Bought a camper, like I needed another hobby Options

[trackbird]

My wife and I have been camping in a camper we got from her dad earlier this year (I grew up with campers and motor homes, but she hasn't done much camping) and having fun, so we bought a new Winnebago Voyage 2831RB. We love the floor plan and the space, but my truck wishes it was a little lighter. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) The Silverado actually tows it just fine (32' overall, 11.5' tall, 7460 lbs empty), but it doesn't like to run above about 68 mph, or it will start trying to use 3rd gear more often (at like 4k rpm) when we hit a slight grade, etc. The 190 watt solar panel and regulator kit will be here in the next week or so and I'm finding that this may cost more than building cars (once you buy all the stuff you want to go with it). Now I have to sort out why the rear view camera I purchased won't stay paired to the monitor (the camper is pre wired for this particular camera, I set it up and then when we got in the truck it wouldn't work, I have to see if the camera is bad or the wiring in the camper).

I got the car to two autocrosses this year. Otherwise, I only ran about one tank of fuel through it. I'm starting to think I should just sell it, but it was absolutely delightful on the autocross course and I just can't let it go. I'm finding that I'm spending nice nights out camping instead of driving back roads with the top down. I did put new tires on the car this year (street tires) and I think they have 50 miles on them. lol.

Here's the one we bought. This is a combination of dealer photos and stock photos. It's generally correct, but I think one or two pics came off the winnebago site.

https://www.markwahlbergrv.com/New-Inventor...041676?ref=list

Mark Wahlberg RV is right down the road from me.

[slowTA]

That's a huge and gorgeous camper. I grew up with a few campers but moved on once I got to high school. Now that I have a 3.5 year old and a wife that loves to travel (and Covid) it looks like I'll be doing the camper thing again. The bummer is that we found a class B locally that seemed like a great idea until we realized it was only a 2 seater and probably couldn't tow the firebird.... she's been quiet on the camper idea since, but I have a feeling it'll come up again.

The prices of these things new has gotten as bad as new cars... at least they shouldn't have the chip shortage problem, right?

[GCrites80s]

If they tried to do "smart" RVs they would but that's probably going to have to wait for another time.

[trackbird]

That's a huge and gorgeous camper. I grew up with a few campers but moved on once I got to high school. Now that I have a 3.5 year old and a wife that loves to travel (and Covid) it looks like I'll be doing the camper thing again. The bummer is that we found a class B locally that seemed like a great idea until we realized it was only a 2 seater and probably couldn't tow the firebird.... she's been quiet on the camper idea since, but I have a feeling it'll come up again.

The prices of these things new has gotten as bad as new cars... at least they shouldn't have the chip shortage problem, right?

Thanks, we really like it. We looked at everything (at a pile of dealers all over the area...for months). We found a couple "Alta" campers that were basically twins to this layout and we tried to buy one and it was sold before I got a deposit on it. The Winnebago was the one I wanted, but I didn't want to spend the asking price (or even the discounted price). We actually got a 5 figure discount off of list and then traded in our old camper for a really good total discount. The only negative, it said it has a 100 gallon gray tank (and online, it appears that some do), ours has two tanks. I'm guessing "Covid supplier issues" forced a change when they ran out of tanks, but I'm not sure. A 100 gallon is nice because you can get a couple showers and not have it full right away. Two 50 gallon tanks doesn't help that much. So I'm a little irritated, but overall we love the camper.

If they tried to do "smart" RVs they would but that's probably going to have to wait for another time.

Some have smart systems that will tell you the levels in the water tanks and deploy the awning and close or open the slide out from your smart phone. It lists the Winnebago Voyage line as being compatible, but I think they mean the "motorhome" versions of the Voyage line and not ours. I don't see any signs of the "router" that handles everything, so I don't think we have it. The only thing I'd use it for is to close the awning if I had it out and a storm was coming (and I wasn't at the camper at the time). I fear I'd open the slide out and hit a tree or something if I wasn't there to spot it. Or i'd close it and crush something inside the camper. So I'm not sure how useful that stuff is. I don't really care how full the tanks are if I'm at the beach. it's only an issue if I'm about to take a shower or something and they are full. lol.

I did have to buy a 36 gallon "honey wagon" for some of the places were going that don't have sewer hookups. It's one you can tow behind the truck and haul it over to the dump station. Another one of those great ideas that costs "great idea" money. lol.

https://www.camco.net/tote-tanks/rhino-tote...36-gallon-39007

Did I mention that this may be more expensive than cars?

[CrashTestDummy]

<SNIP>

Did I mention that this may be more expensive than cars?

