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!
