Jim and his 34X

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Jim Golden
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2016 1:39 pm

Jim and his 34X

Post by Jim Golden »

Howdy Gang,

Got the invite from Rob and now I'm logged in and a bonafide member :)

Got my 34X about 9 or 10 years ago. Have done a ton of work on it. Started with sanding and repainting the frame, new shocks, repacking the wheel bearings and new seals, rewired the lights, new toilet, new fridge, new a/c, new faucets, converted the rear twin beds to a rear King, three new roof vents, (Maxxair and love them), removed the carpet and installed floating flooring (then tore it back out...looking to reinstall a different one....), removed the front gaucho and replaced with custom bunk beds for the kids with the bottom one having a nice sloped backrest that serves as a couch during the day, installed a 32" flat screen with 300watt surround and a 100W powered subwoofer...she really cranks for movie night :), new DWV plumbing, removed the Rube Goldberg shower wall accordion thing that broke at Fort Wilderness and installed a new shower rod with a tropical fish curtain, not sure what else...oh yeah new dual fuel water heater. Have towed it about 25,000 miles and had a blast with it.

Oh, I forgot....I converted it to 50amp service with a new Progressive Dynamics power panel and am really happy with it.

Happy to join the group here, and will gladly share what little knowledge I have with anyone who needs help. I had a '77 Airstream Escella 500 before this ship, and liked it a lot. But it had severe frame issues and was beyond what I had time to do (I designed a new frame for it, but didn't have time to make it). Avion's frame is far superior to Airstream's and you'll not have trouble with them.

Nice to meet you all.

Jim
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Razorback
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Re: Jim and his 34X

Post by Razorback »

Hi, Jim. Glad to see you here.!
Razorback (Paul)
1987 Avion 34W
1995 Ford F-250 7.3L PowerStroke
I'm a "whosoever"... are you???
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KYAvion
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Re: Jim and his 34X

Post by KYAvion »

Hi Jim-

Welcome to the site! You've done a couple mods I have in mind. Well, I was thinking of a queen short in place of the twins, but you've got me wondering about a king short now. That might be a bit large in my 30R though. Would you upload a pic to the interior restoration forum when you have a chance?

I also plan to rewire for 50 amp at some point. I was going to do a separate panel and PD converter just to keep things separate, but I'd be curious to hear how you like your combo unit. Plenty of room for dedicated and additional circuits? One thing I don't like about the current arrangement is all the outlets are on a single breaker. How many amps on the converter did you go with BTW?

Rob
KYAvion
1984 Avion 30R
Jim Golden
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2016 1:39 pm

Re: Jim and his 34X

Post by Jim Golden »

Rob,

Sorry to be so slow...been a bit crazy for me here of late....

I just did a post on my 30amp to 50amp conversion. Check it out. It's pretty cool. I used a Progressive Dynamics 4560 and am never looking back. It's a bit of work, but you can do it in a weekend. Use 6-wire for the main feed, four conductor. Get some pool floaties to protect that wire from chaffing. You'll have to do some carpenter work and maybe some shimming. The hardest part was wiring up both the 120v ac and 12v dc, but you can figure it out. It's not that bad. And man oh man is it nice to never worry about running out of power again :)

I'll try to get a post on here with the bed. I'll have to get some pics and upload/shrink them. I kind of lied...I was going to do a King but the local mattress places wouldn't make me one with rounded corners on one edge. A king will fit, but you have to round the corners on the one long edge. I used a Queen instead which fits with room on both ends, and then stuffed pool floaties into the cracks at the head and foot and along the back to fill it in. If you don't fill those holes in, it's a great place for the kids to hide and jump out at you! But anyway, it made a really nice install. I built a little bridge that fits in between where the two twins were, across the aisle, and it's self locking so it doesn't shift as you go down the road. I couldn't sleep with the old flat twins and my head cricked against the curve....if you can't sleep you can't enjoy the vacation.

With the Simmons Beauty Rest Pillow Top Plush Firm Queen, I sleep very well now. Made all the difference in the world.

Take care,
Jim
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KYAvion
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Re: Jim and his 34X

Post by KYAvion »

Hi Jim- thanks for the reply and posting on the 50amp upgrade. As far as the rear bed, I ended up just pushing the twins together and placing a memory foam topper on top. It's a little larger than a queen and super comfy now with plenty of space. I'll get around to the 50 amp eventually. For now I just run a separate 12 gauge cord to a dedicated outlet for a space heater. I'm also going to add a receptacle behind the range since the stovetop is the perfect place for a toaster/pizza oven, but there seems to be an absence of kitchen outlets in my 30R.
KYAvion
1984 Avion 30R
Jim Golden
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2016 1:39 pm

Re: Jim and his 34X

Post by Jim Golden »

That's a very good point. There aren't a lot of ac outlets in there. Wouldn't hurt to add one there. That way you're not tripping over the extension cord or getting it wet running across the sink to the one by the door :)

My dad just offered to sell me a 5th wheel trailer at a cheap price. But I passed on it. I really like this old 34 and the way we've customized it. I might just hang onto it...
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