July 20, 2023 • 41 mins
In this episode, Hank Strange welcomes Nick Schmidt of Sunshine State RVs for a deep dive into the Class B RV industry. They discuss the current market, the need for innovation, and future prospects. They also explore the latest developments from Mercedes, Ford, and Ram's ProMaster. Further, they compare American and European RV models and the Trivado 59 k and 59 kl. The episode concludes with a discussion on traveling with medications and misconceptions about All-Wheel Drive.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Alright, guys.
For the second time, welcome back to theVanasore podcast.
We do this live Thursdays at 2 PM Eastern Time.
We're exploring class b, RVs, Overlanding, andVanlife co right here.
That's what we do.
My guests for the second time, Nick Schmidt ofSunshine state RVs.
(00:25):
What is up?
What is up?
What?
You know, what's up, man?
Hopefully, the signal is up.
That's what I hope is up.
Yes.
That's what I hope is up.
So this is episode number 7
me as Hang.
Thanks for having me as a guest, man.
I really appreciate it.
(00:46):
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
And just a little brief recap for everyone outthere.
We, I'm at Sunshine State RV.
You're also here.
So I'm you know, I don't know if that's part ofour problem, right, like, 2 dudes sitting at
Sunshine State RV trying to get a signal up andout So Robert Riel has says I can hear you
(01:07):
pretty good now so far.
No lag.
So there you go.
You know, the internet.
The internet lords decided to bless us with alittle bit of signal right now.
So there was there was a fish fry going on.
That's what you were telling to people.
How often do you, have, like, a it's kinda likea family gathering you have here at Sunshine
(01:29):
State RV.
I hope
you guys do that.
So it's pretty cool.
We we go fishing once a year with the entire,with the entire company.
So we had twenty five people go this time.
And then we did the big we always did a bigChris fry on the Tuesday or Wednesday after,
the fish ride.
This time we did it Thursday, because we do abig lunch every Thursday for the entire team.
(01:53):
So, you know, we do do things to help buildmorale, trying trying to do things to help
build, build everybody wanting to worktogether, be together, and, getting to know
each other outside of working.
And, you know, anytime Hank anytime Hank comesby here and hangs out with us, everybody
appreciates it.
He's like a local celebrity here.
(02:14):
So, it's pretty cool.
Pori there in the picture?
Yeah.
I'm running this picture.
Pori's the one that does all the walk throughs.
He teaches everybody how to use their RV.
There's another guy Justin as well that doesthem, and, after he's in that picture.
Yep.
But, yeah.
Fish fry was great.
Hank, was it my wife even came?
Did you see my wife there?
I I saw Mary.
(02:35):
I didn't take any pictures, but I did see Maryshe was here.
Lovely as ever, Mary, always good to see Mary.
Yep.
She was there.
She got to eat the punch, and it was, yeah, itwas great.
We had a couple of customers that were here.
Somebody just bought a roadtrek Zion.
So pretty I think they bought a roadtrek andthey got to eat some lunch with us.
(02:56):
And, there's some other people here now buyinga coach and beyond.
So very busy day today at sunshine.
Stay RVs.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
So one of the things, you know, you've been onbefore.
You'll be on, several times from from now.
One of the things I think that we wanna do isget to some of the questions that we don't get
(03:16):
to answer for folks out there, you know, thevideos are in the, you know, in the comment
section of the videos, or if you guys who aretuning in Hank questions.
So if you have them, you know, us withquestions, comments, and all that.
You know, maybe for the people who haven't seenthis before, you would wanna explain to them
what you do here.
So Thanks.
We're about to lose we're about to lose one ofour, listeners, Aaron Thor said she's out of
(03:41):
here.
What are we gonna do, man?
We have to we feel like ants around and
I don't know.
I mean, when they're detained here.
I mean, what are we doing?
Hey.
Listen.
This is one of the things that I think thatgoes back to when we make our videos, you know,
if we're think there's people here who areentertained.
So if you're not entertained, hey.
You know, was it Russell Crow?
I think Russell Crow said, oh, you notentertained?
(04:01):
We should get off gladiator swords and fight itup right now.
See see how that goes over.
One of the one of the biggest comments that weget on videos when we do videos is that we ham
it up too much.
So what, you know, what is it?
Do people like it when we ham it up in thevideos?
I'm gonna ask everyone out there a question youguys could tell us.
(04:22):
Do you like it when we Hank it up in thevideos, or you don't like it?
I always see people, oh, you guys talk toomuch.
Then there's a lot of people like, oh, this Ilove this.
It's entertaining.
So you know?
Yeah.
I I think for the people that don't like it,they might going to watch other other videos.
