Pull-out
Shelf under Pantry. Some newer Roadtreks have a
slide-out white plastic surface on top of the left kitchen drawer and under the
TV cabinet. It increases cooking counter space. Our Roadtrek had a pantry
cabinet instead of the TV cabinet. We made a slide-out shelf beneath the pantry
cabinet using two oak strips and two lengths of ½” aluminum
channel, and a piece of Corian (breadboard
size). The Corian
was cut to our specs at a countertop shop.
To make the spacing wide enough we taped bamboo meat skewers to the side
of the Corian shelf and spaced the channels, screwed
them up into place on the bottom of the pantry cabinet, then removed the
skewers. The Corian shelf has a finger hole front and
center to ease pullout.
Sink Cabinet Pull-out Shelves. Our
Roadtrek had two shelves in a cabinet beneath the stovetop. To find the proper
pan or skillet we were forced to assume Pilates poses with a flashlight, and of
course the pan you need is at the back under
everything. We found ball bearing slide hardware on the Internet – we
mounted it beneath the slide out shelf rather than on the side of the shelf
(slides raise the shelf bottom ½ inch above the
original shelf). We made shelves of plywood with 2” high sides, front,
and back, like a shallow tray. (We
used leftover Marine Board for the sides and back.)
The top shelf is notched to
clear the plumbing in the back. We
spaced the two slides under on the lower shelf so thin plastic cutting boards
store between them. The slides
allow 100% pull out of the trays without dumping, and a detent
keeps them closed while traveling.
Corian
Counter Top. The Formica counter top surface looked
okay in our third-hand Roadtrek, but we splurged on an upgrade. We went to a Corian counter fabrication shop where they had replaced
counters in other RVs. They quoted $500 to remove the old counter, install a
new faucet and remount the sink, make a Corian cover
with lifting hole for the sink, and fabricate a cover for the two-burner stove
that increased the counter space by 1/3. Since this is a “small” Corian job they let us pick the Corian
pattern from their scrap pile. Naturally we selected the top of the line
(expensive) pattern since it was included in the price. It was pricy but well
worth it.
Sink Faucet With Higher Spout. The
Roadtrek original OEM faucet was a low-spout two clear plastic handles (cheap)
model that defied rinsing ordinary saucepans. We upgraded to a nicer faucet when we
replaced the countertop, but we wanted a faucet that reached farther into the
sink and was taller for rinsing pots and pans. We found a Moen Bar faucet (model 8940)
with a spout with appropriate height and reach. Be sure to measure carefully.
LED
Strip Lights. We Googled on 12 VDC strip lights and
found them in warm white and cool white color temperature. They come on an
adhesive strip with cut lines for fitting. We liked the warm white better
– the cool white is a bit too blue for our taste. We installed a separate
rocker switch with an LED indicator light on the header above the sink. The
strip extends from left to right at the back edge of the upper cabinets and
stove hood. The brilliant light is shadow-less and would let you operate on
squirrels if you are a vet. A 12 VDC dimmer is available from Amazon if you
want to dial down the light level for the kind of romantic evening seen in
Roadtrek advertising brochures.
Kitchen Window Sill Storage for Soap
& Cleaners. We bought a 2’ x 2’ piece of
¼ inch Marine Board from a boat supply store, and made a piece 8”
x 24” to screw into the window sill-backsplash. The space between the
board and window accommodates dish detergent, hand soap, 409, and several other
cleaners. The cloth curtain on that
window was so small we removed it and its tracks, and cut Reflexit
panels to block the window altogether.
This photo shows the original
installation of the window shelf and the first faucet upgrade. The curtain has since been removed and
the faucet replaced.
Sink Strainer. The white plastic stainer with the sink drain was always
closing when I wanted it open. In
fact most of the time I wanted it open, but I didn’t want non-liquids to
go down the drain. One day I found
a set of 2 different sized small drain mesh strainer at the Dollar Store. The bigger one fit perfectly in the sink
and the smaller one fits the shower drain perfectly. We have been very pleased with how well
both have worked.
Sponge Storage. Kitchen
sponges will clutter any kitchen and the holders with suction cups that fit in
the sink were always in the way.
We made a three-sponge holder
out of ½” aluminum strip riveted together. It is screwed to the piece of ¼
inch Marine Board that creates the window shelf.
Compartments are labeled
FLOOR, TABLE, and DISH. The holder
is mounted next to the kitchen window.
Snyder Kit
Makes Refrigerator Better. Our 2310 Dometic
refrigerator in our Roadtrek was erratic, turning ice cream into soup one time
and turning ice cream into case-hardened steel the next. It worked fine when parked, but while
traveling the temperature kept rising.
Many Roadtrekers
have solved this problem buy buying a Snyder Kit to
install on the back of the refrigerator.
It provides a ducted fan to improve cooling performance. We found that
sometimes on the road the fridge would warm up, so we made a scoop to bring in
ram air when moving. The scoop is
made from a 5” vinyl fencepost top sawed in two and bolted onto the grill
with stainless steel bolts and shake proof nuts.
We thought the Snyder Kit fan
had failed, but when we removed the refrigerator (for other reasons) we saw
that a wire had come loose from a connection. We had already ordered a higher
cfm waterproof 12 VDC fan replacement from an ebay
provider so we installed it. Stu
Snyder expressed doubts about the higher velocity fan being beneficial, but so
far it works fine. Hopefully, come
summer it will pay off.
For a complete set of photos
detailing the installation of the Snyder Kit see the Photo Album titled
“Red Rover – Snyder Kit Install” on the Yahoo Roadtrek Group
website. There are also photo albums
there on refrigerator removal, cleaning, and checking the gas pressure.
