DesertTed

Hello all, I'm thinking about getting a travel trailer. A Lance 1685, which weighs 3800# dry and 5500# GVWR. Should I get a weight distribution hitch? Any particular recommendations in who should install it? A lot of the questions on towing here are about trailers that are heavier. Amy recommendations on what equipment I should buy? I have the 3500. Thank you, Ted

Only the OEM ones. Both Hub and I went ahead and got them for each of our vans. We wouldn't do without them, so there was no question of getting them. We bought them as part if the original purchase. Ted

I've been driving Hub's 2017 8 cylinder 2500. Yes, his vehicle shifts the same as mentioned above. The first tank of gas was 12.97mpg for mixed highway/city driving. The gearing is unpleasant to me compared to my 2016 3500. Or maybe I'm just biased towards my own van. Ted

Hey Bamps, What kind of bottle jack do you have and where did you buy it? Somehow, the stock jack that came with my van is gone. I don't know enough to make an educated decision. Thanks, Ted

Today we brought home Hub's new NV. We ended up financing with Vantage West Credit Union (AZ wide). We didn't even have to fill out an application, we just gave the branch representative at the credit union our numbers. Then when we went to the dealer, we just told them to contact the credit union. We just signed the papers and were out in less than two hours-that included the papers' guy snuggling our new puppy. Ted

Well, Hub bought his own cargo van (after some exploratory camping, it was clearly divorce, murder or him having his own getaway vehicle). He doesn't want the rear floor mat that came standard with the 2500 SV. He's going to do a removable camping conversion. If anyone wants it, we are in Tucson. You must come here to pick it up. Ted

I wish I had front parking sensors to have a trouble with. Oh well, you'd think they would put them on a 2016 3500.

Okey dokey. Here's the scoop about Navy Federal. I just talked to them and it boils down to this: In the NADA guide, the Nissan NV cargo van is categorized as a commercial vehicle. They will not make personal car loans on commercial vehicles. No way around it, even though the commercial vehicle was being repurposed for private use. So, I withdrew my application with Navy Fed and we be going with my local credit union. That's a shame for NFCU. Ted

Navy Fed has already pre approved our loan, but I hadn't even thought to ask about a cargo van. I just assumed...I went ahead this morning and went to my local credit union and got pre-approved, just in case Navy Fed says no. So I have approved loans with two potential lenders. I guess we could go to USAA if all else fails. Whoda thought. Ted

In August of last year (2016), Navy Federal financed our NV. This was a non-commercial loan for a private individual. Is this a new thing? We are going to buy a second NV and we're planning to finance it, again through Navy Federal. Bummer if so. I guess we'll find out. Thanks for the heads' up. Ted

http://jalopnik.com/why-i-hate-the-big-nissan-nv-vans-so-damn-much-1797036052

I have el cheapo Costco ones. They were pretty tight to put on, but they've stayed put. They look el cheapo, too. Ted

We have the Vantech H3. Not real pretty, but we just wanted simple (and easy- took just a few minutes to install)to mount our solar panels on. Got 'em on Amazon. Welcome aboard! Ted

I forgot to mention that the other part of the reason that I wanted more air is that I'm getting a puppy tomorrow and if I have to leave her unattended (in reasonable weather and shade, of course), I want her to have plenty of fresh air. Darn straight I'll have bear spray and bear bells! Ted

I'm gonna be spending a lot of time alone in bear country. Don't laugh at me, I'm petrified of bears. From what I've seen, it's important not to have the windows opened even a fraction of an inch, even with wind deflectors. If a bear can get purchase with a single claw, he can just yank out the window and then the door. We have the overhead fan and the two 4" floor vents already. That's enough to keep the van confortable into the 80's. But if it's hot and humid, I'll want more air. I've seen vents installed in the sliding door footwell, on the vertical wall. Anymore do this on an NV? It's always intimidating to start cutting into the metal of the van. Thank you. Ted

Hey Cabinetcrew, Thanks for posting that. When I talk to other people about the NV, I mention now that they have the new transmission and engine, but the mileage is an unknown. Please keep us updated on the numbers, especially since some people have reported different mileage after the break-in period. Congrats on the new addition, Ted

Hey Bamps, 200watts should be able to run a fridge and cooler and all your electronics and a fan or two,easily. We have more because,once we sell the house, we'll be homeless and living in the van. And great deprivation is not on our horizon. We're running the 4cu ft fridge, cook with electric, 5 hours of 24" tv last night for Hub and 2 electric fans for me. And 6 USB devices. A couple days of shade might make a difference, but we then could just go for a drive (morning is best for the batteries, when they are the most hungry.) We plan on not moving for at least a week at a time, so we need more power on reserve. We've been up at Spencer Canyon, this time for the last three days and this is our first cloudy day and we're still pulling in 5 amps with good cloud cover. And we don't even have the 165 watt solar "awning" up. Originally we planned for just 100 watts solar from a portable panel because we didn't want to drill into the brand new roof. We got over that fear in a hurry. Then the desire for more electricity just kept growing. We'll be bringing the portable just in case. Ted

First trip! I just spent two nights in Spencer Canyon (at 8000 ft just north of Tucson). I needed a second blanket that I didn't bring. No hook up, but we have 445 watts solar without the portable. I can't see ever needing hookups except maybe for an electric heater in the winter. If it's 116F forecast, it'll be 118-119 at our house on the West side. This time I'll take Hub for three nights next week, until the temps go down to a frigid 111F.

