Ski RV's, who's sleeping in parking lots?

[byates1]

Talked to a dude in a THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLAR van yesterday.

Long sprinter, some outside van" brand build. The rims alone were probably 5k plus. Having rims that look like they belong on a tank is apparently a thing.

Was a cool dude. 50ish. Said he killed himself building car dealerships. Sold em. He was like I can't believe I paid what I paid.

[donutlynx]

Talked to a dude in a THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLAR van yesterday.

Long sprinter, some outside van" brand build. The rims alone were probably 5k plus. Having rims that look like they belong on a tank is apparently a thing.

Was a cool dude. 50ish. Said he killed himself building car dealerships. Sold em. He was like I can't believe I paid what I paid.

Wow that is a lot of cash for a van. Must be pretty swanky? Any more functional than an $85k build? Makes me feel pretty okay about our Sprinter and what $ we have in it.

[Name Redacted]

My neighbor has an Ekko that I don't think has ever left the driveway. They retail for $215k and I thought that was insane.

[davjr96]

So tell us more…you just using the mini as a true portable or is it mounted on your vehicle? Pics?

I have a "pivot" mount on the roof of my GFC, however sometimes depending on the camp location I run the mini using the included kickstand on the ground or a table so it gets a clearer view of the ski then it would while mounted on my truck. Powering it using an Ecoflow Delta 2, the mini draws ~30W with the included AC adaptor. I am looking into running it off of USB C to possibly improve that a bit. With 200W solar and the strong California sun I can pretty much run it indefinitely. I don't ever really intend to hard mount it, because with the solar on the roof of the GFC the panels need to face southish and the Starlink needs to face northish, but I would like to permanently hardwire the power cable. I can fit the mini and cables in a pelican pistol case which is nice because I can just throw it in the back of my truck while packing and not worry about it. I live near a city so leaving anything like that in the truck, mounted or not, full time is a no go.

[byates1]

Solid. Why would anyone have anything else for this application? @50$ a month it's way cheaper than full starlink. Do you get less speed or data? Thx.

[davjr96]

Solid. Why would anyone have anything else for this application? @50$ a month it's way cheaper than full starlink. Do you get less speed or data? Thx.

There are two available currently available plans for the mini: $50 a month for 50 GB Data (what I have), or $150 a month for unlimited (same as full sized starlink).
In theory, the mini likely gets slower speeds due to physics and is probably more affected by obstructions or weather than the full size simply because of the dish surface area. In practice, the mini speeds are great and likely all anyone needs. I was able to stream college football in HD this past weekend with no issues at all.

[frorider]

Thx davjr. I have 200 amp hr Li batteries and 200 W roof solar, was hoping to rig up a DC power cord to a roof mount that detaches easily for when I have to put it in an open spot away from the campsite.

[Stuntmonkey]

Huh? Musk has endorsed the orange fascist, which is plenty to keep me from spending any money on Starlink (even though it's clearly the best tech).

While Musk is essentially a smooth brained child, there are a lot of really, really great people working at Starlink / SpaceX who genuinely give an enormous amount of effort into what they create. He also has relatively little engineering interaction besides showing up and yelling at people once in a while from what my friends tell me.

[byates1]

https://www.benzinga.com/news/24/09/...t-and-others-o

I'm on T-Mobile this would be cool.

[Meconium]

What fleet van occupation is the least abusive? Used market got to supper crash shortly. The volume of transit you see on the road is crazy compared to a few years ago.Delivery drivers, painters? handy cap shuttle? Figure bigger companies flip vans rather quickly. Starting to see more and more cargo vans for sale but mostly used dealers and not many private plumbers and the like. Failed business, repo and then auction?

[Trackhead]

https://www.benzinga.com/news/24/09/...t-and-others-o

I'm on T-Mobile this would be cool.

Could make GPS texting/emergency beacon’s obsolete. Won’t be long…world 100% connected all the time/everywhere.

[Stuntmonkey]

Could make GPS texting/emergency beacon’s obsolete. Won’t be long…world 100% connected all the time/everywhere.

Double edged sword for sure.