I mean Yeah.
Absolutely.
It's YouTube.
You always say freedom of choice here.
(04:43):
You know?
It's the whole point.
Lots of options, lots of options.
But, you know, this is the thing.
If I'm gonna do a video with somebody in an RVwith them, talking about an RV, my natural
personality is gonna come out, and my naturalpersonality is that, somebody who hokes fun at
my friends around me, someone who puts my lifeexperiences and things, someone who, you know,
(05:07):
looks at a bunch of different scenarios and notjust going through a bunch of facts and and and
stats about an RV, but it's actually, you know,how are people gonna use this?
How am I gonna use What are we gonna do?
And it's just making light of everything andhaving fun with it.
So that's the way I do everything.
So that's obviously the way that I choose todo.
(05:28):
Yeah.
Now, obviously, you know, Sunshine State RV isyour business, but I try to explain to people.
You're not really at the sales guy here.
You have really good sales, folk here, right,at Sunshine State RV, but in the videos, your
kind of like the sales guy for the video, andI'm kind of like playing the customer.
And I try to ask questions from my point ofview, you know, my limited knowledge of fans
(05:52):
and all that kind of stuff of owning a van andgoing around and seeing a bunch of this stuff.
And then, you know, you hit me back with yourknowledge of selling these things and selling a
lot of different vans from different companies.
So that's that's kind of what our videos are,and we we try to play off of that.
It's not just entertainment.
There's some information.
In there, you know, and we try to keep it fun.
(06:13):
And I think most people realize that and enjoyit.
So
No.
You're right.
I think you're absolutely correct.
I think the, the banter back and forth doesmake it a little with everybody else's.
And and the I mean, this is all I do all dayevery day.
So I have a lot of knowledge about the EVs andand sometimes I can bore the paint off of a
(06:37):
wall talking about RVs.
So let's keep it interesting.
Yeah.
Exactly.
So like I said, if you guys have questions outthere, things you wanna know about the the,
class B van business, you know, If you wannaknow about these kinds of RVs, let hit us up
with those questions right now, and we'll getto it.
(06:58):
What do you let's start with this, Nick.
What do Hank, what do you feel is the state ofthe class b RV industry right now?
Is it up?
Is it down?
Is it in the middle?
You know, I think that, the classroom industryis the only industry, the only segment of the
(07:18):
issue that is growing.
That is, still doing good.
That is staying strong.
We actually Hank our Wells Fargo rep heretoday.
He was that's when we do all of our RV bankingwith.
And and and what they said was guys that arejust and travel trailers and class a's, they
are really, really struggling.
What people that are well diversified in theclass b's some of the c's and motorized stuff,
(07:42):
they're doing much better.
So, you know, this is this is still still a, agood market for last lease.
You know, is it what it was 2 years ago?
No.
But we are right.
We are exactly on par with where we were lastyear.
So January 1st to June 30th, 2022, 1st January1st to June 30th, 2023, we sold the same number
(08:08):
of RVs.
So it's we're not down, but we're not up.
We we have sold the exact same.
So know, the industry is good.
What's great right now is I'm really hoping wecan see some innovation from the platform
manufacturers.
I'm really, really hoping that that the onesthat that are creative and that can come up
(08:28):
with some nice stuff they can action.
Like, now it's when they starting to put somecool stuff in the vans that where the last 2
years, they weren't able to because of partsshortages, because of things, now they're
actually, becoming innovative again, which isreally exciting.
Yeah.
So, do you think that what's happening rightnow, right, in terms of, you know, in the
(08:53):
overall RV industry sales backing off I would Iwould say, like, from my point of view, with
with class b vans, it's either like you'resaying the same or down a little bit.
Do you think that's due to the economy,interest rates, people are worried about things
going on, all of the above.
(09:14):
Yeah.
No.
I I really think it's everything.
I mean, it is interest rates Hank havedefinitely marketing.
So that's making people think twice.
And then and then also, I mean, the economy isis, questionable.
You know, real estate still good here inGainesville, but in some parts of the country,
it's not as as good as it was.
(09:37):
You know, there's equipment.
There's a lot of uncertainty in the country,and I think it all kind of plays an effect on
our on the recreational mark it.
But I think that as as new stuff comes out, itit it brings people back in.
So what's exciting is as coaching and roadtrack and all of that as they're as they're,
(10:01):
you know, being innovative as they're comingout with with new features, new options, new
ways RV, that it's bringing people who aresitting on the sideline bringing them back into
the market, which is nice.
Yeah.
I so I think this you could tell me if I'mwrong here.
I think the traditional buyer for class bs arekind of the retirement age.
