Top 9 Travel Trailer Upgrades!

Lippert Scouts Reagan and D’Anne Terrill, the duo behind RV Travelers Voice, have spent years on the road in their Forest River Wildwood, discovering the ins and outs of travel trailer life. Over several camping seasons, they’ve learned that upgrading their rig is an ongoing adventure. In this guest post, Reagan shares his top nine travel trailer upgrades, offering insights and tips for anyone looking to enhance their own travel trailer experience. 

By Reagan Terrill of RV Travelers Voice

Whether you are a seasoned veteran or a “newbie” to travel trailer life, there’s one thing that is constant: there will always be upgrades. That’s a lesson that we’ve learned over the five seasons we have been camping with our 2020 Forest River Wildwood 29VBUD.  
 
The upgrade bug bit us shortly after we first brought our rig home from the dealership, and it’s still biting today. Looking back at the various things we’ve added, switched, or modified, these items generally fall into one of three broad categories — comfort, functionality, or safety.  
 
If you have just finished a recent upgrade, are in the middle of an upgrade project, or are already pondering your next upgrade, we will share with you a list of what we feel have been our “top nine” travel trailer upgrades, along with a bit of background as to why we considered them for this list. 

1. Bedding 
2. Lighting 
3. Seating 
4. Cooling 
5. Cargo Carrying Capacity 
6. Leveling 
7. Tires & Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) 
8. The Hitch 
9. Cameras 

We will start with comfort. Let’s face it: if your travel trailer camping experience isn’t comfortable, you probably won’t stick with it. Yes, it is camping. Yes, it is in a travel trailer — but that doesn’t mean you have to forego a few of the creature comforts in your rolling home. 

Our first upgrade was made before we completed one night of sleep in the travel trailer. We upgraded our mattress. The camper came with a stock 6", hard-as-a-rock mattress. We took one look at it while the travel trailer was still sitting at the dealership and said, “That thing’s gotta go!”  

Our research on several travel trailer forums helped guide our hunt for a new camper mattress to provide a good night’s sleep. Several considerations made our evaluation list. The new mattress had to be an RV Queen of decent thickness to provide appropriate support while still being soft, too. The manufacturer had to provide a good return policy if we didn’t find the mattress to suit our needs. And, finally, the mattress had to be light enough to not add a significant amount of additional weight to the travel trailer. 
 
With the criteria solidified, we took our search online. After perusing several mattresses that met our criteria and reading through the customer feedback, we settled on a 14” Dreamfoam Chill foam mattress. The order was placed, and the mattress-in-a-box was dropped at our doorstep in just a couple of days. However, there were a couple of problems. There was no box. The mattress arrived in just a bare plastic shrink-wrapped state. In addition to the missing protective box, the mattress had a 12" long slice through the mattress cover. We decided to open it anyway and place it into our travel trailer’s main bedroom to check the overall fit. The length and width were perfect. However, when it expanded to its full 14” depth, we realized that the mattress was too tall. We’re tall people, but we would need a running start to jump onto that thick of a mattress.  
 
We took a couple of pictures of the mattress and put in a call to the manufacturer’s customer service line. We reached a representative right away and explained the damage to the mattress. Without hesitation the customer service representative agreed to ship us a new mattress via overnight shipping. I went on to explain that the 14” mattress was too tall and asked if they could downgrade our new mattress to the 10” version. Again, the customer service representative was extremely helpful and immediately made the swap for us.  
 
The new mattress arrived the next day, and we eagerly carried it into the travel trailer. Unwrapping and positioning on the main bedroom platform progressed without issue, and we were ready to try it out. From that first night’s sleep while “driveway camping,” we knew we had a winner. Now, after about 500 nights of camping later, the mattress still sleeps like new. We are so thankful for this very comfortable mattress and happily rank it amongst our best RV upgrades. 

