Interstate Mods - I'll go First

[Pahaska]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Surprise!!


If this hasn't been done to your rig, I'd recommend that you do it. IMO, it's well worth the time and money.

ROAD NOISE CONTROL IN AN AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE

I find that the noise level in my 2014.5 (2014 NCV3 chassis) is quite comfortable. I suspect that Mercedes made some mods in the later years.

[LB_3]

Notstock commented earlier in this thread confirming the inside of the NCV3 doors looks similar to the photo IB posted.

Road noise is very dependent on tire selection and surface type so I would expect asphalt roads and soft rubber tires would be much quieter than harder tire compounds and grooved cement.

I make a living with my ears so I can be pretty sensitive to prolonged exposure to loud environmnets

[InterBlog]

The NCV3 question is a good one. I don't know. One of these days I'm going to drive in the passenger seat of someone's NCV3 Interstate and I'll gain a wider perspective on such things.

I will say that the noise levels in our van have been fatiguing. My head rings for several hours after long day's drive. Our daughter has complained about being temporarily and partially deafened (an unprecedented experience for her at the time, as she'd never before traveled in a noisy vehicle).

The data in the blog post were acquired mid-cab, roughly representing an average condition. The localized effects are actually more dramatic. The driver's ear is between 1 and 2 feet from the driver's door, and that's where I notice the improvement the most. LB_3 noise-dampened the driver's door first, and then quite unexpectedly I had to drive the van to a work job while the passenger door was sitting stripped and unfinished. I felt like cotton wool had been stuffed in my left ear, as that side was relatively quiet while the other remained loud.

I suspect that qualitative reports will vary widely on this subject. Many Interstate owners are of retirement age, and older people have typically experienced some level of age-related hearing degradation. So what bothers me or LB_3 might not even be noticeable to some of them.

[Mcrid]

My 2016 has sound deadening material in the doors from the OEM. I did add some Dynamat to the very lower portions where there was none when I installed new speakers and this did help a bit. Our cabin noise is comfortable except on really rough chip seal roads.

[LB_3]

Dynamat is about 25% of the solution. The mass loaded vinyl is where the real gains are made.

[ben322]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

The NCV3 question is a good one. I don't know. One of these days I'm going to drive in the passenger seat of someone's NCV3 Interstate and I'll gain a wider perspective on such things.

I will say that the noise levels in our van have been fatiguing. My head rings for several hours after long day's drive. Our daughter has complained about being temporarily and partially deafened (an unprecedented experience for her at the time, as she'd never before traveled in a noisy vehicle).

Not scientific but an observation as we also have a 2006 RT SS Agile. It is significantly louder driving at highway speeds and frankly the steering wheel angle is a little bothersome after driving awhile. All the doors are much lighter and the drivetrain and wind noise in the back are significant. It also rattles a lot more. That said, I do love the 2.7L relative simplicity and how easy it is to work on compared to the OM642 in the NCV3 even without SCR. We never tuned the T1N because it always felt like it had plenty of power and gets good mileage but it isn't driven near as much either. We've traveled to FL from MD many times with 6 passengers and the NCV3 AS is a comfortable ride.

[InterBlog]

Ahhhh... it's the little things that make the difference between Interstate efficiency and Interstate annoyance...

In post #884, I talked about doing a mod that allows me to carry my folding bike in the lower portion of the closet. The mistake I made with that mod was to only add one shelf above the bike. So I spent almost a month on our 2017 Canada round-trip constantly excavating the heap of gear that accumulated on that single shelf, digging for what I needed, piling the works on the couch, finding what I needed, and then restoring the entire heap to the single shelf.

The second shelf has been duly constructed and added. Like the first, it is also resting on pilaster clips, so it can be easily removed when needed.

[Tincampers]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Ahhhh... it's the little things that make the difference between Interstate efficiency and Interstate annoyance...

In post #884, I talked about doing a mod that allows me to carry my folding bike in the lower portion of the closet. The mistake I made with that mod was to only add one shelf above the bike. So I spent almost a month on our 2017 Canada round-trip constantly excavating the heap of gear that accumulated on that single shelf, digging for what I needed, piling the works on the couch, finding what I needed, and then restoring the entire heap to the single shelf.

The second shelf has been duly constructed and added. Like the first, it is also resting on pilaster clips, so it can be easily removed when needed.

How do you keep your solar panels clean? We had one on our 25’ FC and it was always dirty. I carried one of this 12’ collapsible ladders. Not sure I would have room for anything like that in the future-new-to-me Interstate.

We will be wheels up Thursday morning to Phoenix to pick it up.🤗🤗🤗

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Tincampers

How do you keep your solar panels clean?

Coin op car wash with high bays for semis, and long spray wands. Carrying a Telesteps stepladder to the car wash helps if the wands aren't long enough otherwise. Don't need to carry the ladder all the time. However, if you have the Fiamma F65 Eagle self-retracting awning— that is notorious for either extending at the wrong time or failing to retract— you may want to find a place to carry the ladder all the time just in case of awning failure. Behind the rear sofa is best for inside storage, though you may have to do the back-to-front shuffle with the ladder whenever you want to convert the sofa to a bed. When you're not actually driving, the driver's footwell is the least-used patch of floor space, and a good place to stash the ladder until you do the front-to-back shuffle to put the ladder back behind the sofa before you hit the road again.

