Trident Modifications

Inspired by nimbus, I thought I'd post a few pics of modifications to our Trident!

1. Fiamma awning - including the crazy priced AS brackets!



2. Fancy carbon wipers - more for looks than anything - but work very well!



3. Bike rack.



4 & 5. Reversing sensors and tow bar (we use the van to get to book-fairs occasionally). Find the reversing sensors very handy.



6. Improved and colour coded drain taps.




7. Pocket in sliding door. Early T4s had these - such a waste not to have one. Perfect size for the dogs leads and a couple of iPads!



8. Modified the swinging table bracket so that the arm can swing round and lay next to the passenger door when on site with the passenger chair turned round.



9. New head unit - Bluetooth hands free etc.



10. Front camera - rubbish picture. E-Prance Mini 0801. Very good.



11. Lifted the bad by 10mm. In the old T4 Trident the porta potti slid under the bad at night - you could easily get it out when needed. With the original AS carpet fitted the loo would not fit!! Very annoying as you cant get the loo out one the bed is out. Now fixed!



12. And finally - built a set of collapsible shelves to go in the roof. We have some nice plastic boxes that fit in each slot. Very handy and uses the space well.



I think that's about it!

Hopefully that's inspired someone!

Steve

Love the simple idea of the door pocket, I'm about to replace the crumbling interior trim in our '93 Trident so I'll try and do something similar, you can't have too many cubbyholes !!

I thought the early T4s had door pockets! Maybe it was just the very early ones... Out last van ('98 Trident didn't have one.


A/S were very helpful in selling me the correct material. I then got a local welding shop to make up a pocket in aluminium that fitted into the hole in the door. Then lined it with the new fabric, stuck it to a new plywood door card, stuck some more fabric on and job done! Although the glue needs redoing slightly on the edge of the pocket - must get that stuck back down before it gets any worse!

It was worth the effort - the Tridents are so compact you need all the storage space you can find!


What are you planning for the interior - like for like replacement or something more adventurous??

Steve

scrumpyjack14 wrote:
11. Lifted the bad by 10mm. In the old T4 Trident the porta potti slid under the bad at night - you could easily get it out when needed. With the original AS carpet fitted the loo would not fit!! Very annoying as you cant get the loo out one the bed is out. Now fixed!

My awful typing - that should have read 'lifted the BED by 10mm...'. Argh...

Before the mod, the porta potti had to sit in front of the fridge overnight where it was really in the way. If left in it's cupboard it was completely inaccessible. At least it now neatly slides under the end of the bed at night - easy to get to - but not in the way in the morning when you need to get the milk out the fridge for a cuppa!

Steve

Have been looking at similar grey to what we've got now, but I do like the pattern of yours. Only renewing the trim because it is literally decomposing where the sun shines on it a lot. Love the van though because it gets used like a pack horse when at home so the no nonsense wooden units are ideal for us, mind you It's like a pack horse on our travels as well with awning, rubber floor tiles, full size portapotti, folding chairs etc. and probably a kayak as well this year !

Wow - that does sound like a lot of stuff! We are looking to get a fiamma box to stick on the bike rack when we go away. Hoeing to use that for walking boots, dog food, folding chairs etc. might be an idea for you??

Nice idea, but we have 3 bikes on the back, we use a few plastic storage boxes for boots etc. and if for the odd one night stop while travelling we don't put up the awning, the gear can be put in the footwell and on the drivers seat. Usually though once we decide where to pitch it's awning up and kettle on !

Sounds very sensible! 

Hope the interior revamp goes well. A/S are very helpful - if you want to stick to the same material i'm sure they'll be able to help.

Steve

scrumpyjack14 wrote:

My awful typing - that should have read 'lifted the BED by 10mm...'. Argh...

Yes, I've the same problem with my T5 Trooper - I just presumed that my PP was not the AS original so wouldn't fit under...how exactly did you raise the bed ? couldn't see from the photo how it was done....presumably the front legs would still need to touch the floor when the seat is opened up.

repoort wrote:
Yes, I've the same problem with my T5 Trooper - I just presumed that my PP was not the AS original so wouldn't fit under...how exactly did you raise the bed ? couldn't see from the photo how it was done....presumably the front legs would still need to touch the floor when the seat is opened up.

It wasn't too hard - but did take a while. We had noticed that with the carpet removed, the loo fitted - so i think it was a silly oversight on A/S's part. Poor design really. But it did let us know the height increase that was required.

Anyhow, IIRC I had to remove the rear water tank (quite simple) and the spare wheel and you'll then have access to the six? large bolts that hold the bed in place. I removed the cushions from the seat (just a few screws) but did not remove the large drawer (i had wanted to to but could honestly not figure out how to!).

With the cushions and tank out the way, i removed the nuts and washers from beneath. Then removed the some of bolts from above (they are screwed through welded nuts). I didn't remove all the bolts as i didn't want the seat to move at all.

I had bought some 10mm thick x 100mm wide ali plate from eBay (although i didn't have quite enough so used some steel as well). I basically made 6 large spacers, popped them in place one by one (removing the corresponding bolt as required), marked and drilled the holes for them and then bolted the whole lot back together with slightly longer bolts.

For the front support legs, i got some ali bar approx the same diameter as the legs. I removed the black plastic feet and made some new ones in ali on the lathe that were 10mm taller. Then used a little epoxy to hold them in place. You can just about see these in the photo above.

The mod works very well and is hardly noticeable inside the van - just a slight gap under the large drawer. The loo fits readily with just a very slight lift of the end of the bed.

Hope that helps!

Btw, how do you get on with your swinging table support behind the passenger door when you are on site with the chair turned round? We found it really irritating that unlike our old T4, it would not park against the passenger door - hence the other mod to the bracket!

Steve

....wow - not a 5 minute job then !......you really made a thorough engineering solution to it, well done. It might be simpler for me to just take the lid off the toilet, it'll fit under then ! (only joking)
As for the swinging table support - have never used it.
We use a Fiamma tripod and short leg, so can have the table anywhere you want, and also use it outside.

repoort wrote:....wow - not a 5 minute job then !......you really made a thorough engineering solution to it, well done. It might be simpler for me to just take the lid off the toilet, it'll fit under then ! (only joking)
As for the swinging table support - have never used it.
We use a Fiamma tripod and short leg, so can have the table anywhere you want, and also use it outside.

It honestly wasn't difficult. But you do need plenty of time and be quite handy with a bit of drilling and cutting. It does make life a lot easier on board 'Poppy'! You could remove the carpet as an alternative - certainly quick and cheaper! We quite like the carpet though!

We have a fiamma table foot as well - but are opposite to you! We tend to use the swing arm for most uses (as it can be positioned inside or outside the van) and have only used the separate foot when we have the full awning out - which is quite rare!

Steve

One more mod - I removed the 12v cigarette socket and installed 2 x USB sockets. I bought a couple of modules off ebay that convert 12v to 5v USB female. They work great and allow us to charge a couple of phones or ipads.

scrumpyjack14 wrote:

We have a fiamma table foot as well - but are opposite to you! We tend to use the swing arm for most uses (as it can be positioned inside or outside the van) and have only used the separate foot when we have the full awning out - which is quite rare!

Steve

...presumably on the arm you use the small table   - we never use that, either !
We just keep the big table, behind the drivers seat...I'm quite tall and have the seat well back, there is just enough space for the table, if you take the securing catches off....that also solves another disadvantage of the table using valuable space in the drawer.

Love the door pocket idea, going to pinch that

hiro wrote:Love the door pocket idea, going to pinch that