modern rig

[Bethers]

He says he'll do that on his website - did he give any idea on what costs would be involved. I'm thinking way, way more than making a normal rig ... but hey, I could be wrong lol ... I know he's wanted one built for a couple years now. I'd be willing to be his guinea pig if the price was right

[IrishIroamed]

Thanks for the storage info Beth. I have seen a couple of class A's with floor to ceiling, but I think it was mostly considered a closet / pantry. But the under couch storage I've never seen, that would be awesome!

Judi - love the pic of where design happens and what really happens

[retiredhappy]

I LOVE modern, clean lines. Add bright pillows, bedspread, etc. I have more storage in my little Roadtrek than I need but then I'm not fulltiming anymore. My Gulfstream 30' Class C had wonderful storage with outside compartments like you see in Class As. More than I've ever seen on any other Class Cs. However, the manual said if you filled them all up you'd probably be overweight.

[judi]

Beth - let's take a collection from everyone. I'm "sure" they would be willing, and then we could have one built and write reviews and take photos. We could share.

[Nasoosie]

ACK!!!!

Looks as if all that rig needs is an IV drip bottle, a push-button emergency button, and perhaps a bed pan to be the perfect hospital room! Easy to clean, I am sure, but comfy living, no way! I can almost smell the odor of ether as I look at the picture!

However, I am still not sure what I would truly like for a rig if money were no option. Every other day I think I would love a class B----then every other day I try to persuade myself to be happy with what I have now. Then, when I look at Linda's neat camper van that pulls her light-weight trailer, it occurs to me that she and her sister have the ultimate best of two worlds-----a small camper for weekends and quick trips, and a bigger trailer to park for days or weeks. That is where my heart is telling me I need to be searching now-----second-hand camper van capable of pulling a light-weight or super-lite type of trailer. I think I could get away with parking that type of van at my Orlando house without having the wrath of the Homeowners' association coming down on me. Sigh----why is the grass always greener on the other side?

[BirdbyBird]

When I had the retrofit of the cab over area done on my RV I got a tour of the place. The company is just south of Columbus, Ohio, right off I-71. The worked mostly on big Class A, redesigning or rehabing to a customer's or Corporation's dreams. My little class C was small potatoes but the design guy assured me that they love taking care of the little guys, too, they just don't get as many of them.... Anyway, the one rig that they would design and build completely new from customer specs were all built on a Sprinter Chassis. He said that, yes, you could go over the top and out price the units ready made out on the RV lots BUT you could also make quality material decisions, simple utilitarian designs and get just what you wanted without giving all your money away. Si, if I were to win the lottery with that ticket that I don't even buy getting on built from the ground up might be on my list. Didn't Louise, get to design and choose all her options on the Class C Nexis she has now? Maybe, those in FL this winter can check out her rig and talk to her about what that process was like in more detail. I just know that she got to make a lot of decisions....

[Anniepoo]

> Why are at least some RV interiors not more modern and clean looking? I wish I could design the darn things!

It'd be a big job, and don't look at me, I've no time for it, but you all know what 'open source hardware' is?

Open source software is where a programmer or a bunch of programmers write a generally useful program and post the 'source' code somewhere. Now anybody can use the program, and, equally important, anybody can modify the program.
This works, it turns out, tremendously slick. You're on this BBS, which was made with PhpBBS, which is open source.
It runs on PHP, which is open source. And the PHP connects to the internet through Apache, which is open source.

Now, that makes sense for software. I got software, I give it to you, we both got software.
But how does open source HARDWARE work? Well, you don't share the actual thing, but you share all the grief of figuring out how to make it. Then everyone makes their own from a 'kit' we've all collaborated on designing.

It's how recipes work. I give you my bran muffin recipe, you pass it on to people with a touch of lemon extract added, etc etc. Recipes are open source hardware

So what if we found some simple, free CAD package, (Google sketchup is the obvious choice) and published an open set of plans and instructions for converting some common vehicle (the perennial school bus is a possibility) to a nice fulltiming rig?

There's the thought. I'm not lifting a finger towards making it happen.

[judi]

Anniepoo,

I have two CAD programs - Autocad and Revit - which I use for architectural things. Software is not the issue.

