[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]

If anybody needs a RV DVD player with remote control. It has about 10 minutes of total run time on it. I guess the issue wasn't the reception of the radio, it was antenna wiring issues. And, I wanted a 3 zone system so I could add some book shelf speakers for sound instead of using the ceiling speakers the manufacturer sent. All the wires are tagged with what they connect to, so it's an easy install. AM/FM/DVD/CD player with bluetooth and wifi. I believe it's the Jensen JWM452 (I have to double check the model number).

$125 shipped in the 48 states.

[trackbird]

I'm way behind on updates.

The three zone radio is in, bookshelf Polk Audio speakers are a huge improvement over the OEM in ceiling speakers. I also replaced the OEM in ceiling speakers with Kicker car speakers (mostly looking for additional bass output). I swapped the outdoor speakers to marine grade 6.5" MB Quart speakers.

The solar system now has 4 panels (running in a series/parallel configuration, two series, the two pairs in parallel). They are running at basically 48 volts and 20-ish amps. That keeps me under the 30 amp limit of the 10 gauge factory wiring and I'm running a Victron 100/50 MPPT controller. It's able to handle up to 100 volts input and it will produce up to 50 amps of output. I have three 190 watt panels and a 200 watt (I ordered one to try to get another matching 190 watt when I saw the 200 watt panels were being released, but I got a 200....it's close enough that it works fine in series). So I have 770 watts of solar. I've seen the system make 358 watts (the rated output is under lab conditions). I'm not sure I've ever asked more of the system than that. I've left the refrigerator running for a week in storage (on propane and 12v/solar). It's been perfect. I'm also planning for a 12v refrigerator upgrade if/when my refrigerator dies (some of them are known to have issues).

I got the wifi repeater on the roof. It's been very handy. I put in MicroAir smart (wifi/bluetooth) thermostats on both AC units. I forget what else.

Last Sunday I had a tire explode and damage the side of the camper. So it got new goodyear endurance trailer tires this week. I bought a "camper torque wrench" for the next time. And I'm currently working to fix the damage. With the issues with the truck and the irritating camper damage, I'm considering selling the truck and camper and just buying a 1500 pickup and going back to playing with cars. We will see I guess...

[CrashTestDummy]

That sux!! How old are your trailer tires? We try to not let ours get more than about 5. years on them before cycling them out, and we keep the trailer indoors when not in use. Nice work with the solar. We don't boondock that much to justify solar (other than on the racecar) on the bus.

Today's 1500s are quite capable. I'd venture to say that today's 1500's are about the same as the 2500's of yesteryear, in just about all dimensions, power, size, weight, towing capacity. With the issues we've been having with the AC on our 2500HD, I've been thinking about trading it on a 6.2 1500 4X4. That'll let us tow the racecar, dingy-tow the 1500, and with a drop kit, get it low enough it's not a big deal for the 'kids' to get into and out of. That, and we can lighten our insurance load by 1 vehicle.

[trackbird]

Tires had a date code of 2021. I was planning to replace them at the start of next season. I almost did them at the start of this season, wish I had.

I finished up the underbelly repairs tonight. I believe it's all sealed up and waterproof. This is a good start. We will see.