Hi, I am ScribeWithAStylus from Northern Virginia - Fiberglass RV
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Old 10-23-2016, 06:44 PM   #1
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Name: Gnuu
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Hi, I am ScribeWithAStylus from Northern Virginia

Hi, I am ScribeWithAStylus from Northern Virginia. My situation is similar to Jeff from the Northern LP of Michigan I agree with his sentiment “What a great website! I am patiently saving my money and researching for the purchase of a Casita or Scamp travel trailer.” The difference is that we are looking for a Casita for starts to see if it works with us and then a bit longer trailer further along to provide a separate room for medical stuff that has to be done alone. While we were looking at buying a recent model casita, we really like the independence two bed configuration as we are older and met a similarly aged couple who said that not having to go over your spouse on the way to the bathroom is the wonderful advantage of the Independence floor plan. Thus, unlike Jeff, we will probably not buy used. We currently drive a Sprinter 144 model 2500 with 6 cylinders. We are thinking of trading up to the new 4 wheel Sprinter 3500 with 144 wheelbase. That model has a 7500 pound towing capacity compared to the 5000 pound capacity of the 2500 and would give us a bigger reserve for towing. We can camp in the 2500 in a pinch but it is not a conversion van. We have been watching the messages and hope to keep learning.
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Old 10-24-2016, 05:23 PM   #2
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Old 10-25-2016, 07:11 AM   #3
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Welcome aboard! I was born in DC and grew up in northern VA- moved to Springfield before I95 went in. Hope you fid what you are looking for!
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Old 10-25-2016, 09:30 AM   #4
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Howdy Scribe— And welcome! Just wondering what you meant by "a bit longer trailer further along to provide a separate room." I can't think of any molded fiberglass trailers with a room that can be closed off, except for a tiny wet bath. There are modest-sized stick-built trailers with bedrooms that have a door (we saw some when shopping, before we found our Casita). If you didn't need a room with a door, something like an Escape 19 with a table/bed at one end and a bed at the other would give you some separation.

/Mr Lynn
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Old 10-25-2016, 05:53 PM   #5
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UMM,I TYPED I-495. I am not old enough to predate I 95-
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Old 10-26-2016, 08:31 PM   #6
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Optically Separate Room

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Lynn View Post
Howdy Scribe— And welcome! Just wondering what you meant by "a bit longer trailer further along to provide a separate room." I can't think of any molded fiberglass trailers with a room that can be closed off, except for a tiny wet bath. There are modest-sized stick-built trailers with bedrooms that have a door (we saw some when shopping, before we found our Casita). If you didn't need a room with a door, something like an Escape 19 with a table/bed at one end and a bed at the other would give you some separation.

/Mr Lynn
The separation needs to be opaque to light transfer. A room that can be separated by either a wall with a door or an optically opaque curtain like the blackout curtains that WalMart used to sell.
The Bigfoot 25B25RQ looks like a possibility for modification but is at the long end of what we would want for towing.

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Scribe With A Stylus
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Old 10-26-2016, 10:59 PM   #7
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Lil Snoozy has a full-time queen bed with a curtain that can be used to close off the area from the living room. Storage under the queen bed could house medical equipment.
Dave & Paula
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Old 10-27-2016, 01:26 AM   #8
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It is easy enough find ceiling mounted curtain track plus the fittings that hold the curtains. The track can be bent to conform to curves.
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Old 10-27-2016, 02:01 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by k corbin View Post
It is easy enough find ceiling mounted curtain track plus the fittings that hold the curtains. The track can be bent to conform to curves.
KC, do you have thoughts on how to install one of these? We have carpeting on walls and ceiling (and this trailer has no rivets at all, so I'd hate to add any).
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Old 10-27-2016, 06:49 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitzi Agnew-Giles View Post
UMM,I TYPED I-495. I am not old enough to predate I 95-
LOL... I am, at least parts of it. When I was a kid we used to take our pop-up from MD to FL for spring break. I remember having to exit and travel on secondary roads on multiple sections still being built. Traffic was terrible on those detours. The last section to be completed went through a giant tourist trap at South of the Border... Hmmm...

And a hearty welcome to Scribe! A Casita paired with a Sprinter sounds like a great combination! I think you would be fine with the smaller one for starters, but the larger would be a nice upgrade for a road trip to the Rockies and/or a larger trailer down the line (especially if it's a diesel).
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Old 10-31-2016, 11:07 AM   #11
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Yes, Jon, I pre-date I95 in Florida. Our first visit we took part of the Florida Turnpike way down south. I think that was 1959? My father hated exiting I95 in GA-and getting ticketed in Jesup and Ludovici.
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Old 12-09-2016, 07:16 PM   #12
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Name: Gnuu
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Originally Posted by David B. View Post
Lil Snoozy has a full-time queen bed with a curtain that can be used to close off the area from the living room. Storage under the queen bed could house medical equipment.
Dave & Paula
The Lil Snoozy sounds like a possible alternative. We will try to get down to SC to look at it. The Casita has no real insulation. just rugs on the wall. We could not find any mention of insulation on the Lil Snoozy web site.

Searching Fiberglass RV, we found this note in a reply
by carlkeigley Senior Member in a thread at
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...e-56553-4.html
"Thanks Jim, This is one of the bedroom window cutouts.
It a core sandwiched between fiberglass. The core has metal strands in it and gives it more strength. I had read in a blog that this has an R-9 rating. I said something to Alan about it and he said R-6. I don't know how you rate these kinds of things.
Guess I should google-up and learn. But there is no insulation. BAMA has been spending a lot of time at rallies and I don't think he has had much problem. He did purchase a Buddy Heater at Walmart while in Arizona.

