cyber-vanner
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Re: palomino stampede owners let me hear from you.
Also, forgot to mention, I broke the dinette table on the first trip out, while putting weight on it to climb into front bunk (dinette was setup for a lower bunk at the time) After the trip, I went to Lowe's and purchased a piece of solid wood, cut it the same shape, varnished it, and then transferred the table legs to the new one. MUCH stronger and lighter than the original table1.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: palomino stampede owners let me hear from you.
I have a 2002 S17 that I purchased in 2008 and have loved it. I have had to fix a few things that weren't up to my standards, and upgraded things too. Here's my list: Repairs: - 12volt electrical system was a disaster: poor grounds, too small wiring, and crimp-on connectors meant lights flickered like a disco hall when water pump operated, and voltage drop was unacceptable. I purchased #8 wire and some neutral buss bars from hardware store, and pulled new + and - feeds to battery -capacitor blew in AC unit, purchased replacement from local appliance shop - cabinet door underneath stove fell apart. repaired with wood glue - dinette bench seat near front door came loose. Repaired with a small piece of 1x2 lumber, and some framing screws - vinyl covering to bathroom door peeling off. Have yet to repair - oven door broke on stove earlier this season ( I was using oven to store dishes in while in transit, dishes fell out and damaged door). Have yet to repair - small crack has developed in shower tub. I purchased some West System epoxy to fix it, but have yet to get to actually repair it. - shower faucet would leak when on shower mode. Replaced with new one from Camping World -replaced tires at beginning of the season with new Maxxis tires (wore tread off old ones!) -propane tank cover fell apart, never replaced it. This seems like a lot of stuff, but bear in mind, my camper has had extensive use, and I have high quality standards. Overall, I think RV manufacturers have a long way to go when it comes to fit & finish quality, I think my Stampede is one of the better ones. Here's some of the mods and upgrades I have done to mine: -Replaced 12-volt deep cycle with 2 6-volt golf car batteries - Installed a TriMetric 2020 battery / charging monitor on panel above radio - Replaced the cheap CD player with a Pioneer CD car stereo (with remote)I found a deal on this radio at Target for $69 - replaced the cheap paper speakers with some nice polypropylene 2-2way HiFi speakers ( speakers were incorrectly wired at old stereo, so I had to re-wire connections) - Installed removable shelves in narrow wardrobe closet beside galley - Installed LED nite lights that run off of 12 volt battery on inside, and beside entry door outside - replaced incandescent lights with Thin-Lite florescent lamps I bought on E-bay - added both lighter plug sockets, and Anderson PowerPole 12-volt sockets. - added exterior Anderson PowerPole connection above holding tank dump pipe for running macerator pump. -purchased reflectix and cut to fit in bunk windows. Purchased "popupgizmos" covers for bunk tops As you can see, most of the mods I've done have been to make boondocking in this camper more comfortable. I frequently use this camper at places that don't have hookups. One of these places is at the yacht club I crew at. They allow camping, but don't have plug-in connections. I am down there for about 4 weekends in the fall, and 4 weekends in the spring for regattas. The wife and I also like taking it up into the Shenandoah national forest where many of the campgrounds don't have electrical hookups. One of the things I really like about this camper is the 30 gallon holding tanks...you can go a good while before filling them up. I tow my S17 with a Chevy Astro van, and it yanks it down the road like it's not even back there! The independent rear torsion axle makes it handle really nicely1.1KViews0likes0Comments
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Prefer to camp in a travel trailer? You're not alone.Mar 05, 202544,027 Posts