This upgrade relates to our RV bedroom lighting, both in the main bedroom and in the bunkroom. The factory-provided lighting in both rooms was via several ceiling-mounted, push-button LED light fixtures. The lights illuminated the space very well…too well, actually.  

The lights had one setting — very bright. While that served us well on some occasions, most of the time, the bright light was not necessary. And, on some occasions, the bright light was almost blinding if you happened to be looking directly at the light when someone flipped it on. And there was no hope but to disturb someone sleeping in one of the rooms if another person needed to turn on the light for something. Thus, we began the search for options to provide more comfortable lighting. 
 
Turning to our online community for suggestions, we found a few fellow campers who were considering installing dimmable lighting. That suggestion sparked another thought: Could I possibly install a dimmer on the existing lights? Amazon to the rescue! I found a possible solution that provided a 12-volt dimmer. In addition, and as a bonus, the dimmer had a wireless on / off switch and dimmer controller.  
 
As a side note, our travel trailer manufacturer, in their design of our bedroom lighting, didn’t provide a wall switch for each set of bedroom lights. Thus, the only way to turn one on was to make your way into the room, sometimes pitch dark at night, and fumble around the ceiling, feeling for one of the push-button light fixtures. This new solution would provide not only an answer to my dimmer dilemma but would provide a wireless wall switch to boot! 

The switches and dimmer devices arrived as described online and were simple to install, patching them into the existing 12-volt power wires for the bedroom light switches. I could have inserted them into the main wiring, supplying all the lights in the room. However, I chose to provide a dimmer for only one light in each room, which was sufficient to provide a less harsh lighting solution and still illuminate the room enough to get around. The convenient on / off switches have worked flawlessly, too. 

Our next area of upgrade came in the form of a recent change to our main living area. The standard setup came with a 5’ jackknife sofa. The sofa served as “bench” style seating for three people, two comfortably, and converted into additional sleeping spaces when made into a flat bed. For the first four seasons of camping, we made the best of it with the jackknife sofa. We added blankets, quilts, pillows, and a couple of collapsable ottomans, all to add a bit more comfort to the main seating space. However, the feel was not quite right. It just wasn’t a good place to sit and relax. Over the off-season, we began looking for other options. 

We locked in on the most probable solution rather quickly. We decided to remove the jackknife sofa and replace it with a set of RV recliners. We took detailed measurements of the space currently occupied by the sofa and began our research. Our findings revealed many options: manual-recline versus power-recline; cloth, leather, or vinyl upholstery; and an assortment of features — heated seats, massage functions, cup holders, storage bins, and electronic device charging outlets. Of course, the price varied wildly depending upon the combination of these choices.  
 
Our fellow online camping community had lots of useful input and experiences to share. In addition, we poured over the customer feedback and reviews on each manufacturer’s website and product page. As this was to be a significant investment, one that we expected to last for a long time, and one that we planned to enjoy comfortably in our travel trailer daily, our due diligence was extensive. 
 
Our search brought us to a model manufactured by Ashley RV — a 60” wall-hugging, power-reclining loveseat. While we evaluated many excellent products by other manufacturers, this one checked all the boxes and was an excellent value for the money. The unit included two very comfortable seats with an ample storage bin armrest and two cup holders. A pair of USB charging outlets rounded out the list of features along with the durable vinyl upholstery. The seats have gotten plenty of use this season and we’ve asked ourselves many times, “Why didn’t we make this upgrade sooner?”  

When it comes to our travel trailer’s functionality, we will start by saying that we’ve loved our overall rig from day one. It has functioned well and has enabled us to experience a whole new world of camping, making countless memories along the way. That said, we couldn’t help but make a few enhancements to improve the overall functionality of our rig. Some of those enhancements were simple, and some were a bit more complex. Most of them had some level of positive impact, and some of them were duds. When we think of the three with the most impact, the following comes to mind. 

