The law of the Great Welfare State of California states that a vehicle towing a trailer requires that
“when the trailer or its load affects the driver’s view to the rear, the law requires two rear view mirrors, one on each side of the towing vehicle, to give the driver an unobstructed view of the highway at least 200 feet behind.”
One of the reasons we purchased our 2006 Fleetwood Niagara was because of all the extra storage it had compared to our much smaller 1992 Starcraft Meteorite. We were just tired of packing stuff for each trip and hauling it out to our tow vehicle on every trip. A large camper would allow to store just about everything we needed for camping in the camper itself. But the storage in the Niagara wasn’t optimal for our use. Here are a few things we did…
If a tent trailer comes with an awning from the dealer, it is usually one of the bottom of the line awful A&E awning. We replaced the awnings on both of our tent trailers with better options.
By far the best and our favorite upgrades to our campers are the solar systems.
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2006 Fleetwood Niagara Dual Battery Set-up (Trojan T-125s)
1992 Starcraft Meteorite Dual Battery and Dual Propane Tank Set-up
When we remodeled our camper we were going to need some batteries and additional propane (LPG) tanks for extended camping trips. I removed the existing hardware for the single battery and single LPG tank and re-engineered the set-up.
Above: The original set-up included a single propane tank and an itty bitty battery tray below it that could only hold a small Group 24 battery.
I started by installing the batteries and hardware. Then I installed dual LPG hardware and tanks.
Above: I found this toolbox at Lowes that was the perfect dimension for two Group 27 batteries.
Above: I installed two pieces of angled aluminum to the trailer’s frame. I then bolted the tool box to the aluminum channels.
Above: Because of the shape of the front of the camper, and the need for the box to be as close to the camper body, to allow room for the propane tanks, the battery box is oriented to open out from the camper body.
Above: Batteries installed.
Above: the toolbox makes a good place to sit your beer can.
Next step was to bolt a dual propane bottle tray to the frame in front of the battery box.
Above: A lock to keep the honest people honest.
Above: This regulator automatically switches tanks when the first one runs empty. Very convenient if the first tank runs out of LPG in the middle of the night. It also has a gauge at the top to let you know when the first tank is empty.
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1992 Starcraft Meteorite Wave 6 Heater