(10:22):
So folks who've worked their whole life,they've saved for this, you know, and now they
decide, hey, we're gonna get out there and thecountry.
Right?
Is that the traditional buyer?
Would you say?
Okay.
And so the big boom you guys had is peopleoutside of those traditional buyers were coming
in along with the traditional buyers.
Right?
That is correct.
(10:43):
Yeah.
There's, you know, it's always kind of been thesame buyer in the fifty five to seventy year
old, couple typically who is retired and kindawanting to go visit some grandkids, see the
country, kinda, you know, have a little bit offreedom doing things.
And then through the boom, it was it was a lotof people who were working remote who, you
(11:06):
know, instead of traveling internationally,they traveled domestically.
And people who were just like, man, I've I'veI've never actually seen our beautiful country,
and and I really wanna I really wanna spendsome time in energy seeing it.
So that was a lot of of the reason that we wereselling.
I mean, that's a lot of the reason for the forthe big growth for the last 3 years.
(11:29):
Yeah.
And I think going back to what you said aboutthe, you know, the companies in this particular
section of industry innovating.
I think when they think about innovating, notonly, obviously, I get it why they wanna think
about the traditional buy because those are thesolid buyers.
Those folks who are retiring, even thoughthey're concerned about the economy and
interest rates, They're they're retiring now,you know, and so they still do what they wanna
(11:54):
do.
But if you wanna bring in the younger folks,you want to make these vans more flexible, you
know, cooler.
You wanna think about your, age, the agedifferences there or the generation
differences, I think, with people.
That's that's my opinion.
And then folks out there, you guys can let meknow, or you can let me know what you think
about that, Nick.
I know we talk about sometimes.
(12:16):
Yeah.
I like what Travel Green was saying.
It's infotainment.
Oh, yeah.
For us to infotainment.
Yes.
Infotainment.
Let me get some comments in.
Day 49 says what a nice company tradition.
You can just go out on the boat for a ride.
(12:37):
Yeah, I guess those guys are kinda competitive.
Right?
I think you had a competition of who caught thebiggest fish.
Sure.
But some people Yeah.
And Shelley, one of our, sales people, one ofour top sales people, she she won the
competition.
She called a 20 pound red snapper.
Yeah.
(12:58):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Pound red mapper.
Shelly.
Shelly's badass, man.
I'm a big fan of Shelly.
You know, that's who I bought my van from.
When when Lee came here, and she's awesome.
So Oh, that's true.
That is true.
Yeah.
So I'm trying to get the comments up here andget to questions.
Look, see.
Lola has some.
So let me get something in from Lola.
(13:20):
She says, I wish Mercedes offered all wheeldrive on the B plus Tifin, renegade, Thor,
Etcetera.
It is ridiculous to pay.
Oh, this is a comment from someone, so Lola'sgiven us those.
It is ridiculous to pay 2.60 k for a B van whenyou can get plus for 160 k and have, you know,
2 feet.
So they're okay.
I I'm sure you hear this one.
(13:43):
What's your answer to that one?
So, yeah, you know, Mercedes just startedoffering, the the all wheel drive, and they are
not doing it on the B plus on the cutawaychassis yet, only on the the B van.
My guess is that they will start offering it,within the next year.
(14:05):
So that's my guess.
There's usually a little lag thinking of lag.
Right.
There's usually a little bit of a lag when itcomes to them offering things on the on the
other way chassis versus the van chassis.
But, you know, it would be really nice to haveit on the, on the D plus.
Yeah.
I think it's possible to see that.
(14:25):
I was looking at Coachmen, the class b section,I forgot what's the name of the I did a short
on it.
Is it Man, I forgot the I forgot the name ofit.
Maybe Lobo remember what I'm talking about.
Here was a really nice Mercedes, and it's anewer Mercedes, but it's, yeah, it's not on
that chassis yet.
And that would be nice because you can get allwheel drive.
(14:48):
There are some options out there of all wheeldrive from the Ford point of view.
There are some companies that are buildingstuff on the all wheel drive, chassis that's,
you know, B plus C.
So, yeah, I think we'll see it.
It'll happen.
Take your time.
Let's see.
I think so too.
I agree with it.
(15:08):
Here's a question from day 49.
It says any rumors of the new Ford TransitTrail model being used in a new Forward
Thinking RV design.
Good question.
You got some rumors that you can share withoutgetting into too much trouble?
Yeah.
Notice I said don't get in trouble.
(15:30):
We've definitely heard the rumors.
Right.
We're good.
We're we're probably if if you wanna me to takethis first, right, because I look at a lot of,
a lot of this stuff of what's coming out withthe Strange and all that.