Having been pleasantly surprised with the last mileage check, I was wondering if that was a fluke of winds, different gas pumps or whatever. We had to go up to Phoenix again today for an unexpected medical appointment, so we had another opportunity to check it. Both ways, North and south were with winds going around the compass. I kept it at 1800RPM at 57-58mph. I was able to not touch the brakes for 100+ miles, so that helped the mileage. 16.7mpg for 223 miles! I don't think is posted a photo of the panels with the fold-down "solar wing". So that doesn't seem to have caused enough wind resistance to impact the mileage greatly. Hopefully we'll not need to go back north for a good while. Ted

Hey Stewie, For an amateur, you've done a really nice job. Much better than our amateur conversion. I like the hot water thing too, that's a really cool idea. I wish we had room for something like that. Hopefully, if you come our West, we may see you around, as we're on the road very soon (I keep telling myself that). We'll be mostly camping off the beaten path. Great job, Ted

Today was the first time in several months that I drove a longer distance of highway miles only (round trip Tucson to Phoenix). I also weighed the vehicle. I drove 55-60mph. That'll be our speed most of the time while traveling. I had a pretty brisk tailwind for 100 miles with only a crosswind coming back down. 16.46mpg. We did not use the same gas station, so there may have been some inaccuracy there. But, frankly, I'm happily quite surprised. I kept the RPMs at 1800 in 5th gear. With our solar panel setup I would have been happy with 13-14. We've been getting only 10.5mpg in town recently. That's with catching almost every red light in this bloody town. I weighed the vehicle at a truck stop on the way down. With a full tank of gas (175lbs)and me (150 lbs) we weighed in at 8220 lbs. That's with nothing but the modifications that we have added. front axle: 3460lbs, rear axle:4760lbs. Ted

I know that Outside Van has an opening window on their NV conversion in the same place (upper sliding door). I don't know where they got it, but in my perusals, I think I've seen that people have used a Ford Transit sliding window. Don't hold me to it, though. I think it's pretty much the same size. It is nice that with the CR Laurence window, though,that the cutout is exactly the size of the indentations on the door. It was idiot proof (comparatively). In a perfect world, an openable window would be nice, but Hub wanted "easy" on our last project of our conversion. We were done with the project until I said "Honey, can we do just one more thing?" But we're done now, with only finishing touches remaining. I'm sure that, once we're on the road, we'll have plenty of small tweaks to make. Ted

I've not continued my thread on our conversion, but feel I should show any of you interested in installing a fixed glass window in the top of the sliding door. I think it's pretty neat, especially considering the cost, speed and ease of installation. When we first bought our vehicle, we approached cutting into the sheet metal with great trepidation. After the ceiling fan and rear windows, holes through the side for an ac electrical connection, the water inlet, a couple dozen screw holes for cable clams, the two floor vents and this window, we can say that although it's not a hole piece of cake, it doesn't inspire the fear and terror that it did when we started on the conversion. We bought the CRLaurence window from Campervan HQ for $160 and $20 shipping. It has a 28% tint. Hub says this is how he did it: "I used sheets to mask off the rest of the van from the metal shavings. I got two fire extinguishers handy because I decided to cut from the inside of the van in order to follow the factory cut-out more easily and the angle grinder puts out a s***load of sparks while cutting into sheet metal." "I then drilled 36 holes around the perimeter of the cutout from the inside. Once that was done, I went outside and taped around the perimeter with three layers of masking tape. I then, from the inside started to cut the hole with the angle grinder. I shortly decided that between two layers of sheet metal defining the cutout and the mass of sparking, it was easier and safer to cut from the outside. Around the radii, I played it safe and also used the drill and hacksaw blade. I then filed the edges and used touch up paint on the bare metal (after I made sure the window fit)." "Then my wife held and put pressure on the outside of the window while I screwed in the frame. I then hosed the window with direct spray at least as strong as a deluge raining sideways." "Voilà! Done. Condensing the time, it took about three hours total for the installation. The tools I used were: the angle grinder, drill, hacksaw blade, a metal file, a Philips screwdriver, touchup paint and masking tape. And a shot of tequila after cutting out the big hole (at 0930). " Photos below of window, the raw cutout, the outside finished product and the view from the inside. It really adds a good amount of light within. It's also nice to be able to see out at least on the one side without having to scramble into the front seat.

Not a Mercedes Not a Fiat Not a Ford Good price, even with many options. We've had too many Nissans to keep track of since the '70s. Hub had a few problems with a '71 Datsun 510, but otherwise all the rest of them were pretty trouble free. Sturdier build than the competition, even though mileage sucks (we knew that before buying it). More payload for our camping conversion and gear. Warranty High top Ease of conversion Cab comfort AC great Good acceleration and power for carrying our almost 3500# payload high into the Rockies(water will weigh the most for long boondocking periods out in the sticks). There are other reasons, but that'll do for now.

Wow, not even a cut, just bruises! I'm not really surprised, given how stoutly these things are built. Must have been interesting sliding down the highway upside down. I figure the real test was if they'd buy another NV to replace this one.