Being based in Texas and having much of our camping taking place across the southern United States, RV air conditioning is a must-have. Our rig came with two AC units — a 15,000 BTU unit supplying cooling via ducts to all rooms and a 13,500 BTU non-ducted unit primarily supplying cooling to the bunk room. Both AC units perform well and provide cooling within the manufacturing specifications. After a couple of seasons of camping in extreme heat, we began looking for ways to make the units work a bit more efficiently.  
 
We put on our researcher hats and turned to the experienced RV community online and also YouTube. We found two key areas to explore — improving the airflow from the main AC unit through the ductwork and minimizing the amount of radiant heat coming into the rig from our two large panoramic windows in the main living space. 
 
The first task was to tackle the ductwork. We opened the main plenum and opened all the AC duct vents. We looked for areas where the existing foil tape was cracked, torn, or missing and retaped all the areas where the precious cool air was escaping into the travel trailer roof cavity. We found several areas in the plenum space that needed to be retaped, too. 

Along with the retaping activity, we investigated the option of installing an airflow diverter to more efficiently direct the cooled air from the AC blower more directly into the two ductwork openings in the plenum. We found several pre-manufactured options online. We also found several “how-to” videos on YouTube that provided instructions on how to build our own airflow diverter for a fraction of the cost. We opted for the latter and built one out of foam board and metal AC duct tape. Between the ductwork taping and the plenum airflow enhancement, the results were amazing.  

The airflow out of each AC ceiling vent was noticeably increased, all for less than $20. However, there was one more area to be addressed. We enjoy having the two 3’ x 5” panoramic windows in our main living area slide-out. The views are amazing. However, the single-pane windows put off a significant amount of heat, so much so that we often found ourselves pulling the black-out roller shades just to try and mitigate the heat. After a couple of seasons, we decided to apply a 5% ceramic tint to each panoramic window.  
 
While many fellow RVers provided tips on DIY window tint application, we opted for a professional installation on this upgrade. The selected company made quick and excellent work of this task. The results were amazing, noticeably reducing the heat coming through the glass and giving us more freedom to keep the window shades open and enjoy the views.  

The ductwork, plenum, and new window tint have greatly increased the efficiency of our AC units. With both units running, the initial “cool down” from a long day of traveling takes less time. And now, we can keep the entire rig cool with just the main ducted AC on most trips, even when the outside temperatures are in the high 90s.  

The final area of functional improvement came through the addition of some extra hardware to the rear of our rig. Prior to the addition of this piece of hardware, the only items on the rear of our travel trailer were the 4” square-tube bumper and the bumper-mounted spare tire. However, we needed some extra exterior cargo-carrying capacity.  
 
Prior to purchasing our travel trailer, our home-based outdoor activities included frequent recreational bicycle riding. We had a couple of cruiser-style bikes and enjoyed many leisurely trips around the neighborhood and surrounding community. For our first couple of camping seasons with our current travel trailer, we opted not to bring those bicycles along for our journeys. The main reason was that we had no optimal way to carry the bikes. There was no space in our tow vehicle, and we really didn’t like the option of putting the bikes into the travel trailer for transport. 
 
We began investigating a couple of options. For one, we considered trailer tongue-mounted bike racks. However, as our trailer has a significant tongue weight, we knew we didn’t want to put any more weight on the tongue, so we moved our investigation to the back bumper. 
 
While researching back bumper options, we found a multitude of advice and “horror stories” about putting any type of cargo rack or bike rack onto the existing thin-walled square tube bumper. The added stresses of bouncing cargo and bikes would likely destroy the bumper, and we didn’t want to end up with a catastrophic failure of a fully loaded cargo rack while going down the road. We decided to consult with the experts. 
 
Our first call was to my Forest River warranty representative. He was very helpful and confirmed that the existing square tube bumper was not designed to handle such weight. However, he suggested that we contact Lippert, the travel trailer frame manufacturer, to get more detailed specifications and recommendations. He provided a contact number to a Lippert representative, and we made another call.  