It's really cool.
Basically, folks don't know how there forthemselves Hank seen how popular these vans are
(15:50):
for folks not only buying RVs from traditionalbuilders, like coachman, American Coach,
Winnebago, etcetera, but people just buying avan and fixing it up to get out there go more
off road and everything.
And the Strange is very popular for that beingall wheel drive.
So Ford is lifting it, putting bigger tires on,adding a power pack that can cut the hole and
(16:10):
install a max fan for you.
So that goes a long way to that, you know,being a camper van, even if it's self build,
but then also now it creates the opportunitywhere some of these company can come in and do
their own build.
And I think whoever's going to do it on thetrail is probably gonna think about making it
lighter weight and making it more flexible likewe were talking about.
(16:33):
I'm gonna imagine that's what they're gonna do,but we haven't seen, I think when Ford
announced this, the only one that that I sawout there is, Van Duet.
So they have, you know, they have a prototypeout there, but I haven't seen anyone else
because the vans have not gotten delivered yet.
(16:55):
Right.
So they've only gotten the one Some of theother manufacturers have told me that they're
thinking they're getting one soon.
Right.
So, you know, my my thought is by next year,we'll definitely see some of the Strange Hank,
the Strange trail.
But I don't think hang on.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't think they have the dual wheels.
(17:15):
I They're just single rear wheels.
Is that right?
Yeah.
Because I think Ford's focus with the transitis more off road.
So the van's gonna be more off rotable if it'ssingle wheels.
Now, traditional builders, I don't know of anytraditional builders that are building with the
single wheels.
I think well, what Bago's prototype for the ERV2.
(17:36):
That's on single wheels.
That's electric.
So I'm trying to
think 27 North 27 North.
They Oh, yes.
Right.
They're they're port on a single wheel.
They don't do anything with dual wheels becausewhen you're off roading, when you're off
roading in the, like the transit or theSprinter or the ProMaster.
Oh, ProMaster doesn't offer it, but they wannahave dual wheels like rocks get stuck the
(17:59):
middle, they said, and just weight wise and allthat with single wheels to better off road
machine.
Yeah.
I agree with that.
And and as you said, I think, 20 in North iskind of like the off road vans that you are
carrying here at Sunshine State RV.
Right?
Yeah.
Yes.
They are.
Now everybody has an offer inversion.
American coach, Coachmen, everyone kinda has anoff road version.
(18:22):
Mhmm.
But 27 I mean, Winnebago has the rebel, andthey have bunch of, like, 27 north is that's
what they do.
Like, they do it very, very well.
They do off road vans.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And in the interest of fairness, just becausePJ will probably look at this and leave a
comment there.
(18:42):
So does Mod vans bills all of their stuff andsingle wheels.
If you're looking for that, there you go.
That's a good option too.
I don't You don't carry that.
Uh-huh.
I don't know anything about Van Duyn.
I've I've I've seen them and met them.
They're great, but I don't know what
mod vans, mod vans, mod vans, you're saying.
(19:02):
I Hank, well, you know what?
Van do it, probably also.
A lot of the smaller, like, off road oroverlanding builders are probably gonna build
on single wheels versus dual wheels, dually'sin the back.
And the dually's are gonna give you morestability the road, they'll be able to carry
more weight, etcetera.
So, that's gonna be that's gonna be your bigdifference with that.
(19:25):
Lola has another question here from from, fromsomeone, has American coach gone back to 12
volt AC unit?
What other options are there in B vans, that'sfrom Ryan R.
And I think that was on a video we recently didwhere you and I were driving the new, American
Coach MD4 Patriot.
(19:46):
Yeah.
So the American Coach is still doing theapproval.
They are also offering what they call a greenair conditioner, g r e e.
It's a brand new design, brand new airconditioner.
It is a one thing.
Mhmm.
Very energy efficient, very quiet, and and lotsof, BTUs.
But, but, yeah, no, American Coach is stilldoing the premier 12 volt air conditioner.
(20:12):
Coachman is doing the same air conditioner, butCoachman's doing So as you guys might have
already heard Lola and myself our brandambassadors for Sunshine State RV.
And as Vanasource, I wanna take this moment toencourage anyone who is in the market a class B
van to start their journey with SS RV.
Sunshine State RVs specializes in selling classB vans and B plus RV.
(20:36):
That is the reason why they are the number onedealer in all of the state of Florida.
Number 3 in the whole United States.
SSRV will fly you right to their location inGainesville, Florida.
They'll give you a very detailed and thoroughwalk through of your van, and they'll give you
a 2 night stay at a local campground so you canget used to your van anywhere in the United
(20:57):
States of your RV.
