Full Time in Voltage

[calewjohnson]

Originally Posted by boostme

Damn, interesting idea! We actually have one of those Kenmore propane sets in storage currently. That doesn't work for our floorplan, but nice work!

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Here is the thread on my dryer...pics at post #27:

http://www.dutchmenowners.org/forums/f20/propane-run-3996.html#post41248

Washer was installed across from it. Had to modify the TV cabinet, now only have a radio, TV will be mounted on the ceiling. Ran plumbing through the wall to where factory washer hookups were located.

In November, I will be installing a dishwasher in the factory washer location.

Cale

[calewjohnson]

Sitting outside chilling and having some coffee.

Yes, I do have my own lawnmower. They let me do my own yard work on my little postage stamp. Usually get a couple beers from the neighbors when I run the mower around their rigs.

Cale

[boostme]

Nice!

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[snakebitten]

Originally Posted by calewjohnson

Sitting outside chilling and having some coffee.

Yes, I do have my own lawnmower. They let me do my own yard work on my little postage stamp. Usually get a couple beers from the neighbors when I run the mower around their rigs.

Cale

Brilliant! Both the setup, and the strategy.

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by calewjohnson

I will say that it is a labor of love with these things. Not just Dutchman, but all brands. When we were constantly on the road, I would always spend the first day after a stop fixing odds and ends that were "broken" from hours of earthquake style forces the day before. She is doing well, not sure it will last until antique status, but should last until we can finally afford our Class A diesel pusher (post kids of course).

Another nice to have is a washer and dryer. I tapped into plumbing and ran a propane line to the garage and use a full size set washer/gas dryer by Kenmore.

Cale

Cale,

I have to agree with you about the sturdiness of the Aluminum frame. By all rights the frame on our camper should be a twisted pile of of aluminum and steel. The amount of agricultural towing we have done. But to get to the top of the mountain, sometimes it you got to take the long cut.

All Dutchmen really had to do to make me a happy camper, is pay a little more detail to final assembly and give me the same electrical standards as a stick built house. I just don't understand why Lance can give you a proper wiring harness that is hand strung on a template wall. I'm at about 7-8 pounds of copper wire and a must be getting close to 20 feet of surplus PEX that I have cut out of the system. Henry Ford got it, wiring harnesses are quick to lay in during the construction, by using a standardized wiring harness on all models of a model run, it makes for easy upgrades to premium equipement. DWs Mustang LX had the foglights pre-wired, plug in the OEM dash switch, mount fog lights, hook-up lights install fuse. half an hour later, you have OEM foglights.

About the last place I have to clean up is the bellypan. Being as my little health scare has changed our Snowbird plans for this year, come the spring I'm going to drop the bellypan completely and rewire/reroute the wiring and PEX to provide proper support and protection to the wires and plumbing. While I'm under there a couple of spray foam kits to seal up the half acre of holes left in the floor for the plumbing and wiring cutouts. And I'm not entrirely happy with the way I plumbed the hydraulic brake lines. Rebuid the spring spring mounts and find an upgrade from the OEM equalizers. My camper will be at the point were my upgraded tires alone give will carry the total weight of the camper with out all them fancy figures and our Ram has the GVWR that leaves us 1000# of room for more stuff than the dogs, generator, full tank and us. No fancy figures again and with the Hensley, I can adjust a couple hundred pounds of side to side weight discrepancies out with the spring jacks.

Did you ever see the short production video, that Dutchmen had on their web site (it got taken down shortly after I saw it), assemblers actualy running down the line to catch up to the trailer. Not enough time in each station to allow them to complete their work.

By contrast Lance had a reasonable pace to it's line and the workers were completing their tasks in station.

I've got our camper so far from the rig were bought, that it is no longer a "Dutchmen Colorado", but a Decker "something" thing. New graphics are being designed.

[calewjohnson]

Originally Posted by hddecker

Cale,

I have to agree with you about the sturdiness of the Aluminum frame. By all rights the frame on our camper should be a twisted pile of of aluminum and steel. The amount of agricultural towing we have done. But to get to the top of the mountain, sometimes it you got to take the long cut.

All Dutchmen really had to do to make me a happy camper, is pay a little more detail to final assembly and give me the same electrical standards as a stick built house. I just don't understand why Lance can give you a proper wiring harness that is hand strung on a template wall. I'm at about 7-8 pounds of copper wire and a must be getting close to 20 feet of surplus PEX that I have cut out of the system. Henry Ford got it, wiring harnesses are quick to lay in during the construction, by using a standardized wiring harness on all models of a model run, it makes for easy upgrades to premium equipement. DWs Mustang LX had the foglights pre-wired, plug in the OEM dash switch, mount fog lights, hook-up lights install fuse. half an hour later, you have OEM foglights.

About the last place I have to clean up is the bellypan. Being as my little health scare has changed our Snowbird plans for this year, come the spring I'm going to drop the bellypan completely and rewire/reroute the wiring and PEX to provide proper support and protection to the wires and plumbing. While I'm under there a couple of spray foam kits to seal up the half acre of holes left in the floor for the plumbing and wiring cutouts. And I'm not entrirely happy with the way I plumbed the hydraulic brake lines. Rebuid the spring spring mounts and find an upgrade from the OEM equalizers. My camper will be at the point were my upgraded tires alone give will carry the total weight of the camper with out all them fancy figures and our Ram has the GVWR that leaves us 1000# of room for more stuff than the dogs, generator, full tank and us. No fancy figures again and with the Hensley, I can adjust a couple hundred pounds of side to side weight discrepancies out with the spring jacks.

