Winnebago Travato thread here

[fruch]

kltk1, you can find some pictures of the new Travato K seat belt set up on the Travato Owners and wannabees site on Facebook.

[Technomadness]

Several ads for 2019 models are out there, but I think they are dealers playing games to try and get you to call them rather than be interested in the “old 2018” models. An example below.

MHSRV is having a 2018 model year blowout even. LOL

Check out this 2019 Winnebago TRAVATO shared from the RVTrader iOS App.https://hr4kf.app.goo.gl/FvZi




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[Technomadness]

Interestingly, if you go to the Winnebago site and their brochure archive, there is a two page brochure for the 2019 TRAVATO. Very different from the full brochure for the 2018 TRAVATO.


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[BBQ]

Originally Posted by kltk1

Hey folks, not sure if this is common knowledge already, but, we were at the RV show in Atlantic City, NJ last weekend and the dealer (Colonial RV) representing the Winnebago Class B's were all excited to tell anyone that would listen the Winnebago rep was there that afternoon and indicated there WILL BE two lap belts added to the drivers side twin bed on the 59K. As we're not owners, yet, of a Travato, if they already exist we weren't aware of that.

Yes there will be 2 additional seat belts.
but they will be side-facing, without shoulder belts.

For an RV, only the front seat belts must be built according to DOT specifications. IMHO the non-DOT seat belts are only good for short trips (eg grocery run).

[Technomadness]

I think there’s a new market segment that isn’t being addressed very well and if Winnebago would address it they would make a lot of additional sales.

That market segment is #VanLife, but more broadly technologically adept people who are full timing in vans. This segment runs from 20-50 year olds and is the growing mobile workforce— I don’t mean work campers going to Amazon fulfillment centers, I mean high tech people who work remotely and realize there’s no reason to pay rent when they can be out in the road.

There are tens of thousands of people out there building vans to live in full time right now. Why is this? Many of them spend hundreds of hours and many tens of thousands of dollars doing it. There’s so many of them that there is no limit of tours on YouTube and complete van build series. Not to mention the whole Skoolie and foodtruck segments and those who buy RVs and heavily modify them.

It’s a huge neon sign that there’s a market segment the industry is missing.

The TRAVATO is closer to meeting this groups needs than most. Right platform (the 20 year old portion of the segment can’t afford a Benz), many good design choices from the Truma to the roof rack.

They have a shot at making a new Westfalia— eg: a van that defines a generation.

To do this: (Using the 59G as a reference here, similar changes could be made to the K)
— delete the propane tank and generator.
— install a 400AH 48v lithionics battery inside and a high voltage alternator (enable smaller gauge wiring on the long trip to the coach)
— move to an aqua hot or Alde system, at any rate, radiant heat and hot water from the chassis gas tank.
— move the water tanks inside, or if that isn’t possible, run the radiant heat return by the tanks to make it 4 seasons capable.
—Double black tank size at expense of fresh and grey
— induction cooking
— glamor feature- make the sink double as a sous vide cooking basin. Sous vide is so hot right now.
— re-arrange roof to support 600w of solar and make 300w standard with mppt controllers.
— dual compressor 7-10 cubic foot fridge, put microwave on inverter.
— 3,000 watt inverter
— convert the front dinette into a small office/work area, with a beefy display mount (to support a large display, but ship with a small one) and a comfortable place for one person to work or two people to eat.
— ABOVE ALL ABSOLUTELY AND COMPLETELY REMOVE THE COLORS BROWN, BEIGE, CREAM, ORANGE, TAUPE and their variations from the design language. ANY COLOR THAT LOOKS ST HOME IN AN RV FROM 1950-1990 NEEDS TO GO! You don’t see Apple making brown iPods, do you? Ever wonder why?

— in fact just delete wood completely and remove most fabrics. Vinyl and felt is ok and a fabric covered headboard is ok, but we want to forget the shag carpet van ever existed! — if you can’t do the interior in all aluminum and plastics, use coal colored wood. A range of greys, whites, blacks and dark greys should be your language, with bright colors for accents.

LED is the new neon.

I can’t imagine aluminum is more expensive than wood, or “technoform” shipped halfway around the world, but it is stronger so less material should be needed overall and plastic is solid, cheap and strong— and high quality ABS plastic will not feel cheap. Plus you’re using laminate anyway, perfectly easy to laminate any color or pattern you like on aluminum or plastic.