The Lippert contact confirmed Forest River’s assessment and provided the detailed capacity specs for the existing bumper, informing us that beyond the existing spare tire carrier, it would not be advisable to add more weight onto the square tube bumper. The Lippert contact was helpful, and suggested a couple of other options. First, he pointed us to several “bolt-on” flip-down racks available at the Lippert online store. The bolt-on options connected directly to the main frame rails and did not put additional weight on the bumper. Alternatively, the Lippert contact recommended that a flip-down rack could be attached to the rear by welding the rack mounting brackets to the main frame rails. 
 
Armed with the new information directly from Lippert, we evaluated the off-the-shelf items from the Lippert store and consulted with a local welding and fabrication shop. Ultimately, we chose to have a custom rack built locally, with mounting brackets welded directly to the frame rails, just as Lippert recommended. The resulting rack was put into service immediately. Aftermarket bolt-on bike wheel chocks were added, and the flip-down rack was converted to hold our two cruiser bikes.  
 
Removing the chocks also provided extra carrying space for a couple of filled totes on certain trips. Our portable waste tank has also found its home on the tote tank rack attached to the flip-down rack. This past season, we upgraded our rides to include two e-bikes and the rack has been further modified to securely transport the e-bikes. Overall, this has been one of the most useful RV modifications we’ve made, adding much-needed cargo-carrying functionality. 

A not-so-glamorous yet necessary task on almost every campout is the process of leveling your rig. A leveled rig makes for a much more enjoyable camping experience — an experience where the eggs don’t slide off the griddle, where an open door stays open, and where one doesn’t have to hang onto the edge of the bed to keep from rolling onto the floor. Being able to efficiently and effectively level a travel trailer takes a bit of patience, practice, and often a bit of trial and error to get it right.  
 
Our first couple of seasons were our time of practice, mainly using manual bubble levels and multiple sets of stackable leveling blocks. Upon getting our travel trailer generally positioned into our designated camping spot, we would look at the levels and make a bit of an educated guess at how many layers of the stackable blocks would be needed to raise one side of the travel trailer to the appropriate level.  

With that process, sometimes we got it right, and sometimes we had to roll off the blocks, reset a new stack, and try again. Once the side-to-side leveling was complete and the tow vehicle was unhitched, we continued the leveling process by adjusting the height of the tongue jack to achieve a level front-to-back position. This process was simple but still involved adjusting the jack, checking levels, adjusting the jack, checking the levels, and so on until the manual level indicated the correct setting.  
 
After a couple of years of “practice,” we considered ourselves proficient in this manual process. However, we had seen some of our fellow YouTubers using a new gadget that greatly simplified the process. The gadget being used was the LevelMate Pro. The users claimed that with this device, coupled with a set of curved leveling blocks, the driver could achieve the perfect side-to-side level position in one go while remaining comfortably seated in the driver’s seat of the tow vehicle. Once unhitched from the tow vehicle, while looking at the real-time front-to-back level indicator on the phone app, one could quickly adjust the tongue jack to the correct height to finalize the leveling process. We had to have one. 

We ordered the LevelMate Pro+, a version that has a phone application and an Apple Watch application. In addition, the Pro+ has an option for external power versus just battery-powered and can be direct-wired to the travel trailer’s 12-volt power source. Our LevelMate Pro+ was an easy install into our forward pass-through cargo bay, where we already had easy access to splice into the 12-volt power supply. Almost instantaneously, the function of leveling our travel trailer went from a trial-and-error guessing game to a perfect level in just a few minutes. This device has proven itself as both a time-saver and a stress-reducer. 

When we speak about enhancing or upgrading our travel trailer from a safety perspective, let us assure you that we take our safety and the safety of others on the road very seriously. We take it slow, are deliberate in our actions, and are always looking for ways to provide more peace of mind with our towing experience.  
 
