Sliding Tray Under Refrigerator?

CincyKid

I saw a video on YouTube of 26 more modifications on Teardrop trailers
https://youtu.be/5oTA0I2gfWs)

One that caught my eye is the one where someone put in a sliding tray under the refrigerator making it very easy to store items under there (currently I just kind of push things in there and hope I can fish them out).  Has anyone here on the Forum made this mod and where did they but the slide mechanism and wood sheet?

If you can answer that can you tell me the width of the rectangular opening (I just put my 320S back in storage 20 miles from my house).

CincyKid

jkjenn

CincyKid said:

I saw a video on YouTube of 26 mo9re modifications on Teardrop trailers
https://youtu.be/5oTA0I2gfWs)

One that caught my eye is the one where someone put in a sliding tray under the refrigerator making it very easy to store items under there (currently I just kind of push things in there and hope I can fish them out).  Has anyone here on the Forum made this mod and where did they but the slide mechanism and wood sheet?

If you can answer that can you tell me the width of the rectangular opening (I just put my 320S back in storage 20 miles from my house).

CincyKid

If you have a 3 way fridge, you would want to make sure that you do not block the vent in that space, if the new T@bs still have one there.

BirdieJane

I put one in for dish storage. Has worked well.

Homebodyatheart

@CincyKid, while that looks really great and works well for them, for me that would be wasting valuable storage space under the pull out platform. @jkjenn I've got a 2017 320S and they reworked the vent system for the fridge and stovetop so the storage area is now sealed, no vent in the flooring. @CincyKid in watching the video they carry more plates and mugs than we do. In that space I carry two fry pans, flat cast iron griddle, two sauce pans, three lids, box of plastic gloves for dumping, my cordless drill and a pouch for the most used bits, kitchen towels and hot mitts, and some cloth tote bags in case I need to haul something. I don't know how long you have used your Tab, but for me I had a long list of 'cool to do mods', but the more I camped, the less mods I did because I figured out different ways to make things fit or work for me. That's half the fun of these trailers...lots of great ideas, and the fun of personalizing it for yourself! Have fun with whatever you do with the space!

CincyKid

Thanks HBAH, I am still in the 'making mods' phase and love all the ideas I see on this forum that I had not thought of yet, perhaps never would have thought of.  You are right in that necessity is the mother of invention, and if you need it 'right now' you'll figure something out.  But I am figuring out now how to maximize storage to get things 'out of the way' of the space inside.  Going to put one of those wire racks across the back to help get my clothing back out of the way next.

Homebodyatheart

@CincyKid FYI you might want to rethink that for a bit. Your heat from the Alde primarily comes from that small gap between your back wall and the hinged lid storage that runs along the back. Unless You won’t use your heater...

CanyonTravelers

The mod in Mandy's video is our rig, we got the idea from the photo shown above. the plates and cups really don't fit in any of the cabinets which is why we did the under fridge mod. Our T@B 320S is a 2018 they no longer have the heating fins running along the back of the trailer, the heating only comes from a single 24" radiator fin that is in the  passenger side sitting/storage cabinet.  So far we have no complaints on heat output.

CincyKid

Cool! hearing from the actual people who did the mod!  Thanks CanyonTravelers for your response.  Can you tell me where you bought the hardware to make the mod or was it all your own custom fitting?   Thanks upfront for your answer.

CanyonTravelers

The slab of wood came from Lowes, they have shrink wrapped wood panels that worked great.  The hardware is just sliding ball bearing drawer glides, either Lowes or Home Depot.  You will have to some side build up to hold the rear of the drawer glide, since the inside of the cabinet is wider that the door opening.

CincyKid

@CanyonTravelers- Thanks!  I will post a photo when done.

dsfdogs

Hi @CanyonTravelers, I too have a 2018 S and they do have fins in the back! If you lift up the passenger side bed cushions, and with a flashlight pointed towards the back wall, stick your head down there (half climb into the storage space), and sure enough, you'll see fins behind the slot on the back wall. (Might be easier to stick your head in through the outside storage door)! 

drazilgod

 @CanyonTravelers - this has not much to do with the thead, but... you mentioned the absence of a radiator in the back. We also have a 2018 320S. I had no idea that there were radiator fins in the back until i was running some wires for a backup camera. I cut a hand hole out from behind the license plate (remind me to fix that hole soon) and lo and behold - i discovered a radiator running side to side, surrounded by foil insulating material. So I make it a point to always leave an air path under the passenger side seating (under the folding section) so that radiator has intake; I used to stuff sleeping bags in that area. The heat noticeably comes up from behind the fold down back. You may not be able to see the fins/radiator, but they may be there. Anyway, just my observation of our T@B.
Great looking mod, by the way. I almost have to open the door and sit on the step to get all of our iron pans out from that area.

BirdieJane

The reason we love our mod of the dish drawer is because we get into our dish drawer multiple times per day and I LOVE that it is easy access. I don’t have to pull multiple things out to un-bury the dish or dishes I need.
Also, the dishes & silverwear are easy to access when you are outside. I can set the picnic table while my husband cooks. 
Yes, my hubby cooks!! Better than me, but don’t tell him I said that.

CincyKid

Finished my drawer under the refrigerator some time ago and forgot to post the photo, which is below.  I agree with some others that you do give up space be adding a drawer but the convenience is worth it to me.

CanyonTravelers

Hey dsfdogs, You are correct I never knew the fins were there, I knew there was some heating coming up from the back, but thought it was just the hoses running back and forth to the Alde.  Thanks for the info.

jgram2

Nice compass! Did you do it yourself?

Mouseketab

BirdieJane said:

I don’t have to pull multiple things out to un-bury the dish or dishes I need.
Also, the dishes & silverwear are easy to access when you are outside. I can set the picnic table while my husband cooks. 
Yes, my hubby cooks!! Better than me, but don’t tell him I said that.

Not having to move something to get to something else has been the main focus of all my mods over the years. It's my big pet peeve. To me drawers are the key. I haven't done fancy wood drawers, but I have put in plastic drawers in about every area I could. (Front closet, under the bed, in the clam kitchen cabinets. I think drawers are much more useful than cabinets. I even have tiny plastic drawers in my passthrough cabinets. They are great for oatmeal, hot chocolate, gravy packets, and also spare lightbulbs, screws, pens, etc. 

CincyKid

@jgram2 I bought that compass at WalMarts, it seemed a good match for the theme of adventure.  It was very inexpensive and I used Gorilla Glue to mount it to the refrigerator door panel.  While the glue was drying I just used a piece of wood cut to length to push against the compass on one side and the bench on the other side, next day it was permanently fixed.  Here is the full photo.  I traced the outline of the item with black paint before mounting to make it have a bit more impact.