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 07-22-2008, 05:16 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
MikewTV's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Garrison, NY
Posts: 218
Send a message via AIM to MikewTV
Our SMB Adventures finally begin!

Well, she’s finally here. We picked up “Minerva”, our new SMB, last Thursday in Huntington. I have a handful of pictures here though I’m realizing now they are almost all of the exterior. Will have to take some interior pictures to show later…

The pick-up process went very smoothly. They took more than enough time to show me all the systems. My partner video’d the whole process while I paid attention. Then we headed off to a late lunch while they did some final adjustments.

One unique solution they had to show me at the last minute was what to do when the hoop step wouldn’t fit on the driver’s side due to the Danhard a/c’s condenser location under the van. They shortened a black running board to fit on that side instead. I was fine with it. In fact, it’s easier to use than the hoop step. (though I still like the look of the hoop steps on the passenger side.)



The key project they had to wait until that day to complete was finding a means of installing our dog car seats on the rear mattress so that they wouldn’t take up ‘human’ space on the sofa. This was a big deal to us since we love traveling with our dogs but need the 4 of them contained and out of our way when driving.

The dogs are also why we requested 2 oscillating fans instead of just one. Plus, they made it essential to get the Danhard a/c. Gotta say, the a/c worked REALLY well. Was surprised how well it cooled in the campgrounds in Indiana…


… and Cook Forest, PA as we made our way back to New York. (We even got cold in the middle of the night.)

Also, FWIW, the dash a/c worked great as well. We never felt the need to turn the Danhard on while driving.

If you look under the mattress here you can see the propane furnace vents near the door and the danhard intake vents further in partially obscured to the left. Doesn't leave a ton of room for storage but we're intending to get a stowaway II wheeless trailer.

I had expected the Quigley 4x4 to be a bit shorter than the SMB 4x4 we’d looked at when ‘shopping around.’ But, it is still quite tall. We ended up buying a step stool the second day just to try to avoid ‘face planting’ on our way out of the new van.

One great moment occurred when we were finally done and they were closing shop. Jim had taken our picture in front of the van. Then I asked my partner to close the door to the pantry cabinet that hangs on the side door. CRASH…no more pantry door. (that’s why we don’t force things.) Jim just said to come back by the next morning and they’d fix it up. Which they did in very short order and we were on our way.

My only complaint – the trip was WAY too short. I am looking longingly at my rig every day when I drive off to work this week. I’d much rather be in there than commuting into Manhattan. (but, gotta earn my monthly payments)

__________________
Mike W
Pueblo Gold Ford EB 350 v10 with EB 50 floor plan & Quigley 4x4 from Huntington (aka: Minerva)
MikewTV is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-22-2008, 05:29 PM   #2
Site Team
 
BroncoHauler's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,177
Welcome to the family. Of course it's a needy family, it offers unsolicited advice, and makes you spend money, but welcome to the family anyway.


Herb
__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
BroncoHauler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-22-2008, 05:42 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
cellularSTEVE's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: SoCal
Posts: 1,071
I second that Mike. Congratulations!

Your dogs are ridin' in style. I bet they love having the SMB customized for them and having you as their chauffeur!

Now its time to get out of Manhattan and start enjoying the new ride.

steve
__________________
'05 Ford V-10 4x4 SMB "50" White
'00 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 Highly Modified
'04 Jeep Grand Cherokee- wife won't let me modify it. :-(
Does anyone really read this stuff other than surfgeek?
cellularSTEVE is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-22-2008, 05:59 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Helena, Montana
Posts: 613
Congrats! That's one nice looking Quigly 4X4 SMB!
__________________
2006 Baja Tan SMB 4X4 EB50 PH 6LPSD
Mohawk Royalex Solo 14 foot canoe (light white-water)
Mad River Kevlar Explorer 17 foot canoe (flat water)
Dagger Royalex Legend 16 foot canoe (white-water)
Maravia New Wave 13.5 foot raft (fishing and white-water)
Ed in Montana is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-22-2008, 06:16 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 989
Congratulations on your new van Mike! It looks great and I appreciated the reading your post. So, I'm guessing those dogs aren't getting in and out of the van themselves . I hope enjoy it as much as we have our's.
__________________
2007 Ford RB Diesel SMB 4x4 Pueblo Gold; Custom configuration (aisle layout); PIAA 580 driving lights; Picked up on Oct 19, 2007.
sdwindansea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-23-2008, 06:49 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
MikewTV's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Garrison, NY
Posts: 218
Send a message via AIM to MikewTV
Thanks guys. Yeah, the dogs are going to need lifting in and out. But they needed that out of our Tahoe as well. In fact, they need it out of our Subaru. When your dog is 7 pounds soaking wet and only a foot tall you get used to things like that. On the upside, when it's time to "clean up" after them I find myself happy that I don't have Great Danes.

One hiccup in registering when I got back to NY. The DMV in Manhattan was beyond perplexed on how to register this thing. Finally they ended up giving me Commercial plates. I complained but they said in Manhattan they don't even carry RV plates. So I just took them and plan to go to a local DMV near my home where they hopefully can straighten this out. I don't want to be banned from parkway driving, etc.
__________________
Mike W
Pueblo Gold Ford EB 350 v10 with EB 50 floor plan & Quigley 4x4 from Huntington (aka: Minerva)
MikewTV is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-23-2008, 08:01 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
surfgeek33's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Long Beach, Ca
Posts: 985
Send a message via AIM to surfgeek33
Congratulations Mike! We will be picking up "Big Bert" today as well in SMB West. Hope your enjoying every minute of it!
__________________
???

"I do, cellularSTEVE" :o)
surfgeek33 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-24-2008, 11:54 AM   #8
AEJ
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Foster, RI
Posts: 38
new van pu

Mike,

Congratulations! Your van looks awesome. I enjoyed your post as I've stayed in those same campgrounds on my way out on RI. I just missed you in IN as I was there on the Monday after you left. When I was talking to them they told me they almost never do 4x4 so they definitely will remember your van!

Perhaps we'll be able to have a New England meet & greet as there seem to be quite a few of us on this forum.

Enjoy yourself!
__________________
Al Jaffa
2006 EB-50 Q4x4 V10
AEJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-24-2008, 04:12 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
MikewTV's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Garrison, NY
Posts: 218
Send a message via AIM to MikewTV
Thanks Al. I was very pleased with the work Huntington did on my build and the service. Here's hoping it holds up well through many adventures. So far, so good. Went camping in the Catskills last weekend with 2 of my dogs and tried out all the systems I'd had yet to try. Today I had all 4 dogs in the SMB while out running errands and it was great to be able to use the Danhard a/c to keep 'em cool off battery power while I was shopping. (Getting temperature alarm system installed as soon as the parts come in to a nearby stereo shop.)

And the idea of a New England/NY area meet up sounds great. We may not rival the turn out of a Southern Cal meet but would be good to try it some time. Maybe Vermont would be a good middle ground for folks to get to if we decide to pursue this.
__________________
Mike W
Pueblo Gold Ford EB 350 v10 with EB 50 floor plan & Quigley 4x4 from Huntington (aka: Minerva)
MikewTV is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

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

» 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 05:40 AM.


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