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Trailer Renovations and the new Truck
We purchased our Jayco 250FS in August 1996 and thought it was a great trailer and really enjoyed using it. It was claimed to accommodate a family of six but I doubt if that marriage would have lasted long! We found that after three months in Arizona we were climbing over each other and doing balancing acts to avoid standing on Brandy, our recently departed and much missed pet Shih Tzu. A new, larger trailer was required but after two weeks of searching and sticker-shock (the one we liked was $90,000 and the minimum one we would have considered was $50,000), a space-creating renovation of the Jayco seemed like a good idea.
A drag-and-drop session in Visio (Drawing software) seemed to show we could rip out the dining table, two seating booths and replace them with a folding table and chairs and still have enough room to build an entertainment centre to house a larger TV and a VCR. Our existing 13" TV on a shelf by the kitchen sink was fine for watching the 11 pm news on short trips, but 3 months of watching movies sideways was enough. We needed the TV more comfortably aligned with the sofa for long trips.
These Visio plans show what we would achieve space-wise:
This change also would allow Sandy to upgrade the carpet and vinyl
floor to hardwood, just like the new upscale trailers - which also seem
to be copying our idea of free-standing dining furniture instead of built-in
booths!
The work started at the end of April and was expected to take 2-3 weeks as we had a trip planned to Blue Mountain on May 25th. The next few pictures show the physical progress but don't begin to account for the huge number of hours involved as revisions were made during construction. Needless to say, we ran over time (and budget) and missed our trip to Blue with the MTB crowd, and we weren't finished until the 31st. We had to revise our plan for a hardwood floor, partly due to its weight but also for concerns of water damage. A vinyl plank flooring from NAFCO had the appearance of hardwood but was resistant to water so seemed a better fit for RV use.
The end result was very pleasing and definitely worth the effort. Can't wait to try it out on our Summer 2000 trip to the Canadian Rockies!!!
Before the work started
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... after the dinette was removed
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... the construction starts
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Finished at last - May 31st!
November, 2000
The renovation worked great - we had a very comfortable time in BC
this summer BUT we had to get the Safari vans' rear end re-built in Banff.-
seems like the weight of the trailer increased a bit! This, plus
the fact I needed somewhere to carry my Suzuki bike, led us to decide to
replace the van with a heavy duty truck that would handle our current stuff,
but have enough capacity if we decide to upgrade to a 5th wheel trailer.
We traded the Safari for a 2001 GMC Sierra 2500 4X4. It's got a 300HP
6L V8 motor with about 11,000 lbs towing capacity so really looking forward
to getting into the mountains with it.
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