B+ motorhomes

[Daniel_C_]

I just bought a Trail Lite B+ 211s with 8.1 Chevy
engine. This is my fifth motorhome (others range
from an old 20' Vagabond, and three Winnegagos, from 19 to 32'. This vehicle is fantastic. I am
using it as a mobile office (and sneaking in a fun
journey from time to time). It gets about 9.5mpg
and I believe I could pull a bus behind it if I wanted! I paid low $40's which is about what I had expected to pay for a five or six year old Chinook with a nicer interior, but fewer features
(slide). I am delighted thus far.

[Gene_in_NE]

Gary Swanson - Nice to have you back. By the way, the last time I tried accessing your picture website as specified in your 9/23/03 posting, I was not successful.

I like your idea of a vertical storage box to the left of the rear door. Will have a minor problem holding the rear door open. Should be able to have a fiberglasser build some mold to fit the curvature of that space. These guys are good - met one just North of Ames, Iowa. They make a positive, then a negative, as prep for the finished product. Keep us posted with your latest.

Have thought of putting on a front receiver hitch and using a variety of accessories. I weighed our unit and have about 1,040 lbs of extra carrying capacity there.

We also had a great experience with our last 3,200 mile venture to Las Vegas over Christmas. No problem whatsoever, averaged 13.7 mpg, coldest evening 7 degrees near Denver, warmest in the middle of Kansas 64 degrees. Spent several nights in Wal-Mart parking lots. Showered in Flying J truck stops. Really enjoyed winter camping.

[Gary_Swanson]

Ciaran,

You and I may well be kindred spirits -- search my posts to this thread and see for yourself. As for skis --- I am looking to order the Mohn locking side mount (www.mohnsportracks.com) which will hold up to 4 pairs of skis plus poles on the passenger's side. I have had this rack before in my Suburban days, and it works. I am currently carrying the skis on a vertically mounted Yakima rack on the ladder (see below) but it is a pain.

Bikes --- now that is still an issue. As you can tell from my prior posts, I have gone the ladder route with shorty Yakima bars for a verticle carry as you are doing. Too much lateral sway for me to feel comfortable with (our tandem). It actually loosened up the roof top ladder screws necessitating a dealer repair (warranty!). And the DIRT that covers the back of the rig and our bikes ... And, it makes getting up to the roof box hard if not impossible. I am planning to look at a front rack for bikes, be it a bumper mount or maybe a front hitch receiver install.

How I did the Space Cadet box is detailed in my prior post, complete with link to pix.

My next quest, maybe at the same time as I look for a rear storage cabinet box, is quiet/electricity sparing heat for winter camping. I have gone the Mr. Buddy route, but it locks out above ~5000 feet. I have reviewed and spoken with the folk at Platinum Cat, and that may end up to be my solution.

[ciaranroe]

Gary,
I am really curious as to how the Yakima box was secured to the roof. Did you use a rack? Which rack and how was the rack secured through the roof? How far did the box over hang the door? I've got the same problem with space.

We put two truck-bed bike mounts (from performance.com)and secured them to the ladder tube-frame and steps with stainless U-bolts covered with rubber tubing. I will send a picture if you wish. So 2 bikes (or 1 bike and a tandem) mount vertically to the ladder secured by their front forks and a couple of bungees. Been out to Nova Scotia and back with bikes there. They stay a bit cleaner than a low-mount hitch rack. 26" front wheels bungee nicely inside the ladder frame (skewers removed)

Still have problems with skis (alpines fit under the bed/sofa) and boots etc. We also have a dog we renamed Visa - she's everywhere we want to be!


Cheers,

Ciaran.

[Gary_Swanson]

We spent the 8 weeks of November and December on the road in our 2003 TL 211S. It really performed flawlessly as we toured through CA, UT and AZ. The Achilles heel for us is storage space despite the fact we have a Yakima Space Box on top. We are a sporty couple and want to bring our bikes (with attendant helmets, shoes, etc), snow shoes and/or XC skis (with boots, etc), and on and on. We actually manage well enough but climbing up that ladder in cold/windy/icy weather gets old in a hurry. I am thinking about a cabinet box that could be body mounted on the driver's side of the center rear door, something that doesn't stick out past the existing back door steps. Anyone have ideas?? We can't and won't use the cargo boxes that use the hitch receiver, as that would interfer too much with use of the back door and/or be unavailable because our swing-away bike rack is using the hitch receiver.

[gkreutzer]

Thanks for the info on my inverter question. My inverter doesn't have a built in charger/converter, and I plan to turn off the converter and stay away from the generator until I need to recharge my 2 - 24 type batteries.
Plugging shore power into the inverter's AC plug with an adapter seems the easiest way to power AC plugs for TV, DVD, etc.

