66788
Well-known member
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- Mar 5, 2014
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Greetings to all my friends on the forum.
The 2016 RTR was my first, and after living in my Dodge High Top for a month, I learned a few things to help me with my current project, Starship Grumann Olson. I learned that I want more than just a van. I'm a big guy and need more room. Creature comforts are also very nice.
Step van details:
Insulation is 1 1/2 inch Poly Iso all the way around.
I am installing a 32" X 32" one piece fiberglass shower stall fed by a 33 gallon water tank with a Suburban hot water heater. The gray water tank is 17 gallons. There will be no black water tank, as I don't want to deal with that. I'm fine with my Porta Potti.
Heating is by a 19K BTU RV furnace fed by a 12 gallon under the vehicle propane tank. Alternative heat is by Olympian Wave 6 heater, fed by the same tank and connected by quick connect propane connectors. A Fantastic Vent will provide the ventilation. It works great for acting like a whole house fan, and the open window will be at the head of my bed.
Cooking is by a 4 burner stove/oven combo and a range hood. I'm tired of yanking out a propane stove and putting it away, only to have 1 burner. A small microwave will be in the kitchen area as well. Refrigerator is an ARB 50 Qt model.
The bed is a 9" memory foam mattress from the foam factory, but a full size mattress, not a twin like in the Dodge. The bed will be mounted cross ways in the rear of the rig about 3 feet high, with under bed storage accessed from the rear by a hatch the same width as the step van. The ceiling is 7 1/2 feet, so a high bed is not a problem and provides a larger "garage".
Solar is comprised of 4 120 watt Kyocera panels, for 480 watts of power, fed into 4 Trojan T-105 batteries. The charge controller is a Morningstar TriStar 60. Xantrex battery monitor and digital holding tank monitors are ready to install.
120VAC is supplied by a Xantrex 2,000 watt ProSine Inverter/battery charger with pass thru. Backup power will be the trusty old Honda EU1000 generator.
I've also picked out a great spot for the 32 inch LED TV as well.
The roll up doors in the back are going away and a trunk hatch for access to the below the bed storage and a window by the bed will take its place.
A backup camera with a 10" TFT monitor has been purchased, along with a dash cam and Garmin GPS.
You are probably wondering why I'm building a Class A and not just buying one. My answer is simple, I want a real truck, not an RV. I get a Solid GMC/Grumman Olson vehicle with a Cummins 4BT non electronic manually injected diesel motor and a rock crusher 4 speed manual transmission that gets 17 MPG and not a gas sucking poorly constructed RV that has wasted space and a design that is forced on prospective buyers. It won't have the power of a big diesel RV, but I'm not in a hurry, I'm retired!
Here is a pic of the solar that went in a few days ago. I get to test the roof integrity this weekend as we are expecting several inches of rain.
I'm looking at paneling for the interior and a nice "knotty pine" has caught my eye. More on that later.
The 2016 RTR was my first, and after living in my Dodge High Top for a month, I learned a few things to help me with my current project, Starship Grumann Olson. I learned that I want more than just a van. I'm a big guy and need more room. Creature comforts are also very nice.
Step van details:
Insulation is 1 1/2 inch Poly Iso all the way around.
I am installing a 32" X 32" one piece fiberglass shower stall fed by a 33 gallon water tank with a Suburban hot water heater. The gray water tank is 17 gallons. There will be no black water tank, as I don't want to deal with that. I'm fine with my Porta Potti.
Heating is by a 19K BTU RV furnace fed by a 12 gallon under the vehicle propane tank. Alternative heat is by Olympian Wave 6 heater, fed by the same tank and connected by quick connect propane connectors. A Fantastic Vent will provide the ventilation. It works great for acting like a whole house fan, and the open window will be at the head of my bed.
Cooking is by a 4 burner stove/oven combo and a range hood. I'm tired of yanking out a propane stove and putting it away, only to have 1 burner. A small microwave will be in the kitchen area as well. Refrigerator is an ARB 50 Qt model.
The bed is a 9" memory foam mattress from the foam factory, but a full size mattress, not a twin like in the Dodge. The bed will be mounted cross ways in the rear of the rig about 3 feet high, with under bed storage accessed from the rear by a hatch the same width as the step van. The ceiling is 7 1/2 feet, so a high bed is not a problem and provides a larger "garage".
Solar is comprised of 4 120 watt Kyocera panels, for 480 watts of power, fed into 4 Trojan T-105 batteries. The charge controller is a Morningstar TriStar 60. Xantrex battery monitor and digital holding tank monitors are ready to install.
120VAC is supplied by a Xantrex 2,000 watt ProSine Inverter/battery charger with pass thru. Backup power will be the trusty old Honda EU1000 generator.
I've also picked out a great spot for the 32 inch LED TV as well.
The roll up doors in the back are going away and a trunk hatch for access to the below the bed storage and a window by the bed will take its place.
A backup camera with a 10" TFT monitor has been purchased, along with a dash cam and Garmin GPS.
You are probably wondering why I'm building a Class A and not just buying one. My answer is simple, I want a real truck, not an RV. I get a Solid GMC/Grumman Olson vehicle with a Cummins 4BT non electronic manually injected diesel motor and a rock crusher 4 speed manual transmission that gets 17 MPG and not a gas sucking poorly constructed RV that has wasted space and a design that is forced on prospective buyers. It won't have the power of a big diesel RV, but I'm not in a hurry, I'm retired!
Here is a pic of the solar that went in a few days ago. I get to test the roof integrity this weekend as we are expecting several inches of rain.
I'm looking at paneling for the interior and a nice "knotty pine" has caught my eye. More on that later.
