[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.

[CrashTestDummy]

Yeah, our Bluebird has been the 'gift that keeps on giving'! We went with a Haloview brand rear view camera system, which I think is Furrion reboxes. It's supposedly compatible with the Furrion units, anyway. I opted for their 'portable' unit, mostly because the cameral was 'wireless' and had a battery pack that boasted 16 hours of uptime. The battery pack can just lay inside the overhead storage bin next to the antenna. I can charge it there, via USB, or remove it and charge it up front.

The camera has a magnetic mount you can use, and we opted for that, sticking it to the old camera mount. It's solid, and seems to be in a pretty good spot. Fine-tuning will happen when we go somewhere. I can see all except the closest 11' to the back of the bus, so I'll still need a spotter. I'd not back the thing w/o a spotter anyway, so it's kind of a moot point. The camera antenna can stay in the back storage bay and still provide signal to the monitor. I'm planning to install Furrion side view cameras, too, which supposedly work with this monitor.

The whole kit comes in a Pelican-like storage box, which is overkill for what we need. I went this route since I figured I'd have to search for the least number of ancilliary bits to install the thing. I was right.

I'm also working on installing a trailer brake controller, since we're planning to tow the race car, and maybe a toad, to events. While the bus is wired for trailers, complete with a 7-pin connector, there's no brake controller signal wire there, which really sux. I am trying to figure out how is best to get the signal wire from the dash to the connector. There's no single cable run inside, and it has to go to the back and 'inside' the coach to connect to the trailer plug. You really can't see the wiring at the plug unless you pull the plug out of the body. There's just too much stuff back there. It's also odd that they put the plug about 3' up the back side of the bus, and not down at the receiver, where I would have preferred. I'll need an extension, since my trailer wiring is of a good length to reach the receiver, but not much more.

It's always something......