Anyone pulled interior out of a Callen?

[Czechsix]

I've got a wiring issue in this Callen I have, and after doing a bit of investigation, I'm not going to have anyone else do the wiring. Have to do it myself. I mean, two crimp splices in a single wire within three inches? Really?

IAC, I need to get the interior paneling off, which means the interior cabinetry needs to come off too. The two corner cabinets in the rear are a no brainer. The cabinet in front though....(this is a streamline model, BTW - no cabover, just has a radius on the front edge). According to Scott, these are attached from the exterior, so it looks like I'll be doing a bit of deconstruction. I'm thinking either getting a blade on the fasteners to cut them so the cabinet can be pulled off, or buying a cheap plug cutter set from Harbor Fright and cutting a plug around the fastener, and then pulling the cab off. I'd locate with rare earth magnets. One way has no worries with marring the interior paneling, and the other way is much faster.

So - has anyone done this and have a better way?

I know basically where the wiring runs, I've seen the Callens built and the ceiling/roof wire runs driver side through the tubing, protected by vinyl hose for grommeting material. While I'm in there I'm going to upgrade the wiring too...more circuits, and drop in two or three blank circuits for future radio/solar/misc power/whatever.

We lost vehicle running lights, dash lights, instrument lights on a very nice dark forest road up in Oregon on our last trip. I figured it out in the next campground and DC'd the camper, but that leaves no running lights or other power. Just asking for the helpful CHP officer to give us a guiding hand and a equipment violation, ya know?

 

[Fish]

Hope I'm not too late on this, but I had an idea while driving home this morning.

What if you pulled the skin off the outside of the camper to get at the wiring?

 

[Czechsix]

Howdy Fish, I'll post this in the thread too - I thought about that, but since the exterior skin is still watertight, I didn't want to mess with it. What I did find out was that, while the rear cabinets are easy to remove, the front cabinet on a Callen Streamline is actually attached from the outside before the skin is put on...which makes it very entertaining to remove. So my solution was to say the heck with ripping it all out, and do a surface mount raceway on the interior of the camper, up high. Easier to access, much easier to maintain, plenty of room to run extra circuits, but a little clunky looking. Which I can deal with. So even though I pulled some of the interior panels off, they'll go right back on, and then the raceway goes in.

Thanks for the input though!

 

[Fish]

Yep. Certainly a great option. That's exactly what I did when I added a few power outlets in the cabinets for the fridge, etc. Still need to clean it up some.

Now the debate is how to get wiring to the roof rack I'd like to build cleanly.

 

[Czechsix]

Yah, roof rack wiring....

Yet another thing I've got to deal with too. I don't like poking holes in the skin, so what I was thinking about was running power up the outside front of the camper, up from the truck frame, and make a hard mount on the front of the bed that's accessible from outside. Probably use a milspec connector, something that'll handle decent amps. Then run it up to the rack for alley lights, rear lights, possibly a couple of power ports up top, maybe do an actual power center up there. Also have to think about where to put the solar panels. The rack I'm thinking about will act as a cage for the camper too, it'll be on the bed sides, not attached to the top of the camper. Planning on a front projection to store a couple of spare tires and other items. Also doing stile mounts on the top of the rack, and an awning mount for the top of the rack, and two awning mounts for the side and rear of the rack. The rack will be tied into the bed, and then sister plated into the frame...it'll be a heavy rack, but as long as it doesn't sit on the bed sides, should be OK. too

 

[Fish]

I was debating building a ladder for the back of the Callen and tucking the wiring in there. My Callen has a single door in the middle, so there's room on the sides for a hard mount ladder, which would really be a raceway.

Or coming between the bed and the cab, straight through the middle of the shell on the bottom of the overhang and then out the top. But like you, I'm not thrilled about puncturing the top. I dunno. Maybe out the side with a water shield built in to the rack?