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Writer's pictureReuben Diachenko
Apr 13, 20217 min read

YouTube Weekly VLOG | EP17 | Airstream Mods | Mobile Office Setup, Broken Deadbolt, Shoe Storage

Updated: Oct 8, 2021

LOCATION

On contract in Fort Defiance Arizona (staying in Gallup, NM)



CAIRN TRAVELER VLOG

This last week was Project Week for modifications around the Airstream. First, I repair the broken bolt sleeve for the Airstream door deadbolt. Second, I finish the conversion of one of the lower cabinets to a drawer system for shoe storage. And third, I revamp and clean up my Airstream mobile office setup with the under-dinette installation of a slim laptop and electronics storage drawer. I am SUPER happy and satisfied with all these changes and they have made my life better and much more convenient.



PROJECT 1 | Repairing the Airstream Deadbolt

I think this became a problem since the trip out to Valley of the Gods and it may have been all the rough roads. Airstream doors are particular in that they kind of need to be slammed to close properly - this is a known and expected quick. I also USUALLY have to press in slightly to be able to lock the deadbolt from the outside with the key (and from the inside, pull in on the door handle slightly), but I came to kind last week that neither of these would get the deadbolt to latch - it was just hitting the doorjamb - the door itself did not seem misaligned though. After some investigation (and a very helpful article from AirForums on deadbolt repair), I found that the sleeve holding the bolt of the lock had broken (or come loose) and the bolt was now loose and shifting forward.



Sidenote:

If you ever have trouble with the Airstream door closing (misaligned), the first step is to pull up and manually reset your stabilizers - often the stabilizers can skew the frame (especially if the using the automatic stabilizer system as this can end up with one leg being more firm than another).


Though initially a bit anxious about this, I watched an excellent tutorial on removing and replacing rivets, bought a pop rivet gun from Home Depot (including rivets), and then set about to complete this project. The hardest part was that the backing of the sleeve having come loose actually jammed against the door hole and proved problematic to remove but I was finally able to pry it out. I was able to bend the holding teeth back in place and additionally wrapped a zip tie around the sleeve but welding or a pipe clamp probably would have been a better option. I’ll keep you posted on how this holds up.


PROJECT 2 | Converting a Cabinet to a Shoe Drawer

I started this project during my trip to Valley of the Gods but wasn’t able to finish it due to the weather changing and having to leave early. Returning to this project, I ended up finding better drawer plywood material at Home Depot (thinner and lighter) and finished up this project. I’m SUPER happy with the results.



Materials (from Home Depot):

This project was prompted by my irritation with a pile of shoes on the mat in front of the door - this also frequently blocked access to the trash can cabinet. There was another cabinet under the dinette seating that was convenient for shoes but I thought it would be much move convenient to have a drawer versus a cabinet (one movement to slide a drawer open as opposed to opening a cabinet and then having to fish around for some sort of shoe container). This is also one of my feedback points on Airstreams in general - I feel like the lower cabinet storage would be more effective as drawers (which would take a bit more space but you end up just trying to find containers for the cabinets anyway).


Here’s links to some of the tools and my general mobile toolkit I used in this project. As I mention in the video, when deciding what tools to bring with you on the road, choose only the items you will truly get utility out of (other specialty items can often be rented from your local home improvement store), choose compact and battery-operated power tools, and choose a battery scheme that is the same for all the tools so you can interchange batteries and use one universal charger.

I keep my tools in the back of the truck under a BAKFlip MX4 Tonneau Cover using just two toolboxes:

PROJECT 3 | Installing an Electronics Storage Drawer (Airstream Mobile Office Setup)

I decided the desktop was too cluttered and decided to install a slimline laptop and electronics drawer under the dinette table to store the laptop and other items - this was also prompted by temperatures getting warmed and the previous setup having the laptop vertical in the window and exposed to the sun.




This was my original Airstream Mobile Office Setup and the link to the original blog post.



I have obtained a fully unlimited, non-throttled data plan so my previous setup using the cell phone for streaming video is no longer needed. This greatly simplified things and reduced a lot of cable clutter.

Here’s links to the items involved:

I previously used a Velcro strip to secure for transport but now recommend removing the monitor from the arm and laying facedown on one of the beds. I found that using the Velcro strip had actually bent one of the curtain track strips and weakened the anchor.



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PRODUCTION NOTES

Audio: RODE VideoMic PRO+, RODE Wireless GO, Apple AirPods Pro, and Device Native Mics

Editing: Adobe Premier Pro (Creative Cloud)

Music: Epidemic Sound, MUSICBED, Soundstripe, YouTube Music Library


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2 Comments

sliggon925
Dec 03, 2021

Hi thank you for your content. I recently placed an order for the 2022 Flying cloud.

As I will be working from the road. I was wondering if the cable coaxial input that is on the outside of the travel trailer is equipped for internet service from a internet service provider such as Spectrum (Brighthouse) (Cablevision) or Frontier/Fios. If so where is the coaxial cable output that would go into a modem/WiFi Router to correctly connect a PC via LAN/Ethernet cable.

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Reuben Diachenko
Reuben Diachenko
Dec 03, 2021
Replying to

Thanks for checking out the content here! That's an excellent question and one I've had myself (only my application was to use the already run coax to route a cellular modem antenna to the outside of the rig - using either the coax in the hookup box on the side of the rig or by replacing the TV antenna on top of the rig). I ended up running my own cables (there'll be an upcoming video on this - installing Pepwave 5G Router and Antenna). I believe the two coax connection plates behind both TVs (living room and bedroom) are just to the broadcast TV antenna on the roof since they have a power button to power on the antenna.…


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