Winnebago Travato thread here

[BBQ]

.

For one thing, most of the RVs are summer vacation RVs.
They are used 3 seasons at best.

None were advertised as full-time living alternatives.

The storage space is already an "insulation" pe se.

Any consumer product a balance between cost and utility.
If the mass market did not ask for it, you wouldn't see it.

[avanti]

Our GWV Legend came pretty well-insulated by industry standards. However, it was not difficult for me to find places for improvement, nor was it very difficult to make those improvements. The biggest offender was the empty cavities inside of the OEM doors--among the rear doors, the sliding doors, and the front driver and passenger doors, there was room for quite a bit of insulation, all of which were overlooked. It was an easy job to pop off the OEM panels and remedy the situation. Big thermal improvement, and also makes the doors feel nice and solid when opening and closing.

[Davydd]

At the time I think Great West Van was the only major manufacturer using insulation at all. Evidently some still don't.

BTW, this thread, "Winnebago Travato Thread Here" was started by Mass59, I believe one of the first purchasers of a Promaster. It has undergone many iterations of topics and I don't think Mass59 has posted since. I met him at Assateague Island NS in October, 2015 when we had adjacent campsites. I wonder if he still has his Travato.

[Technomadness]

Originally Posted by Davydd

At the time I think Great West Van was the only major manufacturer using insulation at all. Evidently some still don't.

BTW, this thread, "Winnebago Travato Thread Here" was started by Mass59, I believe one of the first purchasers of a Promaster. It has undergone many iterations of topics and I don't think Mass59 has posted since. I met him at Assateague Island NS in October, 2015 when we had adjacent campsites. I wonder if he still has his Travato.

Yeah, I think the Canadians do good insulation when they make the body (eg Pleasure Way XLMB). I didn’t check the Lexor. The level of insulation I want is far more than I could reasonably expect Winnebago to do, but I was sorta ignoring the fact I really want a lot of time in winter temperatures.

It’s often extremely hard to find discussions in forums like this. Old hands have seen a given topic many times, and yet it can be darn near impossible to use the search tool to find it. Eg the topic of whether the sliding door should be used or just considered a permanent wall? You can’t search for that.

Anyway, having one thread with TRAVATO info was really helpful to me when I was considering it.


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[jrobe]

It wouldn’t be easy to insulate these vans for comfortable winter use. The walls and ceiling would just be the start. They would be the easy part. The windows would have to be adddressed well beyond double panes. I would have custom insulated panels for every window which would not be great to use during the day. I would probably try to seal off the entire front cab area with a heavy curtain. There would be no insulation between the cab and the whole engine area including the cab floor area. Our whole van floor gets very cold and it wouldn’t be very easy to achieve a good r-value in the floor. I insulated all my door panels but it is difficult to really do this well when you have to leave all the window and door hardware undisturbed. I bet no matter how much time and money you spent on insulation, the average van r-value would be kind of a joke if you could measure it. You would need a very good heat source and the ability to run it for extended time.

[avanti]

Well, how easy or hard it is depends on your criteria. Getting house-level R values is indeed rather difficult. But if your goal is being comfortable camping in frigid temperatures, it really isn't that hard. We have camped well below zero F on several occasions. But we have an excellent Espar hydronic heating system. It may run pretty much all the time, but we were perfectly comfortable.

I did a lot of work underneath the vehicle to make all systems 4-season capable. This includes extending the hydronic glycol loops and bundling them with the water and drain pipes (an ARV trick that I stole). I also put sheets of extruded foam insulation along much of the bottom. This insulates the tanks and also traps a lot of heat from the Espar under the floor. So, in many places, the floor is cozy. Beyond the normal shades, we don't worry about the windows.

So, it is quite possible to build a 4-season B-van. The key is diesel heating of adequate capacity, which greatly lowers the insulation stakes.

[MCII]

New 59k owner here.
Looking forward to joining in the discussions and have enjoyed reading through the thread.

[MCII]

Has anyone figured out a way to carry a mounted spare yet?
Hopefully without blocking the rear doors like on a hitch mount.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by MCII

Has anyone figured out a way to carry a mounted spare yet?
Hopefully without blocking the rear doors like on a hitch mount.

Sure, put it on the roof, behind the air conditioner.

