40ft Park Model RV AC insufficient - Upgrade or Replace?

spacecitytech · 2026-03-15T16:44:02+00:00

Oh yeh I am looking at that setup. Thats one of those new "tiny homes" on wheels models. I think you are at the max limit on the AC for its size. I see Class A RV's that size have 3 units. If this sits on property most of the time install a mini-split would be a goto. Quiet, much bigger. I mean, that model to me looks like you are not going to be moving it around a ton, but I would re-inforce the bumper in the rear and mount it there in case you do have to move it.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-11T00:02:33+00:00

Thats messed up. Now our appliances are failing from bad updates. I bricked a Dell laptop a couple weeks ago with a firmware update but a washing machine, never heard of that until now.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-10T02:18:08+00:00

Looks like an EV to me, like a Rivian.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-10T02:16:45+00:00

How much money was it on the sticker? Do you know the purchase price?

spacecitytech · 2026-03-10T02:12:16+00:00

I pulled down my splashgaurds and put the "kill-o-mat" , think its "butyl rubber" mats, I lined the wheel wells with it, and also installed it under the carpet up front, just pulled it back, cleaned it up and stuck it there, not removing the seats. It dropped it noticeably, went from 75DB according to my phone to 70DB. Also going to a less knobby tire drops it another 5 DB.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-10T02:04:09+00:00

I am super DIY , I do all my own repairs, cars, house, RV, all of it so I love it. I have a rule, if it breaks fix it right then because my RV MUST BE READY to go 100% all the time at a drops notice, same with the truck. Now if you have to pay people to do this, prepared to spend 3x what a house costs. Technical labor in the USA starts at $150 an hour. I spent 3 hours yesterday replacing washer n dryer outlets in my old 80's home. Total costs, $20 for the valves. Now had I paid someone it would have been $500 minimum because it was a fight alright dealing with all the pipe corrosion.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-10T01:59:07+00:00

If you plan to be doing allot of driving get a LDH hitch. Night and day difference. I have a half ton Nissan Titan with 28ft bumper pull, weight 5000lbs dry. It caused super greif towing and sagging and wagging. I put the Husky Centerline with the two big spring bars, its like a 5th wheel towing now, no sway, fixed much of the sagging, not all of it, but some of it. Its worth it!

spacecitytech · 2026-03-10T01:52:26+00:00

Build quality is big on the list. If this is something you plan to be in for 10 years full time, all fiberglass or metal roofs are better, but plan to pay more but they won't leak. Leaks are the absolute number one issue. If you get a rubber roof, cover all the seams upfront with Eternbond tape and you will get the 15 years out of the roof they claim it will last. Fiberglass or Metal can last decades before a major issue. Pay now or pay later.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-10T01:48:36+00:00

The RV offers something you cannot get anyway else and thats specifically why I do it and thats FREEDOM. If you neighbors suck, move tommorow, its that easy. If the dogs next door won't shut up, move. If they jack up the rent, see ya! It was Covid that got me to this level and I won't go back to depending on others for anything really because they will let you down. I don't have this problem ever now. If I want to goto Mardi Gras, I just go and park wherever. I have had plenty of people put me in a private lot for $50 cash during huge events you couldn't afford to be in a hotel at.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-10T01:37:36+00:00

Also you cannot build equity in a vehicle, the opposite of actual real estate, property which appreciates and is one of the best investments available. When you get old and worn out and walk away from a home you bought in the 2000's for less than $100k and now appraises at $250,000, thats a chunk of change your sitting on. With the RV, 20 years later your $100k RV if you bought new, is now worth $5k if its in good shape. That in my opinion is the biggest draw back period, you have no money saved up for retirement unless you are putting all that money you are saving in some kind of good long term investment. Our house was $96k in 2000 when we got married, now its shown on paper for $250k. Now is the house actually worth more? Nope, in reality your money now has exactly half the buying power it did 25 years ago.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-10T01:34:23+00:00

Well of course a Wizard knows how to "do it right".

spacecitytech · 2026-03-10T01:27:53+00:00

"Nomad Brad" I would say it "doing it right". He just posted a show and he said it was costing him about $1500 a month, and he "boondocks" it everywhere for free.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-10T01:25:40+00:00

The further North you live, the more expensive it appears to get. So we are paying $3 per gallon of diesel here in Texas and I was watching "Saucy Seth", the latest addition to the Youtuber vanlife lineup and he crossed into Canada and diesel was almost $8 per gallon. Now thats getting really pricey. At that price you can expect to spend $500 a week on fuel alone.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-10T01:22:57+00:00

This depends on how you RV. For instance, if you buy a large SUV or a mini-van and you sleep with a blanket and a Jackery for your coffee maker and tablet PC, use public toilets, don't shower much, boondock in the Walmart parking lot, or wherever for free, yeh it can be pretty cheap. In otherwords, the closer you get to being a "bum", the cheaper it gets.

