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Old 11-30-2011, 01:27 PM   #1
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California Room

Im interested in what is sometimes known as a "California Room"
I want to be able to set it up in camp and then be able to un snap it from my rig and leave camp,and be able to close up the opening,all easily.
I'd think if anyone would know it would be this group.
Ive thought of buying tent rooms or patio rooms and having a shopsomewhere sew on modifications to fit this application,but the material might not be as resistant to the wear and tear of the type of abuse it might normally experience?? i dunno!
Im trying to coax my wife out of the class A and into this camper.
So far its a big NO! She loves camping out in the boonies(in our class A). Shes just convinced she needs more room.
I have to slowly but surely let her convince herself its not all that bad by making it more comfortable.
At least in the beginning.
So ,any suggestions where i should look and any specific brands models recommended from experience?

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Old 11-30-2011, 04:14 PM   #2
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Re: California Room

SMB installs Fiamma awnings, and Fiamma sells Florida rooms for their awnings.

http://www.fiammausa.com/products/products.asp

Mike
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Old 11-30-2011, 05:37 PM   #3
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California Room

Yikes! The rooms are more than awnings. One would have to be reckless to spend that much, so I'll look into a group buy if anyone is interested.

Z


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Old 12-01-2011, 12:38 PM   #4
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Re: California Room

Rob, (Bill Wilson)

Please post about your tent living room you got for your wife. You "demoed" it for us at the last meet and greet.

Angel
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Old 12-19-2011, 08:45 PM   #5
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Re: California Room

How about a canopy parked next door?

Something like this one from Cabella. Put on as many sides as you want or mosquito screens.


http://www.cabelas.com/product/Camping/ ... t104611680
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Old 12-20-2011, 05:28 AM   #6
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Re: California Room

Quote:
Originally Posted by Angel
Rob, (Bill Wilson)

Please post about your tent living room you got for your wife. You "demoed" it for us at the last meet and greet.

Angel
Will do, but prob not till i get back from our Tour de Lost Coast

We are all packed and ready to ROAD TRIP thurs morn and dont have any pics of the
OZ tent however....


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Old 12-20-2011, 11:30 PM   #7
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Re: California Room

Well, I hope I don't get kicked off the forum for saying this, but there are other options. Stepping down (sizewise) from Class A to a Sportsmobile is a very large step. In my own mind, most of the places I think of as boonies are places a Class A just couldn't get to. As far as RVs that can reach real "boonies", a 4x4 SMB with every possible off-road mod that Alan can put on will outdo every other such RV except one, the EarthRoamer XV-JP, a Jeep Rubicon with a RTT. Now individuals have custom built other vehicles that can rock crawl to anywhere except the moon, but as far as buying one already done at the factory, the XV-JP is the most capable, and the most tricked out SMB is second most capable IMHO, though YMMV.

That being said, there are RVs that can reach the majority of remote places (not quite as many as the most highly modified SMS or an ER XV-JP) that while not as big as a Class A, are much larger than a SMB.

A few vehicles to look at are the other 2 EarthRoamers: the XV-LT and the XV-LTS, built on Crew Cab F-550s. They are also soon to release two more vehicles between the size of the XV-JP and the XV-LT. These new models will be built on a 1 ton and a 3/4 ton pickup.

Provan builds the Tiger CX and the Bengal Tiger both on a Ford F-350, Chevy Silverado 3500, or Dodge Ram 3500 in either regular, extended, or crew cab. They are soon to release the Siberian Tiger which will be their largest vehicle and built on an F-450 crew cab.

Global Expedition Vehicles builds off-road RVs that range in size from the Provan Tiger almost to the size of a Class A RV. I must warn you that these things are not cheap. Vehicles similar to these, such as Uni-Mogs, can be procured from Europe.

