Mods to 2015 21bhs

[stillcamping2015]

Have put over 10,000 miles on our 2015 bhs between trips to New England in the fall and a recent 9000+ mile trip from NC to the west coast and back this spring. Prior to the most recent and extensive trip we replaced the original 12v battery with two six volt golf cart batteries along with a single solar panel and charge controller atop the newly housed batteries. Arrangement works great to keep batteries charged while trailer in in storage lot. When dry camping, solar panel and stand can be detached and moved to optimize exposure to sun, while keeping camper in the shade. Would be glad to share details of the arrangement. Since my wife an I enjoy cycling we also installed a Class III Hidden Hitch (adjustable width) in order to have a secure mount for a hitch mounted bike rack. Somewhere between 8500 and 9000 miles, the shank portion of the rack broke enroute leading to the loss of one of the two bikes mounted on the rack. That was the beginning of my education about companies that don't warrant bike racks mounted on travel trailers. Now looking to see if ANYONE warrants a rack for use of the rear of a travel trailer. So far, only Swagman says that they do (at least for those with an RV designation in the product title). Would also have to work without an attached tether since there is no suitable attachment point on the rear of the CampLite 21BHS. Anyone had similar bike rack issues- or solutions?  After a couple of years now, we have also had to replace the roof vent lids due to a combination of UV exposure and an unexpected springtime hail storm. Resorted to polycarbonate lids this time, given at least they are supposedly stronger than the original. 10,000 miles also provides a good shake/vibration test for a new trailer. In our case, everything on the 2015 21BHS remained intact except for the inside connection box where feeds come together from internal wiring and the roof mounted omni directional antenna. Worked itself completely out of the ceiling but was luckily caught by the support arm of the TV mount. I'll try to attach some images of the solar panel/battery arrangement, as well as the Hidden Hitch mount (and broken bike rack shaft), as well as some stick-on tile treatments in the kitchen and bath area.  

[span]Like many other owner posts, we too have longed at the end of a day for a comfortable  place to sit inside (other than the bed, or the dinette). I've looked at the jack knife sofas in some of the Camplites used in lieu of the dinette/pole mounted table - wondering if a retrofit of a jack knife sofa would be feasible in our 21BHS. I hear the complaints about the lack of comfort of the jack knife sofas when converted to a bed (not a rear issue for us). I also wonder about the practicality of using the fold away table and sofa arrangement for eating convenience. Any comments from those having the jack knife sofa instead of a traditional dinette or those having converted from dinette to sofa arrangement.

Well, that's is for my two cents. Glad to be a participant on the Forum and to be able to share our experiences with our 2015 21BHS. Would be glad to share pics, but unfortunately having trouble inserting them (help??)

[charliem]

[font size="3"]Re the bike rack issue, I have had very good luck with the Swagman basket type carrier on my 21RBS.

[a href="http://www.swagman.net/product/traveler-xc2/"]http://www.swagman.net/product/traveler-xc2/[/a]

Thousands of miles with no trouble. It is the 2" shank model requiring a 2" receiver and I use it on the rear of the trailer and the truck. I did have the trailer bumper beefed up to 4x4, as discussed elsewhere, to accept a 2" receiver. If you presently have a strong 2" receiver mounted to the frame you should be able to use the Swagman. Do not rely on the unmodified bumper alone and do not use the 1.25" Swagman model or the one that comes with a 2" adapter. I'm not sure what you meant by attached tether, but there is nothing like that in my installation. See pictures and discussion at [a href="http://livinlite-owners.com/post/29/thread"]http://livinlite-owners.com/post/29/thread[/a] .

On inserting pictures, resize your pictures to less than 1MB each. A[/font][font size="3"] convenient size is 1200x800 pixels. U[/font][font size="3"]se the attachment button at the top right of the post composition screen. Select each picture on you computer and upload to the form. Then put your cursor where you want to insert the picture and press insert. You can include up to five pictures per post.
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[mj74]

Have put over 10,000 miles on our 2015 bhs between trips to New England in the fall and a recent 9000+ mile trip from NC to the west coast and back this spring. Prior to the most recent and extensive trip we replaced the original 12v battery with two six volt golf cart batteries along with a single solar panel and charge controller atop the newly housed batteries. Arrangement works great to keep batteries charged while trailer in in storage lot. When dry camping, solar panel and stand can be detached and moved to optimize exposure to sun, while keeping camper in the shade. Would be glad to share details of the arrangement. Since my wife an I enjoy cycling we also installed a Class III Hidden Hitch (adjustable width) in order to have a secure mount for a hitch mounted bike rack. Somewhere between 8500 and 9000 miles, the shank portion of the rack broke enroute leading to the loss of one of the two bikes mounted on the rack. That was the beginning of my education about companies that don't warrant bike racks mounted on travel trailers. Now looking to see if ANYONE warrants a rack for use of the rear of a travel trailer. So far, only Swagman says that they do (at least for those with an RV designation in the product title). Would also have to work without an attached tether since there is no suitable attachment point on the rear of the CampLite 21BHS. Anyone had similar bike rack issues- or solutions?  

[mj74]

What brand bike rack was it that snapped on you? I have a Yakima I was going to use after I get the bumper beefed up to 4"x4", but now I'm worried.  Is there that much more violent force at the back of a travel trailer than at the back of a passenger vehicle?

[charliem]

Yes the forces are much greater at the rear of the trailer. Different springs, greater moment arm, more bouncing. The pictures of the failed rack show a 1.25" thin walled tube. Not a surprise. Use only a true 2" shank with a 2" receiver. Also, when having the bumper beefed up, make sure it is properly welded to the frame as described in other threads on this forum. Just adding a 2x4 to the existing bumper in insufficient and dangerous.

[mj74]

Thanks charliem, my Yakima has the 2" shank, and I have a u-bolt 2" receiver. I will definitely have the brace welded to the frame as described in the other threads.

I didn't notice that the broken bike rack in stillcamping's pic was 1.25" till you pointed that out.  

Sounds like the swagman is nice, may look into that more.

[gbpack]

Yes, we are using the Swagman bumper adapter / receiver as well and it works great! Very well designed and built. Extremely solid. Our existing bike rack that we've had for many years is a Swagman, so we wanted to be able to use on the back bumper of our 21BHS. That bumper adapter (along with a reinforced bumper) will give you many miles and years of worry-free carrying of your bikes!