Did you ever see the short production video, that Dutchmen had on their web site (it got taken down shortly after I saw it), assemblers actualy running down the line to catch up to the trailer. Not enough time in each station to allow them to complete their work.

By contrast Lance had a reasonable pace to it's line and the workers were completing their tasks in station.

I've got our camper so far from the rig were bought, that it is no longer a "Dutchmen Colorado", but a Decker "something" thing. New graphics are being designed.

You are not kidding about the wiring! I dropped the front of the belly last weekend to reattach the heater pads on the tank and tidy up some wiring and promptly gave up...was not prepared for the amount of crap down there. They could have seriously dropped 50-100 lbs just in wiring, what a mess. I also have a ground issue somewhere. I was leaning against the frame, with my bald head, while removing some of the fasteners and felt a electrified burning sensation... Good thing is that I think it is a DC source, as AC would have knocked me on my butt. Everything works, no fuses blown, probably been like that since the day I bought it, who knows.

Finally put my garage stereo back in last night, also a wiring nightmare. There was so much feedback in the speakers, and it was from the way hey taped the connectors together and routed them past each other.

This morning I put a three position pull light switch for a ceiling fan in the kitchen above bar so I could pick which lights to turn on...I like the decorative hanging lights, but they are overpowered by the other lights above the sink. I removed enough wiring to completely re-wire the whole project...and still threw some away.

Cale

[Heavymetal]

We've been full-timing in our Voltage since January 2014, and have towed it about 15,000 miles around the country. With the exception of our main slide we haven't had any major issues with it. We use the garage as a business (web design) office, and deduct 1/3 (14ft of the 43ft trailer) of our loan interest, depreciation and park fees off the business taxes. Interior wear and tear on the trailer hasn't been too noticeable, and the exterior and roof seem to be holding up OK. We don't spend any appreciable time in overly cold/hot areas (why would we!), so that may have reduced some of the impacts.

[boostme]

Good to hear Heavy! How often have you done axle/brake maintenance?

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[Heavymetal]

Plan on doing the first one when we get to Yuma AZ in November for our winter stay. A lot of trailer things are cheaper here, i.e. mobile soft water wash (including roof) and hand wax trailer, plus wash/spray wax second vehicle for $125. Can't beat it!

[mikesnider]

Originally Posted by calewjohnson

... I do have a pesky leak in my main slide, I am perplexed on why it is getting wet in the far corner. The slide looks like a three year old has done arts and crafts, as I have caulked and used eternabond in my hunt to fix it. If it is still leaking after tonight, I will throw in the towel and have someone come look at it.

Cale

Waiting anxiously to hear the source of your main slide leak and the resulting fix. Thanks Cale.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by snakebitten

883

Love it when the countdown becomes numerically exact.
Got a workmate that has "an app for that"
He looks at it often. Quotes it to the second.

Me? 1515

I too jumped the gun though and went full-time. Love the small footprint lifestyle. Not quite a Voltage Castle though.

Over 2100... if I hold out that long and don't go postal first.

Aaron

[snakebitten]

LoL

RV'ers with countdowns seem to be less than rare.

[joebedford]

I've been retired for 14 years this month, but who's counting?

[calewjohnson]

Originally Posted by mikesnider

Waiting anxiously to hear the source of your main slide leak and the resulting fix. Thanks Cale.

Should see tomorrow, it is supposed to be nasty rain for the next three days.

Cale

[calewjohnson]

Originally Posted by mikesnider

Waiting anxiously to hear the source of your main slide leak and the resulting fix. Thanks Cale.

Well, still have water getting to the bottom of the slide.....though it has been greatly reduced. It used to be very wet at the corner (picture right) and damp all the way to the left. As you can see from the pic, you can see the damp wood. Luckily, not MDF, so the "damage" is less, but I think this has been happening since new (two years now). Will post a daylight pic this afternoon of what I have done so far, maybe someone will something I have missed.

Cale

[CR3999]

I've been full timing almost three years. I haven't traveled since I pulled it home.(RV park) I use the garage as a garage. Have multiple motor cycles.

I have a leak in my bedroom side and for the life of me I haven't figured out how to fix it. I have spent some time in the rain trying to figure it out. Also all the D rubber trim on the trailer needs to be replaced. I have google and asked where to get this molding, to no avail. I think the sap from all the trees attack the rubber. Now the bypass for the water heater has a crack in it and as a slow leak. I have the part but haven't installed it yet.
Have fun guys I need to get back to work.

[mikesnider]

Originally Posted by CR3999

...I have a leak in my bedroom side and for the life of me I haven't figured out how to fix it...

CR, I had the same problem. It baffled me. But I finally found/fixed it. Here's my story in case it can help you with yours.

http://www.dutchmenowners.org/forums...html#post40087

[xhogboss]

Been in our V3605 since July, 2014. It's been an ... adventure ... yeah, that's a good word for it.

[boostme]

That sounds ominous

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[xhogboss]

Maybe 'challenging' would have been a better word. If you're full-timing, you don't have the luxury of dropping it off at the dealer for weeks at a time. I tell people, "if you can't fix it on your own , don't buy it".

I'm always wondering what the next thing to break will be. The quality control issues have been discussed at length here, and some of them are mind-boggling. Example: I installed electric dump valves (thanks, Pirate), and found the plastic discs from the tank cut-outs sliding around inside the tank. That explained the 'sometimes it drains slowly ' thing. Plumbing fittings installed and not crimped. A wire bundle on the wrong side of a crossmember, so some installer cut the crossmember instead of repulling the wire.

Full-timing in the V3605 is a great way to see the country, and we're trying really hard to ride every little back roads in America. It's also turned out to be a great way to 'adapt, improvise, overcome '.

Sometimes that's more enjoyable than others.