# List of Modifications we use - compilation 2014 Outback 250TRS



## mdovenmuehler (Aug 17, 2020)

Hey Outbackers, been here a bit but really havent post much, I find reading and the info here pretty awesome and has helped us on our journey more than ever. So after years of outbacking I thought maybe Id share a list of upgrades for our trailer, some may seem extreme or over the top but for us have worked tremendously.
We have a 2014 Outback 250TRS

*Outside the trailer:*
*Qty 2: Renogy 160 Watt 12 Volt Extremely Flexible Monocrystalline Solar Panel - *We used white butyl tape to tape it down on the roof, 3 years and still going. 
*HQST PWM 20A Charge Controller - *One thing about chargers is you dont need something crazy expensive, however you def want power management
2- 12V 125ah Lithium Batteries W/ Custom Rack and Covers - We had ours custom made at a battery shop, protip - if you have any battery shops that can make lithium batteries thats the way to go, we had ours done at $250 ea, a far cry from buying them online.
Electric Tongue Jack
Sumo Springs SSR-610-40 - now if your like us and go offroad and "wonderful" roads to say the least, these little helpers are beyond awesome. 
MORryde CRE2-33 CRE3000 Suspension - we use the 33", Ive had experience with alot of others and for us these seem to work the best.
Moryde UO12-016 Heavy Duty Shackle Upgrade Kit
Moryde UO21-003 X Factor Crossmembers - we installed 3 of them
Rainier ST Apex - Tredit Tire & Wheel - we upgraded to these tires 2 years ago and have performed well offroad.
Beech Lane RV Roof and Leak Permanent Repair Tape 4" x 50' - always have on hand
AMES MSS1 1 Gallon Maximum Stretch Roof Coating - Most people know that factory coating is garbage, even doing this on a new Trailer is well worth it, now I use this, many people use other brands and vice versa, Id say use what works for you and has good reviews. AMES however can be bought in different colors which helps depending on your current roof color. The UV and heat dissipation is worth it
BUNKER HILL SECURITY 115 Lumen Wall Mount Solar Security Light, Black from Harbor Freight, for 9.99/ea we paid for, we bought six, 2 each side, 1 for front/back. 
LED Light Strip for under our awning - 12v white, We wired it directly to our outer light by our front entrance.
Support Struts Gas Spring Shocks for our doors, better than the cheap holders you get from the factory
Vented Covers for all vents/AC, pretty much everything on the roof, with the exception of our main skyline - get to that later.
Lithium Grease - used for all things outside for lubrication
WD40 - Read Above
RubberSeal Conditioner - cant go without it, if you have never had this.....you better get it, this is more important than people realize, especially for all slide outs.
1/2 Door Foam seal - Amazing what happens when you use this on your doors and storage compartments
Ceramic wax cleaner with Ceramic wax coat. For us we use this at the beginning/end of our camping year, whether it works as intended, seems to work so far
Other Small things that are helpful:
Rhino Sewer Line with clear 90
Sewer slinky
20 pound water regulator/check valve with 90 degree elbow
Surge Protector for shore power
2 - 30 Gallon Propane Tanks w/ cover
LED Change out on all outdoor lights
HandRail Guard for doors
12V Heater Pads for Black/Fresh tanks
Bluetooth Backup Camera - no we did not get a furion, we got a cheap amazon one, works great lol
24x84 etrailer Cargo Carrier for RV Bumper
Stromberg Carlson CC-255 Trailer Tray
American Flag Decal - A definite must for me
Dicor Leveling Lap sealant - we carry two things of it with us at all times
Ring Camera Door Bell
Solar Shower
12v Stream Pump with charcoal Filter
Heavy Duty Stabilizer jacks
Anderson Leveling Block Kit
X-Chock Wheel Stabilizer

If I forgot anything I will add to this list

*Inside The Trailer:*
Most are cosmetic things, what weve added to suit our needs, however I will list some mods I think are super helpful:

