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Liberty First Bay Drawers
One thing that has always been an issue for me was the location of the drawer unit mounted at the top of the first bay in a Liberty. I like the drawers, but when the bay door is open the drawers themselves do not extend far enough beyond the bay door to make access to the drawer easy.
Today I solved the problem and thought I would pass it along to other owners because I didn’t do anything in doing my change that I could not put back to the way the coach was originally built. No special tools, no cutting, just relocating stuff in the bay. My bay photos below will not be like anyone else’s because we all store different stuff, but by dropping the drawer unit down to the joey bed (or the bay floor if there is no joey bed) and putting the other stuff on top of it I can now open any drawer, with or without the joey bed extended and easily see what is in the drawer and get at it.
My bay is jam packed with the important most often used stuff because the other side of the bay requires me to duck under the front slide. So that side of the bay has the least frequently used “stuff”.
There is the drawer unit now sitting on the side rails of the joey bed. The Zip Dee chairs are beneath the drawer unit, easier to get at than fighting with the bay door while lifting out the chairs. I removed the chair holders from the bay door so I could move the drawers and my tool chest closer to the outside.
Even with the joey bed in, I can now open a drawer and easily see the entire contents. No more trying to see something behind the bay door.
This is a photo with the joey bed extended. I can open my tool chest cover to open the drawers, I can get at my ladder, and behind and below the ladder is my DDEC reader, my wash pail and coach cosmetics, towels, and on the rear behind the tool box are more towels and my safety triangles, my electric drill kit, my drills, screw driver set, my electrical tester and room for a few more things. Those items behind the drawer unit I can reach from the side of the joey bed. The fire extinguisher can be reached and removed just by opening the bay door.
You can barely see the tool boxes behind the drawer unit but I can lift anyone I want out easily.
It is hard to see but the drawer unit is secured to the joey bed on both sides with aluminum angles. It is supported from below with three long wooden supports, one in the center between the chairs. The ladder is retained by aluminum tracks on each side just barely visible in the two photos above. That will keep the ladder from shifting.
Finally I have (after 10 years of dealing with the drawers mounted on the ceiling of the bay) spare parts drawers that are fully useable.
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26 Replies
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Nice modification. Looks like it will work out better than if they are hanging from the top. I have one that is top mounted, but it is smaller and not as deep, so it isn’t as much of an issue.
Maybe you can get Liberty to make a change! You should charge them for a better idea….
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Great idea!
And, it looks like another plus is that the tool box is now raised so that less stooping is required to access it.
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Good grief, you’ve altered the Liberty bay, are you nut’s! Just when I thought I was about caught up, here you go.
Hmm, I think I like it, but mine is on the driver side. Great, now I have another project to consider.
PS – Nice job….
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Awesome job and much better plan Jon ! Could you do demos at the next rally?
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I enlarged the pictures around the ladder seeing how you used aluminum angle iron against the ladder rails. That will be installed in our Marathon by 1600 hrs 10-29-13
Thanks for the idea
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Waite a minute, I was under the assumption you Libert guys didn’t need spare parts and used all that storage space to store extra adult consumables, wine ,beer and whiskey.
Tom, can u keep up with the Jones’s.
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Buddy,
The spare parts are to help out CC owners whose coaches have something that broke. It’s a challenge keeping them going.
Paul has quickly noticed the one advantage that I realized after the job was done and that was it brings the tool box up higher making its use a little easier. Liberty owners will notice my tool box has been turned so it faces out and that it does not have the slide so it will extend. My reason for eliminating the tool box slide is because I bought a tool box that is as high as possible so I could bring more tools and testers. In my tool box I have tire repair stuff, a multi-tester, a clamp on voltmeter, an IR gun, a battery tester and the normal range of tools and miscellaneous electrical terminals, fasteners, and bulbs.
Little by little I am modifying the coach for my purposes, Nothing big, nothing that cannot be reversed, but little things that will work for how we use the coach. Being able to restore the coach to original is important to me because not everyone will want what I want so when the time comes to sell I can return it to exactly the way Mr. Liberty built it with no signs it was ever modified
My next challenge is going to be to get the batteries out from behind the entertainment center to a place where I can easily monitor and replace them. I’m looking at the space in the first bay behind the driver’s side joey bed. Since that impacts front axle weight I have to be sure I remain under the Prevost limits. That is going to be a big project and I have to make sure I can keep them ventilated as they are now. If I am really lucky I might free up space to add an aux fuel tank, but then again I have the weight issue to deal with so that might not be possible.
