We are planning a trip in February to sunny Tucson but that is a subject for another post at a later date. For now I had a weekend project in mind, and although it was a windy day, the temperature was a very pleasant 70 degrees. Something not to be wasted in January. The project involved fixing a problem that was created when the previous owner of our KZ 5th wheel replaced the rear bumper.
The modification he did was a great idea. The new bumper was heavy duty 4x4 steel tubing and a receiver trailer hitch. Now a trailer could be towed behind the 5th wheel allowing us to bring along ATVs or we could add a platform to carry a generator or whatever.
The problem was this: many RV bumpers are large enough to also serve as a place to store the sewer hose that travels with the RV. That is made possible by the thin walls of those types of bumpers.
This new bumper with thicker steel walls could no longer hold the sewer hose, so it was stored in the basement of the trailer until we needed to empty the holding tanks. Not a great alternative. Even though both ends were capped I didn't like it in there and besides we needed the space for other things.
I wanted to add an outside storage tube, but they cost close to $60 plus shipping and installation. They are made of white ABS plastic, have screw on caps, and look nice if you are into big white pipes hanging onto the outside of your RV where they can be seen. My thought was to put it under the trailer, out of sight, so appearance was not so important. This was all about functionality, not looks.
My solution was to make my own storage tube using a 5 foot piece of 5 inch galvanized steel duct which costs about $6. I also bought two brackets ($7 each) to attach it to the chassis of the trailer, but that was not really necessary. There are other less expensive ways to attach it. I used a couple of pieces of scrap slotted angle iron I had on hand and drilled holes in the chassis to attach the slotted angle iron with bolts. Then I attached the brackets to that. You could use perforated metal plumbing strap, baling wire or whatever works for you. This photo is a little deceptive. Nothing I added extends any lower than the existing pipes or axles, so there is no chance of anything dragging.
I sloped the tube so anything draining out of the hose would go out the back end and away from where I would be working. The back end was closed off with a couple layers of duct tape, leaving the bottom 1/4 inch open for drainage. At the front end I drilled a couple of holes and inserted a piece of wire through them to keep the hose in place while driving. I was careful to place the seam of the duct on top so the hose would not slide over any sharp edges when being taken in or out. Also, the ends of the duct are different. One end is crimped and has a sharp edge. The other end is not crimped and has a rolled edge which is not sharp. I used the rolled edge end for the end I will access the hose through.
I picked up my parts at an air conditioning supply house, but Lowe's and Home Depot also have pretty good HVAC departments. It took me a about 3 hours to figure out where and how to attach everything and actually do the work. Next time I think I could do it in about an hour. Oh yeah, two more things, if you decide to try this yourself, wear gloves when working with the duct and be sure to secure your connections by using lock washers, locking nuts, Loc-Tite thread locking compound, or all of the above. You don't want the whole thing to fall off while going down the highway.
I hope to see you on the road soon!
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