As far as leaving one portion in camp, you might consider either an SMB with an Adventure Trailer or retrofitting a 4x4 pickup yourself, putting an Alaskan Camper on back, then towing a small Airstream, which while not an off-road trailer is possibly the trailer most able to handle bad roads.

I doubt I will really get kicked off the board for saying all this. I actually know all the moderators here would rather you buy something that will make you AND your wife happy as opposed to you getting an SMB now and then getting a divorce later. My own preference is for a SMB, but after we visited the factory, my wife said it is just a bit too small for her claustrophobia to handle. We have been in a crew cab sized Tiger and she says she could handle that, though I know something even bigger would make her happier. Travel in any RV is not worth it if it is going to make the Misses miserable.

Here are some links for you to peruse:

http://www.earthroamer.com/index.html

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/earthroamer/

http://www.tigermotorhomes.com/home.htm

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/tig ... omeowners/

http://globalxvehicles.com/

http://www.alaskancamper.org/

http://www.adventuretrailers.com/

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/

If you have the time to do it, here are 2 links to an open source custom build that's bigger than, yet less expensive than the largest GEV:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/t ... on-Vehicle

http://ecoroamer.com/

Good luck with your search.
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Old 12-22-2011, 10:33 AM   #8
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Re: California Room

TomH. That is a great list of potential options and good advice as well. I can guarantee you that this forum is open to all discussions like this, especially since it is in no way sponsored by Sportsmobile (unless Jage has been lying to us all these years ). We actually considered several before ultimately deciding on our SMB.
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Old 12-22-2011, 09:46 PM   #9
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Re: California Room

Quote:
Originally Posted by TimbuctooSoCal
Im trying to coax my wife out of the class A and into this camper.
So far its a big NO! She loves camping out in the boonies(in our class A). Shes just convinced she needs more room.....
O.K., I'm a bit confused, and I'm confused because, and I truly do not mean this unkindly, I think you may be a bit confused. The opening post in this thread is your second post on the forum, but when I looked up your other posts, I found this one was your first:

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8153

The rig in the photos that you identify as already belonging to you is not a Class A. It is a Class B, built on a Ford E250 regular bed with a raised roof. That platform is the same size as a small SMB, but a little less "beefy". A SMB built on an extended bed is actually larger than your present vehicle. I wonder if you could clarify, is the vehicle in the photos the one you referred to above as a "Class A" or do you have some vehicle other than the van that is a Class A?

Just for FYI, here are the main classes of motorhomes (BTW, not all RVs are motorhomes, e.g. a trailer, 5th wheel, truck camper, etc. does not have its own motor. A motorhome does have its own motor.):

Class A: The original equipment manufacturer provides just the chassis. The upfitter (motorhome builder in this case) builds the entire cab, cabin, and everything inside (except steering column). Not all, but most Class A rigs are the size of a full sized bus.

Class B: The upfitter takes a completed full sized, fully enclosed vehicle from the OEM (usually a van) and modifies it to create the motorhome. Sportsmobiles as well as the vehicle in your photos are Class B.

Class C: The OEM provides the chassis with a cab that is complete with instruments, seats, air system, etc., but the roof covers only the front row of seats; the exterior includes hood, windshield, front doors, roof over front seats, but stops at the end of that first row of seats. From there back is only uncovered frame. The upfitter constructs the remainder of the enclosure (the cabin) and everything inside. A Class C is usually built on a van chassis/cab, however a few Class C vehicles start on a pickup purchased with no bed; the upfitter cuts out part or all of the rear bulkhead, builds the cabin, then attaches the cab and cabin by either fusing them or creating a bellows-like flexible connection.

