2011 Great West Van Legend

[Davydd]

My last project to maximize storage in my Great West Van Legend was to put shelves in the back closet located behind the bathroom and cantilevered over the sleeping area. It was just an open cabinet with a coat hanger receiver at the top (left in that you can see at the top). We never used it for hanging clothes and was just kind of a disorganized catchall for us. So I decided to add three shelves. The difficulty I quickly found was the back wall was curved inward from bottom to top, the side walls were not parallel to each other, the front wall was slanted and not parallel to the back wall and there were cutouts for a radio receiver and plumbing inside the cabinet covered with Ultraleather upholstering. Nothing was normal and of course you can't plumb when the B is not parked level. So I had to do a lot of measuring and building of cardboard templates to get the shelf dimensions. Then I had to figure out tolerances to be able to slip the shelves in as the curved inward back wall made it impossible to drop a shelf in from the top and any installed brackets would make it impossible to lift up from below. I finally came up with a wood spacer system to build from the bottom up and insert after getting the shelves at each level positioned inside the cabinet. So I built and installed from the bottom up. The first shelf was a given. It rested on the radio receiver cutout. The next two shelves were space 5" clear so canned goods or a soft drink or beer can could be stored with little spare wastage as I have illustrated with some props. I used 1/2" melamine covered shelf boards that I bought at Menards. I was able to cut the shelves from one 24" x 60" board. Because nothing was square, I used a saber saw with a board clamped down to act as a guide to get a straight cut. Looks simple enough but it took two days.



I noticed the last Great West Van Legend I saw at the RV shows had gone back to putting shelves in this cabinet but they only had two shelves, not three. So now our two hanging closets no longer can be used that way. I think we can live with that since we never carry clothes that really need hanging. I took the hanger receiver that was in the front armoire and installed it under the back overhead cabinet. It is just there for temporary hanging of clothes and things. It may never get used, but is better than throwing it away.

I think I am done with maximizing storage for now.

[bcislander]

Originally Posted by Davydd

snip....

I noticed the last Great West Van Legend I saw at the RV shows had gone back to putting shelves in this cabinet but they only had two shelves, not three. So now our two hanging closets no longer can be used that way. I think we can live with that since we never carry clothes that really need hanging. I took the hanger receiver that was in the front armoire and installed it under the back overhead cabinet. It is just there for temporary hanging of clothes and things. It may never get used, but is better than throwing it away.

I think I am done with maximizing storage for now.

My van had only one shelf in that closet, which I removed to create room to store our 2 sleeping bags.

I doubt you are finished with projects on your Legend, just take a bit of a break to regain your enthusiasm.

[Davydd]

That closet seems to change with every B they build. They moved the radio off that wall as well making the closet a little more functional. We roll up our sleeping bags and leave them out. They fit snugly on top of the wheel well between the cabinets and the sofa.

[bcislander]

Originally Posted by Davydd

That closet seems to change with every B they build. They moved the radio off that wall as well making the closet a little more functional. We roll up our sleeping bags and leave them out. They fit snugly on top of the wheel well between the cabinets and the sofa.

Well, our sleeping bags are large 'old school' ones that we have had for nearly 50 years, so they wouldn't fit there without tending to fall off onto the floor. Plus, my wife is a bit of a 'neat' freak & wouldn't like having them out in the open, so in the closet they go. BTW, to give you some idea of their size, they pretty well fill that closet.

[Davydd]

Our trick is to move the sofa forward just slightly enough to squeeze the two sleeping bags friction tight enough not to fall off.

We found a cooler that fits under the electric sofa that is only 11.75" high but still has the capacity to hold 24 long neck beer bottles upright or 48 beer or coke cans. I've always been amazed at how many coolers on the market would not hold bottles and cans efficiently with weird interior dimensions. It is the Coleman Party Stacker.

The other storage bin we found to put all our shoes in was a Rubbermaid 50 quart clear tote. I wanted a storage bin at least 13" in order to line my shoes evenly. In order to get up to that size many of the plastic storage boxes are over 12" high. This one is only 10.8" high and slips under the sofa from inside. It should hold all our extra shoes and then some and if we don't get the soles 100% wiped off at least the dirt will be contained.

Roughneck® Clear 50 Qt: (#3R41)
Size: 26.7" L x 15.8" W x 10.8" H

My favorite store, Target, could not satisfy me for either. I got both at Menard's.