We bought our coachman from Sunshine State RV.
2 years ago.
And over the past 2 years, we've seen how theytreat customers when it comes to warranty side.
Their service team is great.
Whether you bought it from them or not, everyperson that comes in there gets the same
service and care when it comes to warrantyrepairs.
The same service, attention, and care.
(21:17):
And their team does a great job getting youback on the road safely.
So if you guys are in the market for a b or bplus van, consider Sunshine State RV.
We've got a link in the description that youguys can use to see their current inventory and
have someone get in touch with you.
That is the beauty and the beast of going live,and I'm not talking not me, as the beast and
(21:39):
Lola as the beauty, but, you know, I didn't seethe countdown end, so I didn't get a chance to
you know that we were going to that break, butit was a sunshine state RV break.
So
I mean, I can't complain too much thing.
Yeah.
You gotta forgive me on that one.
Yeah.
So, but my bad, do you wanna finish yourthought on that here before we move on?
(22:02):
Yeah.
So just the total air conditioner.
It is America coach is still doing it.
Coachman is doing it.
Winnipeg it's not.
Roadtrek does not.
They're they're they're both, road trucks doingthe truman air conditioner mainly.
Mhmm.
And, Winnebago is still doing pullman, MDQ, themock air conditioner, the 110.
(22:23):
Yeah.
I have the, truma in my van.
It's awesome, but it's not 12 volts.
It is more efficient, though.
I found that it that it's more efficient to runit.
By the way, did did you give me your shout outsfor for hooking you up with Tremont.
I mean, I feel like I should get a little bitof credit for that, Hank.
Okay.
You can get you can get that credit, you know,any other credit.
(22:47):
That you are due.
But, so, you know, we
always argue over who gets credit for
life.
Yes.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Giving me credit.
No.
I don't.
Yeah.
So you try to you try to catch me right here,who I don't have any choice.
I was gonna ask you about degree from AmericanCoach because that AC looks really nice.
I've not used it extensively to, you know,really try it out, but it looks really good.
(23:12):
Is that 12 volts or 110?
Do you know?
No.
It is a 110 air conditioner.
It is it is a newer air conditioner startusing.
It is more energy efficient than the the medicAC that they've been using.
It's quieter, and and it has a built indehumidifier as well.
So there's a lot of a lot of cool features thatthat degree offers.
(23:33):
And that's an one of the reasons that thatAmerican coach was using it because of that.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Okay.
Travel Dreamer has this question here.
And if you guys have questions, please leavethem.
Smash the thumbs ups.
Okay.
We need that.
I know we had a rough start here, but I'm sureyou guys out there will forgive for the rough
start.
Travel dreamer says, are you seeing the ProMaster begin, creating an all wheel drive
(23:56):
version, or do you think that will happen fromRam all wheel drive ProMaster.
I hope.
I hope.
I really, really hope.
That would be if they do that, they're gonnaI'm
not seen it.
Yeah.
If if, wow.
Can you imagine that?
I think if if, Ram put out a all wheel drivePro Master?
(24:18):
Cause they who has the biggest who sells themost vans, chassis wise?
Is it Ram?
Do you Hank, or is
it Yeah.
It is It is Ram.
I mean, Ram Ram sells the most.
What's been cool the last couple of years isthat Ram has really stepped their game up.
So be on almost a level playing field withMercedes and Ford, where they have the push
(24:39):
button start.
They have the sweet transmission.
They have, the the big navigation screen.
They have all the safety features that the Fordhas.
And so they've they've really every year, theykeep stepping their game up to do a better job.
And with them add if they add an all wheeldrive to it, it would really, really be a game
changer for them.
(25:00):
I think I think that for anybody that uses arandom chassis, that would be a big deal.
Yeah.
I would, yeah, I would agree with the Ramchassis just looks really, really, really nice.
I was trying to see if I had a picture here onmy phone that I could pull up really quick for
you guys, but I got so many picture I don'tthink I'm getting to I mean, I'm not gonna get
to it fast enough to show you all actually, oh,no.
(25:23):
You know what?
I do have a nice picture here.
From Coachmen.
This is gonna be an upcoming video, but, thisis a, I'll switch over to my phone here for a
second.
Boom.
So that's gonna be a nova.
That is a way better looking van now, Nick, waybetter look at it.
That's nice.
That's nice.
(25:43):
Really, really nice.
And then is it just coachman doing thesewheels, or is that are those Ram wheels?
Cause these wheels look good.
Do that that we're getting on there.
Those are those are coachman wheels.
Yes.
Oh, okay.
So that's an exclusive thing to coachman.
Well, yeah, no.
