 |
10-31-2016, 07:54 AM
|
#1
|
|
Montana Fan
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Fort Wayne
Posts: 477
M.O.C. #17609
|
Our first full season is in the books
Well yesterday our first full year/season of our 2016 3160RL is officially in the books as we winterized it and put it in storage. It was a busy season and we definitely got our use out of it as we are still part of the working world.
Our season was from late March through the end of October, 7 months, and we were able to get out for 60 days of camping and over 6000 miles. This included lots of short 2-3 night weekends and the following longer trips:
- Lake Glendale/Garden of the Gods IL - included camping in snow and ~25 degree temps
- Hocking Hills State Park, OH
- Chain o Lakes State Park IN (with daily commutes to work)
- Week long loop of lower peninsula of MI touring lighthouses
- MOC National Rally at Goshen, IN
- Fort Pickens National Park (Pensacola Beach FL area) via Huntsville, AL and Nashville, TN
This year started with the install of our solar system and we were able to take advantage of it totally off grid ~6 nights and used it to run our fridge and also a crock pot while travelling. It has worked very well and was also useful on off-loading the electric when we were on 30A posts at a lot of parks.
The rig worked well overall. We had a couple of issues that we had to resolve/repair. One was a simple fix but a pain to diagnose - a outside fridge cooling fan connector that was disconnected but was buried in a wire bundle and the fridge had to be pulled out to reconnect it. We also had a black tank heating pad that was bad and was only found due to all the electrical monitoring gear we have related to our solar and EMS otherwise we'd think it was working fine. We also had a "drifting slide" issue pop up just before the rally and due to the Keystone tech visit and Lippert's support, it was resolved on the way home from the rally. We also ended the year upgrading to the MOR/Ryde IS and Disc Brakes before our Florida trip. The brakes are a noticeable improvement and overall the IS is better than the stock setup.
Now is time to catch up on all the home chores that have been neglected and start planning next years trips.
__________________
2016 Montana 3160RL w/MOR/Ryde IS and Disc Brakes
855W Solar System, TriStar MPPT-60 Controller, Magnum 2800W Inverter, 6 Trojan T-105REs
2015 Chevy Duramax SRW SB Crew Cab
|
|
|
|
10-31-2016, 01:45 PM
|
#2
|
|
Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Pahrump
Posts: 2,523
M.O.C. #1081
|
Glad you had such a good first season! Sounds like you had some great adventures and lots of fun. We were at the National Rally this year also for the first time and probably chatted with you there. Hope you have an even better second year.
|
|
|
|
|
10-31-2016, 03:22 PM
|
#3
|
|
Site Team
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Wilsey
Posts: 18,799
M.O.C. #11455
|
Sounds like a lot of fun, hope it only gets better from here.
__________________
Dick, Joyce, Diego, Picatso and Gustav
2017 3720 RL, and 2013 HC 343RL
Pullrite Hitch, IS, Disk Brakes, 3rd AC, Winegard Traveler, Bathroom door mod, Dometic 320, couch for desk swap, replaced chairs, sun screens, added awnings, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
10-31-2016, 03:24 PM
|
#4
|
|
Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North Ridgeville
Posts: 20,229
M.O.C. #2839
|
Sounds like you had a very good year.
|
|
|
|
|
11-01-2016, 04:27 AM
|
#5
|
|
Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Pensacola (mail forward service)
Posts: 3,198
M.O.C. #13740
|
Solar, disc brakes, I.S. three things I wish I had...maybe if I print some money. Glad that your camping season was a success. John
__________________
2012 F350 6.7 L dually, 2013 3800RE with 6 pt leveling, Sumitomo 17.5" load range h tires, Samsung 18 cu ft residential fridge, 8k Morryde I.S. with disc brakes. Full timing since 2012.
|
|
|
|
|
11-01-2016, 06:20 AM
|
#6
|
|
Montana Fan
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Fort Wayne
Posts: 477
M.O.C. #17609
|
Quote:
quote:Originally posted by jcurtis934
Solar, disc brakes, I.S. three things I wish I had...maybe if I print some money. Glad that your camping season was a success. John
|
My discretionary camper budget is deep in the red after this year for sure  Solar and tires were planned (and borderline funded), the trip to MOR/Ryde wasn't LOL
__________________
2016 Montana 3160RL w/MOR/Ryde IS and Disc Brakes
855W Solar System, TriStar MPPT-60 Controller, Magnum 2800W Inverter, 6 Trojan T-105REs
2015 Chevy Duramax SRW SB Crew Cab
|
|
|
|
|
11-01-2016, 06:41 PM
|
#7
|
|
Montana Master
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Murrieta
Posts: 5,816
M.O.C. #9257
|
That was ambitious to still be working and then be able to camp with your trailer for 60 days (2 months) of a 7 month period and drive 6000 miles, too. That's some great use of free time. I hope you get plenty of rest time at your respective jobs!
I got exhausted just from reading your post on how busy and how much you'd done in that little timeframe. Then to get all those repairs debugged and taken care of and now to winterize it for the next several months, too. You gotta be anxious to have to wait the upcoming winter so you can do it all again!
|
|
|
|
|
11-02-2016, 06:05 AM
|
#8
|
|
Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Lake Gaston
Posts: 8,773
M.O.C. #12156
|
Sounds like you had busy busy travels
__________________
Mike and Lorraine
2002 3655 FL, 2005 3650RK
2010 3665RE, 2015 3910FB
F350 crew cab dually 6.7
|
|
|
|
|
| Thread Tools |
Search this Thread |
|
|
|
| Display Modes |
 Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
