Mattress and water pump upgrades

[guybmoto]

Despite the less than stellar construction of the stock mattress that came with my Fun Finder (where you can easily feel the wire edges and spring construction), I actually slept really well on it. But after come careful consideration, I decided to go for a mattress upgrade with one of the Eurotop mattresses from Camping World.

Here's the stock mattress, and it's easy to see the hard wire edge through the fabric (my thumb's resting on it).



Maybe the biggest challenge was trying to wrestle the old one out of the trailer without doing any damage. I managed to do it by myself, and by the time I was through I figured that it was probably as easy as trying to coach someone else to help...it probably would have ended up being a wrestling match between the three of us.

While I had the mattress out, and the water pump location exposed, I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity and replace the stock one. It was rated for 3.0 gallons per minute, but I think that's more like 2.5 gallons per minute and the rest as compressed air as it spit like an angry feline.

After some consideration, I kind of reconfigured the area to try and make the flow as smooth as possible, and to give me some room to add a Shurflo Pump Silencer Kit, and Shurflo Accumulator tank. Unfortunately the Accumulator tank (which I'd purchased previously) was in a storage unit, so I'll add photos of the finished setup later. Even without the tank it works much better than before, and is a whole lot less aggravating.

Generally on any project I do, I try and take reference photos along the way with my iPhone, like this one that showed the stock wiring setup on the pump. They often come in handy later on, as I try and remember how things were hooked up.



The new mattress was a trip, as it comes boxed up, and it looks like there's no way that a real, full-size 80 x 60 queen would be in there. But sure enough, it's compacted in there, and securely wrapped in thick plastic. Like the instructions say, you need to have it located in its final resting place when you start to cut the outer plastic...get halfway and it pretty much opens the rest for you as it expands. Here it is before expansion.



Good luck ever trying to compress one enough to return it...that wouldn't be humanly possible. Fortunately, I really like the mattress.

[dlhilliard]

Thanks for the project report. You're doing a couple of the things I have in mind, so I appreciate the photos and description. For myself, I've been planning the dewinterizing process and thought I would repack the wheel bearings. Last Fall I jacked up the FF-189 to protect the tires. Just barely off the ground onto a cinder blook. Saturday I went to the Dexter axle website just to confirm the proper procedure and got a nasty surprise. Seems as though someone forgot to give me the axle instruction manual where it says in BIG LETTERS not to jack up the trailer using the axles. Damn! I though the axles looked a little wimpy for the weight involved, so I was careful to stay as close as possible to the hub, but, who knows what damage I've done. The axles look ok, but I won't really know until I get it off the blocks. I wonder how you're supposed to change a flat tire if you can't jack the thing up?

[webslave]

Even with the "warning", as long as you stay near, or at, where the springs attach at the axles you should be all right. The danger in jacking on many of these axles is when you start jacking from a point toward the centerline of the TT. I actually saw an axle that was "V" shaped from someone trying to jack the axle up from the centerline...his "thought" was to get both sides of the axle up in the air, figuring he could do brake and bearing service on one axle at a time...

The axle wall thickness is not great enough to support "single point" weight load bearing (single point, as in a bottle jack's 1" diameter lift pad) and if you dent the axle that weakens it further. Strength on these axles is based on the inherent strength of a round tube as opposed to brute strength of axle wall thickness. If you alter the "roundness", you weaken the strength. On most axles, however, the area where the axle connects to the springs is "beefier" (that area, after all, has to support the weight of the TT up to the axle's weight specification) and as long as the lifting is done from that area and the lifting is of short duration and not extreme, i.e., trying to get 8" of clearance under the tire, you should be OK. I've never seen it or read anything about it, but, from an engineering standpoint, I suspect that if you cut an axle in half, longwise, the wall thickness would likely be greater at the hub than in the middle. The middle doesn't support weight, it just ties the two hubs together. If you inspect the hardware that is used to attach the axle to the spring, you will notice that it is designed to, in a circular fashion, "grasp" the the entire circumference of the axle to maintain and reinforce that roundness in order to maintain the strength of the axle at that point and resist twisting on the axle's circuference.

What I do for brake/bearing service or repair is to use two floor jacks, one at each attachment point of the spring shackles to the frame, on one side, and alternately adjust each jack in increments until the tires just clear the ground enough to remove them. Again, this takes into account the fact the trailer's frame and suspension is designed to support the weight of the TT at those points. Lifting equally at those points keeps the weight bearing points of the frame's design and allows the removal of both tires on that side for service. Lifting from both points, where the frame is designed to bear the weight of the TT also minimizes the possibility of frame flex. I don't worry about storage with the wheels off the ground...never have stored any of my various trailers that way, but, if I were to do it, I would set the supports at the spring shackle attachment points at the frame; again, that frame area is designed to take the weight of the TT without flex or damage to the frame and axle integrity.

[guybmoto]

That's one reason I post these types of things...I always learn something in the replies.

