Journey/Meridian owners out of box solutions

[phinneyj]

I and the DW have identified some things about the 04 Journey 39K we just acquired. First one is that we find we do not have a good place to leave a drink and en route materials close at hand. We are thinking of a table or something that can be easily reached from your seat and moved when housekeeping is set up. Any ideas on this or something else about your rig that needed a creative solution?

[doorguy]

Jeff, we've had our 39K for 2.5 yrs now. Here are some of our "out of box" improvements we made.
1. The bottom rubber seal of the kitchen slide just sticks on and it will come loose. W. will replace it but it will come loose again. In later, years they addressed the problem and fixed it. I fixed it by buying some 1/2" wide aluminum flat bars and drilling holes every 3" in them and screwing it to the bottom of the rubber seal with self-tapping screws.

2. If added another 110V outlet in the rear dinette wall about 12" above the floor. We use a small table there next to the dinette seat for a toaster oven.

3. Added a 110V outlet in the electrical bay on drivers side. There is no existing 110V outlet on that side of coach.

4. Added a 110V outlet in the cover on the floor in the drivers compartment. I use the steering wheel for my laptop station.

5. Took the largest of the corian sink covers and made a quick set up for it on the pull out cabinet next to the sink so the cook has more countertop to work with on occaision.

6. Cut an access hole in the engine fan shroud to get a "good" cleaning of the front side of radiator and CAC. See my and others posts on this. Mike and Pat I think have pics with their post.

7. The info center above the dash radio is hard to read with sunglasses on at the angle it is installed. I repositioned it in the existing hole so bottom of the unit sticks out about 1/2" and now I can read it. I like to keep up with what gear I'm in.

8. Installed an exterior door stop for the entry door to keep it from hyper-extending beyond the 90 deg. angle. Look it up at www.3tsrv.com

9. Installed a tool box on the top rear compartment of the LR slide. There is plenty of clearance of all frame parts when the slide is retracted. This gives me a place to store odds and ends.

10. We like to keep the entry door open during nice weather but may also have the heat or a/c on, so I added thin plexiglass panels to the inside of the screen door to give us the open feeling but still seal the opening. I mounted them with small dabs of GOOP on the corners; I didn't want to drill into the screen frame for screws. They will come out to be cleaned, etc.

11. Installed a 14"x14" vent in the bedroom. It was just too dark back there. At night I place one of those vent cushions in it to keep street lighting and such out.

I am always looking at ways to make things better, so I welcome others input also.

[phinneyj]

Originally Posted by doorguy

Jeff, we've had our 39K for 2.5 yrs now. Here are some of our "out of box" improvements we made.
1. The bottom rubber seal of the kitchen slide just sticks on and it will come loose. W. will replace it but it will come loose again. In later, years they addressed the problem and fixed it. I fixed it by buying some 1/2" wide aluminum flat bars and drilling holes every 3" in them and screwing it to the bottom of the rubber seal with self-tapping screws.

2. If added another 110V outlet in the rear dinette wall about 12" above the floor. We use a small table there next to the dinette seat for a toaster oven.

3. Added a 110V outlet in the electrical bay on drivers side. There is no existing 110V outlet on that side of coach.

4. Added a 110V outlet in the cover on the floor in the drivers compartment. I use the steering wheel for my laptop station.

5. Took the largest of the corian sink covers and made a quick set up for it on the pull out cabinet next to the sink so the cook has more countertop to work with on occaision.

6. Cut an access hole in the engine fan shroud to get a "good" cleaning of the front side of radiator and CAC. See my and others posts on this. Mike and Pat I think have pics with their post.

7. The info center above the dash radio is hard to read with sunglasses on at the angle it is installed. I repositioned it in the existing hole so bottom of the unit sticks out about 1/2" and now I can read it. I like to keep up with what gear I'm in.

8. Installed an exterior door stop for the entry door to keep it from hyper-extending beyond the 90 deg. angle. Look it up at Home Page 3-T's RV Products

9. Installed a tool box on the top rear compartment of the LR slide. There is plenty of clearance of all frame parts when the slide is retracted. This gives me a place to store odds and ends.

10. We like to keep the entry door open during nice weather but may also have the heat or a/c on, so I added thin plexiglass panels to the inside of the screen door to give us the open feeling but still seal the opening. I mounted them with small dabs of GOOP on the corners; I didn't want to drill into the screen frame for screws. They will come out to be cleaned, etc.

11. Installed a 14"x14" vent in the bedroom. It was just too dark back there. At night I place one of those vent cushions in it to keep street lighting and such out.

I am always looking at ways to make things better, so I welcome others input also.

Great ideas, thanks. I noticed that your are in Fairfield, I am up near Marysville, maybe if the stars line up sometime I would like to check out your rig. I have the oddball Winnebago 04 Journey 39K with the Workhorse Chassis and a Cummins ISC. Anyway, I already have a 110v outlet in my electrical bay. It is what the engine block heater plugs into. I am curious as to why your FCCC chassis did not have it, or does it? Just kind of confused on the issue. Given our NorCal weather patterns I don't need the block heater that much, maybe only a couple times a year. So I will unplug it during the warm months and use the outlet as I need to. I am going to monitor the slide issue you raised. Sounds like a good solution there.

