Some things that really bug me on conversions
 

Not meant to offend anyone who has any of these items on their rig, and maybe there is something I am not thinking about.

1) A window at the head of the bed. I just think there has to be a better place.

2) The chrome lower bays that stop at the truck cab. I am not a big fan anyway, but it just looks half ass to me. Why wouldn't they make some chrome covers for the fuel tanks and the front bumper.

3) When cab & motorhome do not mach up. I love to see a seemless line from the very front bumper to the rear of the coach, all in perfect alignment. Just makes the rig look so much better.

4)I hate the cheapo step, why not use the nice drawer steps that higher end coaches use that have a flip up plate to cover that awkward looking cutout. All it is, is an actuator hooked to a 1 or 2 step setup on heavy duty draw glides and a flip up cover plate. These guys build custom conversion, this is a no brainer and not alot of money!

Am I crazy? Do these things matter to you guys or are you just looking at functionality over looks. Personally I want both, but maybe I am in the minority.

I have many more that i will post over time.

Good points, Warpath.
(1)I agree on the window RIGHT above the headboard. If nothing else, raise it a foot or so(looking at the pic of the Columbia TC, it looks like there's room). Otherwise just eliminate it.
(2)True. As much money as these things cost, a solution like you say wouldn't add that much .
(3)Looks like the roof could just be raised 6" on the example green Century in your example. Here's where I don't know enough. Would 6" more roof height cost very much more than the huge sum spent already? I kinda doubt it.
(4)Again, a few bucks(again, compared to the total cost) spent would add soooo much to the looks.
Maybe some of the guys building these things will see our notes here and consider the relatively cheap solutions to some real eyesores. Or, maybe not. Oh well.......

The following is not said in a defensive posture. Opinions are all good. With that being s0aid:
1) I don't like the window at the head of the bed either. Its okay if its a small window up high, for the purpose of a quick look outside the rig. But not my preference.

2) The chrome doesn't bother me if it doesn't go all the way to the bumper. If the chrome stops halfway down the side of the rig, then that bothers me. I have polished tanks on the right side of the truck and am contemplating what to do to make the left side of the truck match. Even though the sides are not symetrical, I would prefer a color match of left and right.

3) Because of aerodynamics, I have tried to smooth the lines from cab to quarters, but it is not perfect. I have to keep in mind that this is a econo project that I use for work travel. If I could afford a Kingsley, then I would have it that way.

4) My steps are ugly and I would love input on how to fix that without skining the whole truck. My steps are under the living quarters and are kind of just hanging out there. Once again, I have to think of the use for the truck.

Before I get my truck painted later this year, I would appreciate input on making it look better.

Once again, I'm the odd man out. I like the window. My coach has windows on all three sides in the master bedroom and we like it. Better to get more air through. And we like to see out as much as possible. The only drawback is less space for storage.

Doc your rig is excluded, projects like yours are far harder to tackle than ground up builds with all of the resources conversion companies have to work with.

This is also not meant to trash on the few conversion companies that are left, and I do have have to remember these are custom and the owner has the last say on what he/she wants.

I will definitely be looking to add some cool new features to this rig.

I'm always open to help on what I bought !!! but for 13,500 with 76,000 miles on it how can you go wrong !!

pics
 

Here is a pic of it!

Windows
 

I agree on the windows for ventilation. Nothing like sleeping with the windows open on a nice night (or day). I would have mine tinted though so nobody can see in.

I agree that the body lines look best when they match and flow smoothly, but if we are talking self built custom then to each his own. If from a professional converter then they work should be first class throughout.

what sux about the rear window at the head of the bed is.. you cant lean against the window to read or watch tv cuz you will wreck the window screen. I'm kicking around building a grated head board for the RumRunner myself.

If I was to do it all over again, I would not have the stainless steel lower, to hard to keep clean, heavier than the aluminum, and if you damage the aluminum, you could then add stainless to hide the damage.

I was just doing some digging on the draw or tray style entry steps and found Kwikee makes them. I can see why no body uses them since they are about $500 more than the shitty looking style.

I am still going to work on this for my rig.

What is the total price of the Kwikee then?

WP, thanks for creating this forum, it's nice to have a TC site, we are a relatively small group and info is limited. That step is nice, if I build a Rig, I will be using it. Currently I have an automatic step but the notch is only about 2" tall so you hardly notice it, having full body paint helps hide everything. Speaking of paint, what are you considering for your build? Two things come to mind, #1 Paint is such a great way to define the Rig as your own, something other than white is worth considering. #2 The typical paint scheme that appears on 90% of the MH and TC's gets old and boring, why not design some ORIGINAL paint scheme. I even considered some type of Rhino coating on the lower section of the TC to deal better with branches and abuse....Anyway, thanks for the site, looking forward to your build....G

Kwikee # 904209000 $1233.00

Gene you will have to thank Social Network as well for keeping it going although even if I had not sold it with my other site iRV2.com I would have still kept it alive.

Yeah definitely going to have the rig painted and love the paint on the red & black Lonestar I posted. We had a concept similar to that one in mind with red fading into black and then grey towards the bottom. I have learned my lesson, never have black on the storage bays, it shows dirt so easily and that area gets the most road grime abuse.

I am trying to come up with a concept for Rojo. Gray would look good, but I'm afraid of looking like OSU Buckeyes tailgater. My wife wants me to paint it like a 63 vette (red and white).

I also thought about black and came up with the same issues you posted.

Warpath, keep trying to get Lonnie to include that step- you will like it.

Bob

somewhere I saw a DIY conversion that had steps and a landing on drawer slides that slid out like an open drawer to use and in like a closed storage bay to travel,

The the pull out step at the end of a doctor's examining table?

no, pullout staircase and landing with the stairs next to the truck and the landing under the door