Trying a class B

We haven't been using the Brave much. My husband has taken it out a couple of times a year to the mountains but I haven't been going. 

I have wanted to try a class B rv. We recently rented a Thor Sequence 2022 20L. Overall it was a good experience but renting did not make it immune to the usual RV problems. It was nice to turn it in at the end of the trip.

Reflections on a 7 week trip in a rented 2022 Thor Sequence 20L:

 

The Thor Sequence attracts alot of positive attention with alot of people stopping out of the blue to ask about it. Supermarket parking lots, gas stations, campgrounds etc. were all possible encounter points.

 

We traveled in it for 7 weeks with 2 adults and 1 dog. Did not really have a good safe place for the dog to ride so he had free run and sometimes was on a dog bed by the door, sometimes between the front chairs and sometimes between the beds. We put thick Costco bath mats on the floor between the beds and between the front chairs to eliminate the tripping hazard from the table mounts and provide more comfort under foot.

 

It was well laid out and functioned well. We had some of the common problems posted about on a users group and followed the recommended fixes for the mirror flying open and the drawers coming open. We rescrewed in a hinge and cobbled together a hold for one of the blinds falling down. The door panel also came loose very early on. We contacted the rental company about it and they said to just leave it. The bike rack in back was missing a screw so we used velcro to hold it together for the trip.

 

We attempted to get the AC working with resets and a firmware download. It never did work right. It blew cool air but failed to cool the RV down. 

 

We found the generator spewing raw fuel twice. First fix was by a certified Onan repair place ($300) and they put the fuel hose back on with a different clamp. Couple of weeks later is started again. We took it to an RV dealer who said the hose barely fit on there but they reattached it for us ($0 because they didn't think they fixed it). We then took it to an Cummins sales and service building. They diagnosed the fuel hose popped off on the high pressure side because it was routed wrong. They rerouted it for $129 and it lasted the last few days of the trip. The rental company paid for all the fixes.

 

The rental company also authorized us to have the AC looked at but for most of the trip the weather was cool and we were loath to give up half a day trying to get it fixed when likely all they would do is say it blows cool air. When we supplemented the roof air with the dash air we could stay cool when needed.

 

The water inlet to the toilet dribbled a bit when you sat on it. Since it was a rental and the water went into the shower pan we didn't mess with it.

 

We left alot of the pieces that came with it at home. Didn't bring the table and legs, One of the back cushions, the cup holder, the cutting board or the sink cover with us. We did bring extra pillows. One thing we missed having was our good folding chairs. The ones we like don't fold into a cylinder and we couldn't find a place to carry them. No add on box to the hitch was allowed per the rental contract.

 

We used air mattresses on top of the provided ones and that made them comfortable. Otherwise they were too hard.

 

We used a dish drying rack in the sink that allowed us to easily carry our dish soap, bug spray, hand sanitizer, extra water bottles in the sink and just took it out when we wanted to us the sink. 

 

We used the blue sticky fun tack mounting putty to keep the stove lid quiet. We also did not bring the grate with us because we do not use the stove top. That is one of the rattle items when you drive so removing it and using the blue fun tack on the glass cover quieted the drive down.

 

We also used the blue fun tack mounting putty on the bottom of a box of tissues mounted next to the sink faucet. This was in place of paper towels. When the box ran out we just pulled it off and stuck a new box there. Worked out really well.

 

We never could get the water heater to heat for a whole shower. Once you got through the initial tank of water you were out of luck until it sat for a while to reheat itself.

 

We had the dreaded pile of poop in the black tank due to dumping it too often and not using enough water. We started using the bathroom sink and adding a gallon after a dump and did not have it again. After having it we drove with a bag of ice and alot of water in the tank to clear it.

 

Initially we planned to boondock more but that didn't work well with the tank sizes. Our tank sensors always read inaccurately so we never new where were with respect to tank usage. We found it better to have a campsite than to spend time trying to find a dump or potable water source. Also many of the campgrounds had decent showers which were a welcome relief from the navy style ones we took in the Sequence.

 

The heater worked really well and we were always comfortable in the cold.

 

The rental company is B&B Rv in Denver. They rent both the 20L and 20K floor plans. This is a great way to try out a class B rv.

We had a fantastic time and are very glad we did it!

 

Winnebago Era 170A, Leisure Travel Van Unity 24TB, Leisure Travel Van Wonder RTB

Went to the RV show.

Loved the Winnebago Era 170A. Seemed pretty functional for it's size. Also not alot of stinky chemical odor like the Leisure Travel Vans and the Pleasure Ways (they were the worst). The ground clearance is holding us back. Along with the lack of a dining area without turning the front chair around and then really no table full time.

Also no external place to put the stinky slinky. Where do owners store it?

Pics of price and ccc stickers.

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The floor plan winner was Leisure Travel Unity U24TB. I could stand up in the back by the beds but my husband 6'1" could not. MB chassis has great foot room. Folding dinette table allowed one to go from front to back. Everything about this was decent. Do NOT like having a step in the middle of the RV. Too easy to trip on. But this was not as bad as some. This RV is pretty well thought out. We would have to put our dog pen and chairs on a the back hitch in a tray or something because although storage is good it isn't the right shape for those things. Chemical smell means we can't buy a new one.