[dc8cappie]

"1. The bottom rubber seal of the kitchen slide just sticks on and it will come loose. W. will replace it but it will come loose again. In later, years they addressed the problem and fixed it. I fixed it by buying some 1/2" wide aluminum flat bars and drilling holes every 3" in them and screwing it to the bottom of the rubber seal with self-tapping screws."

Any photos of this mod?

[Chuck 1935]

Go here and you can download a brochure for your Journey. You can also get the manuals, wireing diagrams, etc.
They also have a great tech services line if you have a problem. Like finding the fuses for the trailer plug. On my Meridian it is in the elecrical compartment BEHIND a false wall !!!
Good luck, they are great motorhomes.






http://media.gowinnebago.com/models/...ourney-bro.pdf

[1ciderdog]

Doorguy has good ideas for the 39K. I also added a roof air conditioner so supplement the basement air conditioner.

dc8cappie - Doorguy and I communicate regularly and he just sent me a photo of how he added the aluminum strip to help hold that seal. I'm sure he will send that to you - if not let me know and I'll see if I can figure out the photo process.

Maybe someday we'll have a 39K meet and greet somewhere. That would be great.

[phinneyj]

Originally Posted by 1ciderdog

Maybe someday we'll have a 39K meet and greet somewhere. That would be great.

Now that sounds like a good idea

[grandpatime]

I took a 4 drawer plastic storage unit purchased at Wal Mart,removed one of the large drawers. Cut out a matching plywood top and bottom (the top has a cutout for my coffee cup}. The thing is so handy that I have now used it in three different coaches. It's beside the driver on the road and in front of the sofa when parked. I keep enough weight in the lower drawer to stabilize it and use the 2 small upper drawers for my wallet ,keys and sunglasses.
The overall dimensions 13W x 15D x20H I used 1/4x20 all thread rods and PVC spacers for assembly; it's really easy to build if you are a handyman type.

[slick60]

Great thread for us 39K owners. I have a 2004 39K on a Workhorse chassis with a 330 cummins...very rare but serving me well. I have added the plex to the door and love the extra light and view with the door open. Just replaced my old Sony in the front with a 32 inch Toshiba HDTV supportd by a 15" articulated wall mount. Looks great. Like more info on adding the 110 outlets. Any problems with breakers?

[Luckiest Dreamer]

One of the simplest things that I did was to inventory my basement contents. Using the doors as compartment #'s and the plastic bins that are used in each compartment are numbered as well. I then printed the inventory and inserted in a plastic sleve and taped it to the inside of the basement door with the slide. My only need now is keeping it upgraded and putting everything back in the same spot each time. (that was harder than one would expect as I tend to just put things down in the quickest spot)

[Deucenut]

What do you guys do with the 50 amp electrical cord? Mine is just shoved into the compartment. It is so thick and hard to coil that whoever used it last just shoved it in.

[skigramp]

My 50 amp cord coils in the electric / water bay.

Yours can be trained to coil by fully extending the cord on a warm day ... then as you wind it into the bay turn the cable one complete rotation ... (just like a cowboy coils his rope) ... once you have it coiled it will go back in easily ... try it you will like it ...

[phinneyj]

Our 50a cord naturally lays in a figure 8 so it is easy to load.

[doorguy]

Originally Posted by dc8cappie

"1. The bottom rubber seal of the kitchen slide just sticks on and it will come loose. W. will replace it but it will come loose again. In later, years they addressed the problem and fixed it. I fixed it by buying some 1/2" wide aluminum flat bars and drilling holes every 3" in them and screwing it to the bottom of the rubber seal with self-tapping screws."

Any photos of this mod?

dc8cappie, I have had trouble uploading photos to my pc; the pic I sent 1ciderdog I took with my smartphone and emailed it to myself and then I forwarded it to him. THAT is how he gets my pics and I'm not sure he can manipulate the pic to post it, but I will try again with the upload, but if you don't mind PM-ing me with an email address, I can forward the pic to you.

[1ciderdog]

Originally Posted by doorguy

dc8cappie, I have had trouble uploading photos to my pc; the pic I sent 1ciderdog I took with my smartphone and emailed it to myself and then I forwarded it to him. THAT is how he gets my pics and I'm not sure he can manipulate the pic to post it, but I will try again with the upload, but if you don't mind PM-ing me with an email address, I can forward the pic to you.

I'm attacing the message and photo Doorguy sent me about the seal.

Bob, here is the pic of my slide seal fix for kitchen slide. I bought 2 ea 1/2"x1/8"x96" pieces of aluminum flat bar at Home Depot. Then I used my drill press to drill holes every 3". I then used self-tapping phillips head screws and just screwed it directly to the seal and the metal behind it. You have to use an extension on your drill to get the leverage you need. I did this 2 yrs ago and it has held ever since. In some year later, could be 05, W. integrated the seal with a metal screw on flange, basically the same thing I did.

[KoolBell]

Originally Posted by grandpatime

I took a 4 drawer plastic storage unit purchased at Wal Mart,removed one of the large drawers. Cut out a matching plywood top and bottom (the top has a cutout for my coffee cup}. The thing is so handy that I have now used it in three different coaches. It's beside the driver on the road and in front of the sofa when parked. I keep enough weight in the lower drawer to stabilize it and use the 2 small upper drawers for my wallet ,keys and sunglasses.
The overall dimensions 13W x 15D x20H I used 1/4x20 all thread rods and PVC spacers for assembly; it's really easy to build if you are a handyman type.

How some pics of the baby! I'd like to see that.