• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

Progress report -- Sprinter Class B RV

OkeeDon

New member
Tom, we're hiring the caregiver again this weekend, and Betsy is coming out to spend it right here at our daughter's house. Amy (our daughter) is the band director at Okeechobee HS, and tomorrow (Thursday) night is her Winter concert. Friday is a class at the local county extension agent on how to convert a 55 gallon drum into a rain barrel. The actual conversion (and opening for the drain spout, a spigot for a hose, and some painting) is pretty straight forward for someone like me, but Betsy wants to learn how to do some of these things, and the fee for the class includes all the stuff to make a rain barrel. Friday night, we'll be going to a student-produced musical at the local community college; I think it's Camelot.

Then, on Saturday evening, Amy's band marches in the Okeechobee lighted Christmas parade. Sunday is our first grandson's 1 year birthday party.

We'll be staying in the Sprinter all weekend.

I think I have the Pace Arrow sold. It's a ragged and worn 1988 model; we've gotten 10 good years out of it. The engine and running gear are still excellent, the brakes are nearly new with new rotors and calipers, and the tires have very few miles. But, the fiberglass is delaminating on the body, the awning has a tear, the passenger mirror (which looks expensive) was broken in last year's hurricane. The hydraulic levelers are broken, and the floor under the holding tanks has rotted out. Some of the hinges on the basement storage doors have pulled loose. Worst of all, while we were running the generator for 2 solid weeks last year after the hurricanes, something shorted out on the converter/charger power center (which converts 110V to 12V among other things), and most of the 12V wiring on the coach burned up. I had enough of it replaced to get it running, and power most of the appliances, but it still needs work. However, the generator, air conditioning, water system, refrigerator, water heater, stove, etc. all work great, and the bed is super comfortable.

In other words, this is a mixed bag -- too good to throw away, but needing a LOT of work to make it worth taking out, again. The hardest problem to fix is the blistering of the fiberglass body panels. They might be able to be glued, but there is a luan wood under-panel that might be hopelessly rotted.

The fellow who wants to buy it is a carpenter working on my son-in-law's new addition. He's down on his luck a little, and needs a place to live. He can park it at his sister's rural home where no one will complain about him living in it, and hook the holding tanks up to her septic tank. It will be a little tough to keep a propane supply without driving it, but he can rig portable cylinders to it.

I'm getting $3 grand for it, and considering myself lucky. At 17 years old, it would be worth $8K to $9K if excellent.
 

v8dave

Wizard
Things are looking good Don. :coolshade Reading your log here I find we have a few shopping stops in common--Goodwill stores and antique shops. Sometimes it's hard to make it through a newly discovered town with lots of antique shops.
 

OkeeDon

New member
It's now been over 14 months since we got the Sprinter, and things are better than I expected. I let my ego get the better of me, and ordered the Mercedes Benz grill, hubcaps and other trim as originally equipped in Germany and as shipped in the rest of the world.

We've taken several trips, mostly on weekends, but one trip was to Johnson City, TN and another was to Hiawassee, GA. Both were for quilting seminars for Betsy; we joined friends and stayed about 2 weeks in each case. The picture below was taken at our lakeside camp spot in Hiawassee.

The Sprinter has performed well, getting over 23 mpg several times, as long as I hold the speed down to about 60 mph. 65 = 21 mpg, 70 = 19 mpg, and I have a report of one Sprinter owner who drove flat out across Texas -- 4 hours at 82 mph -- and got 14.8 mpg. ..

I installed a rear screen which allows us to open the rear doors during the day. This was really nice up in Georgia where it was cool enough to enjoy the breeze without needing the AC.

The only problem I've had was a freak accident. It has a box-style cantilevered awning that cranks out. It came with the Carefree brand. In Georgia, we went to bed on a clear night, and there was a sudden downpour of rain. Even though I had pitched the awning with one corner lower so rain would run off, the deluge filled the fabric so fast that it pocketed before it could run off. The weight of the water overwhelmed the awning supports, bent them in half, pulled the ends of the awning away from the coach like a bananna, ripped off one of the articulating arms and poked a hole in the fabric. We managed to get it packed up well enough to travel. When we returned home, the dealer and my insurance adjuster got together, the result was a $2,000 bill and a check from the insurance for $1,500, less my deductible. The new awning was just under $1,000, but it had to be painted and striped and installed, and when they took off the old one, they discovered it had been installed with 3M 5200 adhesive caulk, which peeled away some paint on the side of the roof. The spots had to be sanded and repainted as well.

It's still my daily driver, and has been a joy to drive. I also take it to our Okeechobee property most weeks and spend at least 3 nights a week in it while I'm working on the property.

This has been one plan that came together really well.
 

Attachments

  • hiawassee06 043.jpg
    hiawassee06 043.jpg
    92.4 KB · Views: 228
  • hiawassee06 045.jpg
    hiawassee06 045.jpg
    97.4 KB · Views: 226
  • hiawassee06 047.jpg
    hiawassee06 047.jpg
    80.2 KB · Views: 222

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Bump :bump:

I know this is an old old thread. I have exchanged emails with OkeeDon this year and hope that he will stop in and give us an update on the Sprinter he bought 8 years ago.

Don,
Do you still have the Sprinter and has it worked out like you expected? I would like to travel and think I would prefer a small unit like this rather than a class A or C motorhome. So I'm hoping for your input.
 

EastTexFrank

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
I hope Don comes back and gives us an update. At the time he was buying his I was seriously thinking about getting a Road Trek as our traveling van. My wife found it a little confining especially if the weather was bad and you were stuck inside. We have friends in town who just picked a used one and absolutely love it. He fills the water tank before they leave and if they find somewhere pretty, they just park for a day or two. It's now his daily driver as well.

Don's original analysis was right though, it's a heck of a lot of money for what it is and even more so now than it was way back in 2005.
 

300 H and H

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I have a farm partner with a road trek who just aquired it with 60K miles. they abosolutly love it. He was here for the last cold snap into the single digits and slept and stayed in it for a couple of days. Neat rig, I had not been aware of them till he got his. His wife likes it in the summer time, but not for winter....

Regards, Kirk
 
Top