Boom- the entire water problem is solved! Hell, bolt things together and your entire longetivity problem is solved too. Plus using modern plastics will remove a huge amount of labor and screws and components effort. A custom molded plastic part takes more to make the first one but is cheaper than even the staples you love so much when you are building a thousand of them.

I bet deletion of the propane tank and generator pays for the batteries, high voltage alternator and larger inverter, and everything else, but if not reduce the standard battery bank to 200AH, but leave room for an upgrade or paid option.

Hell, just getting away from wood will save so much in warranty work that you will be able to afford the best designers, and still boost the bottom line and per unit profitability.

They are trying to seatbelt and sleep 4 but they should build a van (or version of the TRAVATO) that really supports two where they do real work on the road. It’s ok to use the captains chairs in the work position.

Keeping the bike rack and the garage if the G and K layout are good— these people are active. The instincts were spot in with the kayak mounts in the original version though it isn’t very compatible with solar.

I think a side surfboard mount (aluminus makes one) is a good trade show eye-catching feature.

It’s clear Winnebago understands there’s a market out there — after all the Revel is a clear attempt to reach a segment of the market they aren’t addressing right now.

There’s a larger segment that isn’t as hardcore can’t, or doesn’t want a Mercedes, and is fulltiming.

For the record, I can afford to go to ARV and buy exactly what I want, but I don’t want to do that right off. If I can’t get something close enough— the alternative is I will build my own.




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[SteveJ]

While not living full time in our older RT 200 Versatile we have been on a few extended trips. Figuring on Alaska this year, 4-5 months out.

This vehicle carries 33 gallons of fresh water with 28 for gray and 10 for black. This seems to be a correct ratio for us to work with.

With only a 21 gallon fresh water tank on the Travato I would be loathe to make that smaller. The grey is also quite small already. The smaller the tanks the more often they have to be drained and filled, problematic for us when doing a boondock for more than a few days and/or traveling in remote areas or using most low service government camping areas, our preferred way to travel. (Wow, that got to be a long sentence). Hey different folks, different needs and wants.

You may have issues that require a lot of black tank usage or are perhaps not utilyzing it optimally.

It sounds like the best road for you is to build exactly what you want, either yourself or through an upfitter.

Have fun!

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Technomadness

I think there’s a new market segment that isn’t being addressed very well and if Winnebago would address it they would make a lot of additional sales.

That market segment is #VanLife, but more broadly technologically adept people who are full timing in vans. This segment runs from 20-50 year olds and is the growing mobile workforce— I don’t mean work campers going to Amazon fulfillment centers, I mean high tech people who work remotely and realize there’s no reason to pay rent when they can be out in the road.

There are tens of thousands of people out there building vans to live in full time right now. Why is this? Many of them spend hundreds of hours and many tens of thousands of dollars doing it. There’s so many of them that there is no limit of tours on YouTube and complete van build series. Not to mention the whole Skoolie and foodtruck segments and those who buy RVs and heavily modify them.

It’s a huge neon sign that there’s a market segment the industry is missing.

The TRAVATO is closer to meeting this groups needs than most. Right platform (the 20 year old portion of the segment can’t afford a Benz), many good design choices from the Truma to the roof rack.

They have a shot at making a new Westfalia— eg: a van that defines a generation.

To do this: (Using the 59G as a reference here, similar changes could be made to the K)
— delete the propane tank and generator.
— install a 400AH 48v lithionics battery inside and a high voltage alternator (enable smaller gauge wiring on the long trip to the coach)
— move to an aqua hot or Alde system, at any rate, radiant heat and hot water from the chassis gas tank.
— move the water tanks inside, or if that isn’t possible, run the radiant heat return by the tanks to make it 4 seasons capable.
—Double black tank size at expense of fresh and grey
— induction cooking
— glamor feature- make the sink double as a sous vide cooking basin. Sous vide is so hot right now.
— re-arrange roof to support 600w of solar and make 300w standard with mppt controllers.
— dual compressor 7-10 cubic foot fridge, put microwave on inverter.
— 3,000 watt inverter
— convert the front dinette into a small office/work area, with a beefy display mount (to support a large display, but ship with a small one) and a comfortable place for one person to work or two people to eat.
— ABOVE ALL ABSOLUTELY AND COMPLETELY REMOVE THE COLORS BROWN, BEIGE, CREAM, ORANGE, TAUPE and their variations from the design language. ANY COLOR THAT LOOKS ST HOME IN AN RV FROM 1950-1990 NEEDS TO GO! You don’t see Apple making brown iPods, do you? Ever wonder why?