Coach invites them, and they upgrade thosewheels.
That is not a standard wheel.
(26:04):
That's not what comes with it, but that that isthe brand new chassis.
Okay.
Yeah.
That's a great idea from Coachman, I think, todo those wheels.
And I guess other guys can do nice fancy wheelsalso.
He put it on there.
Yeah.
Every I mean, we, yeah, we do that witheverybody.
I mean, we're always Mhmm.
Always upgrading wheels for customers.
I mean, there's a lot of logs, stuff like that,we do.
(26:26):
Yeah.
So I think, you know, just on the on thesubject of the ProMaster, right, This big
change that we've seen that happened, a lot ofthese companies don't really how often do they
change these things?
Maybe 5 years, maybe 6 years?
Them to do another generation.
Yeah.
So I don't know if and if we see it witheverything going on, we're probably gonna see
(26:50):
electric know some people wanna get mad when Isay that, but that's probably gonna be the
future changes we see.
Yeah.
I really think that's gonna be the change witheverybody from Mercedes before before it's
already there.
Ford's already doing it.
Mercedes is making their electric cars and abunch of their cars.
(27:10):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think
And I don't think mhmm.
Ramit's doing well.
I've heard rumors, but what does that mean?
You know what I mean?
I've heard rumors that Ram is planning onhaving an electric ProMaster.
We haven't seen in America, them, announced thee Sprinter.
Everybody is.
(27:31):
Yeah.
Mercedes is gonna have Hank e Strange.
You know?
So, yeah, we we're gonna see some stuff onthat.
Here, here we go.
What's Lola at?
Okay.
On the all wheel drive, can you flat tow like 4wheel drive?
That's from the hangman.
I'm not sure.
We're gonna have to
(27:52):
I know people
Mhmm.
Go ahead.
People bought the these Strange vans that arefour wheel drive, to tow behind their big class
a.
So I must they can be flat towed.
Mhmm.
All wheel drive, I'm not sure it's still it'sstill pretty new.
So this is my understanding of that is that Sothat's why a lot of folks, what they have RVs,
(28:14):
tow a jeep, right, like a Wrangler, becausethis, four wheel drive is completely different,
right?
Unless you put it in 4 wheel drive, it's it'sin rear wheel drive.
So, towing that and being the all the wheelsbeing flat on the ground is fine.
But if you're towing anything all wheel drive.
You can flat tow it from what I understand, butyou can't flat tow it that far.
(28:35):
So if you're flat towing that, you have to stopmore off in and let all that stuff cool down
because everything's everything's gonna beturning as the wheels are going.
So, yeah.
And like I said, I'm not a mechanic, So myunderstanding is you're gonna have to put that
on a trailer if you wanna be safe and drivelong distances.
And friends I've had in the past that have hadall wheel drive vehicles like Honda made one
(28:58):
for a long time that was very popular withpeople RVING, and you had to stop.
I think it was like every thousand miles orsomething.
And let that sink cool down or whatever.
So but that's a that's a question that themanufacturers would be able to answer the
easiest.
Sorry.
Go ahead, Nick.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No.
I was, you know, I was, we always get it.
(29:18):
We always get this question every time one ofthe American manufacturers can incorporate some
of the European models because that is aquestion that every every time every time we go
live, every time we're at it today, that thatquestion always, always, always gets asked.
I think it's a great question.
What's your answer?
I think
to be an there's there is an answer Hank.
(29:41):
Mhmm.
Okay.
I'm weighted with waiting with baited breath.
You wanna know the answer?
Yes.
Go for it.
So, roadtrek is on to buy a European company,and they they are gonna be releasing some
European models.
(30:02):
They promised me this year.
So they've already started with a pivot, whichhas a European flare to it, but they have
another model coming out in, bytheendofthisyear, that is gonna be a European
model.
And so, Hank, I already got all the backstageaccess to it when it comes out.
(30:23):
Okay.
Doing pretty exciting, but, road check seemslike they're gonna be the first one to do it
this year.
I you know, everybody's talked about doing it.
Just haven't seen anybody actually do it.
Yeah.
There's lots of promised things out there, butwhat I would say is that I think a lot of the
(30:43):
manufacturers hear those same calls from folks,and I'm starting to see more elements of
European styling being worked in.
Aren't you seeing that too?
Not like not like full blown going, you know,to exactly what it looks like in Europe, but
I'm we're starting to see stuff getting workedin, I think.
Yeah.
I think the RVs are not made in Indiana.
(31:05):
So I think that like, Winnebago has some hashad some of that little here, little there.
And then definitely definitely the, you know,road track being made in Canada.
