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Lily&Me · 07-18-2014, 02:36 PM

Yikes! That's a long haul!

I remember well, however, our first few years, too......we wanted to see it all, and now. So fun.

Have a great time.

Maggie

Ron_CA · 07-18-2014, 02:56 PM

Thanks Maggie

This time we are traveling together with our very good friends and neighbors who bought a 2014.5 Interstate after we bought ours.

Lily&Me · 07-18-2014, 04:40 PM

Yeeaaay, Interstates!

Maggie

c21 · 07-31-2014, 09:39 AM

Just got back from St George Utah where I towed my Harley Triglide. The round trip in the rv was 1,050ish miles. Spent one night in the AI then left it in storage while we did a 9 day bike loop. I'm happy to report that everything worked perfectly on the AI. Hit some pretty warm weather on the bikes but no wet weather at all.

Ron_CA · 08-07-2014, 07:13 PM

We only made it to Mississippi and back. 3,882 miles so now have 10,700 miles in 2 1/2 months of ownership. Love this van.

Drove part of the Natchez Trace in Miss. And also up Highway 61 which is very beautiful. Starts out in a very rough area of Baton Rouge Louisiana but once through there it is beautiful. Lots of beautiful trees with spanish moss. Stayed right on the Mississippi River.

Then we cruised to Monroe, LA and ate lunch at Willie's Duck Diner. Very touristy but really good food. Seafood Gumbo, Red Beans, Sausage & Rice. Yum.

Spent the night at Lincoln Parish Park in Rusom (I think) and if ever in the area don't miss the opportunity to stay here. Only 45 sites on a lake with paved walking trail. Very peaceful.

c21 · 10-15-2014, 06:34 PM

Just completed a 7,700 mile trip to the east coast. Visited 26 relatives in 6 states and 3 old friends + saw lots of places, stuff and great scenery. (also some great eats). AI consumed 419 gallons of diesel for a trip average of 18.38 mpg :-). I am happy to report that my AI performed flawlessly for the entire trip. Every single component/system worked like they were supposed to. Going over the Rocky's west of Denver we encountered an unexpected snow storm that eventually caused the closure of the I-70 in both directions. There were lots of cars and semis that had lost traction and couldn't get going again but we fell in with a line of cars and trucks that were driving pretty sanely and slogged it out for about 40 miles to the highway closure point. Speed was 10 to 25 mph most of the way and we crossed a pass at over 11,000 ft. The AI never once lost traction and when we got to the closure point we noticed that the US 160 was open to Leadville, CO and we felt confident to continue on. We saw many more stopped vehicles and crossed a 2nd 11,000+ ft pass but we drove on thru and rerouted our trip south and down off the mountains. I am happy to report that with 11,681 total miles we have not had a single issue with our AI other than the propane valve recall. I have owned 6 previous rv's and this is the only one that didn't come with a punch list of stuff to get fixed. Color me pleased.

73shark · 10-15-2014, 06:55 PM

There's always a few that slip thru.

Glad you got one.

PSchw · 10-15-2014, 06:57 PM

Good for you I know the can make good once mine was not one of them. Still love it even with my punch lists.
Sound like a fun trip.
Happy travel.
Peter

Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

weirdstuff · 10-15-2014, 09:22 PM

Hi Ron! Just saw this thread and saw that you did another big trip. Glad all went well for you!

Lily&Me · 10-16-2014, 06:44 AM

Love my Interstate.

Maggie

Ron_CA · 10-16-2014, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weirdstuff

Hi Ron! Just saw this thread and saw that you did another big trip. Glad all went well for you!

We have done a fair amount of exploring since we got our van and have enjoyed every day / mile. We recently took a quick trip to San Francisco and back and love the manuverability. We were able to easily pull off to the side of the road and check out a couple sea otters playing in a small marina in Moss Landing. Drove through San Fran twice (didn't see any Class A or Cs) and like being able to do U Turns too. But you already knew that

weirdstuff · 10-16-2014, 10:57 AM

haha!!! Every time husband pulls a u-turn (frequently), he says, "Let's see the bigger rigs do that!"

73shark · 10-16-2014, 08:51 PM

I discovered the hard way that when the Garmin lady says make a legal U-turn, doesn't mean that it's necessarily legal at that intersection. Ouch!

c21 · 10-17-2014, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73shark

I discovered the hard way that when the Garmin lady says make a legal U-turn, doesn't mean that it's necessarily legal at that intersection. Ouch!

Although the Airstream came with an in-dash gps I added an RV specific, large format Garmin RV-760LMT to our RV and I couldn't be happier. It has similated, photo realistic junction views to show freeway junctions and off ramps, it has lane assist to show all junction and exit lanes and highlights the one you should be in and last but not least: traffic alerts which often warn over 40 miles ahead of traffic delays, usually due to construction, and in the event of a long delay, it calculates and offers the option of a faster detour. Exit and junction alerts are a mile ahead which is important in an rv. It also give an audible and visual alert of school zones at about .4 miles ahead. The big plus is you can plan your routes on your computer and download them into the Garmin. It will store 15 seperate routes. I have it mounted to the right of the steering wheel with a ProClip mount. I keep the installed GPS set to display whatever media or Sirius station I am listening to. Garmin lady can still give bad instructions ocasionally. I do use mine on Automobile mode though because in RV mode, it tends to reroute you as if you were in a large motorhome and I like to stay with the route I planned.