Tinted Windows, if you havent done it, fantastic upgrade for any window
Fantastic Fan
Custom made Window Winter blocks: we took EverBilt Double Reflective Material and taped/sewed it to a blackout curtain, sized to fit all windows and door windows, great for wintertime as it helps keep the heat in tremendously.
Used foil Backed insulation sheets (1-1/2inch - R9 values) to insulate the undercarriage by the rear slide out, front carriage walls, cargo area outer walls under side slide out(dining)
Used foil Backed Insulation for rear slide out bed ( oddly enough there is litterly a tiny piece of insulation under the bed board lol, almost laughable, we used 2" insulation board/ 1/4 moisture barrier board underneath that, along with a 2" board on the sides as well. This made a HUGE DIFFERENCE. 
We found a garage door draft gasket foam for the underside of the rear slide. There is a drafty area literally underneath your rear slide above the carpet steps. 
We use a skyline cushion cover when we are not using our fantastic fan. 
All Oxygenics shower/faucet heads.
Customer pull out drawers for main storage cabinet with Liberty Soft Close ball Bearing Slides
Mousike Heavy Duty Magnetic Door latches as helpers/As well Reusable Zip Ties
750W Power Inverter
500W Solar Generator
We took out our microwave and made a custom Cabinet shelf and Door (For those wondering the color scheme for that year - Moonlight Mahogany was our color)
LATCH IT Upgraded RV Door Locks
Garmin GPS Antenna w/ Screen
Sceptre 32" 1080p FHD LED TV-DVD combo HDMI
Three Panel 12v Cigarette lighter combo - One is for a cig adaptor, the other two are for usb Plugins, used with our inverter
Foldable Sink Drying Rack
Magnetic Wall Brackets
Upgraded lights to all LED lights
Small HandHelf Rechargable Vacuum
adjustable Leveling feet for your table! - whoever designed the side slide out with a wobbly table needs kicked
Solid Steel Vents - anyone who has children understand that anything can be destroyed or bent

*AC AND FURNACE MODS/UPGRADES*
We went through all the vents and used foil tape to tape them up, depending on how new your trailer is and how unlazy the factory was when they built your trailer might determine whether they actually sealed or did a good job with your vents. Basically what happens is the 2" space between the ceiling as well the vent space(metal or foam) might not have been sealed, that creates loss of airflow, the airflow basically is blown into the ceiling cavity instead of your trailer, same goes with your furnace vents depending on which type you have. 
Brings me to the furnace flex duct connections, again use foil tape to tape around the connections on your furnace and if possible where the vents are. Protip - Majority of furnaces now have a plate cap on top of the furnace, designed to gain access to venting on larger trailers. Crazy enough you lose airflow from that, Just foil tape around the vent plate. As well any other round vent plates not in use. 
Another tip is for your ac louver grill, it can be different and if you look online there are ac helpers you can buy or youtube videos showing you how to increase airflow, and well they do work no doubt. Ours came with a separating piece already between supply and return along with foam mods in it, assuming the previous owners did this, I just reinforced/redid some of the foil tape around the vents etc to get a better seal inside the louver compartment.
Louver scoops for your ac louver vent, I cannot find for the life of me where we go them, but if you do you the louvers on your ac vent (if you have it, ducted or non ducted) They make louver scoops to throw the airflow in other directions in your trailer so the air is not so directionally downward, makes the air go outward more, if that makes sense. 

*More heat!!! *
We changed our 30k furnace out to a 35k furnace. And fortunately for me I work in the HVACR Industry, below is based on experience and knowledge in the industry, 20 years worth. I am not saying I am an expert nor should you do anything suggested, the disclaimer. 
If you want to spend the money get yourself an inverter driven heat pump, they are superior in energy efficiency as well require a smaller amp draw in order to run.
Your furnace, oddly enough furnaces are designed around 45 degree ambient temperatures, not to say they wont work below that as far as keeping you warm at night, however the majority of furnaces from 20-40k btu's are literally the same size in dimensions....as well are within 10% amp draw of each other on the fan size, we managed to pick up a 35k furnace of the same brand online for 200 bucks, literally plug and play, now by chance if your lucky to get a good find like that and want to make the change, Id say go for it, duct sizing and blower curves are literally the same, as well as gas piping, do your own research and inquire on this if you want to do this to make sure its right for you as well as something you SHOULD be doing. This is something you have to decide if you want to do, its worked wonders for us over the years without issue so anyone can have an opinion on this or even criticize me for it which is fine, this is a great debate I say!
Manufactures say this: *Make sure to not oversize your* furnace – too much heating capacity can cause rapid cycling and reduced comfort levels. 
Its up to you if its something you think you should do, can do and are willing to do, and is solely up to you to decide if its safe, unsafe or however you want. 
Your duct sizing, gas piping etc should be the same on a 30-40k btu furance, same with required cfm. 

