Passionfingers new 20.64-1 OB

[Passionfingers]

So today we picked up Esme Expanda, she looks good behind Barry the BT50, although there is a bit of sagging in the back end of the BT.
The rain came so didnt put the van fully out, so pics are a bit dark.
Pretty painless handover, the 12 pin plug on the tug didnt power up the ESC- so had to get a new wire run.

We added the following options:
12v winegard & amp- part of show bonus
Fusion poverty pack stereo and outdoor speakers - part of show bonus
TV- was a 18.5", they upgraded to a 21" for the hassles we went through when ordering as they kept changing layouts & prices on us from factory
We had a full oven installed, and put the microwave overhead like the 2014 models
Extended drawbar
Upgraded to Ibis 3 A/C
Shelves in robe
2 x 150w solar, 2 x 100 AH batteries
Privacy screens
Water filter
Changed a few drawers and cupboard opening directions
Added 12v and TV points to the dinette & rear bed
And managed to get the kitchen bench laminex a 2014 color as well.

The van turned out almost exactly as we ordered, only missing a 12v plug under the kitchen seats and the already discussed USB power point.
Our biggest gripe was the gas bottle layout on the A frame, completely different to what we viewed as a display model, and the spare is mounted on the frame still, the display model had a drop down on the LHS behind the tandems. Whilst I hope to mount a toolbox to fix the gas issue, am a tad peeved of having to mount the spare elsewhere when I expected it to be as per display model.



We ordered a full annexe and will put that up on the wkd as well as put the beds out, should we waterproof the bed ends canvas or is it fine as is?








And now we understand why we couldnt get the washer in the bathroom


So now we just gotta get it away for a wkd to put it through its paces, and save up for a toolbox, tried to find a local supplier who does the chinese types like Apex Trading in NSW, but so far no luck in SA.

We are heading off to Qld for all of August and now we cant wait!

 

[17triton]

Looks great!!! Where are you heading for the weekend shakedown?

 

[Passionfingers]

Undecided yet, flinders or the riverland, probably wont be until June as I have work O/S for the next few weeks.
Wherever I go, needs to be a fair distance so I can get a feel for the fuel consumption, so it gives me more of an idea for the budget to QLD.

 

[Crusty181]

Congrats, great looking van. I initially got a shock at the length of the extended drawer bar on our van ... but its perfect for a large alum tool box

 

[AzHaych]

Hi @Passionfingers van looks awesome, I am a massive fan of this model! Although as you say I also would be disappointed with the gas bottle placement but more importantly the spare not being under the van. I would actually go as far to say that I think you may have a 2015 built on a 2014 frame.
If I was disappointed like you are about the spare and the cost of having to relocate it. I would be getting into my dealer and telling them that you want them to put the spare under the van where it was/is meant to be at Jayco's cost.

Great list of extras and great looking van, congrats.

Az

 

[Passionfingers]

Yeah @AzHaych , am working out a plan for the spare, hoping Jayco assist, it's definitley a 2015 frame, due to the wheel arch impeding into the bathroom. I have been looking at a few other vans delivered this year and its not very consistent in placement of bottles and spare, but website shows bottles with a cover as per display model we ordered from.

 

[dagree]

Looks great @Passionfingers :encouragement:

 

[burnsie]

Hey @Passionfingers the van looks sensational, bet you can't wait to get away.....Congrats

 

[willobee]

That looks fantastic, congratulations!
We ordered the same pattern for the upoulstery

 

[Crusty181]

Yeah @AzHaych , am working out a plan for the spare, hoping Jayco assist, it's definitley a 2015 frame, due to the wheel arch impeding into the bathroom. I have been looking at a few other vans delivered this year and its not very consistent in placement of bottles and spare, but website shows bottles with a cover as per display model we ordered from.

I discovered after the fact that everything changes when you extend the drawer bar. The display models and brochure pics are generally standard drawer bar models, and they omit to tell you (or simply don't know) that extending the drawer bar effects everything else.

They must have also poo poo'ed the new under floor spare carrier they had at the start of the new models, which did seem a little too flimsy anyway


Our 20.63.1 OB has an extended drawer bar and I could have sworn the display model had an alum mesh in the "A" frame, but on delivery ours didnt. Coincidentally at that time of handover they had no OB models on display, and we were told by default and the process of elimination "that it looks like OB models don't seem to come with the mesh" ... which seemed really odd.

On our 5 week xmas trip OB's with mess were thick on the ground, but none with the ext drawerbar. Ive since discovered that the "off the shelf" mesh frame doesn't fit the extended drawer bar angles, so they just don't bother putting one on. Im sure the sales guy honestly just didnt know that the mesh is made to suit the std "A" frame only.

The cost to extend the drawer bar is around $250 regardless of Tourer or OB, and regardless of mesh or not. They sell the mesh for around $130, so they should have offset the extension cost, but Im confident the dealer just didnt know.

So .... because Ive hidden my point somewhere in the ramblings above; consider you responses to the extended drawer bar being the excuse you didn't get what you expected. Generally, "you never told me otherwise" is something they will struggle to get past, and should help to put responsibility in the dealer lap, and come to a compromise to get a solution everyone is happy with.

My dealers service area (and spares area) has been fantastic with the after sales issues, so hopefully you have a similar experience.

 

[Crusty181]

should we waterproof the bed ends canvas or is it fine as is?

