Introduce Yourself

[Davydd]

We plan to camp this weekend in Michigan's Upper Peninsula where the high will be around 29 and the low of 13 over the whole weekend. That is actually pretty warm for this time of year. Our lowest night was last January at 5 degrees. This morning we woke up to -12 (not in our B.) That would be pushing the limit I think for us. I'm testing our heating system right now and after an hour of running with a temperature -1 outside the B reached 42. At some point it will top out. A 5,000BTU ceramic cube inside the van tops out for us at about 45 degrees above outside temperature. Our built in Rixen glycol electric heat exchanger tops out at 25 degrees and our Espar diese-fired gylcol heat exchanger tops out at about 55 degrees. In combination the cube and Espar exceeded my test setting of 78 degrees and the Espar then starts cycling on and off. Now I am testing the Rixen electric and Espar diesel together.

I know how you feel about the motel. In 2013 and 2014 when we headed south from Minnesota it took two days to reach warm enough camping temperatures with our previous B. We spent nights in motels. Our incentive was not to do that again and we didn't this last year (Cracker Barrel and friend's driveway.) In our previous Bs we had endured down to 18 degrees in the Rocky Mountains but the days were alway above 40.

[snicker70]

Hi y'all! My name is Gayle! I have a 1993 Roadtrek 210 Popular. I purchased an older vehicle to see if I'd actually use it enough to have one or determine if it was just a dream. I bought it early December and have made a few weekend trips with it already. I am using my weekend time to use it. When I retire I hope to live in one full time.

I've had multiple issues with the RV which has prevented me from doing certain things but I'm enjoying what I have. I've already used this forum as a source of information. If I'm stumped with how something should work I will post it and usually get some assistance or suggestions.

I'm doing vlogs on my travels so those that don't get a chance to travel can see different places as well as hope to inspire others to join the RV world. I'm loving it! I took my cat on my last trip. She was popular! lol

[gregmchugh]

Snicker70, If you are interested in interacting with a group of Roadtrek owners consider joining the Roadtrek Owners Group on Facebook.

[snicker70]

I did! It's a great group there! Thank you!

[briancummings]

Hello all....Were from Red Deer, Alberta and happily motor around in our second hand brand new 1986 Okanagan Econoline 250 Class B, she's an oldie but a goody. She's got a few cool one of a kind add on's all done by myself. Such as what I call my "Frankenstove" which you can see here on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWgToTFKrmE

I'm hoping to find someone who might know what the paint colour code of the purple on my Van might be...fingers crossed. Thanks for any help I can get.

[KEN62]

Hi - Ken in Tampa Bay area of Florida here! I have my first RV - a 2003 R-Vision Trail-Lite B-Plus 225 with 31000 miles - in great shape. I am in search of other Trail-Lite B-Plus owners to share info with as we no longer have R-Vision support. I have most of the manuals - but not all. Looking for owner hints!!
Ken

[The Refuge]

Well, I am new to this, but not NEW at age nearly 74. In good health but arthritis prevents me from using a above cab bed. It is just me and my little dog now that I have been raising my own and other people's kids for 50 years. I am definitely ready to retire.
There is just so much out there to choose from when it comes to RV's and I like the size of a Class B, but then again, the bed may be an issue for me.

My son and his wife RV part-time, well he does part time, she does full time as he still works 2 on and 2 off. Yep, he works in the oil fields of Alaska and flies back and forth to wherever he left his RV last. They love it. He says it is time for me to sell my house and join them on their jaunts.

I am happy to chat with any advisors!

[KEN62]

I am also about the same age. As I mentioned - I have a 2003 R-Vision Trail-Lite B-Plus LE 225. What I like about it is the bed' The unit has the normal jack knife bed and dinette but what is cool is that when you open the jack knife it meets the dinette to make a huge bed that goes all the way across the RV. I think that makes sleeping access easy. Aslo what I like about a B-Class is you can see - unlike the C which is like a huge ball cap over your eyes.
Ken

[Hein]

Hello,

I joined this forum a while ago and sort of forgot about the fact that I was a member already. My wife Kim and I built a DIY Sprinter conversion a few years ago. We had a large Class A rig when our kids were small and wanted to hit the road again after they got out on their own. We built our Sprinter with most all the amenities we had in our motorhome: larger RV fridge, bathroom with a door, functional galley with microwave, hot water, heat & air conditioning, fresh, black and grey tanks, etc. But with a lot less extra space.

We went with a full off-grid electric setup with a large battery bank, 2800 watt inverter and 200 watts solar. (could use a bit more of that but its enough to keep the fridge running and the beer cold on sunny days. We can run on 30A shore power but have no generator or propane system. Best feature is our Techma Plus macerator toilet. Now that's a proper throne and keeps the wife very happy.


We have taken a number of long trips and also use our van for shorter excursions and day trips. I wrote an extensive blog during the build which can be seen over at the Sprinter-Source. I host my own images so you should be able to see all the photos with out creating a login. It's a long read (80+ pages) so take your time. The users on that forum were a great resource while planning and executing our build. In turn, we try to help folks with their builds/projects so if you have questions please PM me.
Thank you for allowing me to join your group and we look forward to meeting you on the road or on your way through the Columbia Gorge east of Portland, OR.

All the best,
Hein & Kim

[Boxster1971]

Welcome Hein - glad to have your expertise on this forum.