I won't pick my Snoozy up until May or June so I can't testify to how it is at night or in cool weather. Hope that help to answer your question."

The answer may exist somewhere in more detail. I may try actually calling the Lil Snoozy factory is SC. The Bigfoots have R8 insulation via a 1.5 inch thick polyurethane like insulation board. However, they are much more expensive then Casita's and Lil Snoozy's.

Walk in His Peace,
ScribeWithAStylus
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Old 12-10-2016, 04:07 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Lynn View Post
Howdy Scribe— And welcome! Just wondering what you meant by "a bit longer trailer further along to provide a separate room." I can't think of any molded fiberglass trailers with a room that can be closed off, except for a tiny wet bath. There are modest-sized stick-built trailers with bedrooms that have a door (we saw some when shopping, before we found our Casita). If you didn't need a room with a door, something like an Escape 19 with a table/bed at one end and a bed at the other would give you some separation.

/Mr Lynn
There are some. I have one, although one like mine, the Bigfoot Silver Cloud is almost impossible to find. Another one that is easier to find is the RQ model of the Bigfoot 25 foot camper. It has a bedroom that can function as its own room. I was looking at this before I found our Silver Cloud, as I like having a closed off bedroom.

So, welcome StyluswithaScribe. You might look at the above camper, the 25 foot model RQ from Bigfoot. However, you might need to rethink your tow vehicle if you go that route, although I am not sure about that statement either. I don't know the weight of that Bigfoot.

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Old 12-10-2016, 07:13 AM   #14
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Sorry, I did not see the posting where you describe that you know the RQ could work. However, if you do consider the Bigfoot camper, your larger Sprinter would be on the low end of the power you would need to tow.

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Old 12-10-2016, 07:38 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by Ellpea in CA View Post
KC, do you have thoughts on how to install one of these? We have carpeting on walls and ceiling (and this trailer has no rivets at all, so I'd hate to add any).
You can't just wish it into place and have it stay up there because of that pesky thing called gravity

After hanging around the forum as long as you have you already know the answers of how to attach things to the fiberglass walls. That answer is you have to use mechanical fasteners or you have to use adhesives and install some blocking into which you put mechanical fasteners.

So that means modification. The rivets are the easiest solution which will result in the most headroom being conserved.
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Old 12-13-2016, 09:20 PM   #16
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Sorry, I did not see the posting where you describe that you know the RQ could work. However, if you do consider the Bigfoot camper, your larger Sprinter would be on the low end of the power you would need to tow.

CindyL
CindyL,
Thank you for the suggestions and warnings. Looking at the Bigfoot web site, the 7500RQ currently weighs 4750, with 90 gallons of H20 at about 8 pounds yields 5500 pounds. With 500 pounds of options (a guesstimate), not in the listed trailer weight, and 300 pounds of "carry on luggage"this yields 6,300 pounds. The 3500 Sprinter has a 7500 tow capability. This would leave about 1,200 pounds of margin for towing. Is that dangerously low or does it just mean that we should tow at lower speeds? We have not towed travel trailers before and do not know.
Walk in His Peace,
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Old 12-13-2016, 10:08 PM   #17
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It sounds like you have quite a cushion to work with, and not many tow with so much water weight.
Dave & Paula
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Old 12-13-2016, 10:42 PM   #18
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Scribe, I think you mean the Bigfoot 25B25RQ.

Unless you're heading out into the desert for an extended stay, you probably wouldn't need to carry 45 gallons of fresh water, and certainly not 45 gallons of grey water (and 45 gallons of black water!). Can't imagine why you would have all three of these extra-large tanks full. Then, I'm sure others can. . .

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Old 12-14-2016, 05:52 AM   #19
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CindyL,
Thank you for the suggestions and warnings. Looking at the Bigfoot web site, the 7500RQ currently weighs 4750, with 90 gallons of H20 at about 8 pounds yields 5500 pounds. With 500 pounds of options (a guesstimate), not in the listed trailer weight, and 300 pounds of "carry on luggage"this yields 6,300 pounds. The 3500 Sprinter has a 7500 tow capability. This would leave about 1,200 pounds of margin for towing. Is that dangerously low or does it just mean that we should tow at lower speeds? We have not towed travel trailers before and do not know.
Walk in His Peace,
ScribeWithAStylus
I had best leave that question up to the experts. We have an Expedition that tows our Silver Cloud with no issues. The Bigfoot Silver Cloud weighs about 4200 to 4500, I think I remember hubby saying. I will say that we had bad sway when we first got it, but we bought a ProPride hitch and that took care of it. However, the Silver Cloud is from the 80s, and I am sure they have a better design now.

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Old 12-14-2016, 09:04 AM   #20
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Corrected Model Number of the Bigfoot is 25B25RQ

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Scribe, I think you mean the Bigfoot 25B25RQ.

Unless you're heading out into the desert for an extended stay, you probably wouldn't need to carry 45 gallons of fresh water, and certainly not 45 gallons of grey water (and 45 gallons of black water!). Can't imagine why you would have all three of these extra-large tanks full. Then, I'm sure others can. . .

/Mr Lynn
Thank you for the correction. It is indeed the 25B25RQ that we were looking at. However, due to availability, we may have to start with the Casita, maybe the Independence for its twin bed configuration as we are retired and getting up in the middle of the night more then we used to.

With regard to the water, we are trying to be conservative in our estimates to minimize the chances of making mistakes.

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