[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.

[trackbird]

That's the joke we have been making since finding out their name....lol.

Yesterday I finished installing the 190 watt solar kit. It's now up and running. I don't think we will do much "off the grid" camping, but it's nice to know that the battery isn't going to die or freeze over the winter. And it's handy for those times we need battery power. We lost power for 6 hours at the campground the last time we were out. I didn't know what size battery we have so I wasn't sure how much capacity we had. It's an 81 amp hour marine battery and it should run the water pump, heater (blower and thermostats, the heat is propane of course) and some lights for at least a solid day as long as we aren't too crazy with power use. I can always add a second battery and two additional panels if we want/need.

Winnebago pre wires the campers for this style kit. They have a few versions and it had a decal that was a cutting template for three different charge controllers. I bought the biggest one (how long have you guys known me? Of course I did), it's a 30 amp controller and the panel is 9.3 amps, so it will support two more panels if needed.

https://gpelectric.com/products/overlander-...r-charging-kit/

[CrashTestDummy]

That's the joke we have been making since finding out their name....lol.

Yesterday I finished installing the 190 watt solar kit. It's now up and running. I don't think we will do much "off the grid" camping, but it's nice to know that the battery isn't going to die or freeze over the winter. And it's handy for those times we need battery power. We lost power for 6 hours at the campground the last time we were out. I didn't know what size battery we have so I wasn't sure how much capacity we had. It's an 81 amp hour marine battery and it should run the water pump, heater (blower and thermostats, the heat is propane of course) and some lights for at least a solid day as long as we aren't too crazy with power use. I can always add a second battery and two additional panels if we want/need.

Winnebago pre wires the campers for this style kit. They have a few versions and it had a decal that was a cutting template for three different charge controllers. I bought the biggest one (how long have you guys known me? Of course I did), it's a 30 amp controller and the panel is 9.3 amps, so it will support two more panels if needed.

https://gpelectric.com/products/overlander-...r-charging-kit/

While not a RV, we have a small solar panel on the flat spot between the rear wheel wells on the Firebird. It does a nice job of keeping the battery topped off during events, even though we have a 120A alternator. When we first got the car, we'd have trouble starting it when hot, and the panel pretty much eliminated that issue.

The plus is we tell people the car is solar-powered when they see the panel in the back. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool2.gif)

While interesting, we haven't done anything solar on the bus. We don't expect to boondock, although it would be nice to have enough battery/charging capacity to run the house A/Cs while moving. Right now, the common practice is to just run the generator to power the A/Cs. The Chassis A/C failed a long time ago, and a PO removed the compressor from the engine. They usually don't work well anyway, and with 210 raging HP, any pony sucked from the drivetrain is a major loss.

Do you have room for more battery capacity? That would help relieve 'battery anxiety' when boondocking.