Al F

Look online for a canvas shop in your area. They should be able to sew together a piece of canvas to fit in poptop area. Then just take some plywood and close in the bottom part.

Here is a side view showing the rear fold down canvas room: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.claz.org%2Ft%2F400x320%2Fvky5hw-Hh8NRRtNWUQKQQcFFwwcGwofBUUaWQcCEkUWQwBZGA4NGh5GWSosYSAoE1wdBF1DQ1sbUAwTQlsbDApCT1IcBV9CQ1lOUQ5EFQlWWAcfFx0cGg4kAwUVXBwSKS4aWQEHBQ4mZQcHIxsmaltORlsmfgEZEQYYWzdCE1hPVw0TRFoYVlBHWAEJUg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fclaz.org%2Fclassifieds%2Fvehicles%2Frv%3Fq%3Dpop%2Bup%26p%3D17&tbnid=TZwuEiw3nN3SZM&vet=12ahUKEwiHiJSO3szrAhUJQa0KHYaRDlwQMygWegUIARDFAQ..i&docid=QaqqLAcm5RMIsM&w=400&h=225&itg=1&q=1994 sunlite pop up camper&ved=2ahUKEwiHiJSO3szrAhUJQa0KHYaRDlwQMygWegUIARDFAQ

Amazon shows a price of $480 for a 100AH SiO2 battery.

About the engine rev'ing up as you started the first incline. If you had the cruise control on that was most likely just the cruise control down shifting the transmission to try to keep your speed up. A quick glance at the RPM gauge would confirm this if/when it happens again. If you were manually using the accelerator to keep you speed up, you were probably just slowly pressing on the accelerator to keep your speed up, until the computer sensed that it needed to down shift to try to keep your speed up. Kind of like when in a car and you go to pass another car on a 2 lane hwy and you press the accelerator hard causing the transmission to down shift to help you speed up to pass the other car. I helps to remember your are basically driving a large truck that is heavily loaded, so there will be times that the transmission will down shift and cause the engine RPMs to jump up making an unexpected noise. Also the engine is just to the right and below your right foot, so when the RPMs change suddenly you will hear it. In a car the engine is farther in front of you, much smaller, and the sound proofing between the driver and the engine is much better.

If your tow/haul was turned on it may have been the computer downshifting the transmission to use engine braking to slow down the RV. The next time you have a chance try the quick slow down and keep an eye on the RPM's. If the RPMs are jumping up when you hear the noise, the tow/haul mode is using engine braking to help slow you down. This is where starting off manually selecting 1 and going up to 3000-4000 RPM and then going to 2nd and then 4th and finally to D and listening to the transmission shifting and keeping track of the shifts, i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. This gives you a feel for what kind of engine sounds you can expect to hear. Also, sometime, start from a stop with the gear shift in D and then press the accelerator all the way to the floor and keep it there until you get to about 65mph. (I don't mean for you to stomp on the accelerator, just take about 2-3 seconds to go from rest to all the way down) Keep an eye on the RPMs and also count the shifts. This gives you a feel for the sounds and feel of the engine. I would expect for you to see the shifts happening at some where between 3000 and 4000 RPM. All this is to help you become accustom to the sounds of the engine when it shifts at higher RPMs.

We have been using RV's from small pop top tent trailer to 40' diesel pushers, all with a propane/elect fridge, for over 47 years and have never turned off the propane while traveling.

Because of COVID-19 this might be best for folks under 30.

75, soon to be 76. While we don't full time we do spend 4-8 months of the year in the RV. Still going strong. DW has mobility problems so we have a chair lift to take her from ground level to floor level through the door of the motorhome. We just came back from a 4 week trip from San Antonio to near Portland OR to visit the grandsons and their parents. Because of COVID we met at a NF campground near Bend, OR. Easier to social distance outdoors.

As always, a person should read all information given, even when the info differs on what to do. Then take the info and try it both ways and select what works best for you. Many times I find myself using both ways depending on circumstance. And also changing what I do based on someones different way of doing things when I find out I like that way better. You can never have too much info. Just experiment and figure out what works for you. Also just because someone is very emphatic that my way is the only way, that doesn't mean it is the best way for you.

