Hello
&
Thanks for the well come ceremony.........great.
Will post some pics ASP......eaven when Iīm kind of jealous about all the nice and BIIIIIIIIIG RV You have.
Here in Europe RVing is different and complicated compared to the US
First if You are a lucky OLD guy like me and still have this old drivers licence, that is irrevocable, You can drive an RV with max 7,5T / 16.534Lbs......otherwise Your max with most driverlicenses is 3,5T/7.716Lbs. That means most of Your chasis weigh more than that allready. To this You have to add size off roads and specially radius of corners and height of bridges, wich makes it very difficult to get around. That starts as sonn as You get off the Highway and most of the nice places would be inacessable.
To those mayor problems comes the acess to shore power....possible camp grounds are in places, were they canīt get a premit or itīs not profitable to get the kind of power necesary to move all the apliences US Rvs have....and to protect there installations many times Us RVs are not well come.
For this reason....Rvs over here are built to comply with weight (we call them cardboxes) and this on the other side quality and accesories on board.
For us over her, it is a tremedous sacrifice to have an US RV.
1.......we have to adapt to emission control........specially older mods. No Way.... so we are not allowed to enter in cities and lots of areas specially in Germany.
2.......ilumination has to be adapted
3 we have to convert 220 Volts and this costs a fortune......this in most cases is done very unprofessional due to lack of knowledge,wireing plans,...etc. and also lack of quality supply.....yes we have suppliers but product lines are designed for card boxes etc.
4......spare parts............there are a few suppliers around but prices are up to twice than US........on top costs for transport and aprox.1-2 weeks to save on costs.
That meaqns ....to use OEM spares for example....a simple switch, glow plugs, filters etc. is a real project and has to be planed.....and till here we talk about running Your RV in Germany.....but when it comes to my situation Spain.........itīs an atventure.
5.........proper documentation after import from the US is another science and there is no way to say with 100 shure, how much it will cost You in the end.
6.........all RVs older than 3 years have to pass inspection, chasis, emision, gaz.....here US RVs are treated different.........the rest I leave up to Your imagination.
So, there are a few things that have to thought about, before getting in RVing with a US RV.
My opinion........Not too big,....Yes I lave the bedrooms of a 30 feet and up, but that would block me a lot.......specially on the weight side... yes there is the posibility to lower the weight on docs, but that would cost load capacity.
The whole electric system has to be redesigned........my design.......autosufficient, 560 watt Unisolar thin film modules...that is 8 modules aprox 18"x110" and that needs some space up there..........added to that 3000Watt!230V inverter and 4 Batts 200 amp each.
For permanent RVing.........I need space and not a lot of beds.
Most of all for comfortable living.............unfortunatly the quality of design and material on US RVs changes with the size.........that means...the smaller, the worse and here a total redesign is a must.....BUT WITH LESS SPACE and WEIGHT CAPACITY
Starting with those facts, I came to the conclusion.......the only way, to have a RV adapted to my needs is, most of it, I will have to change it.
By luck I have to right and not left hands..... and this is the second time I built= adpt an RV to my needs.........last time 20 years ago and I traveled for 2 years permanent.
Since I didnįt make money with my hands I had to interupt my trip for some time but as You can read I am back for 2 years now.....bought the Winnebago in an Ebay auction and without seeing it before in Gernany........a Canada Mod half way adapted to Europe and first hand owner.......so the first one who really will do some changes here will be me.......it is still virgin..wow..........was kept and serviced well except the last 2 years but still acceptable..........til than I spent about 4 to 5 month per year for the last 2 years while allways using it form time to time.
Right now I am buissy with change of manual lift pump to electric,change of fuel filter system from Purolator to EU system with fuel preheat, override of glow plug timer, instalation of solar panels. Outside,engine,chasis are completly restored.
Still to go ........Cruise Control does not work......electrical system and redesign interior complete.
Here some pics of the magnitude:
Here my questions..........is worth while ...........hmmmmmmmmm
Do I ever get my money back.............never ever
How much time...........had no time left to count the hours
If this one is not perfect........I still have time ........worse case....the next one will be.
A pitty...........never had the luck to get paid for my hands.
Best Regards
from Sunny Andalusia
Wolf
PS......Yes I will open some threads and I also bring some questions with me
Newbe
Hope you will share some restoration photos as you progress with the Winnie.
Linear Mode