[SoCalGalcas]

I love that modern rig!!! Maybe Soos, because I'm an ex-nurse. I would change only two things. The TV has to go up in front of the bed, on an arm, and, the desk in front of the couch has to be be larger to hold all the papers and the computer.
My desk at home (in the condo) looks like that architects desk (the picture on the right). lyn

[Anniepoo]

Judi,

I know Autocad and Revit well!

8cD

[Anniepoo]

Cabovers should have grab rails , no clutching a matress while climbing down

The lighting in most RV's is controlled from switches next to the light. Ergonomically that's a terrible placement, I'd move the
switches to sane locations.

My current rig has a light in the bathroom. You can go in there, turn on the light, go out, close the door, and run the light all night....
not good when boondocking. Should be an indicator

There should be a water pump on off switch near the kitchen sink, and one near the darn potty!
(probably this means push button 'start' and 'stop')

Class C's should all come with cab steps. My last rig had them, they were a real luxury

The steps on the side door would make a great student industrial design project. Current steps are either manual and a pain to
put out/take up, or electric and way too much gizmometry

in general, if it can be left on and bad things happen, there should be an indicator light on a central control panel and that panel should be visible so you don't have to get up in the middle of the night to see it!

My RV has two chairs that are bolted to the floor. If they were on some sort of mechanism so they could be 'unlocked' and moved about I'd have
a flexible living area.

The ergonomics of my sofa bed are terrible. It's a smidge too far from the floor to the cushion top. To avoid leg pain when sitting here using the set-up table and working on computer, I have to put a box under my feet. And I'm 5-8!

Is there a way to design a ladder that locks to the bed so it can't fall, but doesn't require, as mine does, holding the ladder out horizontal and going through conniptions to get it attached, or has some punched steel skin tearing clip thing right where you are likely to put yoru hand as you get in & out, as an old RV of mine had?

The light over the cabover is usually just one more of the standard fixtures. That's crazy! if you're using it, you're about 9 inches from it. Cabover light could be much better designed.

There's no place in a cabover for a bed book, glasses, and so on.

There's no designed space for trash or dirty clothes

There's no designed place for a pet

Exactly why is all that space taken up by that passenger seat in the cab?

I often look at 'step vans' - what most people call a 'bread truck' and think what a great starting point for an RV they'd make

without involving too much gizmometry to go out of whack, that curtain that goes inside the windshield in the cab - does putting that thing up have to be such a contortion exercise?

It'd be nice to be able to open and close the propane valve from inside. More people might actually close the thing if it didn't mean a trip outside and falling on one's knees in prayer, supplication, and fumbling to do it.

Green tortoise removed the seats from it's busses and found it's a much more pleasant trip. Of course their hippy kid passengers usually don't have the arthritic.

That forced air heat's silly for a boondocker.

[retiredhappy]

I LOVE the ultra clean, modern design. You can change accent colors by simply changing pillows and a bedspread. Sooooo easy to clean. And, who the hell decided that "cloth" type walls are good in an RV??????? While in Galveston I had a swarm of mosquitoes and I must have swatted 30 of the little buggers. THEN I had to get some Resolve and clean the "cloth" walls. And how about carpet like ceilings like my Gulfstream had??????? Especially near the stove - like stuff you cook doesn't permeate the ceiling. We need more women designers.

[asirimarco]

The carpet on the ceiling, the material the walls are made of, drapes, and rugs all absorb noise. I wonder how much clattering you'd hear driving that down the road.

[Acadianmom]

Judi, where did you find the picture of my desk?

I'm not an architect but took art in high school. One assignment was to design floor plans and of course several of mine were barns. That led to a life time of thinking about how to improve on house plans. I drew the floor plan of our old house and after living in it for 30 years there wasn't much I would have changed about it.

My motorhome has a white interior. It's so small that if the cabinets were dark it would feel like a cave in there. Coach House no longer offers white as a choice. There is a switch for the water pump by the sink and in the bathroom. Someone was thinking. I have seen pictures of new Class C's that have the side door lower so an outside step isn't needed. I haven't seen one in person but looks like it would be good. Electric steps are a pain.

Martha