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Old 12-21-2006, 08:05 PM   #17
DrFun
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Colorado
Posts: 150
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1. Do you wish you had more windows or skylights? Do you have skylights?

No - the current setup is fine. The only 'skylights' are the translucent domes on the Fantastic fans. But, we don't spend much 'daylight time' in the coach -- too busy hiking and doing stuff outside. So artificial lighting is much more important to us than natural lighting with skylights.

2. Do you wish you had a rear bumper?

No. What is not shown in any of the posted pictures is the special lift that we installed to haul a motorcycle with a sidecar. If we did not have this lift, a bumper would be a good thing at least for cosmetic purposes.

3. How much height/width/depth in the overhead bunk?
Approx: 26" high x 8' wide x 52" deep

4. Do the truck seats rotate so they can face inside the cabin?
no

5. Do they use this type of open cell gray foam that you see in this picture here and here for insulation? Does this stuff absorb water if the cabin were to develop a leak?

The gray foam is for acoustic deadening. The primary thermal insulation is closed-cell, high performance "bubble wrap". Yes, the gray foam insulation would absorb water.

6. Is your truck 200amp alternator a standard unit or is it an upgrade? Do you have any idea how long it takes to charge the batteries if driving? Will they charge on idle?

It was an upgrade specified when the truck was ordered. It will charge the batteries from a 50% 'drain' to full charge in about 6 hours of driving. It does charge at idle, albeit slower, but we've never had to do this. I should add that we run the refrigerator on AC via the inverter when we're on the road. We only run the fridge on propane when stopped and no shore power is available.

7. Is the diner table fixed or does it drop down to become a mini sleeper for a baby or child?
It is removable but is not configured as a sleeper.

8. Is your roof flat or is there a dome to it? Do you wish you had a walk on roof?

There's a slight crown to the roof. While not a true 'walk on' design, I've walked around a bit up there an there's no problem. It does flex quite a bit but, in reality, there's not much need to go up there. The a/c, solar panels, vents, and fantastic fans take up most of the room. The roof is also 'preped' for a possible satellite dish. All this stuff consumes most of the available space.

9. Can you unfold your bed with the slideout in the retracted position? How comfy or uncomfy are these mattresses?

The slideout must be extended to open the hide-a-bed. In the event that we're somewhere that we can't extend the slideout, one of us would sleep on the couch and the other in the bunk.

The hide-a-bed with air mattress is extremely comfortable. No complaints with this setup whatsoever.


10. How much does a chassis cost?
There are too many variables to give an accurate estimate but ours was about $60k.

11. If you could, what would you change to make it better?

The list is short:
<LI> Ducted furnace. (I might even consider a diesel-fired hydronic unit. This would make heating the holding tanks easier.)
<LI> More AC circuit breakers. (We have a small Blue Sea power distribution panel. The 120V coil for the HWH (which we don't use very often) is shared with the coach outlets.)
<LI> Remote-fill for LP tank and mount the tank between the frame rails. We're tight on external storage and having the LP tank take up a good chunk of a storage compartment isn't ideal.
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Regards,
Alan
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