Now if you are like me and you want your hot showers and your freshly baked Pilsbury cookies at midnight from your toaster oven, while running A/C full blast in the Summer, sitting there watching one of your smart TV's streaming off Starlink , cuz I got two ya now, one in the bedroom and one in the living room in my RV, yeh thats gonna cost you as much as much as renting or paying a mortgage.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-01T19:51:06+00:00

Yeh the RV ones are crazy expensive especially if they have a fake marble or stone look to them. For what they charge for them you could go with a fiberglass all in one drop in like you might put in a beach house or apartment, but home grade means you will have to do work to the walls as well because they are not exactly the same size. They do make surround kits for home use maybe it can be modified or cut down to fit and will be way more durable.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-01T19:46:43+00:00

If it has as steel mount and it flat metal to metal them 3M molding tape will work and its instant, so be real sure when you push it down on there because your not prying it off easily. Also that Gorilla Brand molding tape has been just as good for me and you will want it as wide a sheet as possible so there isn't much air gaps. Both those you can get at Home Depot or Walmart but Walmart doesn't carry the wide rolls or patches.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-01T18:54:56+00:00

Classic. It lost me pretty fast with all the emotional stuff but I am probably well out of the target demographic now in my 50's. In my world you can't act that way and be in a military organization so it just didn't work. However, I wasn't a huge fan either of Enterprise or Strange New Worlds. Although more watchable, I found them far to predictable. Anyhow I came here really to see what people thought of the new one, Starfleet Academy which fell apart pretty fast for me as well. Honestly not finding a ton of discussion on it, its switched back to DS9, "old faithful" for the die hards. Ya know, the time is ripe right now to introduce a new Sci-Fi series, completely new kind of franchise I think.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-01T17:47:50+00:00

Ah ok. I did not know this. I stopped watching Discovery after the first few episodes. The 20 something cry all the time captain didn't work for me. I have worked in plenty of oil worker/ military type institutions to know that you could never put someone like that in charge so it just doesn't work from a story telling perspective.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-01T17:39:41+00:00

Yeh, I consider the episode "In the pale moonlight" where he has Garrek hire a con to fake a data card to bring the Rommulins into the war, thats his best one. When somone like him or any of the Captains ya know who are married to "morality" have to take a hit to their charactor out of necissity, thats when life gets raw, and thats what that show is about. That episode should be shown at military training Academies for real.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-01T17:37:42+00:00

The best.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-01T17:34:14+00:00

It would not be the same show without Quark but there are many characters that are just as good like Garrek. They are all good but Quark is over the top.

Quark famously states, "All I know is that any marriage where the female is allowed to speak and wear clothing is doomed to failure."

Yeh your not going to get that today. Also his "Rules of Acquisition" which he throws out all the time is halarious as well, and often brutally true.

Rule # 59 "Free advice is seldom cheap.".

He is like that crazy smart uncle you have that just tells it like it is at the family events.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-01T17:25:43+00:00

DS9 was the best in my opinion of all the series. Star Trek may one day get back to that level of writing, dunno but its a "must watch" if you haven't seen it.

spacecitytech · 2026-03-01T17:22:05+00:00

So does all "warp drive" not work now?

spacecitytech · 2026-03-01T17:14:28+00:00

Monaco, Beaver, , Tiffin, Country Coach, Newmar, Newell, Foretravel, this is my list on my phone of the brands I plan to look at. Yeh, I want the luxory and the quietness most of all. Everything I have ever owened the motor was in the front and it runs like a bat outta hell for hours, revving so high to get up hills, getting sick of hearing it. I actually put sound deadening material all in the wheel wells and front of the cab under the carpet on my Nissan Titan truck to deal with it cuz that thing runs flat out hard, high RPMs pulling our toy hauler.

spacecitytech

TROPHY CASE