Yes, I just drilled through the metal and used sheet metal screws where needed.

The TV mount looks good! Looks like a lot of work but worth it.

Cool. Another trip to Lowes for more screws, LOL!

Thanks! It's been a pain, but at least we'll be able to use it. I never even bothered opening it up after the first time or two because we couldn't see the darn thing very well (not that we're total couch potatoes, but still).

Next up is installing a pet door/tunnel from the stairwell to the basement compartment to use as a litter box "room"...

Hey Webman,

When you leaving for Yellowstone? We are actually heading out of Florida end of May and should be in Yellowstone early June. Really like the work you've shared here, maybe you can give us some ideas for ours!

Awesome! We'll be rolling out of Sarasota on 4 June and will reach Jackson on the 23rd. We've never been to Yellowstone before, and will be doing sort of a round robin from Jackson to West Yellowstone, then up to Gardiner and over to Red Lodge before we start heading east on our return leg in early July.

this board has been awesome for ideas (especially from ctpres and LyonsL)! I just wish I hadn't put some of these things off so long, because the rig is going to be soooooo much more comfortable to live in, especially the recliners and memory foam mattress. I don't consider myself a handy person, but after having to tackle a huge home renovation project (we had to have our entire drain system replaced, and just decided to go ahead and remodel the house in addition to repairing the collateral damage to the floors - but there's no way we could afford to have someone else do it all), the stuff I'm doing to the RV seems like no big deal. And thank God for YouTube how-to videos. How did we get by without them before? :D

I've still got a long list of mods, mostly minor once I get the living room TV cabinet and basement litter box compartment sorted out, that I hope to have done before we leave, so we'll see how many I actually finish.

Attention all Challenger owners.
 

There is a cool website that lets you see where your RV friends are, and in general enjoy membership in numerous groups of like minded RV'rs.
RVillage
I though it would be fun to meet other Challenger owners as we travel so I formed a new group called "Challenger Owners Unite"
RVillage - Group Profile - Thor Challenger Owners Unite

Check it out. If you like it - sign up for free and encourage others to join. The more members in the group the more fun we can have traveling.

That's cool! Going to check it out...

If anybody has any ideas on this before I have to call Thor, I'd appreciate your thoughts! I have a loose wire that needs to find a home.

Behind the fireplace I found an exposed wire on the 12V circuit. I apologize for the crappy pic, but you can see a gray wire and a white/black wire joined by a gray wire nut. The exposed wire was the white wire coming out of the small conduit in the lower right of the highlighted frame that now ends in a big blob of electricians tape.

Now, I'm *pretty* sure that white wire must have come loose from the wire nut, and the white/black wire goes up into the TV cabinet where the USB charging station is (note: our rig is a 2014.5 37KT). And, coincidentally, the charging station, which normally is backlit red, isn't lit and doesn't seem to charge anything now. But I didn't want to just jam the wires together, LOL!

Anyway, if someone happens to know what that wire should be connected to, I'd appreciate your info. Failing that, I'll call Thor to see if we can get it sorted out.

https://www.irv2.com/attachments/phot...37e205ad96.jpg

Another electrical issue I found was that the receptacle mounted behind the fireplace (and is what the fireplace plugs into - not on the inverter) is wired wrong - reverse polarity. So I'm going to have to pull that thing out and flip the wires.

Today's mods included installing the subwoofer for the new Vizio 2.1 sound bar behind the recliners (the sound is fantastic), bolting/screwing the recliners into place (getting to the rear screws required some serious contortions, LOL), replacing the shower head with a new Oxygenics model, and clearing out the bin where I plan to put the litter box.

Challenger Owners Unite at RVillage
 

What makes this interesting is you can see where every member is as of their last report. Go to RVillage - Group Profile - Thor Challenger Owners Unite click group map icon and go to very bottom below map where the drop down menue says 100 mi. Click 100 mi and select "all members." Once we get more Challengers involved we will have to try some "get togethers."

