Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 11-07-2017, 10:44 AM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Branson, MO
Posts: 16
Post New from Mount Branson

Hi! We're Doc & Evie and have moved this year to a house the mountains east of Branson, Missouri. Recently retired from college teaching, we are following dreams of:
living near family
exploring 3 lakes near home in our tandem Hobie pedal kayak
touring the USA in our (soon-to-be)Sportsmobile campervan

Mount Branson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-07-2017, 02:26 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
WhitH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Eugene, Oregon
Posts: 1,124
Welcome! We like vans and people who like vans! So, now about that van of yours? Any pics or details you'd like to share?
__________________
2015 Chevy Express 3500 Duramax
w/ Quigley 4x4 & Agile Fox shocks
Sold 2005 E350 Chateau
Quigley with Agile RIP, 6.0 PSD
WhitH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-07-2017, 08:59 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,220
Welcome, just passed through Branson a day or two ago.

Congrats on retirement. Time to live it up!
86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-08-2017, 08:08 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 455
Welcome and hope to see some threads of your adventures
Zappo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2017, 08:46 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
marret's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: FL and VA
Posts: 1,941
Garage
Welcome and congrats as well.
__________________
Chris
2008 GMC 3500 Quigley Weldtec 4x4 Savana SMB
marret is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2017, 11:50 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Bbasso's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Western North Carolina
Posts: 1,258
If you come to Jacksonville, FL I'll gladly paddle with yous.
Welcome to the house...




Of insanity.
lol
__________________
Rob.
Current:
2001 E350 PSD w/ a bunch of stuff.
And had three other E350s...
Bbasso is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-15-2017, 10:28 AM   #7
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Branson, MO
Posts: 16
Post Sportsmobile Penthouse Questions

Thanks, everyone, for the friendly welcome to the forum! Doc and I are excited this week to be planning most of the van-to-camper conversion ourselves. We will still have Sportsmobile add windows and the Penthouse top with bed to our 2018 Dodge Pro-master low roof van before we take possession.

Instead of asking Sportsmobile to do the full conversion, we want to know exactly what is inside our walls so we can add a Fantastic Fan. Sportsmobile doesn't want to install this automatic vent fan for us, and we just can't imagine a happy camping experience without one, having loved the fan in our 2003 RoadTrek van. It nearly eliminates the need for air conditioning and is quiet.

Sportsmobile says they don't want to put the vent fan in the Penthouse roof, either, though it looks like there would be room for it in front of the bed if a light fixture were removed. Does anyone have any experience installing vent fans? Any tips or stories regarding your own conversions or modifications? How about sharing good sites for purchasing furniture & other materials? We're wishing you all safe travels!
Mount Branson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-20-2017, 09:36 PM   #8
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Welcome to the site. Surprised they don't want to install the fan. Did they give you a reason?
Anyway they are a few good threads on vents...here's a few although mostly on Ford Econoline's. Maybe you can get something out of them.
http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...ent-17717.html

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...nty-17265.html

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...-vent-735.html
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-21-2017, 09:34 AM   #9
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Branson, MO
Posts: 16
Sportsmobile said they have had a "bad experience" installing vent fans in the Penthouse roof in past. They won't elaborate except to say that the penthouse wasn't designed for a fan. All 3 Sportsmobile locations now refuse to put the fans in. They seem to think we should just get over our fan lust and use an air conditioner, which they will install in the van (but not on top). The Fantastic Fan in our current RoadTrek is one of our favorite features. We only use the noisy power sucking AC in extreme heat.

We found the lack of a Fantastic fan so disappointing that we cancelled the full camper build with Sportsmobile and are now awaiting the Penthouse with bed only from them. Surely the 2 of us can build the camper out ourselves, and then we will know where it is safe to put the fan. Fantastic Fan engineers promise that the fan can be installed vertically in a wall, so we will do that if a penthouse roof install is truly a bad idea. That is why I was hoping someone in he forum with Penthouse experience could share advice in this forum. Eagerly awaiting those comments....
Mount Branson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-21-2017, 07:46 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,220
I'm the author of one of the above posts Dave linked. I completely agree with you about Fantastic (roof) fans but I'm really more impressed with the Maxxair ones these days. I'm about to put two of them in a Transit mid roof.

There is no reason to not put a fan in your penthouse top. I have done it twice and both vans are still cruising around leak free and the tops have not been compromised. When I had the holes cut I scientifically tested the structural rigidity of the roof around the hole for the fan (This means I walked around up there and flexed my weight all around the hole and didn't fall through ) Seriously, the tops are strong. There was no more flex with the hole cut than without.

There are a few other members who have done this too. LenS comes to mind. One of the vans I did was my old van and the other was TwoGone's van. You could PM him. He's happy as far as I know.

I still don't know why SMB won't do this or approve of it but I say go for it. It is a great mod.



86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
bicycle, kayak, penthouse top

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Sportsmobile Registry

Guster

Salmon

Ford

fabtechmfg
Add your Sportsmobile
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:06 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.