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Its_Hondo's avatar
Its_Hondo
Explorer
Feb 06, 2014

My Jamboree Build

For a long time I have wanted to buy a small Class C motorhome that I could use throughout Colorado for riding events as well as outings with my 2 kids.

As time went by, I decided to buy a used vehicle and hopefully one that was based on a Chevrolet. It needed to fit in my driveway and have 3 sleeping areas - a bed in the back, one over the cab and a dinette that converts to a bed. That way each of my kids (or 2 riding buds) has their own sleeping space.

It also had to have-

- a generator
- a standup shower
- propane heat
- a kitchen
- cab and coach air conditioning

So I found a 2005 Fleetwood Jamboree 22B on Craigslist in Palm Springs, California and it looked like a good deal. During telephone negotiations I found out that the seller was a "sailboat guy" who installed a wood burning heater in the coach. This worried me some and because of this the price agreed to was lowered as I just planned on removing it. More on this later.

So I jumped on a Frontier Airlines jet and flew to Palm Springs to make the deal. That's Kenosha Pass leading into South Park (yes, THAT South Park, CO)-



and The Black Canyon just west of Gunnison, Colorado-



I arrived in Palm Springs to a beautiful 65F day, a typical clear desert day!
Class C
  • Its_Hondo's avatar
    Its_Hondo
    Explorer
    Feb 06, 2014
    The seller picked me up & we drove over to the Jamboree for my inspection and test drive.

    It was in great shape!



    The seller included everything-

    Dishes, pots & pans, silverware, a ginsue type knife set :p , cleaning supplies, clean sheets, blankets, towels, flash lights, servicing & water hoses, electrical adapters, leveling blocks, a large Slime compressor, some tools, "Chili shaped decorative lights" for the awning, misc hardware & bulbs, wheel/tire covers, extra water pump and other various things that filled the cubbards.

    And it included this motorcycle carrier-



    I also found these upgrades-

    - LED Exterior lights
    - New Dometic Refrigerator
    - rear suspension air bags
    - additional electric wall heater in bed base
    - new awning
    - HD trailer hitch
    - Sig marine Heater (info on that later)
    - overhead bunk reversible power vent
    - oversized power inverter/charger
    - 3 Max Air Vent covers on the roof
  • Its_Hondo's avatar
    Its_Hondo
    Explorer
    Feb 06, 2014
    I knew ahead of time that the tires needed to be replaced due to cracking, so I made arraignments to change the tires right after the sale was complete.

    The test drive went really well and everything worked in the coach, so we sat down at the dinette and completed the sale paperwork.

    From there I drove to America's Tire where I bought 7 new BF Goodrich Commercial T/A tires. I left the tire shop and headed west towards Denver.

    I figured that i would drive until I found a Casino and park there for the night. It wasn't long until I found the "Spotlight 29" Casino right off of I-10 and I pulled in for the evening-





    I went into the casino and asked where the best place to get dinner was and was walked right into a very nice restaurant. It was empty as The Oak Ridge Boys were playing there and emptied the place-



    I had a great meal and headed back to the RV. While I was there my pal Dusty was prodding me for pics, so I took a few of the back (I just threw the bed together a few minutes earlier) -





    After exploring the inside of the coach some more, I finally went to bed.
  • Its_Hondo's avatar
    Its_Hondo
    Explorer
    Feb 06, 2014
    I hardly slept. I was so excited to get going that I probably got 5 hours of sleep, so at 5 am I was up & tested out the shower.

    then I hit the road & headed east.

    My plan was to drive east on I-10 and then turn north at Blythe, California. From there it was north across the Mohave and then turn east towards Kingman, AZ, Flagstaff AZ & stop near Albuquerque NM for the night.

    The route-



    The sunrise was fantastic-



    I stopped in Blythe for breakfast and then drove north through the desert-



    this boat has some huge mirrors!



    I was tracking my mileage and averaged, 8.4 mpg going uphill to Flagstaff and 11.3 downhill/level after that.

    I stopped at Meteor Crater to see that up close- (the parking lot looking west)



    At the rim-



    I stopped just west of Albuquerque for the night and slept a bit better.