[fruch]

MCII, Check out the Travato Owners and Wannabees web site on Facebook, lots of information there. Search 'spare tire' and you will find a few different ways to mount a spare like this: https://vanupgrades.com/products/pro...ack-swing-away.
You may want to consider having the Travato hitch receiver re-enforced at a hitch shop or a welding shop before you carry anything in it, there are reports of the receiver sagging a bit under heavy use.

[MCII]

Thank you for the suggestions.
The roof might work. After I talk the hubby into hauling it up there, it could just be dropped to the dirt if needed.
The swing away is nice but pricey. And backordered for forever.
I can picture it attached to a ladder on the right rear door, but I want to make sure the door handle can still be reached behind a ladder.
It is all moot until I can obtain a wheel. Got the rubber, but finding a rim is like asking for the moon. Dodge and all the big online wheel/tire shops are back ordered.
I just want a ProMaster 3500 wheel...what the heck! Don't care if it's the ugly cousin steel spare off one of the commercial ones, or the pretty aluminum ones.
When I try to order, they want the VIN, then answer "your vehicle doesn't come with a spare".
Duh. I'm getting snarky at this point and feel like answering that I would only use it as a coffee table, never as a spare.
But, on the fun side, I took the bed base off the left side to peek under there and now know where some of the cool stuff lives.
Got the silly sink cover/drain rack removed, fixed the shower curtain, and sewed up a curtain for the cab.

[Bud]

MCII, for less $'s, a StowAway SwingAway Frame could be used. You would need supply the whatever for the spare. I use one for my folding electric bike, works well.

https://www.stowaway2.com/hitch-frames

Bud

[MCII]

That Stowaway looks nice. I like how far it swings out.
I can fabricate a basket type platform to put the spare in.
We may have a winner!
Now, if I can only find the wheel...

[Bud]

Originally Posted by MCII

That Stowaway looks nice. I like how far it swings out.
I can fabricate a basket type platform to put the spare in.
We may have a winner!
Now, if I can only find the wheel...

You could also create something for both the spare and ?

Bud

[techfan]

Wheel $80 on Amazon. New made in Switzerland. Put together a hitch wheel carrier for $120. Uses a Curt front wheel carrier and a $30 drop down basket carrier. Required cutting off the insert on the Curt and drilling a new hole. I will post pictures tomorrow when I have light. Attached now and working well. Drops to access doors.

Originally Posted by MCII

Thank you for the suggestions.
The roof might work. After I talk the hubby into hauling it up there, it could just be dropped to the dirt if needed.
The swing away is nice but pricey. And backordered for forever.
I can picture it attached to a ladder on the right rear door, but I want to make sure the door handle can still be reached behind a ladder.
It is all moot until I can obtain a wheel. Got the rubber, but finding a rim is like asking for the moon. Dodge and all the big online wheel/tire shops are back ordered.
I just want a ProMaster 3500 wheel...what the heck! Don't care if it's the ugly cousin steel spare off one of the commercial ones, or the pretty aluminum ones.
When I try to order, they want the VIN, then answer "your vehicle doesn't come with a spare".
Duh. I'm getting snarky at this point and feel like answering that I would only use it as a coffee table, never as a spare.
But, on the fun side, I took the bed base off the left side to peek under there and now know where some of the cool stuff lives.
Got the silly sink cover/drain rack removed, fixed the shower curtain, and sewed up a curtain for the cab.

[techfan]

Travato spare tire carrier.

[techfan]

Parts for Travato spare tire carrier.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MREQVMV?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M1H91LN?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E1HWDS?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

[Saldar]

I noted this tire mount idea shared in 2016. I think it's neat, though the Fiamma bike rack is expensive. The mod looks fairly easy.

"If you happen to have the factory racks with bike mounts (Fiamma at that time) you can rig a spare tire mount there. I did this for about $25 total using common conduit hanging hardware and bolts."

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f259/no-winnebago-travato-spare-tire291972.html

http://imgur.com/a/9gj5Z

[riplips]

Travato Owners,

I have a '16 59G. the batteries will no longer hold a charge as i let them go too many times. Mine has 2 group 31 batteries.

Does anyone have any tutorials, advice, instructions, etc on how to do a DIY battery replacement?

I have access to a lift. i was planning on sourcing the batteries from batteries plus or similar?

Any help you fine folks could offer would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris

[Technomadness]

Originally Posted by Saldar

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f259/no-winnebago-travato-spare-tire291972.html



http://imgur.com/a/9gj5Z

That is the most handsome spare tire mount I’ve seen. Wow.



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