[dmartin2]

A little help? I would like to add an inverter to my 2003 Trail-Lite B+ 211 LE to use while boondocking. I am looking at a 1750 W inverter. After connecting inverter to batteries, with a fuse on positive cable, I would like to simply plug the shore power plug (with adapter) into the 3-prong receptor on the inverter. I hope this will make all AC outlets in unit active (including TV and Microwave). I would turn off the converter and not use generater while connected. Will this arrangement work? Thanks.

Yes, I am confident that it will work as you describe it if the inverter does not include a battery charger/converter feature. I do what you describe with a 1750watt Portawattz inverter.

If you do not turn off the converter, the converter will be trying to charge the batteries from themselves. The amount of trouble this will cause depends on the particular converter.

Dave

[backwoodsman]

Sorry, This wont work for you. Do some research on inverters.
You would be trying to charge your battery or batteries from themselves.
Give more info as to how many & what kind of batteries you have.
The more info you post the more help you can get.

[gkreutzer]

A little help? I would like to add an inverter to my 2003 Trail-Lite B+ 211 LE to use while boondocking. I am looking at a 1750 W inverter. After connecting inverter to batteries, with a fuse on positive cable, I would like to simply plug the shore power plug (with adapter) into the 3-prong receptor on the inverter. I hope this will make all AC outlets in unit active (including TV and Microwave). I would turn off the converter and not use generater while connected. Will this arrangement work? Thanks.

[wragans]

There is s 2002 213 Trail-Lite with 6000 miles on Ebay

Willie

[agoaliemom]

z..geo - Wonder about the used T/L's at Holman. Are they fully equipped. Are they problem ones, are they rental units? Worth checking in to by potential buyers as the price is not bad. We wanted new to be the only ones using the bathroom and sleeping on the beds. Our own dirt, not someone elses.

I bought a used T/L 213 from Holman (I flew in from Duluth, MN, to get it!). Mine was (is) fully loaded (I'm not sure what fully loaded is, but it has power windows, locks, a Blaupunk stereo, etc.).

We haven't used it much. My husband accidentally knocked the a/c unit off when he parked in a place with a lower clearance than he thought. $706 to replace it. 😞

Yes, he feels horrible (and he is such a sweetie that I feel horrible for him) since money is very tight for us (this is a second car. Because our kids have severe allergies & asthma we can't go to most motels and this is our only way to go on vacation).

Anyway, we haven't driven ours much, but friends have used it as a guest bedroom when they visit us. 🙂

[cheeze1]

We are back from New Holland,Pa. We stayed at Spring Gulch Campsite, a very large area with full hookups in the woods at the top of a mountain. It was beautiful, and the RV performed very well, and was fun to live in.
I never got the truck into the auto shop, it was too tall! Glad I got there at 6, with an empty lot, so I did the wheel liners there.
Major problem with the unit was a leak due to an incorrectly fastened fitting on the fresh tank, resulting in a portion of wet rug and ruined dinette paneling. It's a slow drip, but no one knew about it because the plastic was over the rug on delivery. I have slowed it with gas tank sealer, but it needs to be fixed properly. Another problem was after an unexpected 'big' bump, the tv 'jumped' the 1" cleat behind it, and was leaning against the fiberglass front. Luckily I had my driver drill with me and removed the face retention molding and put it back in place, rerouting some rattling wires in the process. Shouldn't a tv be held down with a strap of some kind?
Despite that and some other details, like a screwy radio, all the important components worked great, and the truck is fun to drive. Initial gas mileage was 11, which I don't think is too bad considering it's a new engine and we used the generator a little.

[cwmr]

We have a 2003 BT Cruiser 21 footer. We like it. So far the longest time we were out RVing on it is about three weeks. We do not need to tow another car for sightseeing and it is very easy to setup. Enjoy your BT Cruiser.

cwmr

[cheeze1]

Thanks Gene, we sure are excited!! Can't wait to get the wheel liners on! I have a gentle slope to my driveway so I figure I will bring it to school and park it in the auto shop (my class is in there) and use the big floor jacks to lift one corner at a time. I got the liners from Arlan, btw.

[Gene_in_NE]

Cheeze1 - Congratulations again. Trepidations is to mean anxiety, apprehension or foreboding, so one who has those feelings might be called trepidatious. You will be just fine. Those units drive like a pickup. When you park it in a campground or a Wal-Mart and several people stop by and ask questions about it or give you admiring glances, then you feel serene. And....maybe a little smug knowing you own something with a lot of features and less money than many SUV's.

[cheeze1]

MONDAY!!! Yes, gang we are getting our 213 on monday, and will be trying it out over Thanksgiving in the Lancaster area of Pa.
Very excited and a little trepidatious, (is that a real word?) but with all the great info from this forum, I'm sure we will make it!!