Yes start off in 1 and as the RPM gets up shift to 2nd. Just like driving a stick shift. You don't have to wait til 4000 but going to 4000-4500 gives you a feel for what it sounds like and what to expect when climbing or descending mountains. Be sure and look at the Ford chassis owners manual to see if there is a manual mode for the transmission shifting. If there is you can drive it just like a stick shift, just no clutch to fool with. About the D to 4 and the 4 to 2 on your gear selection: -- I have not driven, what I assume you have, a 6 speed transmission, so I can't say for sure what happens going from D to 4 & 4 to 2. --- However it may work like the Ford 5 speed I have driven. There is a D and 3 2 1. When you manually shift from D to 3 it skips 4 and goes directly to 3, If to computer will allow the shift w/o over reving the engine. -- So it may be that the D to 4 works the same way (i.e. 6th to 4th) no way to manually shift to 5th gear and the same with 4 to 2. Hopefully there is a manual shift mode that allows you to the gear you want. So, what I did when going uphill is to turn on the tow/haul and as I hear and feel the engine loading down, gently press down on the accelarator to force the transmission to shift down to 4th (5th in your vehicle). If it was still loading down, I would manually shift from D to 3. Since I am already in 4th that would downshift me to 3rd (4th in your case). The reason I do this is I feel it is easier on the engine and transmission if I can keep the RPM's steady and keep the transmission from shifting up and down. An additional reason I manually shift is on long inclines going up I will select a gear and RPM's in the 3000-4000 range and by manually selecting that gear I can turn on the speed control and it keeps me at pretty much that RPM & speed for the next few miles until the climb gets steeper or levels out at the top. Going down I do my best to select a gear that will either keep my speed steady or just very slowly climb. It is so nice to just coast down a mountain for 2-5 miles in 4th, 3rd or 2nd gear and not have to use the brakes. Even 1st gear at 15mph on some 8%-10% grades with sharp turns and just touching the brakes for 2-3 seconds once in a while to keep my speed between 15 & 20 mph. I guess you can say I am old school and I tend to "drive" a vehicle instead of leaving it up to the computer. Keep in mind that computers don't think they only do what a HUMAN programmed them to do. We can cuss out computers all we want, but they are just programmed by humans to do something. BTW I do use the tow/haul and speed control and let the computer do the work, it just depend on the road conditions. I now have a diesel pusher with a 6 speed Allison transmission that allows me to manually select any gear I want. So much nicer than fooling with the Ford 5 speed.

I have read that for years and years. However, once I get to the top I go down the other side which has a different slope than the one I came up. The process I use is to slow down and manually gear down on steep grades like 6% to 10% and then attempt to select a gear and RPM that will keep me from needing to use the brakes more than once in 30-60 seconds. Preferably not to need to use the brakes for 2-3 minutes or at all coming down the mountain. When I do need to use the brakes, press hard to reduce my speed by 10-15mph in less than 10 seconds of pressing the brakes. I do use the Tow/Haul mode or exhaust brake on all downhills. Sometimes Tow/Haul or exhaust brake will do the job w/o manually downshifting on inclines of 3% to 5%, sometimes not.

About manually shifting the transmission: For your peace of mind, The engine and transmission computer will not let you manually shift the transmission into a gear that will damage the engine or transmission. By that I mean you can manually shift from D to 1st at 55 mph and the computer will not allow the transmission to shift down all the way to 1st until the speed is low enough that the engine will over rev the engine. It may quickly downshift to 4th or even 3rd and give you quite a jolt, but it won't damage the engine or transmission. You want to become accustom to listening to and feeling the transmission shifting and the RPM's that it shifts at. By paying attention to these details you will have a much better feel for what happens to the different gears and when to expect a shift. This is the first step in feeling comfortable in downshifting and upshifting in the mountains. Take the RV out early in the morning or on a Sunday morning when there is very little traffic. As you start off from a stop, listen to the engine and watch the RPM gauge and pay attention to the transmission shifting. You will hear engine speeding up and then feel the transmission shift from 1st to 2nd and so on. You probably won't get into 6th gear until 50-60 MPH. However on city streets at up to 30 mph you probably won't get beyond 4th gear. So this several times to get a feel for how and when the shifts happen. Drive to a large open empty parking lot, such as a mall. Come to a stop and manually select 1st gear. Start off and accelerate while watching your speedometer and RPM gauge. Make a mental note of your speed when you get to 4000-4500RPM. Also listen to the engine and learn how it sounds as the RPM's increase. Next, come to a stop and do the same thing in 2nd gear. Find a road or street where you can get up to a speed of about 50-55 mph for several miles with little traffic. Speed up to about 55mph and shift from D to 4 while watching the RPM gauge. You should see the RPM's go from around 2000 to some higher number. Drive in 4th gear for a while, speeding up to 55-60 mph and slowing down to 30mph or so. Make a note of what your RPMs are doing. This gives you an idea how the RV works in 4th gear. This is useful on long somewhat steep climbs or downhills where you may want to just put the transmission in 4th gear and let it go up or down the mountain. As you drive in the future, get used to paying attention to the shifting, especially when you get back on the highway and start going up some smaller hills. After a while you will notice when the transmission shifts down from 6th to 5th to 4th as you go up the hill. You are probably asking: "Why do I want to go through all this trouble? Why not just let the Tow/Haul mode take care of it?" Yes you can do that. However: -- I have found on most long uphills or down hills the grade changes a little along the way. As the road levels out a little the transmission will upshift/downshift to a higher/lower gear for a while and then shift back again. -- I have never found an automatic transmission that downshifts soon enough to suit me when going up a hill or mountain. I hear and feel the engine loading down. This loading down and late downshift heats up the transmission and the engine sooner than if you manually down shift. Also the shifting up and down add some heat. Going uphill I like to keep my RPM's between 3000 and 4500. The steeper the grade the higher RPMs. Also some 2 lane highways have turns that are for speeds of 30mph down to 10mph. You want to keep your RPMs up to keep the transmission/engine from overheating. -- Going down hill I like to select a gear and RPM that will hold my speed constant for miles. Or at least allow me to drive a half mile or more at 35-45mph w/o touching the brakes. It is really nice to come down a 2-5 mile 5%-7% grade and never have to touch the brakes. Relaxing drive this way. If in the future you spend a fair amount of time in the western mountains manually shifting comes in handy. By the way, if you have the 6 speed transmission I have read (heard) that you can put the transmission in manual mode where you can select any gear you want and it will stay in that gear. The details should be in the Ford chassis manual. Happy travels and enjoy your stay with family.

