NV3500 campervan

[wollip]

$60 for a three pack w/ about 17 uses per cartridge. It's a "space blanket" type material - very tough.

No diverter - everything wrapped up together. Pet pad for absorption but wouldn't have to use them.

 

Only affordable for us because we mainly use it alternatively. But the mechanism is there for cartridge use when you get into "carry everything out" situations.

[guinnessbrewer]

Hello Chris,

 

I am wondering what your opinion of using Amsoil oil and filters along with an oil monitoring program and still maintaining factory warranty. Supposedly nissan cannot void the warranty per the Magnusson-Moss act, but I wonder how it would go if I had a failure.

 

 

Thanks!

 

Guinnessbrewer

[radin2son]

Interesting transition from portapots to engine oil.

What is Amsoil?

[ASD Dad]

Interesting transition from portapots to engine oil.

What is Amsoil?

 

Amsoil is a private label engine oil/vehicle fluids company.  Usually sold by specialized independent sellers (imagine Snap-On tools or even Avon but with vehicle fluids).  Some small shops sell it as well.

 

It's good stuff, many swear by it.  I had racing buddies that would only run Amsoil.  I was only running Redline oils.  Others swore by Royal Purple and others still just wanted Mobile 1.  Honestly they're all good.

 

To guinessbrewer - Radin2son is right, it wont get any looks in this thread.  I would either PM Chris_CM or start a new thread.

[DesertTed]

Hello all! I've been lurking until now. Hubby and I just bought a new 3500 last week. We are going to convert it into an RV. We can live with the smaller cargo area, there really was no consideration of the other manufacturers'vans. We've had three Nissan's and hope the trouble-free experiences we have had continue. The unexpected bonus with the NV3500 is how wonderfully comfortable the driver and passenger seats are. So, tomorrow, we start our project by applying Noico sound deadening matting to reduce the racket! Driving at high speeds and on Tucson's terrible streets (our potholes have potholes) makes the back of the empty van almost too noisy to hold a conversation in front. So, we have 108 square feet of the Noico matting to apply. We plan on posting our photos of our progress.

 

One thing we have decided, though: we are not terribly well-off but we aren't going to spare reasonable expense to do this project well. Full-time living part of the year is our plan.

 

Hubby and I spend months each year tent camping. During the late 90s, I had a Nissan Quest with which we did a fair amount of stealth camping. Stealth camping will be a lot more enjoyable with a full sized cargo van this time around.

 

So here we go on this adventure!

[DesertTed]

I'm not really up on the mechanics of forums, so, having forgotten to answer your question, the answer is: we will not have any fresh water, grey water or black water tanks. Porta-potty prepped with newspaper and kitty litter will do, with bio-degradeble bags to bury if we are away from civilization and trash receptacles. Generally we use the outhouses or toilets if they are available. At night Hubby uses a Gatorade bottle. As a chick, I can't aim that well, so I do use the porta-potty.

 

We will have a sink basin that will drain into a 5 gallon trash can. Grey water tanks/jugs will stink, so to prevent that, I can clean the bucket thoroughly as needed. And we can just dump it outside on a bush when we're done using it.

 

We've always done very simple camping. Keeping things simple is important. The more complicated things are, the more stuff to break.

[radin2son]

Welcome. You will have the 3rd camperized NV in Tucson. The other is Daydreamer (?) but she hasn't posted in awhile. Did you buy your NV at Jim Click? Or did you go north? Jim Click has been good for service, mainly oil changes. Very few warranty issues and no recalls for years. Ask for Jeff if you call to set up service.

 

Start your own build thread under Conversions and we will be able to find it. Post photos and ask lots of questions.

[DesertTed]

We bought the van up at Nissan Autonation Chandler. We were originally going to get the 2500 8 cylinder one advertised on their site, but it ended up that one was ”in transit" (it's listed that way now, but not when we started considering it at first). The commercial salesperson, Terry Rogers understood that we were coming up from Tucson, so when he called to tell me that, I believed that it was a bait and switch situation, especially since we would have the hassle to be coming up with two vehicles to trade in. I was very wrong, as Terry was calling to let me know that, since we had negotiated a price on the non-existent 2500, he would give us a 3500 SL for the negotiated price. So we have the upgraded van with bells and whistles we would have liked to have (like the towing package), but didn't want to spend the money on. The transaction was painless, I guess because it is a commercial vehicle which is handled differently.

 

We would have preferred to go with the local dealer, but the salesperson (who will remain unnamed) dropped the ball big time. I'm hoping Jim Click service will do better than the sales department!

 

My hubby and I are retired, so we will be working diligently and steadily on the conversion. We hope to make steady progress and look forward to our maiden voyage next Summer. In the couple of years we've been doing most of our camping on Mt.Lemmon and Lake Patagonia, in the summer and winter,respectively. We look forward to going further afield, especially some we will no longer have to fill our Honda Element to the gills, carrying our kayaking gear, too. He was a great car, just not big enough for our "glamping".

 

I will take your suggestion to start our own conversion thread. As I said, I'm not very experienced with online forums, so I'll attempt not to do it wrong. Since I've already commenced discussing our conversion, I'm hoping it will not be a violation here to copy and paste my four posts there. But I'm sure if I mess it up someone will correct me!

[radin2son]

As near as anyone can tell, this is not a Nissan connected forum. No need to withold anything.

 

The main problem with Jim Click is their lack of NV inventory. It's almost like they bought the commercial rights just to have it. The service is fine, mostly because NVs are very dependable trucks and need little beyond oil changes. Go by the service manual and not the extra service package they will want to sell you when you come in. Jeff Holbelson is the service advisor you want to deal with. He will get it that you are going by the service manual.

 

I reccomend you get your service done there rather than a quick oil change place in the event there are nagging issues with your van. Our NV is from California and they have never balked at fixing things. Just take off the front plate Chandler Autonation plate... You can do your own service.