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Old 03-24-2012, 01:28 PM   #1
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Default What do I need to know about my '06 Roadtrek RS-Adventurous?

We pick it up Monday and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.
I've read dozens of posts on this forum and I'm looking to make up a list of mods/accessories and extras that I may want to consider.
Ours has the sofa that makes into a king or, if we want, two singles separated by a sort of cabinet than can be taken down and put under the bed.
I've read on other posts here and elsewhere that we may want to get a custom bed mattress. Where? What should I look for?
I picked up a good Rand MacNally GPS aimed for RV'ers and a bike rack.
My wife is shopping for plates, utensils, linen.
But what tools should I take along? Looking for a vacuum suggestion to suck up dirt and dust we track in (little hand held?).
Finally, any other RS-Adventurous owners out there? What advice, suggestions do you have about things I should know about this unit?
Here's a couple pictures of our rig: [attachment=0:3epfwnc5]jenrt.jpg[/attachment
Here's the interior showing the rear beds:
Attached Images
File Type: jpg jenrt.jpg (55.0 KB, 755 views)
File Type: jpg rsad2.jpg (50.2 KB, 753 views)
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Old 03-24-2012, 09:50 PM   #2
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Default Re: What do I need to know about my '06 Roadtrek RS-Adventur

Congrats.......... I wish I owned one of those. I'm so jealous.....
I'd be so excited too.

Hold off on the mods until you know want you need.

Get things that fit in your compartments. We had a little sweeper vac that dismantled and stored in a drawer.

I think you've made a great choice. In hindsight, a Sprinter B, if it had been my first choice, would have saved me lots of $$$ wasted on the C & B+ RV's.
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Old 03-24-2012, 10:52 PM   #3
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Default Re: What do I need to know about my '06 Roadtrek RS-Adventur

Thanks for the encouragement.... we get delivery Monday. I'm writing about it on my new blog http://roadtreking.com and, as I confess, I'm clueless about all this!
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Old 03-25-2012, 05:46 PM   #4
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Default Re: What do I need to know about my '06 Roadtrek RS-Adventur

Hi Mike!
I'm sharing in your excitement! I'm picking up my new PW Plateau NEXT Sun so I'm a wee bit jealous that your wait can now be counted in hours whereas mine is still days! This is also my 1st RV, but my parents have been RVers for a decade now.

I'm starting to think of things I'll need to have at the ready or store in the coach too...
2 rather random things I though of are buying a 2nd 12v charger for my iPhone/iPod - I have one that I keep in my car and I'd be very mad if I went off and forgot to move it to the coach or vice versa - it was worth the $30 to have 2! I'm also going to buy some little packets of laundry detergent to keep in the coach - just in case! If I'm taking a long trip I'd obviously pack laundry detergent, but I'm thinking if I'm out for a weekend or something I wouldn't plan to bring it so I should have some in case I get super dirty and there are facilities at the campground!

I too have an RVing blog...
http://livininavan.blogspot.com

I have yours bookmarked and I'm looking forward to reading about your adventures!
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Old 03-25-2012, 06:41 PM   #5
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Default Re: What do I need to know about my '06 Roadtrek RS-Adventur

Love that Chris Farley SNL sketcht!!!
I've linked your blog on mine...
Let's share the adventure!
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Old 03-25-2012, 09:43 PM   #6
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Default Re: What do I need to know about my '06 Roadtrek RS-Adventur

I'm jealous of both of you. I'm still trying to decide which unit to buy.
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Old 03-26-2012, 01:29 AM   #7
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Default What do I need?

Tomorrow, I get delivery of my new, previously owned Roadtrek RS-Adventurous.
Making lists and trying to figure out what I need and don't need. Here's a post of what I think I need to get so far.
http://roadtreking.com/maintenance/t...y-making-lists
Any and all advice appreciated!
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Old 03-26-2012, 02:30 AM   #8
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Default Re: What do I need?

A couple of things I like to keep in my vehicles are a couple of wire coat hangers, and a pair or two of vice grips. Both can be used for holding things on, vice grips are handy to crimp shut a holed brake line among other things. Electrical tape is as useful as duct tape often too.
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Old 03-26-2012, 05:43 PM   #9
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Default Re: What do I need?

I find a couple of collapsible lawn chairs/loungers to be invaluable; maybe also a small collapsible table, too.
After trying and discarding some chair models, I settled on a pair of "x-press loungers". They are tough and they fold/telescope into a very neat small package that will stuff in most places. They are currently on sale for $35 through Good Sam. REI also carry them.
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Old 03-27-2012, 01:56 AM   #10
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Default Re: What do I need?

It's in my driveway! Here's my review so far...
http://roadtreking.com/thoughts/its-in-the-driveway
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Old 03-27-2012, 11:24 AM   #11
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Default My new Roadtreking Blog

Like others, I've started a blog to chronicle my adventures with my new Roadtrek RS-Adventurous.
Check it out at http://roadtreking.com/.
I'm a journalist and story teller by occupation - and a pastor - but the mechanical end of all this RVing is going to be a real challenge.
If you have a Class B related blog, let me know and I will link to it.
It seems half the fun of all this is sharing our experiences. This forum is awesome.
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Old 03-27-2012, 12:05 PM   #12
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Default Re: My new Roadtreking Blog

Here's one thing that would help me a bunch. Even though our orientation session was three hours, I'm perplexed on the Roadtrek control panel over the sliding door.
What do I turn on, when?
Should any lights be showing when the Roadtrek is parked, inacative, in the driveway?
When I drive down the road and want some power, do I turn the inverter on? When do I turn it off?
When I run the generator, do I have to turn anything else off or does it automatically switch from battery to supply owner?
I want the fridge on when driving. What do I do to make it happen? When on inverter (battery) r electrical hookup, do I have to switch anything in the fridge or does it do so automatically?
Maybe someone has an easy to do checklist they did they can share???

