Advancing Alvar

[Davydd]

We camped our first night In 5 deg. Weather and the subsequent 5 nights below freezing without hookups. ARVs are designed for cold weather camping capability. They are very comfortable in that situation and I can attest we could have never done that in our two previous Bs.

We found last night in a Walmart parking lot that our insulation system and curtain system allowed us to park under a lamp post and next to a running semi without noticing either. We tried that in our previous Great West Van and we were up all night. There is a big difference in ARVs and I think most all other Bs in that regard. We parked in Bobojay's driveway and he left his two outdoor garage lights on. They didn't phase us.

[Davydd]

We camped for the first time last night in Sedona, AZ in temperatures that remained above freezing and for the first time ironically with electrical hookups. We will have a couple days to test other systems and get better organized.

We filled our water tanks. The ARV can be filled in two places, at the passenger door post or on the driver side at the city water connection. At the city water connection side you can turn on "auto fill" at the Silverleaf screen and the city connection will fill the tank and then automatically shutoff and revert to direct city water for use and leave the tanks alone. I don't know when I would use the door post fill hidden by the passenger door because ARV has a method to add pink anti freeze to the lines and bypass the water tank.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by stanw909

There ya go. Using it just as intended but one thing you have neglected to tell us. How does the cat like it ?

The cat adapted well. We put her in Alvar when the temps were 0 outside. In her stress she immediately found the kitty litter box and predictably used it. While traveling she insists on sitting on the passenger's lap. In her stress the fur flies off and gets all over us. After a few days that has subsided. Two days ago she found her traveling spot under the bed behind the wheel well on the passenger side thus relieving us of some lap duty. She still insists on sleeping with her chin on my ankle despite putting her flannel blanket on the console mattress between our beds. She is strictly a house/Van cat and never goes outside.

[Aeronie]

Originally Posted by pattonsr

Davydd,

My wife is only 5' tall. She normally lowers the car seat and goes forward when she drives. In the Sprinter if she then swiveled the seat am I correct that her feet should reach the floor which I assume is the same height as the cab area.

If this is true, then why would one get a raised floor which I admit I have not seen and have no idea how much of the cab area it covers.

I'm 4'11" with short limbs and I can reach. I can also drive the Sprinter very comfortably. I can't say that of a lot of other vehicles.

[mikes47]

Here are 2 shots of the raised floor in the ARV coach "Imagine". The raised part begins at the margin with the carpet. And there is a small storage nook.

[Scout]

Hi Mike,

What is the dimension between the front seats? Our dog might ride there on a dog bed.

[bobojay]

Originally Posted by Scout

Hi Mike,

What is the dimension between the front seats? Our dog might ride there on a dog bed.

Our 45lb Norwegian Elkhound rides and sleeps right between our front seats. Lots of room there for a dog up to 50lbs I'd say

[Scout]

Thanks, our dog is only 20 pounds so she should fit easy.

[Davydd]

The raised floor does not change the driving position. It is just for the turned around seats.

[Tenbike2]

Davydd you went to the extended length rv. I believe your previous great west and pleasureway campers were standard length. Have you noticed much downside to the longer van in handling or finding a place to park? I would appreciate any insights you might wish to share. Thanks Jim

[mlts22]

That is a good point. I wonder if the jump to 24 feet from 22 feet is as big as the jump from 20 feet to 22 feet.

[Davydd]

Hi haven't noticed much difference. So far we have parked everywhere we wanted. More width would have deterred us more since we had pulled into parking stalls with cars on both sides of us. Tonight we are boondocking in the Excalibur Casino surface lot in Las Vegas.

[stanw909]

You guys are covering some ground. How's your mpg so far?

[stanw909]

I was wondering if you have weighed your rig yet.

[Davydd]

When we drive at 65 and below we can average about 18.5 mpg which is about the same as our past B.

Our ARV was weighed and a card was given to us on delivery with the following.

Weight of RV including full diesel tank: 9,420 lbs.
- Front axle: 3,740 lbs.
- Rear axle: 5,820 lbs.

Add weight of full fresh tank (40 gal.) 332 lbs. Black and grey tanks would be emptied when water is filled so that weight would just be transferred.

GVWR: 11,030 lbs.

That leaves us 1,278 lbs. to load up including ourselves.

[bobojay]

That's nice that they give you those specs to work off of when you pick it up

[Davydd]

There was a question about the ground wire from the second alternator. That too is a 4/0 copper wire but does not go back the full length of the van to the batteries. It is grounded to the chassis frame. That copper wire is just a little over 1/2" (0.53) thick!

[Davydd]

We have been on the road for 17 nights so far from 5 to 84 degree weather. 13 of the 17 nights have been boondocking in all kind of situations. My preliminary estimate is with the tank sizes an ARV has (40w/26g/18b), 420w solar and with the 800ah battery pack I am confident we could park somewhere and live normally with full use of our ARV easily for five days straight without driving or even using Autogen in that weather range. That means full use of microwave, electric induction cooktop, 120v outlets, etc. In reality we doubt we would ever go that long without driving somewhere.

We haven't used air conditioning yet not even in the Arizona desert. We used diesel heat numerous and in fact half the nights had been below freezing weather. So far it is meeting our expectations.

[GeorgeB]

Originally Posted by Davydd

We have been on the road for 17 nights so far from 5 to 84 degree weather. 13 of the 17 nights have been boondocking in all kind of situations. My preliminary estimate is with the tank sizes an ARV has (40w/26g/18b), 420w solar and with the 800ah battery pack I am confident we could park somewhere and live normally with full use of our ARV easily for five days straight without driving or even using Autogen in that weather range. That means full use of microwave, electric induction cooktop, 120v outlets, etc. In reality we doubt we would ever go that long without driving somewhere.

We haven't used air conditioning yet not even in the Arizona desert. We used diesel heat numerous and in fact half the nights had been below freezing weather. So far it is meeting our expectations.

Glad to see that the Alvar is well equipped to suit your camping needs. It's hard to imagine the contrary, with great tank and battery capacities, efficient equipment and such a good upfitter.
I'm very curious to know how your lithium-ion batteries are behaving. Are they discharging slowly? How long does it takes for a full charge? Do you monitor them with an amp meter that shows the actual consumption?

ARV is one the first van conversion upfitter to advertise and document their Lithium-ion systems. Unfortunately others hide their experimentation. Like Roadtrek who is very secretive with etreknology to protect their marketing strategies. Mike Wendland ordered it's new rig with a gas stove even if it's equipped with a top secret high performance lithium-ion system! I remember talking to a Roadtrek engineer, a year ago, about lithium-ion batteries. He was very cautious telling me that they weren't ready to offer it. It's an emerging technology and it's normal that everyone wants to be competitive and be part of the game.

Enjoy your wonderful Alvar! It's always nice to follow your adventures, and we appreciate that you are sharing them with us.

GeorgeB

[tinman22]

Really appreciate your sharing this information from an owner/driver perspective -first hand! I am very intertested in any comments as to how well the rear axle air ride system is performing. Recently, I viewed the drive video for the Liesure Unity. It appears that there is much sway when exiting a driveway, etc. The comments suggested that their sway condition was normal for their product, and that MB Sprinters all rode rather harshly.