This board is awesome! I'm still several threads behind trying to read through it all. We aren't as far along as you with our remodeling. All we have done at this point is install a fireplace below the TV in the living area, replaced both living area and bedroom Tv. Fantastic fans. Installed an external wifi booster and repeater, which works great when at the camp Walmarts, but only amplifies the horrible campground wife's, so we can get 4mb download speeds instead of none inside the RV...lol.

Just finished installing a rear sway bar, steering stabilizer and did the chf for the front sway bar. Plan on taking it out for a test ride this weekend to see and feel the improvements.

We are looking at replacing the dinette with something more comfortable for us and also replacing the vinyl flooring, but those will have to wait till we get back from our trip.

We will be going reverse of you into Colorado. We are heading to Estes park first. Then up to Red Lodge area to explore beartooth. From there into Glacier National Park for a couple of days. Then down to Yellowstone and Jackson. Legs up from here May 28th :)

Well, I just started on all this stuff in the last couple/few weeks. Fortunately I've got time right now as I don't work 9-5, otherwise I'd have needed to start a year ago to meet our departure deadline! :D

We had a Safe-T-Plus and a Blue Ox track bar installed, but I have to confess that for the small fortune we paid LazyDays to install them, I didn't see much of an improvement in handling. I'm going to do the CHF before we leave in hopes that will help. I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for, but we still get pushed around pretty bad by trucks and wind, so we'll see.

Can't help you with that - our little kitchen table works fine for us, although I can't imagine ever raising the drop-down sides. That would be a little cramped. And the flooring is ridiculous! You don't really notice unless you start pulling things up and get a really good look at it, but it's more like patterned vinyl paper. But we're fine with ours for now - it hides the dirt well!

Awesome! We were thinking about getting up to Glacier, but decided that it was just a bit too far for this trip. Rats...

I joined.

Didn't get too much done today. A small but *really* helpful thing was to raise the first entry step and get rid of that stupid threshold that came from the factory. It's both a nuisance and a hazard: I don't know how many times I've stumbled on the stupid thing.

Anyway, a single piece of 1/2" plywood cut to 29 x 10.5 inches did the trick. I had to notch the sides about 1/8" to accommodate the frame of the screen door, and also had to trim a little bit from the rubbery floor covering. But then I just had to press the plywood into place and flatten the covering on top of it - no nails or glue required!

https://www.irv2.com/attachments/phot...1329d82220.jpg

https://www.irv2.com/attachments/phot...0d491613b0.jpg

Of course, after that happy little victory came the agony of defeat over the pet door project: there's just too much framing in the way in between the stairwell and the adjacent forward compartment (the compartment aft of the stairwell is too small) to use a commercial door big enough for our cats (Siberians - they're pretty big). I may look into making something from scratch, but that'll take more time than I want to allocated right now. So it's on to the other things on my list first...

Which brings us to ventilation for the A/V cabinet, which how holds two Dish receivers and will also house my PS4 if/when I decide to take it with us. The lower shelf is a piece of 3/4" plywood that I'll later either stain or veneer, but for now it's functional. I'll be installing a fan (pictured) toward the rear of the cabinet on the aft cabinet wall. The fan has a little temperature display that I think I'll put out of the way on the right side of the cabinet (which faces the back of the driver's seat), and will also cut out some slots for cool air to enter the cabinet. The fan will vent into the area behind the fireplace.

https://www.irv2.com/attachments/phot...d6296a7ad7.jpg

One of the first mods that I made to our coach. I don't know why the designers thought that would be acceptable!?!. Like you said, an easy fix. I hope the 2016s & 2017s don't have the protruding threshold.

Water pressure tank
 

Since we dry camp a fair amount, I was always concerned by the wear and tear on the pump (and the noise) when just running a small stream of water -- brushing teeth, washing fruit, etc. Several units ago, I purchased and installed a 2 gallon pressure tank (Menards?) for about $30. I teed it in very close to the output of the pump. Now when we are hooked up to city water, the tank takes on a little over a gallon of water. When dry camping, the tank provided about a gallon of water before the pump turns on. The pump then runs to meet the immediate demand and then runs enough to refill the pressure tank.
I like the fact that the pump doesn't cycle on and off when running a small stream of water. Saves on the pump and my nerves!