Along our journey of over 45,000 miles towing our travel trailer, we have added a few devices and changed a few things. These are our suggestions for you to consider, recognizing that no two travel trailer and tow vehicle combinations are exactly alike. Everyone must understand the specifications, capabilities, and limitations of their own rig and evaluate what is appropriate. With that in mind, here are three areas that have made a world of difference for us. 

Let’s start with tires. Our travel trailer came with standard trailer tires, sized and specified to handle the noted Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of our travel trailer. The specified tires were noted as Load Range “D” tires, meaning that at their max cold air pressure of 65 psi, they would support up to 2,540 lbs. on each wheel. With our trailer having four wheels, that means the tires could support 10,160 lbs., slightly more than the 9,600-lb. GVWR for our travel trailer. However, given that we planned to cover a lot of miles over a variety of highway conditions, we wanted to add a bit more stability and durability to our trailer’s tires.  
 
We were interested in tires with a bit more stiffness in the sidewall, which brought us to the Load Range “E” tires. Along with the stiffer sidewalls, which added stability to the towing experience, the maximum load-carrying capacity became 2,830 lbs. per wheel when inflated to 80 psi cold. This added capacity did not change the travel trailer’s GVWR, but it did add more margin of error between the load-bearing capacity and the GVWR. 

Since we added stronger and more stable tires, we also wanted to have a way to monitor the actual tire pressure and temperature while driving. Yes, we always performed manual pressure checks and visual tire inspections before each trip and at every fuel stop along the way. However, we wanted an added layer of awareness of what was happening while driving.  
 
Thus, we added a simple tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) to our repertoire of safety-enhancing travel trailer upgrades. Our system was easy to implement, as it has screw-on sensors. The compact and easy-to-read in-cab monitor gives us immediate feedback on low pressure, rapid pressure loss, or high temperature readings. By giving us early alerts and warnings, we have been able to avoid any catastrophic blowouts. We’ve had several flat or near-flat tire situations, but additional tire damage and potentially disastrous situations have been averted thanks to the handy TPMS system. In short, stronger tires and a good TPMS have been money well spent in our upgrade department. 

Since we’ve gotten things rolling (no pun intended) on the safety category, let’s move on to what we’ve done to fortify the connection between our travel trailer and the tow vehicle, the hitch. I’ll preface this segment with a reminder that you need to know the specs and capabilities of your specific towing setup. Do your homework, ask a lot of questions, and seek advice from the experts where needed. We have learned a lot in this area.  
 
We have dug into our tow vehicle’s GVWR, its allowable payload, its maximum combined vehicle weight rating (the weight of the fully loaded tow vehicle and the fully loaded travel trailer), and how the weight of the travel trailer is distributed between the tongue and the trailer axles. We have expanded our knowledge of the impacts of travel trailer and tow vehicle loading and the things that need to happen to reduce, prevent, or eliminate a potentially dangerous trailer sway condition. No, we’re not going to give you a class in towing mechanics. However, we will share our experience and what has proven to work best for us. 
 
We knew right from the start that we needed a weight distribution hitch, a hitch that takes some of the tongue weight from the travel trailer and “distributes” it from the rear axles of the tow vehicle to both the front axles of the tow vehicle and the travel trailer axles. How did we know this? We did our research on our tow vehicle’s receiver. The receiver has two weight ratings, a maximum load “without” a weight distributing hitch and “with” one. Since the expected tongue weight of our trailer exceeded the “without” weight distribution capacity, a hitch was in the cards for us. What we really didn’t know much about was what we needed with respect to trailer sway.  
 
After a bit of research, we found that there is a plethora of options available, all with their pros and cons of reducing the amount of sway, reacting to sway once it has started, or preventing sway in the first place. In the end, we went with our dealer’s recommendations for our first weight distribution hitch with added sway control.  