And and them and them have being owned by aEuropean company, they are very much influenced
by by the European way of making RVs.
(31:28):
So I would say that they are gonna they'llprobably be the first ones to bring it to
Marcus.
Yeah.
And let me just say this is a complete aside.
I hope you learned your lesson.
About having a big fish fry over here and theneating dessert and all that and then getting on
camera, because I can see every time you yawn,you can meet you on.
This is remember I said to you, I don't wannaeat anymore because I gotta fall asleep.
(31:54):
Can you tell what I'm on I I guess.
I'm like, cool.
Oh, no.
I'm over.
I'm over trying to protect you on that one.
This is what happened next.
Don't do this.
Don't have a big dinner.
I'm gonna give you
a scrape of that right now.
We had fried fish.
We had it all.
Yes.
Your stomach is working overtime right now.
(32:17):
I I know Craig was like, okay, I ate too much.
I was like, what do you mean?
Too much.
She's like, oh, people kept giving me, what isit, bread pudding?
Remember I said I'm not eating that breadpudding?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I was staying away from that.
Yeah.
Okay.
So there you go.
Carolyn Smith's, food forest homestead says I'mjust yards outside of Gainesville Cause cable
(32:40):
keeps going in and out on me.
Also, there's a stow solar storm out theremessing with internet signals.
So there you go.
That's from,
I know I think ro Robert, Rojas has a goodquestion, Hank.
Oh, okay.
You want me to get to that?
I was gonna get to Tommy, but let's see.
Let's get to Robert Rojas first.
I have a question for answered Tommy.
(33:02):
Oh, you did?
Okay.
I missed it.
Okay.
A question for both of you guys as far as theTrivado 59 k and 59 kl.
Which would you guys prefer if you were to buyif you were to buy 1 is lithium better or is
the generator better?
Do you wanna go first on that one?
So, you know, hang I always mention this duringour videos.
(33:24):
Mhmm.
People always ask what would we do?
They ask you, what would you do?
They ask what would I do?
And and I'm like a good politician.
I always turn the question around back on you.
How are you gonna use the RV?
Why do an RV?
What problem are you trying to solve with yournew RV?
And then that will help me better answer yourquestion.
(33:46):
Robert, if you really care about medium,whatever.
I would buy.
I'd buy a lithium 1, but they're not foreverybody.
You know, not everybody needs a lithium 1.
Some people, they're be in Campground to everynight for as long as you own it, you can you
can get by as a generator, just plug in.
And then for a little bit of time, that chipthat you want to run the AC without, being
plugged in, just turn your generator on.
(34:07):
But if you tell me you're always gonna be inin, in, national parks and off the grid and all
that, then I would tell you you need, liftingpatterns.
So, you know, everybody has a different reasonwhy they're gonna buy an RV.
For me, I buy a lithium 1, but everyone uses itso different.
And, and so this is this is a a very, verypersonal question.
(34:33):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I agree.
You know, from my point of view, I agree thatit is a a a personal thing.
I mean, it also has do with your budget.
Right?
The lithium generally is gonna cost you more.
Right?
So Yeah.
That's something to think about.
There.
So for example, I I bought a, AGM, so I boughtmine had a AGM battery and the generator.
(34:54):
Right?
And then I converted it to lithium battery, soI have lithium and the generator.
And I'll tell you guys, and Nick is probablygonna laugh right now because he saw me
experiencing this to day.
I'm not doing generators anymore.
I'm over generators.
So if I buy any van that I buy from now on,it's just gonna a lot of lithium and a second
(35:16):
alternator in it, and that's it.
I have been cured of any I remember when Ifirst did this, Nick was like, I don't know why
why do you still want the generator?
Let's just put a bunch of battery And I waslike, no.
I gotta have the generator for the apocalypse.
Alright.
I'm done.
And like I said, my personal preference is Buteverybody uses them differently.
(35:39):
You're in a parking lot doing a podcast.
You need as much lifting and batteries that youcan fit in your RV Hank.
Right.
Right.
Period.
You just need as much looking batteries.
Not everybody does podcast from parking lot.
Like, I mean, if you're not doing that, youneed lithium batteries.
You can get by with the generator if you'regoing from Kitter.
Save the $20 and go buy your camp grounds forthe next 10 years.
(36:01):
Mhmm.
Yeah.
So I think yeah.
You know what?
I mean, it's true.
I think people look, with the generator, youjust have to maintain it and all that kind of
stuff.
Probably what I did comp located everything.
Right?
I think buying something and then spending moremoney.
It's better if you buy what you want in thefirst place, and that manufacturer has built it
all to work together.
Versus you're now introducing part things tothe system that didn't exist there.