We installed a new cloth
panel on the fridge door front. Unscrew the trim with the door off, pull the
plywood panel upward. Then slide a
2x4 in edgewise to pry out the panel. Cover and replace.
Refrigerator
Remote Thermometer. How cold is it? We found a Chaney (Acurite)
remote wireless thermometer on Amazon. One sender goes into the freezer, the other sensor goes in the space below. The
remote digital readout has a magnet base and goes on our kitchen vent
hood. It also has button set points
that can sound an alarm when the fridge temperature rises above the desired
value.
Lunchmeat & Cheese Boxes. We
usually have sandwiches for lunch.
And we were always digging around in the fridge for the various packages
of cheese and lunchmeat. I found
these plastic boxes at a grocery store.
They fit perfectly under the drip catcher on the fins on the second
shelf.
Now we can minimize the
fridge door open time. Grab the
boxes, pickles and wraps and close the door. Typically we have three kinds of cheese
and three kinds of lunchmeat in the two boxes.
MicroHearth for
Versatile Microwave Cooking. MicroHearth
makes several sizes of covered dishes of a microwave-tolerant material that can
let you bake biscuits, steam vegetables, or fry (sauté) meat and fish.
It will brown meats nicely. Find
them on Amazon. MicroHearth
cooking is great when you just don’t want to slave over a hot propane
burner. The Grill Pan with ribs on the bottom will cook hamburgers complete
with grill marks.
Drinking Water Container. A transparent 1.25 gallon drinking water
container made by Arrow is sold in Walmart and Meijer. It fits on the counter
flat next to the pantry wall and we held it in place with two eye screws and a
bungee cord. We put a thin foam pad beneath it to absorb road shock. A spigot
delivers the amount you want.
It is great for both drinking
water and for winter use when all tanks are winterized. The bungee can be unhooked and the
container rotated to place the spigot over the sink (put an RV dishpan in the
sink if your gray tank is winterized).
Take care because they are fragile, we have had several that developed
corner cracks. Fortunately they are
inexpensive.
Spice Cupboard Box. Above the sink is a small
rectangular cupboard with a top-hinged lid. We put small bottles of spices in
it but the spice you need was always at the back. We found a bamboo box at a Meijer that
fit. The door catch protrudes into the interior, so we cut a slot in the box
front. All 12 bottles of cooking
spices fit in the box. Remove the entire box when cooking and presto –
you are a gourmand!
Power Outlet Bar. Our
Roadtrek came with a GFP duplex power outlet below the microwave in the
kitchen. We bought a six-outlet
switched extension power bar with a red indicator light. We shortened the cord and installed a
heavy duty plug to go into the duplex outlet. The bar is screwed into the
header over the counter and sink (clearing the faucet – we had to move it
up to clear the faucet and damaged the veneer in the process – we have
plans on how to fix this). Its red
indicator also serves as a night light.
The Keurig
coffee maker plugs into this. At
night we often plug cell phone and iPod and camera battery chargers into this
strip.
The red indicator light is
also an easy way to look in the window and see that shore power is on.
Yet Another Kitchen Mod. After
damaging the veneer above the sink and with some of the side strips about the
window having peeling veneer, we decided to go for the waterproof
approach. In
white, to make things brighter and seem bigger. So as of April 2013 Red Rover’s
kitchen looks like this.
The white material is sold in
4 ft x 8 ft sheets for
bathroom or shower walls. We are
pleased with the appearance and it is easy to keep clean. We replaced the Marine board
“shelf” with the same white material, but it was more flexible than
the Marine board, so we added an aluminum channel to the top which also
provided a convenient attachment for the sponge holder.
Keurig
Coffee Maker. Hang the expense! We bought a Keurig Mini coffee maker and two containers for Keurig cups.
They all just fit on the
shelf above the closet. Our closet
has a 3” rail around it to keep stuff in. A small box on the driver’s side
contains flashlights.
To use the coffee maker it is
placed on top of the stove cover and plugged into the outlet above the
sink. If not plugged into shore
power, run the generator for the couple of minutes it takes to brew a cup.
Cutting Boards. At a
kitchen store we found flexible thin plastic cutting pads or boards. One
package contained four colors. We
can store all of them beneath the pull-out shelf. See Sink
Cabinet Pull-out Shelves description
above.
They work great and
don’t take up much room.
Paper Towel Holder. After
junking numerous inferior paper towel holders, we made one using two screw eye
bolts and a bungee cord. It is
mounted on the long top cabinet door near the driver’s end of the
Roadtrek. Thread one end of the bungee cord through the roll and hook it to the
forward eye bolt. Easily removed
and most of the time you can remove dishes from the cabinet without removing
it.
Kitchen
Foam Flooring. We previously had some interlocking foam flooring that
was 2 ft x 2 ft pieces of
dark gray diamond plate pattern. We
(and the dogs) liked the cushiness and the insulation value, but it was rather
dark and ugly. Similar stuff is
available for kid’s play areas in bright primary colors, but that seemed
too gaudy. Then we discovered this
on the internet. It is a oak strip look that matches well
with the oak cabinets. This is the
dark oak version; we previously had the light oak coloring.
The coloring is only on the
surface, so it does get damaged after a while (it is cream underneath). Nine pieces will give you two complete
floors. We have replaced it once a
year, but we (and our dogs) are likely harder on the floor than most people
(e.g. dropping a screwdriver pointy end down). It is easily removed to shower. We cut a hole for the front table post.
Besides keeping the floor
warmer in the winter and cooler when driving, it also prevents things from
breaking when dropped.