Boxster1971 · 10-17-2014, 07:49 AM

I also run a second navigation solution on my iPhone using an App called Copilot, that does not require cell data. I'm also using a ProClip holder. The Copilot App cost me about $30 and is much faster than the Garmin inside the Kenwood unit provided by Airstream. I've found that the Garmin is too slow to recalculate your route if you make a wrong turn in city traffic.

- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

c21 · 10-17-2014, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

I also run a second navigation solution on my iPhone using an App called Copilot, that does not require cell data. I'm also using a ProClip holder. The Copilot App cost me about $30 and is much faster than the Garmin inside the Kenwood unit provided by Airstream. I've found that the Garmin is too slow to recalculate your route if you make a wrong turn in city traffic.

- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

Yes, the slow recalc speed was one of the reasons I chose to go with a dedicated unit. The 760 saved me time and hassle more than once on our last trip. Ocasionally I will use the in-dash unit for an off route destination although the RV760 lets you add stopovers such as gas stations or restaurants to your current active route.

Bill
2014 Twin on 2013 Sprinter.

camlivy · 10-17-2014, 12:45 PM

We had problem with automatic step closing. Behind the sliding door is the switch. When the door is closed, thus switch makes contact with the door. When it doesn't the step acts erratically and the door sensor reacts. Our dealer installed a plate on the door contact to make a better connection. We still have difficulty slamming the sliding door consistently enough to avoid "open door" messages. It was the "stay centered in lane sensor" that bothered us until we got used to it. Just completed out 1st 2000 miles and love it.

InterBlog · 10-27-2014, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73shark

Curious how cool the rear A/C kept the interior w/o the chassis A/C. I can't keep the rear of the RV cool w/ both going when temps over 85* and I even mounted two 9" fans to blow the cold air from the front to the rear.

Not sure if this comment will add anything, but here goes. Mercedes Benz (MB) told me last month that Sprinters will lose freon over time (mentioning this because yours is listed as a 2011). This used to be the case with pretty much all vehicles - charging freon was routine - but we've gotten spoiled in America in the past decade or so because they largely solved that problem (e.g., I had a Toyota Sienna Gen 1 for a dozen years, never put a speck of freon in it, and the a/c was every bit as cold on my last day of ownership as it had been on my first).

We bought our 2007 AI with the seller's explicit representation that all systems had been checked out and were operating normally. Three days after purchase, I took the thing to MB after noticing that the a/c didn't seem to be functioning properly, because I was intended to use MB's findings as 3rd party corroboration in asking the seller to pay the resulting repair bill (I actually had noticed the issue prior to purchase). MB did an overnight leak test using dye, and could identify no leaks. Despite this, the thing proved to be short one full pound of freon (!). Apparently it had escaped slowly over a period of years. I asked the rep if this kind of thing was normal for Sprinters, and he indicated that it was. He said that I might go another X years without needing another freon charge, but eventually I probably will.

But keep this in mind if you have a/c issues or even suspect you have a possible a/c issue. I would not have guessed this old-style freon loss to be the case with ours.

Alison and Lawrence
League City TX
THE INTERSTATE BLOG

73shark · 10-27-2014, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Not sure if this comment will add anything, but here goes. Mercedes Benz (MB) told me last month that Sprinters will lose freon over time (mentioning this because yours is listed as a 2011). This used to be the case with pretty much all vehicles - charging freon was routine - but we've gotten spoiled in America in the past decade or so because they largely solved that problem (e.g., I had a Toyota Sienna Gen 1 for a dozen years, never put a speck of freon in it, and the a/c was every bit as cold on my last day of ownership as it had been on my first).

We bought our 2007 AI with the seller's explicit representation that all systems had been checked out and were operating normally. Three days after purchase, I took the thing to MB after noticing that the a/c didn't seem to be functioning properly, because I was intended to use MB's findings as 3rd party corroboration in asking the seller to pay the resulting repair bill (I actually had noticed the issue prior to purchase). MB did an overnight leak test using dye, and could identify no leaks. Despite this, the thing proved to be short one full pound of freon (!). Apparently it had escaped slowly over a period of years. I asked the rep if this kind of thing was normal for Sprinters, and he indicated that it was. He said that I might go another X years without needing another freon charge, but eventually I probably will.

But keep this in mind if you have a/c issues or even suspect you have a possible a/c issue. I would not have guessed this old-style freon loss to be the case with ours.

Alison and Lawrence
League City TX
THE INTERSTATE BLOG

I assume that you're talking about the Sprinter chassis A/C. That works fine on mine but just doesn't keep the rear cool even w/ the two fans I added over the galley. Automotive A/C systems have a lot of places to leak. The rotary seal on the compressor and the joints that are sealed w/ O-rings are primarily the culprits.

The rear A/C doesn't produce the specified temperature drop across the evaporator. I contacted Dometic and they said that while adding freon might help, they didn't recommend it as it was a sealed system (no high or low pressure ports like automotive or residential A/C) and it would leak after installing a port to add freon.

If I ever have a custom Sprinter RV built, it will have the chassis rear A/C for starters. Since we don't camp in it, don't need an AC powered rear A/C.