 Step to back beds.

 CCC.

Spoke to a current owner who warned us about the radius doors. They look good but they slice your head open on a regular basis if you aren't short. Unfortunately these units are really for people who are pretty petite.

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Also saw a Leisure Travel Van Wonder RTB. They sold it for $121K but the sign was pulled down so no picture. Forgot to take a picture of the ccc. This is a fantastic floor plan if you are really, really short. It is easy to step up to the beds and not hit your head because you are sitting down as you step up. It is impossible to stand up from the bed and not hit your head. Try it.

Very clever use of the folding adjustable boat tables in front and back. Great, and I mean great, storage underneath. Should have taken a picture.
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For us we are having trouble finding a unit with acceptable foot room for the passenger. It seems only the Mercedes provides this. Unfortunately the Ford Transit does not. But it will for people with small feet. Oddly the Mercedes chairs are really hard to adjust or turn around. Really, really hard. The service people couldn't do it. Random guys looking at the RVs couldn't do it. People were searching the internet for tips on how to do it. I don't get how in this day and age the chairs cannot be designed with reasonable controls for swiveling and reclining.

All Ford E350 and E450 chassis are out due to impinged foot room. The Chevy 4500 seats seemed hard but it had better foot room. Can't remember on the Ram Promaster.

The Nexus Wraith 32W reclining seats were awesome! The front seat was so squeezed against the door you couldn't really open the door with handle. How is that safe? The unit had a strong chemical smell.

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Did we find something we would buy? Sadly no. But we aren't in a hurry to dump our Brave. It just seems so much more comfortable and functional than anything we've seen.

Worlds best replacement LED lights

I found these to be just like the incandescents they replaced but a little brighter. Not too white or blue but more yellow like I like. They are on amazon.

GRV Ba15s 1156 1141 High Power Car LED Bulb 102-3528SMD DC 12V Warm White Pack of 10

Home and thoughts on first trip of the season.

The RV is back to bed. We had to rewinterize because of freezing temps expected this week. In fact we had snow today.

While I enjoyed parts of this trip there were challenges also. The biggest being high winds. We had several days where we just hunkered down in the RV and let it shake and roll. Sleeping was very hard when there was so much movement and noise from the wind. In addition we got bounced off the road onto the shoulder by a passing semi. They passed too close and then got hit by a high wind gust that then caused their air displacement to bounce us off the road. Very scary. Most semis went by hugging the opposite side of the lane so this did not happen.

We also almost got run off by an oncoming pick up truck with trailer that was over the center line on a narrow two lane road.

We had to reroute the end of the trip through Albuquerque due to winds. A fair number of days were driving in the wind which was uncomfortable and stressful.

We narrowly avoided freezing temps a number of times. We had rv antifreeze on board to put in the tanks whenever things looked too close for comfort. Our RV furnace kept the inside toasty but I noticed the volume of air was down, it didn't blow as strongly as it has in the past so that is something we have to trouble shoot. Could be low voltage from the batteries or damaged ductwork. The ductwork is getting very old and brittle.

We also discovered our rear motoraid heater. This was fabulous for heating up the rear of the motorhome before stopping. Because we had never traveled in the cold before we had never used it. For normal driving the dash heat was just fine but that motoraid heater was great to turn on a half hour before stopping and get everything toasty warm.

As usual we loved the motoraid hot water. It is always nice to have hot water when going down the road to wash your hands and to use when you first get to a stop without having to turn on the hot water heater.

The RV had been rewinterized and put back to bed at the storage lot. I don't think I would do a trip at this time of year again. Too much wind!

On a side note we had so many campgrounds with hookups this trip that I got quite spoiled with taking long showers. When you can dump every day or every other day you can shower as long as you want, no conserving water. :-)

Back to Lake Pueblo

 We liked Lake Pueblo and were happy to stay there again but there were a couple new places we wanted to try on the way home. However the deciding factor was Lake Pueblo was the only one of them that wasn't expecting freezing temp. that night.

Isleta Resort and Casino RV Park

Our destination was the Isleta Resort and Casino RV Park. We LOVED this park. Plenty of nice walking paths around the lakes for the dog. Nice sites. Free shuttle to the hotel for gluten free meals. Train to Albuquerque and Sante Fe. We will be staying here again when in the area.

Gluten free breakfast! The first meal out of the trip.

 Any rail and bus schedule for downtown right from the RV park.

 Our very nice spot. You do hear the train noise and horns during the day but they didn't run at night. You also can hear I-25 traffic outside during the day but not in the RV. At night we heard a little at first because we sent to bed very early but overnight it was quiet and then started up in the morning.

Valley of Fires Recreation Area

Our overnight was planned for Valley of Fires Recreation Area, where we got a fabulous campsite. It was at the top of the hill and widely spaced from the neighbors. It had no hookups but they had quite a few with hook ups. Those were occupied. The hook up ones had slightly tighter spacing.

There looked to be some nice trails/displays but we got hit with a big regional windstorm. It appeared the only way out was bright and early the next morning with a destination of Albuquerque. So that is what we did, left early, and didn't really get to see the park.