Heh, indeed! We got a 1980 Bluebird Wanderlodge last year, but because of covid, have yet to go anywhere in it. Right now, it's the 'big hole in the shop we pour money into'!

Congrats on the new unit. It looks nice.

[trackbird]

<SNIP>

Did I mention that this may be more expensive than cars?

Heh, indeed! We got a 1980 Bluebird Wanderlodge last year, but because of covid, have yet to go anywhere in it. Right now, it's the 'big hole in the shop we pour money into'!

Congrats on the new unit. It looks nice.

1980? Cool! Class A? I'd like to hear more about that one.

[SuperMacGuy]

Marky Mark RV! Good Vibrations for sure: (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotflmao.gif)

[slowTA]

<SNIP>

Did I mention that this may be more expensive than cars?

Heh, indeed! We got a 1980 Bluebird Wanderlodge last year, but because of covid, have yet to go anywhere in it. Right now, it's the 'big hole in the shop we pour money into'!

Congrats on the new unit. It looks nice.

1980? Cool! Class A? I'd like to hear more about that one.

1980 camper, that interior should be... umm... 'something' to see!

[trackbird]

<SNIP>

Did I mention that this may be more expensive than cars?

Heh, indeed! We got a 1980 Bluebird Wanderlodge last year, but because of covid, have yet to go anywhere in it. Right now, it's the 'big hole in the shop we pour money into'!

Congrats on the new unit. It looks nice.

1980? Cool! Class A? I'd like to hear more about that one.

1980 camper, that interior should be... umm... 'something' to see!

Hell, the 2008 Salem 30QBSS we traded in was decorated in "Epic 80's", or something close to it. So I can only imagine a true 1980's unit.

We booked most of a week at First Landing State park in VA Beach next year. It's right on the edge of the sand. They have gravel roads so you don't get stuck, but it's basically set against the edge of the sand. It should be a really fun trip and we're meeting some old friends from VA and they are going to stay with us for the week. It's going to be a fun trip towing across the mountains. I've towed 9,500 lb 24' car trailers over that direction, but nothing this large and tall. I think we're going to break the trip in half and stay the first night at my parents (near Summit Point) and then head down to VA for the rest of the week.

[GCrites80s]

Marky Mark RV! Good Vibrations for sure: (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotflmao.gif)

Ha yeah, it's getting to the point where if you buy a Chevrolet in Columbus you're probably going to buy it from Marky Mark and his Funky Bunch. He's bought several local franchises including the RV shop.

[trackbird]

Yea. I actually bought my truck an hour away. I tried to deal with Bobby Layman on trucks a while back (when I was thinking of trading mine in when it had 22k on it), Bobby Layman became Marky Marks Chevrolet. The last time I talked to them I gave up because they wanted to give me little for mine and go full sticker on theirs. Thus, I'll probably buy my next truck in Circleville too.

[GCrites80s]

Yeah buying cars in Lancaster has always been a flop for us but Circleville has always been fine. And selling them too! Time warp back to the '50s and '60s and my cousin and her husband owned the Packard dealership in Lancaster and Chevrolet in Circleville (both Hannan). Packard was going out of business and didn't tell anyone. They pulled up with all these Packards and told them they had to take them all or they'd pull their franchise. So they took them all and Packard promptly went bankrupt. They got so fed up with the whole thing that they sold the Chevy dealer to Harden (which got transferred to Coughlin when Pontiac shut down) and only sold used cars for the rest of their career.

Remember it was only two years ago that dead mall parking lots all over the country were full of excess new cars that the automakers kept dumping on dealers!

[CrashTestDummy]

<SNIP>

Did I mention that this may be more expensive than cars?

Heh, indeed! We got a 1980 Bluebird Wanderlodge last year, but because of covid, have yet to go anywhere in it. Right now, it's the 'big hole in the shop we pour money into'!

Congrats on the new unit. It looks nice.

1980? Cool! Class A? I'd like to hear more about that one.

1980 camper, that interior should be... umm... 'something' to see!

It's not that bad, but we're fine with the '80's look. We have already reupholstered the captain's chairs and the two barrel chairs that are in it. Next up for the interior is to replace the flooring with all wood. There's a guy up east of Dallas who does flooring on these things, and does excellent work. We'll probably take it to him to redo the interior. Since we got it so we could take the pups with us, getting rid of the carpet is paramount.

Here it is parked in it's new home in the shop:

(IMG:https://media.fotki.com/2v2atMCsdxJDYiP.jpg)

Curb side from the for sale ad:

(IMG:https://media.fotki.com/2v2atMLDnxJDYiP.jpg)

Inside looking forward from the galley:

(IMG:https://media.fotki.com/2v2atML4qxJDYiP.jpg)

This was from the for sale ad, before we redid the seats and chairs.