Thermostat - if you can find one that will let you set temps down to 40 degrees, I recommend, only if you camp in the colder seasons as well, its not a most but will help keep your furnace from cycling too much in really cold temps as well as not run all the time. Keep in mind this is getting to the point where its getting close to being freezing so always make sure everything else is ready for the cold.


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## mdovenmuehler (Aug 17, 2020)

*Outside the Trailer:*

Slide out Awnings - if you do this make sure you get a reputable brand and take your time doing this, these are awesome for severe weather for your slide out tops.


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## SoCalAngler (Jul 9, 2021)

Thanks for sharing! Pics would be great....they tell 1000 words!


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## mdovenmuehler (Aug 17, 2020)

SoCalAngler said:


> Thanks for sharing! Pics would be great....they tell 1000 words!


working on that lol, I keep my trailer at our family farm so I need to get out there and do it x_X


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## SoCalAngler (Jul 9, 2021)

Roger that! Looking forward to seeing your mods!


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## mdovenmuehler (Aug 17, 2020)

This is a 12V 32" tv with dvd player. We have an inverter below to plug this into as you can see as well, wired right off our main inverter box, which was tricky as the neutral bar was hiding on the floor behind everything which took me a minute to find....so if you ever do this, do not use the neutral bar on the main breaker box.....the neutral for your plugs/etc are behind it on the floor x_X






















The below two pics are cabinet doors we made to go over where the microwave is as well as above the fridge. If you notice also behind the door where the microwave goes we have made a wood plank across it to keep things in from falling out, we have a two tier rack that goes in there as well. As well for the pantry I made pull out soft close drawers, which turned out amazing for us since we've put them in.















this was a reversable fan we put in where our main skylight is, we also have black vented covers over everything on the roof as well. We also have stick on closet lights which we use lithium batteries in, have lasted 3 years so far without a battery change, not really needed but hey for closet lights they work great.















These are a must or at least for us as we camp all the way into December and we live up north where it gets really cold in the mountains. The rmax inso we have under our rear slide bed as the factory insulation is garbage, what we have here is R9 value, under that is a thermal barrier as well. This was probably one of the best insulation add ons we have ever done. The second picture is thermal barrier tapped to blackout window curtains, we use this to put in the windows at night and over our door windows (the one with the velcro), these help keep the heat in at night.


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## mdovenmuehler (Aug 17, 2020)

Here are more:
its in the rear carriage storage in the back, now this was also re-insulated, why, well plainly put this is the step that goes to the rear slide out, this helps maintain any drafts etc from coming in, now I did not take a pic of it which I forgot but you can go on amazon and find a insulated sweep that goes underneath as well which gives it more anti draft from under the slide when its out.








now for our ac, we have also done the trick for the more airflow, I was gonna take a pic of ours but then again I would have had to take the screws out lol, was too lazy atm. Also for those that do not know, your evap coil here needs to be cleaned every year if you use the ac much, its easy to do but will help keep the coil and heat transfer good, dirty coils are bad 








Alright so here is our suspension setup. We have rainier st apex tires, 10ply all around/side walls as well, we also use the morryde suspension, xbar stabilizers, as well we use sumo airbags, have heavy duty bolt carriers as well. We go where most cant, unless you enjoy your trailer falling apart, and thats perfect for us.















Our front setup we have two 12v 100ah lithium batteries which have worked for 3 years without a single issue, these batteries will run a tv, speaker system and just about everything you can run for an entire day straight with no solar and still have 60% left on one battery and the second still full. We have an electric jack, 2 30 gallon propane tanks, and a nifty trailer plug holder. On the roof we have a 200 watt flexible panel tapped down with white butyl tape. As well we have repainted our roof with uv flex paint, we used ames, its always done us good so thats what we prefer, we have also redone the leveling seal around all vents etc.















We have also added an led strip lighting under the awning, as well we have used harbor freight solar lights, these are stick on (we used 3m double sided stick on adhesive). We have five on the trailer total, one in the back, 2 each for sides.