[95FamilyVan]

Hello,
We are Ron & Sue, two old retired teachers.
We just bought a 1995 Coachman Family Van with 85,000 miles on it. It is our first motorhome, but not our first RV. We own a 1968 Airstream trailer that we have not used for more than a storage unit for years.

This spring we plan to make our Coachman's maiden voyage from Arizona to Iowa, then to the Black Hills in S. Dakota, proceed to Glacier National Park in Montana, then on to Spokane Washington, & back home through either California or Nevada.

We did not receive any owner's manuals with our Class B, and are a bit in the dark about procedures, etc. Any Help on this, from other members would be greatly appreciated.
Ron & Sue

[Boxster1971]

I noticed that Coachmen has their owners manual online, but don't show any for their camper vans.
Coachmen RV - Manufacturer of Travel Trailers - Fifth Wheels - Tent Campers - Motorhomes

The systems in their 1995 clas C and truck camper models are likely similar to the ones in your van. You might try contacting Coachmen and ask why they don't have camper van owners manuals online like all their other models.

[95FamilyVan]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

I noticed that Coachmen has their owners manual online, but don't show any for their camper vans.
Coachmen RV - Manufacturer of Travel Trailers - Fifth Wheels - Tent Campers - Motorhomes

The systems in their 1995 clas C and truck camper models are likely similar to the ones in your van. You might try contacting Coachmen and ask why they don't have camper van owners manuals online like all their other models.

Thanks boxster,
We did call Coachman & they had no answer, but promised to search the archives & get back to us.
I have downloaded several manuals & think that I have been able to piece together an idea of the equipment in our Class B, using a little bit from each of these manuals.
Ron & Sue

[fwdanielson]

My wife and I have been camping and hiking for years, the last six or so with a 19 foot travel trailer. Recently we found a 95 Roadtrek 190 Versatile on the Chevy chassis in great shape and a deal we couldn't pass up. Been on a few trips around our home state of Florida so far and it has been a champ. Needs a few odds and ends but nothing major so far. The only large problem has been that the original owner rarely ran the generator as it only had 54 hours on it and the fuel system was all gummed up. The generator is currently out of the van getting a new fuel pump and carburetor along with general maintenance.

Our first trip took us to the Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area at Flagler Beach and we were hooked after that. Heading to Apalachicola next to eat oysters and boondock in the National Forest. Our dog, Bella, loves the camping and traveling in the Roadtrek.

-Frank

[gmcbride]

Hi Frank,
We just got back from Apalachicola! Boondocked at a public parking lot in town so that we could enjoy an evening at the Bowery Station...lots of fun!
Garnet

[ZiOsmobile]

Hi my name is Catherine. Never thought I would ever be out on the road, but here we are...Currently, my husband, Gerard, dog and cat are on a two month trip around Florida. We are both retired. Pretty much newbies to Rving and we have had all our trials by fire. We graduated after 1 year of a brand spankin' new 2014 hybrid trailer that had it's siding flying off 105 miles from nowhere in New Mexico to a 2015 Roadtrek Zion that had to be flatbedded back to the dealer after driving it 14 miles off the lot. We are on our 2nd Zion as Roadtrek had to come and pick up the 2015 after 1200 miles of failures and they delivered the 2016 to us in Duluth, MN. We are still working out the bugs on the 2016. Oh, do I have the stories to tell. I am bound and determined to get this RVing thing down. Cause I do love being out on the road... hubby not so much.
We are in the process of selling our Duluth, Minnesota home and have a condo on a lake in Cape Coral, Florida. I needed a way to travel with the dog to get back to see all my g-babies in Minnesota and escape Florida's summer heat.
Looking forward to learning lots from all of you.

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by ZiOsmobile

Hi my name is Catherine. Never thought I would ever be out on the road, but here we are...Currently, my husband, Gerard, dog and cat are on a two month trip around Florida. We are both retired. Pretty much newbies to Rving and we have had all our trials by fire. We graduated after 1 year of a brand spankin' new 2014 hybrid trailer that had it's siding flying off 105 miles from nowhere in New Mexico to a 2015 Roadtrek Zion that had to be flatbedded back to the dealer after driving it 14 miles off the lot. We are on our 2nd Zion as Roadtrek had to come and pick up the 2015 after 1200 miles of failures and they delivered the 2016 to us in Duluth, MN. We are still working out the bugs on the 2016. Oh, do I have the stories to tell. I am bound and determined to get this RVing thing down. Cause I do love being out on the road... hubby not so much.
We are in the process of selling our Duluth, Minnesota home and have a condo on a lake in Cape Coral, Florida. I needed a way to travel with the dog to get back to see all my g-babies in Minnesota and escape Florida's summer heat.
Looking forward to learning lots from all of you.

If you are not already a member of the Roadtrek Owners Group on Facebook consider joining. Several new Zion owners are there sharing their experiences...

[ZiOsmobile]

thanx Greg... i will do that!

[gregmchugh]

Originally Posted by ZiOsmobile

thanx Greg... i will do that!

It can sometimes take a day or two for the membership request to be approved but usually no longer...

[downeastwaves]

Thanks for adding me. Hubby Mike live in Eastport, Maine USA. We have a 1988 Ford Dearborn coachman camper van. We have been many, many miles seeing the U.S. and Canada. Looking forward to seeing more.