On Friday October 24th we entered the ranks of Sportsmobile owners. For $9,000 we purchased a used 1996 Dodge Sportsmobile in Bellingham Washington which is odd since we live in Southern California (Santa Monica Area). It has 82,000 miles, Gas 5.9L w/overdrive, EB (kind of a modified EB10) with I'm guessing Contempo top and the floor is dropped, Onan MicroLite 2800 Gasoline Generator, Starcool II air conditioner, Propane furnace, microwave, Sony CD stereo with aux in, 50W Solar panel, Mark 15 solar charger, Norcold Duel Electric Fridge, Clifford Security system, Freedom II Awning, Thetford Porta Potty, electric hot water heater, 2 house batteries and propane line plumbed in counter but no stove. We purchased it in Washington and drove it to California. It felt like a bit of a gamble but has worked out great so far.
Pictures and story of purchase at
http://www.kagetavan.blogspot.com/
Thanks for everyone on this page for all your posts I read them a lot to get an idea what we wanted and I think helped me to my conclusion. We are very happy with our purchase.
We intend to use the van for an extended rock climbing trip (months) starting next summer. While we don't have any 4x4 driving planned but we do plan to drive on dirt roads a bit.
Right now we are considering what modifications and improvements we need to make. We are currently considering Tires, second solar panel, an exterior storage location for white gas for backpacking stove, DC powered computer, LCD TV/monitor, propane stove in counter, replace front seats or repair foam, upgrade speakers, Bike rack, LED upgrades, install an inverter, Make side “40” side of 60/40 doors swing all the way open. I’ll put posts on these things in the DIY section because I’d love advice or experience stories.
Cheers!
Ken and Anja