About the engine check light. The engine's computer should have stored a code detailing the reason for the check light. Many auto parts stores will bring out a tool and pull the code and tell what what the cause was. It is a good idea to write down the code and cause info for later reference. The parts stores generally do this for free. I would call the stores around you and ask if they will pull the code from your Ford Van E350 or E450, whichever chassis you have. The person answering the phone may not realize that when you tell them you are in a motorhome or RV that it is just a Ford Van they will be dealing with.

Consider filling up your fresh water tank and using that instead of hooking & unhooking from city water. Saves an extra step each afternoon and morning. It also means you don't have to be concerned about too high of water pressure from the campground water spigot. The fresh water plumbing in your RV is designed for 40-60 PSI. Sometimes you will find the city water is 80-100PSI and could cause leaks in your plumbing. Some people carry a water pressure regulator like these: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rv+water+pressure+regulator&crid=29HFAK53B519P&sprefix=rv+water+press%2Caps%2C315&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_14

Caution with cutting off the MC4 connector on the solar panel. It is my understanding that cutting off the MC4 connector will void the solar panel warranty. I have used #10 wire into a MC4 connector which plugs into the solar panels connector. The #10 wire from each panel then goes to a combiner box where you attach whatever size wire you need to go to the controller.

Thanks for the video, it was very informative. There is a great deal of difference in solar panels on a house and on an RV. With 2600 watts per series string you probably have at least a couple hundred volts coming down to each controller, allowing you to use 8 gauge wire and your wire run is most likely much longer than with the typical RV. The difference in cost for 20-30 feet of #8 welding wire compared to #6 or even #4 not a huge amount. Especially in relation to the total cost of the system. The same goes for the 2 to 4 feet of the heavier cable (#2 to 4/0) to go from the controller to the batteries or battery to inverter. It is a minor cost to go from 3% loss to 1% loss.

For what it is worth, we are sitting at 44 degrees north (in the mountains near Bend, OR. It is 1pm PDT on a very clear day and my pair of 325 watt (650 watts for the pair) are attached to my MPPT solar controller. The controller shows that it is putting out: 520 watts. The solar panels are probably a little dusty, I have not cleaned them in a while. The panels are not tilted. The panels are 4.5 years old. The solar panel voltage as measured by the controller is 35.4V. The Keocera panels are rated at the following "nominal" specs: Vmp: 36.2V Pmax: 254 Watts (508 watts for the pair) Voc: 45.5V My panels are working very well IMO. Here is what conditions the spec sheet states is Nominal, as versus "Standard Test Conditions" which would only happen in a lab environment. Nominal Operating Cell Temperature Conditions (NOCT) NOCT=800 W/M2 irradiance, 20oC ambient temperature, AM 1.5 spectrum