By the way, you can inspect the roof without climbing up there by using your smartphone's video camera and a long selfie stick. Also good for inspecting underneath without having to crawl under.

[LB_3]

We keep our Telesteps 1400E behind the passenger seat. A single bungee holds it in place. We have a large canvas bag full of doo-dads hanging over it so the telesteps is nearly invisible.

[Tincampers]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

However, if you have the Fiamma F65 Eagle self-retracting awning— that is notorious for either extending at the wrong time or failing to retract— you may want to find a place to carry the ladder all the time just in case of awning failure.

By the way, you can inspect the roof without climbing up there by using your smartphone's video camera and a long selfie stick. Also good for inspecting underneath without having to crawl under.

Not sure which awning they installed in 2007. It is manually operated though.

Good idea on the long selfie stick.

Originally Posted by LB_3

We keep our Telesteps 1400E behind the passenger seat. A single bungee holds it in place. We have a large canvas bag full of doo-dads hanging over it so the telesteps is nearly invisible.

Ahhh, no wonder I didn’t see one. They are very handy to have.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Tincampers

Not sure which awning they installed in 2007. It is manually operated though.

Those are Carefree awnings. They didn't switch to Fiamma F65s until they switched to the NCV3 Sprinters, and didn't switch to the F65Eagle until about 2015 or so— but I don't recall the exact year.

[LB_3]

Here is a pic showing the ladder:


This isn’t a great pic but shows the bag over the ladder. It’s full of maps and manuals and doesn’t really stick into the aisle as much as the photo might suggest:

[Tincampers]

Originally Posted by LB_3

Here is a pic showing the ladder:


This isn’t a great pic but shows the bag over the ladder. It’s full of maps and manuals and doesn’t really stick into the aisle as much as the photo might suggest:

Funny, I saw that first picture earlier but was only seeing the window covering, never saw anything else.

[InterBlog]

LOL... I should give my husband my Imgur password. That way he can post pics efficiently when I'm off-line and embroiled in hour-long yoga routines.

This issue comes up a lot on a variety of different forums as van people tend to assume that they need fixed, exterior ladders. I tend to advise against those. They look sexy, like van jewelry, but why have a fixed ladder when you can carry one with so much more versatility? I need to be able to access both sides of our roof in order to load and unload our inflatable kayak. And also to clean the solar panels. And also to wax the shoulders of the van. And for ten other miscellaneous reasons.

I have a Duluth Trading organizer hung on the back of the passenger seat. The Telesteps 1400E is barely visible when it is in place.

[Tincampers]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

LOL... I should give my husband my Imgur password. That way he can post pics efficiently when I'm off-line and embroiled in hour-long yoga routines.

This issue comes up a lot on a variety of different forums as van people tend to assume that they need fixed, exterior ladders. I tend to advise against those. They look sexy, like van jewelry, but why have a fixed ladder when you can carry one with so much more versatility? I need to be able to access both sides of our roof in order to load and unload our inflatable kayak. And also to clean the solar panels. And also to wax the shoulders of the van. And for ten other miscellaneous reasons.

I have a Duluth Trading organizer hung on the back of the passenger seat. The Telesteps 1400E is barely visible when it is in place.

That’s an excellent idea. I need to implement both ideas. Finding the necessary space for stuff is going to be a challenge. We like challenges!

[Pahaska]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Those are Carefree awnings. They didn't switch to Fiamma F65s until they switched to the NCV3 Sprinters, and didn't switch to the F65Eagle until about 2015 or so— but I don't recall the exact year.

My 2014.5 has the Fiamma Eagle. The 2014.5 is a 2015 Airstream upfit in a 2014 Sprinter. I think that was the first year for the Eagle.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by NotStock

Yes it’s going to be a custom mix with graphics by the same people who built my lofted truck for last years sema show

Still waiting for Mr. Jackson to cross-post his spiffy new Interstate pics here.

I personally love that color, but I quickly learned the hard way that I'm in a minority. Twenty years ago, Ford Escorts were offered in a similar shade (a bit lighter). I joyously bought one, only to find people making dis-favorable comments everywhere I went. Not only had I bought one of the lowest-end, most unimpressive econoboxes ever built, I had bought THAT color. And then I took a bath on the resale because of it.

But personally, I love the color.

[wachuko]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Still waiting for Mr. Jackson to cross-post his spiffy new Interstate pics here.

I personally love that color, but I quickly learned the hard way that I'm in a minority. Twenty years ago, Ford Escorts were offered in a similar shade (a bit lighter). I joyously bought one, only to find people making dis-favorable comments everywhere I went. Not only had I bought one of the lowest-end, most unimpressive econoboxes ever built, I had bought THAT color. And then I took a bath on the resale because of it.

But personally, I love the color.

I had a motorcycle that color... very nice. Specially out in the sun when all the depth of the color would shine through. And all the additional details he did to it make it very unique. I only got to see the outside photos. Would to see all the changes he made on the interior finishes.

I do have to say, my favorite color has always been dark metallic blues... but that copper/orange metallic color looks great.

[wachuko]

You can see the recent photos here...

https://www.instagram.com/notstockphoto/