[bcislander]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Our trick is to move the sofa forward just slightly enough to squeeze the two sleeping bags friction tight enough not to fall off.

We found a cooler that fits under the electric sofa that is only 11.75" high but still has the capacity to hold 24 long neck beer bottles upright or 48 beer or coke cans. I've always been amazed at how many coolers on the market would not hold bottles and cans efficiently with weird interior dimensions. It is the Coleman Party Stacker.

The other storage bin we found to put all our shoes in was a Rubbermaid 50 quart clear tote. I wanted a storage bin at least 13" in order to line my shoes evenly. In order to get up to that size many of the plastic storage boxes are over 12" high. This one is only 10.8" high and slips under the sofa from inside. It should hold all our extra shoes and then some and if we don't get the soles 100% wiped off at least the dirt will be contained.

Roughneck® Clear 50 Qt: (#3R41)
Size: 26.7" L x 15.8" W x 10.8" H

My favorite store, Target, could not satisfy me for either. I got both at Menard's.

Neither of my coolers will fit under the sofa/bed, no surprise, but one of them will sit between the centre back & the door. I will keep my eyes open for the one you mentioned.

I too was looking hard for suitable under bed storage containers, but wasn't able to find the one you cited above. I had to settle for a 10 gal (40 qt.) opaque Roughneck (23.9" x 15.9" x 8.7"). There are no Menards out West & neither Target nor Walmart had the one you got. The clear, slightly larger container would have been far better, but....

Do you have any ideas as to how to prevent the containers from sliding forward under hard braking?

[Davydd]

Anything under the sofa is not going to slide far with these three table post receptors. :) As I mentioned we are leaving one of the two tables at home so I added this third middle receptor and just left the other two in. We tried the two tables only one time and decided if one was good enough up front with the two seats swiveled around, then one in the back would suffice but it needed to be centered. I also discovered that the table on the driver's side could not be used unless the lavatory was slid into the bathroom. So you could not use the toilet if the table was in place.



Here is how that Coleman stacker cooler fits under the sofa. I like the efficient design with straight up sides instead of flared like so many coolers come. The flat lid makes a good tray. And it holds 24 bottles or 48 cans perfectly. I never understood why manufacturers made coolers that could not do that. If we don't use it as a cooler all the time we can use it as another storage box.



Our sleeping bags stuff like this underway. They are pretty snug with the sofa all the way back in place but you can move it forward a couple of inches to squish the bags for a tight friction fit.

[bcislander]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Anything under the sofa is not going to slide far with these three table post receptors. :) As I mentioned we are leaving one of the two tables at home so I added this third middle receptor and just left the other two in. We tried the two tables only one time and decided if one was good enough up front with the two seats swiveled around, then one in the back would suffice but it needed to be centered. I also discovered that the table on the driver's side could not be used unless the lavatory was slid into the bathroom. So you could not use the toilet if the table was in place.



Here is how that Coleman stacker cooler fits under the sofa. I like the efficient design with straight up sides instead of flared like so many coolers come. The flat lid makes a good tray. And it holds 24 bottles or 48 cans perfectly. I never understood why manufacturers made coolers that could not do that. If we don't use it as a cooler all the time we can use it as another storage box.



Our sleeping bags stuff like this underway. They are pretty snug with the sofa all the way back in place but you can move it forward a couple of inches to squish the bags for a tight friction fit.

Hmmm..... I'm not sure that the centre table post receptor will be enough to stop the containers from sliding forward under 'panic' stop situations, but better than nothing.

Maybe a bungee cord? Hmmm... attach bungee cord to container & bed rail..... Panic stop..... Container slides forward..... van stops.... Bungee cord drags container back under bed...

My wife would not be in favour of having the sleeping bags out like that.

I will have to investigate the purchase of a Coleman Stacker cooler. It would be more user friendly than my current ones, which are fine for the car. Also, I seldom carry 24 bottles of beer in a cooler, at one time.

Your tables &/or posts&/or lavatory position must be different than in my van. There is no interference between the lavatory & the table on the left side of my van. Out of curiosity, what are the dimensions of the tables & posts in your van? I cannot get to my van right now or I would put the table & post measurements in this post. Later.

[Davydd]

My table tops are 18" x 24".

[bcislander]

Originally Posted by Davydd

My table tops are 18" x 24".

So are mine.

The table posts are 29" long & the bottom of the lavatory drain is ~29" from the floor.
Maybe your post holder is a little too far forward.