[alpinevibes]

What fleet van occupation is the least abusive? Used market got to supper crash shortly. The volume of transit you see on the road is crazy compared to a few years ago.Delivery drivers, painters? handy cap shuttle? Figure bigger companies flip vans rather quickly. Starting to see more and more cargo vans for sale but mostly used dealers and not many private plumbers and the like. Failed business, repo and then auction?

I would look at goverment related entities who have maintenance support built into their fleet and scheduled work, ideally. Individual workmen or delivery drivers are going to struggle to fit maintenance, especially "preventative" maintenance into their schedule - time is worth a lot more to them compared to government/non-profit entities.

[Micol]

What fleet van occupation is the least abusive? Used market got to supper crash shortly. The volume of transit you see on the road is crazy compared to a few years ago.Delivery drivers, painters? handy cap shuttle? Figure bigger companies flip vans rather quickly. Starting to see more and more cargo vans for sale but mostly used dealers and not many private plumbers and the like. Failed business, repo and then auction?

looked at a ford handicap , totally beat to death, seller misrepresented, cost me a plane ticket....don't be afraid to walk away.
worth noting: imo any internet pics (unless very hi-res) wil leave you let down when you arrive IRL. i turned down over undisclosed mechanical issues. if u buy over net and then ship never seeing IRL.... wild wild west....

ftr: many shops will not work on fleet or former fleet vehicles. idont know why but consider this is a real thing before u get one and get stuck somewhere remote with limited shops and whatever their reasoning is for refusing to work on fleet vehicles...

[climberevan]

Currently driving this thing home from MT to Tahoe. I rode my moto here to get it bc shorter rear engine buses are rare. We're going to do a roof raise and everything. Excited!

[NBABUCKS1]

hell yeah climberevan, love a skoolie conversion. going to be a fun project.

hopefully the title/insurance is not too much of an issue to get it converted

[byates1]

Wow dude. Sick. Good luck looking forward to seeing it it comes alive!

[climberevan]

hell yeah climberevan, love a skoolie conversion. going to be a fun project.

hopefully the title/insurance is not too much of an issue to get it converted

It's already titled as an RV so it should go to my name easily, amd my insurance co gave me a policy via text message! Smooth so far...

[alpinevibes]

Currently driving this thing home from MT to Tahoe. I rode my moto here to get it bc shorter rear engine buses are rare. We're going to do a roof raise and everything. Excited!

Dope! There’s a good raised one that’s been lurking around town this summer

[Cruiser]

Currently driving this thing home from MT to Tahoe. I rode my moto here to get it bc shorter rear engine buses are rare. We're going to do a roof raise and everything. Excited!

Super cool! Can't wait to see how you build this out. Please keep us updated

[climberevan]

The first big question is whether to raise the whole roof starting at the front (big flat forehead look) or create a taper in the front 3 feet or so. What do mags prefer?

We're going to eliminate all of the original windows bc they are crap. It will have spray foam and RV windows, heated tanks, etc. It's a handy bus so l might retain the big side door and build a fold-out deck of some sort for apres grilling.

[alpinevibes]

The first big question is whether to raise the whole roof starting at the front (big flat forehead look) or create a taper in the front 3 feet or so. What do mags prefer?

We're going to eliminate all of the original windows bc they are crap. It will have spray foam and RV windows, heated tanks, etc. It's a handy bus so l might retain the big side door and build a fold-out deck of some sort for apres grilling.

I've seen it run both ways on the pop up. I think the full lift looks better and might be easier at the end of the day.

Definitely keep the handicap door. I had a 31' International bus with one for a few years here and it was night/day better for loading stuff compared to a normal entry or rear emergency exit door. My current fleet is four 65-77pass Thomas Saf-T-Liners and one 54pass Bluebird Vision. They're all a pain to get a bike in and out of, especially with how new school bus interiors are designed to contain flying kids with high/tight seat arrangements. You'll be a little different with the seats out, but having the wider door from the handicap lift is clutch.

[heckacali]

This?

[Trackhead]

What engine is in that beast? How's she drive?

[m2711c]

easiest thing to do, is to just cut off the whole damned back end and then slap a RV trailer on the back in it’s place… done and dusted.

It oughta save you a shit load of time configuring the interior if nothing else.

buddy did that with the old one that I sold him, and it went hell a lot easier for him than it did for me when I was working on setting up my original interior design.






fact.