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Come on Jon I know you aren’t carrying any spare parts for your Country Coach brothers. You only have half of one bay for storage, so I know we won’t be getting any of that space. I imagine between your own spare parts, adult beverages, Lawernce Welk collection, and 8 track stereo you are hard pressed to carry what you need. Could it be some of your modifications are to open some more space?
Sorry, couldn’t resist,
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Actually I have a full bay for storage, but as coaches evolved there was a domino effect that kept reducing actual useable bay storage space along with upstairs storage. I see and understand the progression, but don’t like it.
My 40 foot coach had the most storage with full 1 and 1/2 bay storage. But because it was 40 feet the bays were not as wide as the 45 footer which had the most storage. It had a full 1 1/2 bay of storage and that space was maximized because there was no slide structure intruding on the height, and it had no entertainment center.
Now storage space is shrinking. The first domino to fall was creating a side by side radiator / CAC layout instead of the sandwiched arrangement. The space occupied by the CAC used to be the Websto space, now moved to the other side behind the tag. The slide structure removed height from the bays. The slide controls located in the OTR evaporator area took space originally used by the cord reel. That put the cord reel in the space behind the tag next to the Webasto. That space was where the house batteries used to be. They are now located in the center of the belly where the aux fuel tank used to be.
Further stealing storage space is the entertainment center and the joey beds in the first bay. The joey beds seem like a convenience, but in fact they take valuable height.
I understand and see the progression and some of the loss is due to slides that we want, but it demands a lot of creativity to find places for the converter’s systems as well as keeping a full bay for storage of our stuff.
And yes I do keep CC owners going with my spares. I have provided check valves and solenoid valve coils so far. No names will be mentioned. BTW, for the first time ever, in Branson I made use of the TV in the entertainment center. I actually turned it on without assistance, and played some tunes made availble through the use of Direct TV and my satellite dish. If I try I might be able to actually use the Crestron remote to change channels. So for all of you keeping score I have now mastered the entertaiment center, having extended the awnings, had the neon lighting dance to music, operated the radio, used the refrigerator and cooked on the grill. There is no end to my skill level. (I did not do all these things at once, preferring to tip toe slowly through the tulips.)
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Thats really nice of you to carry all the CC parts to help us keep the coach running.
Thats why I come to rallys where the most knowledgeable, the most exsperienced and certainly the kindest people have the parts to help me fix my coach. I just mention a problem in casual conversation and next thing I know there are all kinds of people around the coach working, night or day, doesn’t matter. Then when all is done I’ll say alot of thank yous and I’ll send you a check for the parts. Did you get the check?
Tool box looks really good, you need to open a conversion rearrangement center there in TN.
I have a hard time understanding why some of the converters put the batteries in such hard to reach or service locations. I know most people don’t need to get to them very often but when you do, boy what a problem.
With all this said, a sincere thank you, and to Tom as well for all you all do. I know this site is a lot of fun but you two spend hours and days keeping it going. I know it is kind of a hobby and time you enjoy doing what you like doing, but I hope it doesn’t turn into a really hard job, after all, if you don’t have time to travel in your coaches so that things can break, how are we going to know how to fix stuff !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Jon, that looks beautiful! Great design, great job!
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Bragger!!!
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I give thanks to Liberty because my coach came with all the pieces. I just rearranged the puzzle.
Our coaches are leaving us with less space so we have to make the best use of what we have.
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Impressive change, Jon.
One of the reasons I chose the H was storage bay(s’) arrangement and size; since they are substantially taller. There wasn’t a need for me to rearrange. I use the first bay for a tall folding ladder and power washer, a one gallon fuel can for it, and the long handle for brushes and squeegee kit that comes with Liberty, and a few large wood blocks. In this H and most others near its age, the house batteries are neatly and accessibly mounted in the engine bay.
The second bay passenger side has a mechanics castered & adjustable stool, your (4) support stands and shims, two 20 ton hydraulic bottle jacks, exterior cleaing supplies and utensils, buckets, X12, torque wrench, oil, ATF large and small impact wrenches, drills, buffers, work shoes, aprons, and that manuals’ carrying case, For us (me), more outside room or access is not really needed, and the first bay still has room for bulky items such as suitcases, a case each of paper towels and TP, 5 gallon cooler water jug, and bulk food items.
This useable and abundant space was not present in an XL or XLV. But, of course, we don’t have slides. Love that OTR, though.
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Just wanted to say Very Nice job Jon!
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