[hawkstercamper]

I took a quick pass at a driver's side armrest/pad. I can never get my seat (manual 4-way swivel) height and steering wheel angle aligned to be really comfortable, so I wanted to add a pad to rest my left arm higher.

This pad was built out of spare parts: two layers of 1" memory foam from my bed base layer plus some neoprene. Mileage will tell if this is useful. My spare neoprene was too thick, so the corners are ugly. After testing, this will get made less ugly if it has any utility at all.

View attachment 223724
View attachment 223725

I am looking for an extension for the armrests on both the driver and front passenger side. I am small and narrow and I have to lean uncomfortably to the arm rest if I want to use it. Any ideas appreciated.

 

[tonk]

I am looking for an extension for the armrests on both the driver and front passenger side. I am small and narrow and I have to lean..

I’m not small and narrow and the armrest is out of reach for me too.

I smell a business opportunity for someone..

 

[hawkstercamper]

I’m not small and narrow and the armrest is out of reach for me too.

I smell a business opportunity for someone..

yes, one that folds out when using and back when not.

 

[Mark Bird]

The control board on my X3 air conditioner decided to start acting sporadically now that it's hot out. Nomadic support was very responsive, but I had to buy a new control board ($414!) since their warranty is only a year. I was an early adopter on the X3, and I was not rewarded for that move.

Replacing the control board is quite easy. It just pops out/in to the interior faceplate and has one connector to swap. I'm really happy with the new features of the control board - most of my gripes have been resolved: no beeps for button presses, the display automatically goes dark, and the compressor is controlled to stop cycling non-stop.

 

[Mark Bird]

I made driver arm rest 3.0, then I put 4000 miles on it. Rousing success!

I'm glad that I shortened the pad to the little cup / pull, as it makes it easy to pull the door closed. My elbow really only sits on a small part of the pad while driving, but that's okay because the extra 2" is a big deal.

 

[LeeH]

Great idea, would you mind sharing more info on the build?

 

[gregoryx]

Great idea, would you mind sharing more info on the build?

Take a look HERE.

 

[Mark Bird]

Wifey has been complaining that our fresh water doesn't taste good, so I made some time to experiment. I have been lazy, just filling our fresh water tank from a garden hose since I'm used to tap water and have low standards. The water is completely emptied and replaced between uses, and I've given the tank a mild bleach treatment. The taste complaint is attributable to something in my van or filling approach as opposed to funk in my water tank.

I did a taste test comparing water from the same spigot using 1) standard garden hose with garden wand 2) Camco EvoFlex water hose and 3) the water hose plus a Camco water filter. I could readily taste the difference between (1) and (2), where the dedicated water hose removed a significant aftertaste from the water. I felt that (3) was slightly better than (2), with the filter removing a minor additional taste.

So pleased with my results, I filled up my fresh water tank using the water hose plus water filter. I ran a bunch of water through my lines and did a taste taste. Sure enough, the water from my van's kitchen faucet still had a notable aftertaste. Bugger.

Water filter time. The first item that came up in forum search was this post. I really didn't feel like becoming a water filtration expert. This guy is snooty about coffee, so he must be snooty enough about water quality too, right? And the Frizzlife water filter gets good enough reviews and is inexpensive.

Install was easy enough, at least in the realm of laying upside down doing plumbing things or any RV maintenance in tight spaces things. I had a pony divider wall under my sink that made for an easy mounting location. I wasn't thrilled with how much the mount swivels freely, so I did add a loop near the bottom of the filter to restrict the filter from pivoting. Maybe I should have put the filter on the ground, but that would require compromising on wine storage. Easy call.

No leaks. Yay. And the taste test was surprisingly successful. Wifey approved.

That means that the unpleasant water taste is coming from my water tank or PEX lines? Yes there's fittings too, but probability would say it's the tank, right? Maybe I'm naive, but I didn't expect the tank or plumbing lines to significantly impact the water quality. Oh well, lesson learned.

 

[65Brier]

Wifey has been complaining that our fresh water doesn't taste good, so I made some time to experiment. I have been lazy, just filling our fresh water tank from a garden hose since I'm used to tap water and have low standards. The water is completely emptied and replaced between uses, and I've given the tank a mild bleach treatment. The taste complaint is attributable to something in my van or filling approach as opposed to funk in my water tank.