And this is the bus with the race car. Our hope is to be able to trailer the race car to out of town events. Covid has put a serious crimp in that plan. Heck, we're not even doing local events right now because of Delta:

(IMG:https://media.fotki.com/2v2a3hFJ9xJDYiP.jpg)

It has 210 mighty horses of Cat V8 power up front, so while we may not get there in a hurry, we should, at least, get there. 35 feet total length, and 16 tons of road-hugging weight.

Since we're not traveling it right now, we're working on fixing things, they always need fixing, and upgrading things. I've replaced almost all of the lights, inside and out, with LED. This afternoon's project is to replace the headlights. I'm also installing a trailer brake controller, and need to find a solution for the trailer plug. It's half-way up the back of the bus, so I either need an extension, or relocate the plug down low. The extension I have is long and heavy, and relocating the plug may require cutting holes in the body, so I'm still working through that decision forest.

This post has been edited by CrashTestDummy: Oct 2 2021, 07:41 PM

[slowTA]

That is impressive, and much better than what I was picturing in my head. I love the 40"+ flat screen with the built in 6" CRT display above it!

[CrashTestDummy]

That is impressive, and much better than what I was picturing in my head. I love the 40"+ flat screen with the built in 6" CRT display above it!

The 6" TV is the backup camera TV. It's a 'regular' B&W TV mounted to the overhead panel. It's run off an invertor that powers that TV, and a couple of other outlets on the bus. One of those outlets is in the back, and provides 110v power for the 24v power supply for the backup camera. I have yet to get an image on that TV, so am looking at replacing the kit with a more-modern backup/rear view camera system.

The flat-panel was the POs TV, and it went with them. We have our old flat-panel TV in it now, although it seems absurdly-large for the bus. At least it was 'free'.

This post has been edited by CrashTestDummy: Oct 4 2021, 01:17 PM

[slowTA]

The flat-panel was the POs TV, and it went with them. We have our old flat-panel TV in it now, although it seems absurdly-large for the bus. At least it was 'free'.

Ha, assuming the bed is at the back of the bus I'm sure you'll still have trouble being able to watch it from bed! So is it really too big, that's about 30 feet away!

[trackbird]

I bought the Wisight Voyage backup camera that my camper is pre wired for. It was terrible. The resolution was something like 400x272 and my wife said it was awful when we paired it. Sadly, it never worked again, so I returned it to amazon. I then purchased the Furrion backup camera with the 4.3" screen. The other one I had came with a 5" screen that was about 1.25" thick. It was honestly a very clunky thing to have floating around in the truck. The new system is much better looking and the 4.3" screen looks like a slightly wider than normal cell phone. I think it's a much better choice to have to deal with in the truck. I just ordered a switching power supply so I can test it at home and play with it a bit before I drill new holes in a new camper to attach it.

[CrashTestDummy]

The flat-panel was the POs TV, and it went with them. We have our old flat-panel TV in it now, although it seems absurdly-large for the bus. At least it was 'free'.

Ha, assuming the bed is at the back of the bus I'm sure you'll still have trouble being able to watch it from bed! So is it really too big, that's about 30 feet away!

Oh, there's a TV in the bedroom, too! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool2.gif)

[CrashTestDummy]

I bought the Wisight Voyage backup camera that my camper is pre wired for. It was terrible. The resolution was something like 400x272 and my wife said it was awful when we paired it. Sadly, it never worked again, so I returned it to amazon. I then purchased the Furrion backup camera with the 4.3" screen. The other one I had came with a 5" screen that was about 1.25" thick. It was honestly a very clunky thing to have floating around in the truck. The new system is much better looking and the 4.3" screen looks like a slightly wider than normal cell phone. I think it's a much better choice to have to deal with in the truck. I just ordered a switching power supply so I can test it at home and play with it a bit before I drill new holes in a new camper to attach it.

I've been eyeing the Rear View Safety systems. Not cheap, but I don't want to do it again. I'm also not keen to punching any more holes in the body, although may end up having to anyway. I'd like the option of side views, too. When backing the thing down our curved driveway, I stuck one of our in-car cameras to the body and watched things from our datalogging tablet, and really liked the view I had. You sit out ahead of the front tires, and actually inboard of them a bit, so when going down a two-lane road, things can get kind of 'intense'

[trackbird]

Have you seen the kit that has cameras that have side marker lights in them and that powers them?

https://www.amazon.com/Furrion-Vision-Monit...g/dp/B08M9DTRMR