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Old 03-27-2012, 01:27 PM   #13
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Default Re: What do I need to know about my '06 Roadtrek RS-Adventur

Be sure to check out the Roadtrek Yahoo Group:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/roadtrek

Roadtrek Owner manuals are here:
http://www.roadtrek.com/manuals.aspx
Just in case you didn't get one.

Is your particular fridge a two-way model (gas & electric) or a three way model (gas, electric & battery)?
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Old 03-27-2012, 09:56 PM   #14
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Default Re: What do I need to know about my '06 Roadtrek RS-Adventur

Hi! I'm so glad you finally got your rig! Looks like you are having fun! I follow you on twitter (I'm mamory) and have enjoyed many of your tweets about RVing stuff!

Not sure how your generator works but, in the units I've rented when you start the generator things automatically get powered by it - for example the microwave - when the generator gets going ( and sometimes it takes a minute or two) the clock will blink on the microwave and anything that is plugged into a 110 outlet will spring to life.

Also, my experience with fridges is that they will switch themselves to whatever power source is available I think they look for AC 1st, the propane, then battery. Many fridges have a light on front that tells you where it's getting it's power and a button that lets you switch it if you want it on a different type of power. No idea what yours is like though...

I can't speak to the other questions b/c I'm unfamiliar with Roadtreks!
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Old 04-06-2012, 01:33 PM   #15
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Default Re: What do I need to know about my '06 Roadtrek RS-Adventur

We have a 2006 Roadtrek RS as well. We have owned it for 1.5 years, spent 60 nights in it and have covered 14,000 miles. Let me help you with some of your questions. Assuming your Rig is equipped like ours, and keeping in mind that some choices are personal preferences, her you go....

Here's one thing that would help me a bunch. Even though our orientation session was three hours, I'm perplexed on the Roadtrek control panel over the sliding door.
What do I turn on, when? The only control that we routinely use is the battery on off switch. We turn the battery switch into off, when the unit is going to be parked for more than a couple of days. This keeps the house batteries from slowly discharging from small loads taking electricity, such as smoke detectors, etc. For some reason when you connect shore power to the Rig, you are supposed to have the battery switch in the on position. I do not fully understand why, I just comply. Otherwise the other main function of the control pannel is to let you hit "test" which will show you the state of your holding tanks, fresh water and LP. My indicators on all of those are notoriously inaccurate.

Should any lights be showing when the Roadtrek is parked, inacative, in the driveway? The only led that will glow when the unit is parked would be the battery on indicator if you have the battery switch in the on position.

When I drive down the road and want some power, do I turn the inverter on? When do I turn it off? You can turn the inverter on at any time that you are not running the generator or on shore power. I do not know that it would hurt anything to have it on at that time, but it is redundant. The purpose of the inverter is to supply AC current from the DC house batteries to the outlets in the coach. We mainly use the inverter to cook while driving with a slow cooker in the sink, or to watch TV/DVD when we are dry camping and not connected to shore power. The diesel engines alternator will pump out enought electricity while driving to meet any of your inverter needs. You will want to check this on your Rig, but on ours not all of the AC outlets are connected to the inverter. The one above the galley area, and the one in the TV cabinet are. Others are not. For a while this baffled me, and I thought I had an inverter problem, but we did not.


When I run the generator, do I have to turn anything else off or does it automatically switch from battery to supply owner? Simply turn on the generator and the unit will act like it is on shore power. I have never run the generator while on shore power. I am not sure that it would hurt anything, but it would sure be redundant.


I want the fridge on when driving. What do I do to make it happen? When on inverter (battery) r electrical hookup, do I have to switch anything in the fridge or does it do so automatically? Our reefer is a manual three way AC/LPG/DC. It does NOT have a switch to change automatically. In an attempt to save money, on the first few night out, I switched it to DC while driving, AC when on Shore Power and LP when dry camping.
We met a couple in Marfa TX who had been dry camping for 40 days in Walmart/McDonalds etc. They told me that they just leave their's on LP. We have since changed to that. In one 21 day outing we used 1/3 tank of LP. It is amazingly efficient fuel wise. If you go this route you will want to make sure that you have the reefer thermostat turned to as cold as possible.

Maybe someone has an easy to do checklist they did they can share??? A lot of this is learn as you go and personal pref. One thing that we have learned is that when you are choosing what to store in the vehicle, like pots/pans/plates, camp chairs, vacuum, grills, etc. is that with very limited space you are generally better off making very careful decisions and that usually entails buying the more expensive options. For example our camp chars are the PICO type. I never would have thought that I would pay $100 a piece for a camp chair, but now I would not RV without them. http://www.rei.com/product/767164/gci-o ... ping-chair

Happy Trails,

Gordon
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Old 04-06-2012, 01:51 PM   #16
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Default Re: What do I need to know about my '06 Roadtrek RS-Adventur

Hi Gordon... Thanks so much. This is awesome I formation very helpful.
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Old 04-12-2012, 02:22 PM   #17
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Default Re: What do I need to know about my '06 Roadtrek RS-Adventur

Your RT looks beautiful. Congratulations.
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