the pump, fridge, etc. to make sure it worked and more importantly that I know how to work them.

Nice work. Glad to see that you are not blocking the front of the converter as it needs airflow for proper cooling.

Enjoy the trailer.

[BC Rockcrawler]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Nice work. Glad to see that you are not blocking the front of the converter as it needs airflow for proper cooling.

Enjoy the trailer.

Thanks. Yes, we're new to the RV game but I am a Red Seal electrician and have plenty of experience with power supplies and was pretty sure that blocking the bottom grating would probably be an issue. The previous owners had a much bigger tote thing that went almost the entire width so decided to ditch it and go with a couple of smaller and much easier to handle rough totes while giving more room for air circulation.