That hitch was a Husky Centerline TS with built-in friction bar sway control. The hitch performed flawlessly with respect to weight distribution, easily balancing the load, giving a near-level and slightly nose-down towing position for the travel trailer. And the friction-based sway control performed well. We had no general sway with the trailer just going down the road. With passing large trucks, we did experience a significant push and pull from side to side from their bow wave, but it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle, especially keeping a close eye on approaching trucks and making appropriate preparations to deal with the bow wave by giving the passing truck a very wide berth.  
 
The area in which the Husky Centerline TS struggled was with strong gusts of wind or significant sustained crosswinds. Those crosswinds would catch the tail of our nearly 38’ travel trailer and send the nose of my truck in an unexpected direction. We had to be on the top of our game all the time when towing in those conditions. After a few trips in these conditions, we hit the research trail in search of another solution. 
 
Along came the ProPride 3P. This hitch is designed to address trailer sway by preventing it rather than controlling it. This hitch features a trailer-mounted design, keeping most components attached to the travel trailer. This setup eliminates the need to lift and manage heavy weight distribution bars or swap out bulky weight-distributing hitches. The hitch works by shifting the pivot point between the trailer and tow vehicle closer to the rear axle of the tow vehicle, effectively reducing trailer sway. This results in less impact from passing trucks and improved stability during sudden braking or evasive maneuvers. While strong crosswinds are still noticeable, their effects are diminished, allowing the tow vehicle and trailer to move more cohesively. However, the ProPride 3P comes with a high price tag, which may be a consideration for some.

Our final chapter in the quest for our most impactful RV camper upgrades regarding travel trailer safety concerns visibility. When we say “visibility,” we mean our ability to see what’s happening around us as we drive and tow.  
 
Our tow vehicle came well-suited to cater to our visibility needs in most areas. The large and well-placed side mirrors provide excellent views of each side of the travel trailer. Our active blind spot monitoring sensors in the tow vehicle automatically adjust to the length of our travel trailer, and the forward visibility is clear and unobstructed. The one area that was lacking was the ability to see what’s behind us while going down the road. Thus, from day one, we knew that we wanted to fix that situation.  
 
And guess what? Our travel trailer came “pre-wired” for a rear-view camera, so our hunt for the right camera began. 

While the pre-wire setup was specifically designed for one brand of rear-view camera system, we quickly found that many other manufacturers provided options that would fit. We opted for an Amtifo system, a unit that provided a large windshield-mounted viewing monitor and two cameras. We mounted one camera onto the pre-wired bracket towards the top of our travel trailer, in line with the rear marker lights. The second camera was mounted at bumper height and wired into the side marker light with 12-volt power. The top camera became our rear-view mirror solution. The bottom camera was used exclusively for providing guidance while backing into our camping spots. 
 
The first low-cost solution served us well for the past four seasons. The clarity and flawless performance at low speeds were great, especially when backing. The view from the top camera was good in most situations. The top camera did experience a bit of a delay sometimes at higher traffic speeds, a minor deficiency that we adapted to during its four-year run as our system of choice. The view of what’s behind us added another layer of comfort and assurance on the safety front and made for a more enjoyable towing experience. Regardless of what brand and type of camera you choose, I highly recommend getting one. 

Now in our fifth season, we have opted to upgrade our camera system to one that has a few more features. The system is a new version from Haloview, the BT6, along with two cameras, just as before. However, the bonus is that the cameras now have an audio feed to the in-cab monitor, allowing for real-time feedback from a spotter when backing into a spot. The advancement in backup camera technology over the past four years has also provided a much faster refresh rate and more stable communication when traveling at highway speeds. No more slight delays in the video feed. While the Haloview is slightly more costly than the Amtifo, the enhancements to screen clarity and camera functionality are impressive. 

We hope you’ve found our experiences helpful, informative, and thought-provoking. Whether or not you have implemented or are planning to implement upgrades in these areas, we’d love to hear from you with your ideas and feedback. Be sure to check us out and follow us on our Facebook page, RV Travelers Voice, or on our YouTube channel of the same name.