    The next morning I stopped at the top of Raton Pass for a border sign welcome shot-



    I drove to Denver through very windy conditions and stopped at Camping World in Colorado Springs to get what I need to seal up the roof sealant....
  • Its_Hondo's avatar
    Its_Hondo
    Explorer
    Feb 06, 2014
    When I inspected the coach I looked for evidence of water damage inside on the ceiling and the walls and found none. This RV spent it's life in the desert and that was good as the caulking on the roof (vent seals, seams, antenna mount ) all needed to be cleaned and sealed before the weather turned cold & wet in Denver.

    Here's the TV antenna mount caulk (Dicor) - on the right I have cleaned the caulk with mineral spirits an the left is untouched. You can see some small cracks that need to be filled with the self leveling Dicor sealant-



    I removed the Max Air vent covers and found that the seller had mounted the covers through the roof instead of into the vent frame- this would be a source of water infiltration if not corrected-



    Also, the above bathroom vent fell apart in my hands so I removed the old vent and Dicor-



    And installed a new 3 speed, reversible vent - (has not been sealed yet in this pic) -



    The view from the bathroom with the trim piece in place-



    After that I spent quite a few hours completing the roof service. Lotsa stuff on the roof for this work-



    good thing too as it snowed 2 days later.:C
  • Its_Hondo's avatar
    Its_Hondo
    Explorer
    Feb 06, 2014
    The seller was a very interesting man and a self described "sailboat guy". He told me that he installed the Sig marine wood burning heater as it was easy & safe to use on a boat & he wanted one in his RV.

    Here is the official info-

    Sig Marine wood heater website-

    http://www.sigmarine.com/products.html

    The one in my RV is called a "Cozy Cabin" -

    http://www.sigmarine.com/SIG-CCHSF.html



    The seller must have been an engineer because he made serious accommodations for this heater installation including a powder coated steel isolation box-



    He used the factory stainless steel vent pipe through wood doughnuts-

    inside-



    On the roof the all weather cap (I sealed this wood ring up ) -



    I plan on replacing the wood rings with ones made from aluminum in the spring.

    A full area view-



    I fired it up and it works great -



    The seller also made a holder for a bottle of lighter fluid, a barbeque style lighter and a box to hold small pieces of wood fuel. And all of it does not impede the use of the entrance door or stairs -
  • Its_Hondo's avatar
    Its_Hondo
    Explorer
    Feb 06, 2014
    Before I removed the motorcycle carrier I put my KLX450R on it to see if it would fit- no issues here!





    In this view you can see the wood box bolted to the top of the bumper. This is designed to hold 2 5 gallon cans of fuel -

  • Its_Hondo's avatar
    Its_Hondo
    Explorer
    Feb 06, 2014
    I took a few pics of the 23Ft 1 inch Jamboree next to my 18 ft, 5 inch 2007 Avalanche-





  • Its_Hondo's avatar
    Its_Hondo
    Explorer
    Feb 06, 2014
    In my research I read that almost all RVs use the same cam locks for their compartments. I decided that I wanted my storage, electrical and potable water access all to be secure, so I measured my locks and ordered my replacements from Industrial lock & Hardware in Palmdale, California-

    http://www.iss4locks.com/index.htm

    They keyed all of my new locks the same so only one key would be needed. The old locks had 3 different keys. I also ordered spring loaded lock covers.

    Electrical compartment before-



    After -



    Potable water access door before-



    and after-



    A close-up with the key inserted-



    I decided to go with "Tubular" style locks vs the disc tumbler style as I was told that they are more secure.
  • Its_Hondo's avatar
    Its_Hondo
    Explorer
    Feb 06, 2014
    To do list-

    - install rear wheel valve stem extensions
    - install new headlights (ordered)
    - install ON/OFF switch for propane detector (history of parasitic elec drain)
    - install new stereo with back up camera
    - service coach batteries (2)
    - service main batteries (2)
    - clean carpets and dinette cushions
    - replace all coach incandescent bulbs with LEDs
    - install small tv & Blue Ray DVD player
    - reseal cab to coach seams
    - install transmission oil cooler
    - install transmission temperature gauge
    - install steering damper/stabilizer
    - install driving lights

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