There are a few other more esoteric classes such as the "toterhome' which starts with a semi truck tractor. The upfitter extends the frame and puts the 8 rear drive wheels much farther back and builds a Class A sized cabin on the extended frame, integrating it with the cab. A number of these tow a second section in the form of a tandem trailer which might be detachable or may be articulated with a bellows walk-through. If detachable, the second section might be additional RV living space, or could be toy-hauler, cargo hauler, or livestock hauler. Some toterhomes drop the frame behind the cab, then raise the frame again just as it reaches the rear transaxle and wheels; atop this lowered frame the upfitter builds a two story tall main coach-similar to those London busses.
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Old 01-05-2012, 10:26 PM   #10
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Re: California Room

Quote:
Originally Posted by TomH
Well, I hope I don't get kicked off the forum for saying this, but there are other options. Stepping down (sizewise) from Class A to a Sportsmobile is a very large step. In my own mind, most of the places I think of as boonies are places a Class A just couldn't get to. As far as RVs that can reach real "boonies", a 4x4 SMB with every possible off-road mod that Alan can put on will outdo every other such RV except one, the EarthRoamer XV-JP, a Jeep Rubicon with a RTT. Now individuals have custom built other vehicles that can rock crawl to anywhere except the moon, but as far as buying one already done at the factory, the XV-JP is the most capable, and the most tricked out SMB is second most capable IMHO, though YMMV.

That being said, there are RVs that can reach the majority of remote places (not quite as many as the most highly modified SMS or an ER XV-JP) that while not as big as a Class A, are much larger than a SMB.

A few vehicles to look at are the other 2 EarthRoamers: the XV-LT and the XV-LTS, built on Crew Cab F-550s. They are also soon to release two more vehicles between the size of the XV-JP and the XV-LT. These new models will be built on a 1 ton and a 3/4 ton pickup.

Provan builds the Tiger CX and the Bengal Tiger both on a Ford F-350, Chevy Silverado 3500, or Dodge Ram 3500 in either regular, extended, or crew cab. They are soon to release the Siberian Tiger which will be their largest vehicle and built on an F-450 crew cab.

Global Expedition Vehicles builds off-road RVs that range in size from the Provan Tiger almost to the size of a Class A RV. I must warn you that these things are not cheap. Vehicles similar to these, such as Uni-Mogs, can be procured from Europe.

As far as leaving one portion in camp, you might consider either an SMB with an Adventure Trailer or retrofitting a 4x4 pickup yourself, putting an Alaskan Camper on back, then towing a small Airstream, which while not an off-road trailer is possibly the trailer most able to handle bad roads.

I doubt I will really get kicked off the board for saying all this. I actually know all the moderators here would rather you buy something that will make you AND your wife happy as opposed to you getting an SMB now and then getting a divorce later. My own preference is for a SMB, but after we visited the factory, my wife said it is just a bit too small for her claustrophobia to handle. We have been in a crew cab sized Tiger and she says she could handle that, though I know something even bigger would make her happier. Travel in any RV is not worth it if it is going to make the Misses miserable.

Here are some links for you to peruse:

http://www.earthroamer.com/index.html

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/earthroamer/

http://www.tigermotorhomes.com/home.htm

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/tig ... omeowners/

http://globalxvehicles.com/

http://www.alaskancamper.org/

http://www.adventuretrailers.com/

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/

If you have the time to do it, here are 2 links to an open source custom build that's bigger than, yet less expensive than the largest GEV:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/t ... on-Vehicle

http://ecoroamer.com/

Good luck with your search.

Have you looked at the options pricing on an Earth Roamer, for example? The markups are so stupid they are insulting. $7.5k for rear captains chairs? Kenwood 7" LCD headset for $5k? $2.2k for Hellas? $4.5k air compressor? 2-Warn 12V cables connectors $1.4k? That's on top of a $280k base price for the long version. Ridiculous. Makes one wonder what you get for your $225k base camper shell (sans truck). I didn't open your last two links but one would have to be an idiot not to be able to build for a fraction of those prices, IMO.

You make excellent points regarding comfort, etc. Seems like there's a untapped niche in the market for a new competitor to those companies you listed who doesn't treat their customers like idiots and puts out something larger but close to as mobile as SMB does.
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