— in fact just delete wood completely and remove most fabrics. Vinyl and felt is ok and a fabric covered headboard is ok, but we want to forget the shag carpet van ever existed! — if you can’t do the interior in all aluminum and plastics, use coal colored wood. A range of greys, whites, blacks and dark greys should be your language, with bright colors for accents.

LED is the new neon.

I can’t imagine aluminum is more expensive than wood, or “technoform” shipped halfway around the world, but it is stronger so less material should be needed overall and plastic is solid, cheap and strong— and high quality ABS plastic will not feel cheap. Plus you’re using laminate anyway, perfectly easy to laminate any color or pattern you like on aluminum or plastic.

Boom- the entire water problem is solved! Hell, bolt things together and your entire longetivity problem is solved too. Plus using modern plastics will remove a huge amount of labor and screws and components effort. A custom molded plastic part takes more to make the first one but is cheaper than even the staples you love so much when you are building a thousand of them.

I bet deletion of the propane tank and generator pays for the batteries, high voltage alternator and larger inverter, and everything else, but if not reduce the standard battery bank to 200AH, but leave room for an upgrade or paid option.

Hell, just getting away from wood will save so much in warranty work that you will be able to afford the best designers, and still boost the bottom line and per unit profitability.

They are trying to seatbelt and sleep 4 but they should build a van (or version of the TRAVATO) that really supports two where they do real work on the road. It’s ok to use the captains chairs in the work position.

Keeping the bike rack and the garage if the G and K layout are good— these people are active. The instincts were spot in with the kayak mounts in the original version though it isn’t very compatible with solar.

I think a side surfboard mount (aluminus makes one) is a good trade show eye-catching feature.

It’s clear Winnebago understands there’s a market out there — after all the Revel is a clear attempt to reach a segment of the market they aren’t addressing right now.

There’s a larger segment that isn’t as hardcore can’t, or doesn’t want a Mercedes, and is fulltiming.

For the record, I can afford to go to ARV and buy exactly what I want, but I don’t want to do that right off. If I can’t get something close enough— the alternative is I will build my own.




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You may want to start another thread with so many suggestions.

[jrobe]

Originally Posted by Technomadness

To do this: (Using the 59G as a reference here, similar changes could be made to the K)
— delete the propane tank and generator.
— install a 400AH 48v lithionics battery inside and a high voltage alternator (enable smaller gauge wiring on the long trip to the coach)
— move to an aqua hot or Alde system, at any rate, radiant heat and hot water from the chassis gas tank.
— move the water tanks inside, or if that isn’t possible, run the radiant heat return by the tanks to make it 4 seasons capable.
—Double black tank size at expense of fresh and grey
— induction cooking
— glamor feature- make the sink double as a sous vide cooking basin. Sous vide is so hot right now.
— re-arrange roof to support 600w of solar and make 300w standard with mppt controllers.
— dual compressor 7-10 cubic foot fridge, put microwave on inverter.
— 3,000 watt inverter

Propane tanks are a hassle to fill but they are great for appliances that you don't use much propane. The tank doesn't take up too much space under the van. LP cooktops are great for cooking, they are cheap and they take very little propane for the small time we use it. I also use propane for a cheap LP water heater that I only use for a short time for a quick shower. A Espar D2 furnace is a lot cheaper than an Espar D5 hydronic system for the little hot water I need. I definitely do not want to use propane for extended heating or for a generator but it is pretty cost effective for other things.

It is also useful to do the math to calculate exactly how much battery power you really need. Big battery banks and lithium batteries sounds cool but unless someone is boondocking for extended time and not driving daily may not even be needed. We don't cook with electricity and we can run the van for a few minutes to use the microwave or a Keurig machine. Our refrigerator has a pretty small amperage draw. It takes very little driving every day to recharge our 200 Ahr battery bank with our 2nd alternator to use our TV, laptops, lights, etc.. I keep trying to come up with a good excuse to upgrade my 200Ahr AGM batteries to lithium but it is hard for us to justify for our needs as we are driving most days. When I even did the math on solar panels, I only have to drive 20 min or so daily to get the battery charging capacity of the solar panels that would fit on my van which is almost a waste of money for us with our 2nd alternator.

[BBQ]

.

