Stainless Steel Coach Upgrades

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Personalizing, or customizing a motor home, is a relatively popular thing today.  While for many this consists of choosing color schemes and interior swatches if ordering a new coach from the factory, or perhaps locating a unique color graphic on one in the market place, new or used.  Add-ons like chrome exhaust tips, fancy mud flaps and wheel dressing are also popular choices.  At the high end of this craze is customized re-painting and graphical color designs.  But one item, probably in the mid add-on price range, that is in my mind the best bang for the buck, is stainless lower body trim.  This chrome like accent to the rocker panels can provide a striking look to any motor home as well as adding lower body protection from road grime and debris.

The material used is generally a high quality stainless steel.  It can be ordered with a plain flat polished surface or with folded ridges running horizontally.  It is glued to the body with no need for any mechanical fasteners and is normally guaranteed never to come off.  It is also available in various sizes depending on how high you would want the material to be from the bottom edge of the body.  Further personalizing can be selected as to how the entrance steps would be trimmed, if the rear departure lift will be followed or horizontally ran out and additional trim to body contours. 

                                                                                                 

So, where do you get it and how much does it cost?  There are several manufacturers and suppliers in the U.S.   One of the more popular is Summit Products of Johnston, Iowa.  At Summit they design, laser cut, and install a top quality product built to the individual’s needs and wants.  Costs, on say a 40 foot coach, can generally run from under $3,000 to $5,900 or more, all depending on what the owner wishes.   Ridged material can run a bit more than flat as the ridges may require to be angle ground at the basement door edges to provide clearance when opened.  Of course, if you would prefer your coach be stainless trimmed to resemble a Marathon Prevost XL, it can be done, but at a much higher dollar.  The choice is entirely yours.

There are many more options and additional add-ons available from Summit, like fuel door trimmings, interior step faces, jack pads, etc.  In fact there are so many options and variations that can be tailor made, it is reasonable to assume that one could virtually customize their rig to be a one of a kind.  

One consideration when getting this done is the extra basement door weight.  In some cases this may exceed the ability of the existing gas shocks that hold the doors open.  Either larger stronger ones or the addition of an extra one may be required.  In the above picture, an additional shock was added.  These are available from most RV supply houses and possibly also from Summit themselves.

 

So, is there a return on the investment when sale or trade time comes around?  While it is possible that a portion of the original cost may in fact be recovered, it is doubtful.  It may however, sway a buyer when comparing a choice of a similar coach.  Either way, you may have a coach that will uniquely stand out from the others.

 With An Upgrade Idea    -   Lug_Nut    -    Peter Mercer

 

Solar Power - Pt-2 Inverters

Howdy !

OK, now I know that everyone completed their power requirements worksheets so now we can talk about the size and type of power support system we are going to need to operate all that equipment. First let’s figure out the operating cycle of the inverter. All the duty cycle means is how long the inverter system is expected to operate. For example, if we want to run all our loads for 12-hours out of 24-hours the duty cycle will be 50%. Now let’s look at typical loads.

For example, if the load includes a small television and VCR or DVD , the power requirements are relatively small and the usage is usually short-term (i.e. the duty cycle is low). The support system may consist of the engine battery, whether from a tow vehicle or a motorhome, with one auxiliary deep-cycle battery, the existing engine alternator, and the necessary fuses and cables. With such limited power usage the batteries alone may be able to power the loads without running the vehicle engine and recharging them from the alternator. Ah, one thing to remember here, if you lump the starting battery into the power supply bank you may not have enough “Umph” to get the dang engine to start !

Now, if the loads are larger, such as lights, heater elements for a refrigerator or water heater , or even a standard RV microwave, the power supply system will require a larger battery bank and may necessitate a high output engine alternator, solar panels or even a stinky ol’ generator. The batteries alone cannot supply long-term power to loads like these. Ultimately, the energy must come from someplace other then just the batteries.

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Have Motorcycle, Will Camp

I personally do not own a motorcycle, but I have friends that do. One of my best friends is taking a trip in a few weeks that I will be envious of. He and another friend will be riding to Alaska and back. Their trip will rack up more than 8,000 miles over a four week period.

When he first started talking about taking this trip, I suggested that he take my small dome tent just in case. I think he was interested but ultimately, he really wants a camping trailer for motorcycles. He asked me to help do some research and so I Googled and sent him some links to companies that offer these specialized units.

It really is amazing what the biker community has been able to do with regards to camping. of course, all one has to do is visit the Black Hills of South Dakota and it won’t be long to bump into someone that has one of these units. There were two in the campground we were staying at last year just outside Keystone.

Most of the units for motorcycles are pop-ups which makes sense, because they really need to be lightweight. My friend found a unique one on Ebay where someone built a small Teardrop trailer to pull behind a motorcycle. That was really cool and I wouldn’t blame him for pursuing that one because he will be traveling in ‘Bear’ country and soft sided campers and tents might be vulnerable to a curious bear. Of course, having a hard sided trailer doesn’t guarantee that a bear will not target that unit either, but it is a small measure of security.

Some of the companies that make these units are Roadman Campers, B&G Enterprises, Scooter Schooner, and there are many others. I am impressed with what these companies have done by basically fitting a really nice tent onto a trailer that a motorcycle can pull and also offer some storage.

When I was looking at these small trailers, it occurred to me that this is also a great alternative to entry level camping or for a unit that can be pulled behind any car. Even my wifes hybrid which has a towing capacity of 1,000 pounds could easily pull one and honestly, it makes me think that it might not be bad to own one in addition to my 33′ travel trailer for those quick weekend trips where we just want to get away.