I posted some time back what to do regarding the 'waterproofing' of your bed end canvas in the link below

Here tis

 

[Passionfingers]

Thanks @Crusty181 - is what I thought I should do - gonna be a long process to do with all this dreary wet cold weather around in Adelaide atm, but want to get it done now before I put anything in it.

 

[Crusty181]

The more thoroughly you season it the better it will love you back

 

[JaycoQ]

I discovered after the fact that everything changes when you extend the drawer bar. The display models and brochure pics are generally standard drawer bar models, and they omit to tell you (or simply don't know) that extending the drawer bar effects everything else.

They must have also poo poo'ed the new under floor spare carrier they had at the start of the new models, which did seem a little too flimsy anyway
View attachment 32123

Our 20.63.1 OB has an extended drawer bar and I could have sworn the display model had an alum mesh in the "A" frame, but on delivery ours didnt. Coincidentally at that time of handover they had no OB models on display, and we were told by default and the process of elimination "that it looks like OB models don't seem to come with the mesh" ... which seemed really odd.

On our 5 week xmas trip OB's with mess were thick on the ground, but none with the ext drawerbar. Ive since discovered that the "off the shelf" mesh frame doesn't fit the extended drawer bar angles, so they just don't bother putting one on. Im sure the sales guy honestly just didnt know that the mesh is made to suit the std "A" frame only.

The cost to extend the drawer bar is around $250 regardless of Tourer or OB, and regardless of mesh or not. They sell the mesh for around $130, so they should have offset the extension cost, but Im confident the dealer just didnt know.

So .... because Ive hidden my point somewhere in the ramblings above; consider you responses to the extended drawer bar being the excuse you didn't get what you expected. Generally, "you never told me otherwise" is something they will struggle to get past, and should help to put responsibility in the dealer lap, and come to a compromise to get a solution everyone is happy with.

My dealers service area (and spares area) has been fantastic with the after sales issues, so hopefully you have a similar experience.

Interesting point you raise on the extended drawbar. The 20.63.1 we just sold had the extended drawbar with the mesh. It had the wheel mounted on the rear bar. We're waiting for our 20.64.1.ob end of jun delivery and have again ordered an extended drawbar, they've dropped the length to 200mm rather than 300mm. The dealer told us they had just put one on display. Saw it today and was disappointed the spare wheel was on the a-frame. Looking under the van there's more than enough room far a spare at the back. I asked for mine to be relocated under the van. Will be interesting to see the response from the factory. Maybe it will be a Friday build and they'll do it☺

 

[Crusty181]

@jayco I thought the under chassis tire mounts looked a little flimsy, but im going to try to buy one just to store a spare tire case (without the rim)

I didnt check before hand and made some assumptions, and it turned out the std drawbar on our 20.63.1 was longer than the drawer on our std 2009 16.49.1, so the extra .... plus the 300mm ext was a massive increase. The 200mm ext would probably be fine, because the 300mm is noticably huge.

 

[Passionfingers]

So yesterday went to put a few new purchases into the van and measure up for some others and this involved kneeling down on the floor. The missus threw a new rug in the other week, and as I knelt on it, I noticed it was soaked, and upon tracing moisture noticed a fair watermark on the floor directly behind the slide out lounge / fridge area where water had pooled. WTF! I thought.
So I traced as much as I could but came up none the wiser, so stuck the missus inside and started spraying the roof madly to see if anything would indicate where the leak was coming from.
The only thing I can come up with is that maybe in the preceding week when we had some heavy rain, that it splashed up under the front hatch / skylight - is this common?
Naturally I will check again when we have a heavy rain event - but if it isn't the hatch, where else should I be looking, and if it is the hatch, what has been the fix, a new seal, re- alignment etc. ?
Cheers PF

 

[TRAKADU]

Congrats on the new van. Looks great!

 

[Crusty181]

@Passionfingers we've got a 2014 20.63.1OB. We recently had a flow coming out into the van from under the lounge. I traced it back to the water filler box where the mains hose connects etc. The box is mounted on the pretend uneven black checker plate, relies only on the rubber seal, with no additional flexi sealer or silicon and doesn't seal 100% because of the uneven surface. The rain water was running down the side of the van, between the rubber seal and the checker plate and running inside the van, across the under the lounge and out in the lounge under the Setec charger ... all in all about 6ft from the source. The wet mat was on the opposite side of the van, much closer to the caravan door, than the filler box on the other side.

It was difficult to seeing the gap of the rubber seal from the outside, the gap was small but constant rain made for a small but constant pool under the couch and flow inside the van. Luckily I always choose to always raise that side of the van on setup. If the van was slightly lower on that side the water wold be constantly pooling and never being seen or noticed.

The exit point of the flow where it becomes visible in the van, or soaks mats etc would depend on the angle of the van each time its set up etc.

 

[Passionfingers]

Thanks @Crusty181 , looks like I might be in under that seat tonight then having a look, because that area sounds about right.

 

[Crusty181]

Thanks @Crusty181 , looks like I might be in under that seat tonight then having a look, because that area sounds about right.

We had similar leakage problems with the boot hatches. They use a kind of non flexible white caulking compound which cracks, allowing rain running down the side of the van to run straight through the cracked caulk and into the boots. We had the hatches recently removed and re-installed with a suitable flexible sealant