Below is the etrailer bumper cargo rack. We love this thing.









I had some other mods but apparently we forgot to get pics of them x_X
we have a river pump that we run off the inverter if we ever need extra water, which is ran through a charcoal filter.
Our garmin GPS we dont have shown as its only brought with us when we actually camp, the only real use it has is its funtion to let us see the terrain. 
All the lights are LED, inside and out of course.


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## SoCalAngler (Jul 9, 2021)

Great Mods! Thank for adding pics and sharing!

What is included in the "Terrain" model that was not included in standard 250RS? Do you happen to have the build sheet, as it will list all items added to "Terrain" model.

Thanks!


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## SoCalAngler (Jul 9, 2021)

Pics of your slide out awnings, especially the rear King Bed slide, would be great!
Thanks!


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## mdovenmuehler (Aug 17, 2020)

I will try to get a pic of it sometime as I didnt even think on that one, we do not have an awning over our dinette slide out, we did on our old keystone but we just dont get enough moisture here to justify it, on the rear we do however only for the fact it keeps the snow off it if by chance we do camp in the snow .

Ok now onto your question of the build, forever whatever crazy reason our year of outback did not have the big outdoor kitchen, that being the biggest difference. Here is a link to our specs:
outback_brochure_web.pdf (rvusa.com)

IN 2014 they made a 250trs and a 260trs, oddly enough the 260trs having the terrain style design with the big outdoor kitchen. My opinion the 250trs was one of the coolest designs they made, gave lots of room in the trailer. If your lucky you can even find a 2018 250urs, that was the last year they made the double slide out design that had the rear slide out.

I was gonna say however, if you still have your 2011 it is literally the same layout as mine with the exception mine is a few years newer and the terrain version, I am a little jelly though you got the anniversary edition lol.


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## SoCalAngler (Jul 9, 2021)

My anniversary edition is a late 2011 edition as it does have the fiberglass front cap. Earlier 2011 models did not.
I really like the Terrain edition, especially the color (exterior and interior). Being named a Terrain, I thought they would have added suspension upgrades (shocks, wet bolt kit, etc.). Do you have the fiberglass front cap? 

I just purchased my trailer a few months ago from original owner. I've been servicing/cleaning/modding it since I purchased it. 

Outside camp kitchen:
I don't like the outside sink....it has no drain!!! Also, lack of any counter space is not great....but I have to remember....it's a lightweight small/medium trailer. Perhaps a sink drain mod is needed!!!

Family does LOVE the floor plan! They say it feels "homey." I hope it camps/sleeps as nice as it feels!!!

Stuff I've done since purchase.....

Roof caulking, washing, and EPDM treatment
Vortex fan in bathroom
Maxx Air II bathroom vent cover
Fantastic fan in main room with Fantastic Vent Cover
BAL Spare tire carrier under trailer, rear of wheels
New 10K # Equalizer Brand Hitch
New GY Endurance Tires (upgraded to E rating)
Progressive Industries hardwired surge protector
Shelving in closets
Screws with fender washers in rear slide rails (5 screws/washers at forward portion of rails)

Can't wait to use it on our maiden voyage (close to home) just as soon as it cools down!!! It's been HOT out here in the SoCal desert!!!


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## mdovenmuehler (Aug 17, 2020)

thats awesome man, yeah I have loved modding out our trailer, ive been using tents and the ground for so long once I got a trailer I was like well imp gonna go hog wild on this and see what I can do lol. But again its all about what you intend to use the trailer for, if your boondocking i see no reason for alot of the uprades I have as its just not really necessary, even for what we od which 80% of the time were in really rough places dry camping might seem alot but for us its helped us out quite a bit. 

The terrain edition was built in mind for more dry camping than it was for the more premium edition more built for that comfort living when hooked up. The are pretty much the same trailer in the sense with the exception of the terrain edition having the large outdoor kitchen and no side kitchen dinette slideout as an optional floorplan. 

So for your outdoor kitchen, tbh that is such a huge joke imo but back then that was a big deal, now adays those older outdoor kitchens are just well outdated lol. We dont use ours and we have actual taken ours out, we use it for a tv stand  for outdoor movies.

we have thought about upgrading the fan in the bathroom but just really havent, I think weve also used the shower...mmmm maybe twice i think since weve owned it lol.


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