anybody ever heard of this class b model?

[4504]

hello everyone, great site. i am about to pick up a 2000 chevy express travel van, conversion done by trail wagons. the vehicle is also known as the trail wagons travel van (based on the chevy express van body). this one has the 5.7 v-8 vortec motor. the rv stuff in it includes a sink, fridge and microwave. its not big inside as a lot of other class b's, there is no built-in toilet/shower, inside table, etc. there are 30 amp and water connections, vents, etc. the conversion appears to be a factory job, looks professional. i have included a photo of the outside of the van. i cannot find any information about the conversion on the net, except that an outfit named trail wagons did conversions years ago anybody ever hear of it? thanks, mike

http://s141.photobucket.com/albums/r58/ ... xpress.jpg

[markopolo]

I did some digging but couldn't find much.

TrailWagons Inc. had been in business for approximately 40 years. They stopped making Class B's around 2000 or 2001. The company also offered the Chinook line of very high quality small motorhomes.

Travel America, Nov, 2000 by Nancy Baren Miller

Trail Wagons, Inc., known for its Chinook RVs, has introduced the Travel Van to dealerships. The van is designed as a family passenger van during the week and for the camping enthusiast on weekends. It includes such automotive features as tilt wheel, cruise control, power windows and locks, and driver and passenger side air bags.

Among the many RV features are 4.5 gallon tanks for gray and fresh water, shore power with 25-foot cord, refrigerator, microwave, stainless steel sink with cover, Porta-potty, Insta hot water system, and rear heat and air. It also has a raised roof with high density storage, three cloth captain chairs with lumbar support, and a tri-fold sofa bed. Options include a dinette with day table and flip-down TV.

Here are a few links that came up during my search where you might be able to get more info:

Chinook RV Club
http://chinookrvclub.com/homepage.html

DokuWik - Chinook/Trail Wagons, Inc.
http://www.tincantourists.com/wiki/doku.php?id=chinook

Aubrey’s RV
http://www.aubreysrv.com/default.aspx

Sierra Truck and Van
http://www.sierratruckandvan.com/contactus.htm

[4504]

thanks, i really appreciate the info. picked it up, got in this am 0500 hrs after a short 1,400 mile ride home. it is indeed involved with chinook, i found a trailwagons/chinook sticker inside. love it to death, not one problem coming home. it is exactly as described as in the source you quoted in your reply, except mine has leather seats all. its kinda cool because the front seats are heated along with the lumbar, plus there are heated and cooled cupholders. the sofa seat is powered to go to its bed position.

there is no manuals for either the vehicle or conversion, the vehicle manual is common but it looks like i'm going to have to hunt a bit to hopefully find the rv workings manual, if any are available. i will start with chinook and go from there. the reason is that the thing has tons of buttons and switches for all the rv kind of stuff. i can figure out most of it, i might need some help on the rest if you don't mind. i love this little rv like nobodys business. there are lots of other stuff....like besides the stowable inside table, there is another table that hooks right up to the trailer hitch.

i got this vehicle primarily as a tow vehicle because of its. 5.7 v8 (300 plus torque) and its set up already for trailer brakes with the controller. but i really like the rv part even more, been looking at them for years but the money was just not there for the ones i liked. this one is 10 years old and 120k miles so it was relatively cheap. used less than a half quart of oil coming home, even with a "minor" manifold leak (it minor until the bill come due to fix).

what a great place, thanks again...mike