I did a taste test comparing water from the same spigot using 1) standard garden hose with garden wand 2) Camco EvoFlex water hose and 3) the water hose plus a Camco water filter. I could readily taste the difference between (1) and (2), where the dedicated water hose removed a significant aftertaste from the water. I felt that (3) was slightly better than (2), with the filter removing a minor additional taste.

So pleased with my results, I filled up my fresh water tank using the water hose plus water filter. I ran a bunch of water through my lines and did a taste taste. Sure enough, the water from my van's kitchen faucet still had a notable aftertaste. Bugger.

Water filter time. The first item that came up in forum search was this post. I really didn't feel like becoming a water filtration expert. This guy is snooty about coffee, so he must be snooty enough about water quality too, right? And the Frizzlife water filter gets good enough reviews and is inexpensive.

Install was easy enough, at least in the realm of laying upside down doing plumbing things or any RV maintenance in tight spaces things. I had a pony divider wall under my sink that made for an easy mounting location. I wasn't thrilled with how much the mount swivels freely, so I did add a loop near the bottom of the filter to restrict the filter from pivoting. Maybe I should have put the filter on the ground, but that would require compromising on wine storage. Easy call.
View attachment 228801

No leaks. Yay. And the taste test was surprisingly successful. Wifey approved.

That means that the unpleasant water taste is coming from my water tank or PEX lines? Yes there's fittings too, but probability would say it's the tank, right? Maybe I'm naive, but I didn't expect the tank or plumbing lines to significantly impact the water quality. Oh well, lesson learned.

It's an old trick but it still works:

Buy the cheapest flavored distilled beverage (80 proof) you can get - Scotch is traditional. Run that through the tank and lines and dispose of it. The ethanol carries off all the nasty plastic taste with it when it goes.

You don't need to fill the tank - just make sure the ethanol mixture makes contact with all of its insides and stews in there for a few days.

 

[Mark Bird]

Buy the cheapest flavored distilled beverage (80 proof) you can get - Scotch is traditional. Run that through the tank and lines and dispose of it. The ethanol carries off all the nasty plastic taste with it when it goes.

Thanks for the old school tip. I couldn't convince myself to put non-potable alcohol in the tank, so I went the 'cheap booze' route. I did a five day soak with a good agitation drive mid-way. Wifey thinks the water straight from the tank is much improved. I'm not going to bother to rip the filter out, but lesson learned for the future.

 

[Mark Bird]

I finally made time for another project that I struggled (am still struggling) to get excited about: upholstering some of the exposed metal and wire looms.

I spent quite a bit of time & trialing to pick a fabric. I bought the sample swatches of Marathon / Duramax / Gemini tweed, but neither Wifey nor I liked the tweed look. I tried a few gray colors of EZ Flex Automotive carpet, but it was too thick or pilly. We finally settled on a poly microfiber that's a smidge darker than the gray Ford liner. I also bought 1/8" Landau foam.

Since the van is fully glassed, the metal column between the mid and rear windows needed a cover. I noticed a draft through that area on our trips last fall. I didn't want to overcomplicate the curves of the sheet metal, and I didn't want to test the limits of my lousy upholstery skills, so I decided to leave some metal exposed to minimize work & keep the magnetic window covers working. I cut foam shapes to cover the columns, and I applied fabric to the covers using 3M 90 in the workshop. That approach is a little backwards from the standard foam then fabric in the van, but for these skinny columns I felt that I could make it work.

I covered the D pillars and the area above the cargo doors next using the typical foam then fabric approach. I had left wire looms crossing at the top rear of the van, so I just used the Landau to create a new profile & mostly smooth surface to cover the loom. I took the same (lazy) approach for the larger holes in the D pillar, where you could work hard to make perfect curves or take the easy route if those slight contour changes don't bother you. Because of the complex curves around the D pillar, I used several different cuts of foam & fabric to mostly avoid fabric bunching & wrinkles. I covered up fabric seams between the cuts with 1" cheater strips of fabric folded on both edges. The rear edge of the fabric is easy, just hide it underneath the door seal. On the other edges, I folded the fabric back behind the foam to create a reasonable looking edge.

It's not my favorite activity, and I think you'd have to be really detail oriented to make it look perfect. But for my level of upholstery expertise, I'm fairly happy with it. And the cost is relatively low for prettying up the van.

 

[gregoryx]

Clever! 👏