New cubby made from wasted space

[Zirdu]

My new Grandby had a strange hole in the panel in front and to the right of the sink. Here is the hole. (It was covered by a small piece of cabinet held in place in the back)



I was told that this space was for installing the solar controller and meter if installed by the factory. I choose to install my own solar, and I installed my controller (a Victron MPPT 100/30) in the battery compartment. This location for the controller works better since it senses the same temperature as the battery, and has the shortest possible wire from controller to battery, which is important.. So in my case the space behind this hole was totally wasted. In addition, there was a lot of space to the right of the hole, which was totally unused. I decided to enlarge this hole and make it into a small shelf, or cubby, with a hinged door. I first enlarged the hole:


Then I build a shelf with a back to it, just exactly to fit the space behind the hole, taking into account the fact that the space on the left side had to go around the sink. I built a template out of cardboard so I could easily fit and glue it up to exactly the right size. I had to make sure it would fit into the space by going through the bottom cabinet. I had to put a movable plate on the back, which I added after it was in, to make it fit in. Here is a picture of the cardboard template. I built the shelf out of thin plywood to match this.


Here is a picture of the installed shelf. I installed with cleats on the top to hold it up.


I ordered a door and hinges just like the door and hinges to the fuse area. I cut this door down to size, and installed it on my new cubby:


This adds some useful space out of formerly wasted space.

In addition to this, I removed the thin plywood spacer the factory had placed into the cabinet below. I think it was to separate the area where the hot water tank went. I did not choose to have a hot water tank, so again, there was a lot of wasted space down there. I fastened up the loose wires I found in this space, covered up any exposed wires and contacts, and added maybe 35% to 45% to the space in this big cabinet just below the new cubby I had built.

 

[cuervo]

Excellent solution, I've been looking at the same space with the same questions. At present I've removed the 'hatch-cover' and put a tupperware container in that space to use for dishwashing supplies, but you've taken the more elegant approach, right down to the matching cabinet door. Nice work!

 

[CougarCouple]

Hi zirdu
Nice job, thinking outside the box. To bad that the mfg. could not come up with a solution like that for the customer. But now the shelf is out of the box.
Thanks for posting.
Russ

 

[pvstoy]

Well done!

 

[EnviroProf]

Nice job. I was just thinking about how to use that space. I was thinking of making an open bin there sort of like you would find in the dash of a car or pickup. Probably should decide what I want to carry there first.

 

[Riggs]

Pretty cool! Definitely a better use of the space, very nice. When you put the Victron controller in the battery cabinet, did you pull the wires (the ones that connect to the solar plugs on the roof and back) that were in this little cubby down to the battery compartment? I'm interested in doing the same thing as you, but looking briefly at those wires, I'm not sure how to get them over there.

I skipped the water heater also, and took that thin panel in there out too. I was thinking another nice modification would be to make that door and hole bigger to get to the space behind where that thin panel was.

 

[Zirdu]

Riggs:

As I recall, when I installed the Victron controller in the battery cabinet, the wires from the rooftop solar plug were there in the battery compartment. I remember testing the circuit from the roof plug to the battery compartment to make sure. There were also wires in the cubby area, with some connectors on them, but apparently they were also wired through to the battery compartment.

 

[Riggs]

Thanks for the response Zirdu. That's interesting, maybe mine's (built this January) a little different than yours. In the cubby area mine has the pair of wires from the roof solar plug, the pair of wires from the rear plug, and then the pair of wires going to the battery, all in two connector plugs. So there's just that one pair that goes into the battery compartment. I guess I could connect the battery wire to the roof plug in the cubby area, then it'd be going to the battery compartment. But that'd leave out the rear plug. Or could just mount the controller in that space behind the cubby. I don't see an easy way yet to pull those other wires to the batteries.

 

[bike4mee]

4wc has always closed off storage space. Access to the wheel wells is often a little window to work on turnbuckles. With a little modification, one can gain a lot. Now I can put chairs and extra stuff in the wheel well area

 

[Machinebuilder]

4wc has always closed off storage space. Access to the wheel wells is often a little window to work on turnbuckles. With a little modification, one can gain a lot. Now I can put chairs and extra stuff in the wheel well area

Nice, I’ve been considering doing that. With my 8’bed there is a lot of lost space there

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

I to have always looked at that space and thought about cutting into it.
I even measured and drew the outline.But just let the thought go away.
Actually due to that I have a Bobcat built for the Ranger and now on the Tundra
I can get some use of that area through the rear turnbuckle door.
The Tundra bed is wider then the Ford Ranger so there is more room to move things around.
Vert great use of that area though.

I even thought about making the left rear turnbuckle larger, but...
Thanks for the stimulation of the idea. Might give it a go.
Frank