Call Forest River and triple check there are no studs in the walls. I'm relying on what I was told previously that the walls are just one piece laminates with no internal structure.
-- Chuck
'06 Roo 23SS behind '07 Expedition out of Cleveland Our Photo pages
Hey all. I have an '07 23SS and I recently did this mod. I found my access door on ebay and after a few days of indecision, I took my sawsall and cut that big gaping hole. Honestly, the process went very smoothly.
I did as much research as I could and everything indicated that there were no studs or other structures in the slide out wall. It seems that the entire slide out is basically a laminated wall.
I did take some pictures and will be posting those sometime today.
Good Luck!
Here are some pics.
This is the door I purchased through ebay. It was less than $30.
The hole in my camper! Whew! The tape, of course, is to prevent scratching the finish.
A view of the inside space behind the stove. The stove is out.
A view of the left side behind the drawers. There really is a lot of usable space here.
The door installed. The only thing I didn't get with this door was the molding strip that will cover the screw heads. I think I can get this through my dealer though.
Another view behind the stove from the inside.
As you can see, I didn't have to move the plumbing.
Here you can see that the separator panel hasn't been removed yet. I eventually cut back that panel and framed in some dividers to keep the things I want to store in this new bay away from our pots and pans. All in all, this was a very easy project.
* This post was
edited 04/29/08 08:43am by Rogers4 *
2003 GMC Yukon
2007 Rockwood Roo 23SS
Dad, Mom,2 Teenagers, Tucker and Hannah, the mutts 2009 Nights Camping - 3 so far!
mike_mn wrote: Dan,
Have you installed it yet? If so, show us some pics! If not, GIT-R-DONE!
no, i was waiting for some kind of kit/instructions from Forest River to retro-fit my 23SS for the new slide storage.
i need some templates/diagrams and instructions to take a task like this on. also, parts to re-route the pipes/lines under the sink.
I don't think there are any parts needed to reroute the drain. You just need to loosen 2 joints and rotate the section of pipe 90 degrees. Look at the early and late photos above.
This is the kind of thing that you just need to get your hands dirty. You have the door already. What is the rough opening? Measure the inside flange of the door that would fit inside the rough opening.. This is not a precision operation. If you are within 1-2 inches for placement you are fine, the only thing to measure and remeasure is the rough door opening. I can give you any measurement you want. I would recommend the first thing to do is put in the door. That way you can get at the drain to rotate it out of the way and then construct the false wall.
Can't wait to get the door! The local RV dealer here hasn't called me back yet. How difficult was it to remove the stove/oven? Looks like that'll simplify the process quite a bit! Thanks again for all of the helpful tips and pics. I'll take (and post) pics as I progress!
Mark.
'08 Chevy Avalanche LT3 6.0L (366hp) 4.10's
'06 Rockwood Roo 23SS. Equal-i-zer/P-3 '06 Honda EU3000iS TomTom ONE 130-S GPS.
Me ('71), DW ('70), DD ('01), DD ('04).
A wiseman once said "GIT-R-DONE"
'09 nights camped- 30 CAMPING PICS & MODS
Just another question: does anyone think it would be worth while (or physically possible) to have a larger door? Or is this an adequate size? (oops, that's two questions!).
The stove/oven was very simple to remove. Once you remove the top cover of the oven (watch that lid! That sucker bends easily!) there are 4 screws, I believe, that hold the oven in plus 2 screws in the front. Once you remove them and disconnect the gas line, you can gently lift the oven out of it's hole. It really does make accessing the area much easier. It also helps because you will want to reposition your water lines and one electrical line that run directly behind the stove.
In response to your second post, I think a wider door would be fine but too much taller and you might risk getting into your countertop. My door is plenty tall enough and wide enough to get the items I want to store in there. Another thing I noted was that when I open my new door, the lock and clasp actually hit the glass pane above it. I have to be careful not to open it too far or too quickly for fear of hitting the glass. I did forget to mention that I purchased a 5 pack of the screw in door latches that hold the door open once you've raised it. I had to mount the latch on the side rather than the top because of the window above. Not really a problem though.
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('71), DW 
('70), DD 
('01), DD 
('04). 