[dlhilliard]

Thanks for the insight. I did place the blocks as close to the spring shakles as I could and I don't see any denting, so I may be ok. I don't have two floor jacks, but I do have one good one. I have thought of placing a 2X6 under each axle near the shakle and jacking the midpoint of the board. Don't know if that works, but I'm going to look at it. A construction website somewhere should give me the weight bearing specs for a 2X6.

[webslave]

I think you need a trip to Harbor Freight... Floor jacks for $25.99, using a coupon you can even get 20% off of that. I have several heavy duty floor jacks that cost me hundreds, but, when I'm lifting my '76 Eldorado or my John Deere tractor, I need the strength they provide. For tipping my TT, I have a couple of the above mentioned "trash jacks". Perfectly capable of tipping the TT, easy enough to carry (the HD jacks weigh a ton! ) and not so heavy that I can't put them on a stack of 2x12 boards to gain height. The biggest advantage of the two floor jacks is the weight sharing done by using two. Just as your TT is better supported by two axles, the weight is more evenly distributed across two jack points.

I'm sure you are going to be OK... The closer you are to the hub, the better, and a floor jack's larger saddle will distribute the weight much more efficiently than the 1" disc on a bottle jack. I'm not too sure about the structural strength of a 2x6. I would be inclined to use a 3x4 minimum... If you use a 2x6, please keep body parts out of the way of the lowest ground contact point(s), just in case.

This is a little off topic, well, OK a lot off topic... My sticks and bricks is on 106 acres of woodland here in PA...needless to say, I do a lot of heating with wood. I don't even have to cut down standing trees for firewood, we have enough blow downs to last a century. The thing I use the "cheapo" jacks the most for, is jacking up downed trees to make them easier to cut...no binding on the chainsaw

[mcwilli]

guybmoto, can you please explain any tricks you learned while getting the matress out. I have a new 189FBS and getting the matress out without tearing the box valances off of one or both "bedroom windows" looks to be a real challenge. The slide is in the way on one end and the fridge on the other. Any advice you could offer would be appreciated.

thanks
Jim

[guybmoto]

Just take your time and don't rush it. The mattress was super-flexy, but it was also like a giant spring. Once wound up, just think what could happen if that spring unloads (like where it'll hit. I tried to avoid windows).

If you're going to trash the old one like I did, you could maybe use some bolt cutters and just cut it into smaller pieces that are easier to handle? If you go that route, just remember you'll have some really sharp edges left over.

[mcwilli]

Thanks, I appreciate the advice.

Jim

[marigold1953]

LOL.......maybe that's why to previous owners left the mattress in and just bought a 6" foam mattress and laid it on top of the old one....

I have been wanting to remove the old one but I know my husband he will get in a big hurry and damage/scratch the cabinets and just don't care what happens......

[PattyV]

I used a ratchet strap around my tight mattress. Rolled it into a rounder more manageable package that did the trick for me to get the old out.

[Eagle]

I replaced the short queen factory mattress in mine with a standard queen Beauty Rest. We tried a 4" memory foam topper over the factory mattress but that was far from satisfactory also.

At 6'2", my feet hung over the short queen and the standard mattress is vastly superior to the factory one for pure comfort.

Since I have a toy hauler, getting the old mattress out and new one in via the rear ramp door was simple and done without any extra assistance but some 'squeezing' was needed to get it into place.

[ZZSPIRAL]

I sold the brand new mattress that came with my 2011 210UDS for $10. They're not worth the plastic bags they come in. Then I purchased the following items. YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY:

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden...5/product.html

http://www.amazon.com/Serenia-2-Inch...ry+foam+topper

[Scytlz]

What size pump did you upgrade to? I have a small x160wb and need to put in a new water pump. I don't know what size the one in there now is but it's pretty tiny. I am going to add the accusatory and silenci g kit you suggested but am interested in your thoughts about what size pump I should use.

[RipVan]

We still have the OEM mattress that came with our ‘07 x210 FF. I don’t believe the original owners camped much and we camp less than many of the FFClub members do, so the mattress is still in decent shape. One of the first things we did was add a “memory foam-type” pillow top. I find it a bit too soft but my wife likes it and “that’s what is most important” ! Neither I nor my wife are especially tall, 5’8” & 5’6” respectively so the “short queen” is just fine.
RE: the water pump, the OEM pump seems to provide adequate pressure and flow. My wife was unhappy with the pump “noise” every time a faucet was opened so I installed a SureFlo accumulator. It doesn’t really make the pump quieter but keeps the pump from activating for several seconds when a faucet is opened. Wife is happy with that . The pump and accumulator live in the compartment beneath the queen bed along with the 25 gallon fresh water tank. I’ve found that adding an assortment of “sound deadening” material around the pump greatly reduces the noise of the pump. There doesn’t seem to be a moisture issue in that area but I do remove the sound deadening stuff when prepping for Winter storage!