If you already have the panels, then be sure you test them for shading before making decisions about parallel or series. Attach each one to your controller put it in full sun and then shade part of the panel. Many panels, if you just shade one square section it kills just about all power from that panel. Wire them in series and you loose both panels. I have heard about panels with diodes, but have not seen diodes mentioned in the panels specs I have looked at in the past. Not that I have looked at very many panels. I would love to know of a website demonstrating the shadowing of panels, with the diodes, to see the actual measurements. Wire size: -- The 12 gauge wire that is included on the panel is only 2-3 feet long, so that part is fine. -- From your panels to your combiner box on the roof, I would use #10 wire. -- For the wire run to your controller: Measure the distance from the combiner box to the controller, then in the voltage drop calculator use the max amperage & voltage output of both panels, and buy the wire size that gives you less than 1% loss. Lots of places recommend 2% to 3% loss, however the extra cost of the larger size wire, to go to 1% or less, is minimal compared to what you have invested in the system. -- Also use welding cable for any wire of 8 gauge or larger. You can buy it on amazon or a local place which sells welding cable. Trying to bend #8 or larger stranded wire you buy at a hardware store around tight corners is a real pain. #10 is bad enough to work with. I have heard about panels with diodes, but have not seen diodes mentioned in the panels specs I have looked at in the past. Not that I have looked at very many panels. On my RV I have two 325watt panels. I know if I shade one small corner I loose 95% or more of the power output. I would love to know of a website demonstrating the shadowing of panels, with the diodes, to see the actual measurements. For an excellent example of "shading" for panels w/o the diodes take a look at the link to a video below. While the video is about tilting, what is most amazing, is that, not until they tilt the very last of 6 panels do they see the large jump in power output. You may want to skip forward to about the 2:30 minuet time to see the last panel go up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G01A51L-5Vc&feature=youtu.be

For the wire size, use a wire size calculator like this one: http://nooutage.com/vdrop.htm You are planning on putting the solar panels on a van. A 400watt panel is about 6 feet by 4 feet. Do you have room for two? With the setup you have planned you should have more power than you are likely to need.

This is were campground reviews and campendium is really helpful. Both list most of the parks in small towns in this country and perhaps in Canada.

About the CPAP's: If they can turn off the humidifier and/or tube heater the CPAP actually uses very little power. Around 1 amp of 12V DC or a little more if they have to run it through an inverter. My wife's CPAP shows it uses 12V on the sticker on the bottom. The mfg sells a 12V cord that plugs into 12V outlet. Her CPAP uses about 1amp or about 8AH of battery through the night. She stopped using the humidifier several years ago.

You will need your own internet connection setup since you "must" have a dependable connection. That usually mean using a JetPac or MiFi set up. The best place I know of for excellent detailed info is: https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/ Also look into the Xscapers section on the Escapees website.

As you have time, browse back through the following sub-forums in this forum: Days End Travel Boondocking Travel Logs. Lots of good ideas can be found for places to stay and places to visit.

You just answered your own question about distance/time. You want to get there quickly, but safely. Pick up I-80 and plan on 350-400 miles a day. Take breaks every 2 hours or so. You have your home with you, you can stop most anywhere and take a break. Do your best to avoid going through large cities between 7-9:30am and 3-6:30pm. If you have to, get up at 4:30am and drive through the city from 5-6am. With breaks and gas stops 400 miles will take you 10 hours or so. I like early starts and stopping before evening. About your drive back. Give some thought to what interests you. Museums, outdoor places, visiting state capital buildings, etc. Then get on the internet and look at the towns and cities, state parks, National Parks, scenic areas and scenic drives from Oakland to Chicago, both along I-80 and 150 miles north or south of I-80. Pick some places along the way and plan to stay there for 3-5 days and then move on. You can move 100-200 miles to the next place, or you can plan a 2 day drive and cover 500-600 miles to another place where you could stay for 4-10 days if there and things you like to do in the area. Many people enjoy driving the non interstate highways, US-xx and state highways, stopping in smaller towns along the way. Remember you have your home with you, so you can stay or move on as you wish. Kirk, suggested Campground Reviews and Campendium, I highly recommend both for places to stay. Call ahead 1-3 days before you plan on arriving and try to get reservations. If you can't get reservations in the place you wanted, then choose another place to go. Again you have your home with you. It doesn't matter exactly where you are, as long as it is safe. Another way to go, is to decide on 2-3 places to visit, with enough to do for 5-7 days, on your way back, and start trying to make reservations now for a place to stay. Bottom line, you don't have to go 100 miles each day or 500 miles in a day. The RV gives you the freedom to go and as you please and as conditions allow. If you can't find a place to stay, don't get frustrated, just find someplace else to go. The more you travel, the more you figure out what you like, how to find places to stay and how you like to travel. Relax and enjoy the travels, RV'ing is a great way to travel. There is no right or wrong way to go.

RV tires usually "look" fine even up to 10 years old, so someone checking the condition of the by looking at them won't do much good. The exception is, if there is some obvious damage or defect that can be seen. To truly check the condition the tire has to be taken off the wheel (rim) and inspected by a qualified tire inspector. I have been buying Michelin tires, others have different opinions. If you want lots of info and opinions, do a search on this forum for Michelin and Toyo. You will find other tire brands discussed in the different topics.