LIST OF 2019 TRAVATO 59G CHANGES:

1. 1000w pure sine wave inverter provides 110v electric power.
2. 200 watts solar
3. Side screen door
4. "Omni-go" omnidirectional TV antenna at the back of the van
5. Large compressor-driven frig with separate freezer
6. New improved positive latches on cabinet doors
7. Removable bamboo shower platform
8. Galley window
9. Hot & cold exterior rear shower
10. Door and storage compartment in rear shower wall
11. Lockable storage compartment in the floor below the dinette
12. European blind system with full blackout and thermal insulation
13. Stainless steel trim panels on the rear quarter panels, w laser cut logo
14. Optional dual-pane acrylic windows that are awning style with a full thermal break for all-season insulation.
15. Optional leather cab seats

.

[Saldar]

Check out the 2019 Travato on the official WBO website. They have a brief introduction to the 2019, including the added lap belts, an insulated window option, and 200W solar.

[Technomadness]

My letter worked?! Compressor fridge in the G! Hallelujah!


Hot damn- double pane windows, I love it.

Can anyone tell me what “heated drainage system” means? Do they mean tank heaters? Seems that’s the last but that isn’t 4 seasons. Tank heaters would work for me as I expect only to be below freezing unexpectedly and to move to a warmer location the next day.

Too bad we didn’t get multiplex wiring though. Seems odd as they are doing that across the rest of their line now.

[Technomadness]

Originally Posted by jrobe

Propane tanks are a hassle to fill but they are great for appliances that you don't use much propane. ... I keep trying to come up with a good excuse to upgrade my 200Ahr AGM batteries to lithium but it is hard for us to justify for our needs as we are driving most days. When I even did the math on solar panels, I only have to drive 20 min or so daily to get the battery charging capacity of the solar panels that would fit on my van which is almost a waste of money for us with our 2nd alternator.

So you do have a second alternator? That’s basically what I was recommending in place of a generator. Giving up propane and going to gasoline heating was meant to give up space and cost to increase tankage and boondocking capacity. Induction is efficient as are microwaves because they aren’t used very long.

Some of my suggestions are my personal desires but I was trying to keep to what I think will work for this target market.

I grew up before microwaves and cooking hot dogs over an open fire... but the kids these days grew up %100 with microwaves and open flames are much more rare these days.

I think the target should be to last a week with 4 hours of driving on the weekend— I would size the tanks and batteries to fit that. (Or make it an option- a big bank is expensive.)



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[Technomadness]

Originally Posted by Saldar

Check out the 2019 Travato on the official WBO website. They have a brief introduction to the 2019, including the added lap belts, an insulated window option, and 200W solar.

I go to winnebegoind.com and see the same old TRAVATO website... interesting, if you follow the link from their products page it takes you to a URL with 2017 in it. Change that to 2019 and you get the new TRAVATO Page.


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[Technomadness]

Also I see the “luggage rack” is an option, while solar panels are standard. I wonder if they mount the panels to the rack if it’s ordered but to the roof if not?


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[Technomadness]

Also appears the front headrests have changed- no longer with the bumps. For the back cabinet it’s a push button door behind back passenger side door, unlike the shelf FitRV installed. I don’t see any changes to the bathroom. There are some 2019 Gs listed on RVTrader.


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[Technomadness]

Some pictures:


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[Technomadness]

Whoa. It appears the TRAVATO is completely uninsulated. Looking at s detailed walkthru video every time the guy pulls up a panel and shows the (very messy, btw) wiring and you can see the van there’s just sheet metal there, raw van, not even rattle trap. Also appears the same behind the back bed drawers, nothing on wheel well or back panels.


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[RVNoobie]

It seems to me that "uninsulated" is pretty much the industry standard. It's what has given us pause on a 59k.

By the way, I don't like the new windows.

[Technomadness]

Originally Posted by RVNoobie

It seems to me that "uninsulated" is pretty much the industry standard. It's what has given us pause on a 59k.



By the way, I don't like the new windows.

I know that the Leisure Vans and Pleasure Way B+ Bodies are insulated, but I’m not sure about any try B classes being insulated. So are all the #vanlife kids cluelessly wasting time and money? I’m guessing not.

I really don’t want to DIY— been at least three years since I had a vacation. I just want to get on the road. But the idea I can’t go to a ski resort in the winter gives me pause too.


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[mlts22]

When I saw a picture of the rear sliding compartment in the 59G and it showed the ProMaster's internal wheel well with no insulation, that gave me pause. However, I think it is that way across the industry, and if one wants insulation, one will need to look at more expensive models, or going to a custom place.