I do think that an innovative person could easily build something as well…as long as they keep it under 300 pounds. When we first got our tent years ago and we wanted to camp out in it; instead of pitching the tent in the back yard, we pitched it on the deck just outside our bedroom. This was because my son was very young and a bit scared but staying close to the house was one way for us to do this with him. Well, if I take the concept of camping on a deck and taking a tent and building a portable platform to pitch the tent on….you have a motorcycle or small car camping trailer with the advantages of being off the ground and being able to move easily.

So…how about it my Biker friends…..are you riding and camping? Share with us your experiences with this style of camping.

Happy Camping and see you next Sunday!

Solar Power for your RV?

What’s the Fuss About Solar ?!

Howdy !

Looking at the questions asked about the solar power articles that I’ve done for rv magazines and on this BLOG it seems to me that solar power is somewhat misunderstood because we don’t have the information to provide real answers.

Here is the most common question:

Q.     What does it cost to put solar on a RV ??

A.     How much have ya got ?!

This is the most common question and the hardest to answer because there is no real way to answer it. It’s kinda like the chicken or the egg type question. The first thing you must know before we can even begin to get to the bottom of this one is - how much power do you need ?  We start by completing the power sizing chart to determine how much power we use.  To make this work we really do need to add-up ALL the devices we have in the RV, both 12-Volt DC and 120-Volt AC.  Let’s assume that we are designing a solar driven power system of solar panels, an inverter for 120 Volts AC, a battery bank and the needed controllers, cables and so on to make it all work.

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Battery Connections - How Shocking!

Howdy !!

I had a reader ask how to connect two 6-volt golf cart batteries to replace an RV marine 12-volt unit. Tell the truth I thought about just sending him a private letter but then got to thinking that if one person had the question then likely more folks had the same question so here is the answer.

The little diagram here shows the connections for serial and parallel connections.

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Are Aluminum Wheels Worth It?

A great majority of “A” class motor homes today come standard with aluminum wheels. This is in contrast to coaches sold in the 90’s when most were purchased with the conventional steel wheels with the optional trim rings and hub dressings. But, for those that are contemplating a new rig purchase, and find the aluminum rims to be an option, are they worth the extra dollars?

Well, to attempt to answer this we should look at the advantages of these over the tried and proved steel rims.

Lighter Weight: - When comparing a 22.5″ X 8.25″ motor coach wheel rim, the aluminum wheel is around 35 pounds lighter than a similar constructed steel one. This weight difference many vary depending on the manufacturer of each, but this is using Accuride Corporation product specifications. This reduced weight contributes to better ride and handling by lightening the un-sprung weight. While you might think that 35 pounds per wheel should not make that much difference, it is reported that each pound taken off the un-sprung weight reacts to four times that, or in this case, 140 pounds. It further would reduce the gross vehicle weight by 140 to 210 lbs. for a single rear axle or a tag axle type respectively. (Based on the majority of motor homes that used a steel wheel on the inner of the duals)

Stronger Construction: - Some aluminum wheel sizes are rated for higher running air pressure and carrying capacities.

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No more White Knuckle Driving - RSS Sway Bars

If you’ve been around RV’s for awhile you have probably heard of the term “sway,” even if you don’t pull a trailer. It’s a common term in the RV industry and it means a side-to-side movement. Sway is normally associated with a travel trailer being pulled by a tow vehicle, but it can take on a whole new meaning for motorhome owners too.

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Axle Flips for your Trailer - Flip This !

Howdy !!

Ok you boondocking, wrought traveling, dune busting freaks - you’ve decided to buy the 5^th wheel trailer of your dreams, the one that you can pull with your new 4X4 pickup truck. Thoughts of going up into the hills away from the crowds in the campgrounds flow through your mind until your brain hears the sales person saying something about having to flip your axles on the trailer before you can pull it with your truck. “What’s an Axle Flip?” you ask. The sales man explains that your truck is 51 inches high at the top of the bed side rails. The trailer neck is only 52 inches high to the bottom of the neck, which means that the trailer has to be raised by about 4 inches to keep the neck of the trailer from resting on the bed of the truck - an unhappy experience !

Axle flips are becoming more and more common as 4-wheel drive trucks are used to pull fifth wheel trailers. Read more

What’s a Super C? plus some Q & A

A question was asked if those spring loaded lubricators with external grease fittings were ok to use on his trailers wheel bearings. As far as I can see these are great gadgets. I have four of them on my car trailer. I have no scientific facts to support the use or not use of them but over nearly 100,000 miles I have never lost a wheel bearing on the trailer and being as I am prone to haul home an errant elderly tractor or steam engine or other old iron, the trailer has not had an easy life.

After the blog about weighing a trailer several of you wrote with suggestions and concerns. One concern was that scales operators such as truck stops frowned on unhooking the trailer and moving to several different positions. This is why I try to make a deal with a local sand pit or private scale and then try to show up at a slack time in their schedule.

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The National Electric Code (NEC) and RVs

I have not been able to post for a couple of weeks due to a major disaster.  My laptop quit working and with it all my files, passwords, etc.  I sent it off to a company in California to be fixed and it came back today, safely packed in a cardboard box.  When I opened it and plugged it in, YAHOO!!  My laptop is back and I am back in business.

I will try to get back in sequence next week, but this week I am going to write about two subjects:

1. What happened to my laptop

2. A major change in the National Electrical Code which may affect some RVers

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