(36:26):
So I'm not I I I'm not really knocking thegenerator, but I really do think after looking
at this for a long time.
That lithium second alternator, that's reallythe best way to go, but it's gonna cost you
more.
I think you're looking probably depending onhow much lithium and all that, somewhere, like,
somewhere between 10, 20, maybe $30,000 extra.
(36:46):
For that.
Well, now they're having a 1000 amp hourbattery packs, 3000 one inverters, 300 watts of
solar.
I mean, there's some very, very serious lithiumdeals out there that they're not cheap you
know, just the batteries himself are 12 to$15,000, then the inverter, then the
(37:07):
installation.
I mean, it's a serious it's a seriousinvestment.
And like I said, if if you need it, you'regonna use it.
It's all.
Yeah.
I think yeah.
There you go.
So that's that's I don't know if that's adecline answer for Robert, but I think based on
that, you know, my experiences, I I wouldn't Iwould just go with lithium.
And then also there's big lithium power packsthat have now, or what they call solar
(37:30):
generators, or all this kind of stuff.
So Strange alone ones, Lola and I havesomething from Jackery.
We just bought a bigger one from Jack degree,but that one you that you can move around.
So you can have it in your van and then move itto like, I'm gonna have it in my electric van
or you could put it in the house and stuff likethat, but they tend to get heavy too as they
get bigger, and it's not purpose.
(37:51):
It's not purpose built for vans.
And if you put those in your van, you betterhave room for somewhere.
Right.
100%.
So Yeah.
There you go.
Yeah.
I hope that answers your question, Robert.
That's a long answer for a short question.
Right.
Now there's a question I saw
on Hank is scared of that.
Yeah.
(38:11):
Well, I'm trying to give people all the, theknow, the different perspectives on it.
You know, and then there was a question thatcame in from, Facebook you know, as well that
someone was asking about medications.
So I'm gonna try to see if I can get Lola toanswer that while I'm on the air not, that
(38:32):
Facebook question, I'll just let her answer itseparately.
Just to tell you guys what I'm talking abouthere, someone asked about medications and
traveling and the R and stuff like that.
Lola's a pharmacist.
I think she's probably a better person toanswer that.
So maybe I'll answer that in a different video,or she'll just go personally.
Answer that one.
It is a good question.
(38:52):
You know, if you're gonna travel in the RV,there's fridges in here.
Some medications need to be in the fridge.
Some don't have to be.
RVs do tend to get hot though.
So you might wanna keep those things in thefridge.
So I don't know if you have an answer for that,like, when you're traveling with medications.
I mean, I would say that you should definitelyconsult Lola on that.
Yes.
(39:17):
There you go.
And Lola's That's my professional opinion.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah.
She's the one who's a pharmacist.
I'll get her to answer that.
If she answers it while I'm here on the chat,I'll give you guys whatever her answer is,
about that.
So what other what other FAQs do you get fromthe videos that you could think of?
(39:38):
You know?
I know there was someone complaining on thatvideo where we drove the all wheel drive.
There's always people complaining.
So but this guy was complaining, and I won't Iwon't show the comment here.
I'm not trying to, you know, set people up oranything, but this guy was complaining because
I was trying to point out to you that when anall wheel drive, when you take off a stop, you
(40:01):
don't get that skipping that happens.
And he was like, what are you talking aboutskipping?
And what I meant is you have a 4 by 4.
Like, I've had a 4 by 4 pickup truck, and I'vedone this when I've driven the 4 by 4 vans or
even just rear wheel drive Hank.
When you first go to start that, those rarewheels just spin out sometimes, especially if
you kinda like match on the on the gas.
(40:22):
Obviously, these things have a lot of weight,so that kinda keeps everything pinned down.
But I do feel that skipping sensation on thewheels, and maybe I'm just a lead foot, but I
was pointing that out to you that that justdoesn't happen with all wheel drive.
And this person thought that I was crazy.
What do you think about that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I you know, it's it is it is different whenyou're depends on where you're diving from and
(40:49):
what you doing and all that, you know, thethere is the all wheel drives kinda kinda mean,
that's why you have your, the dual wheels.
You have the all wheel drive, traction control.
You know, that's that's the yeah, kinda allpart of that system there.
But the all wheel drive, it's meant toautomatically pick in same on the Mercedes and
(41:13):
the transit where it automatically kicks inwhen you need it.
And when you don't need it, it's not there.
And that's kinda
We're taking a break.
We're taking a break.
Hold on one second.
Lola and I are now official brand ambassadorsfor Coachmen class b.
So I wanted to take a moment to tell you guyswhy we, as Vanosaurus, like it says on our t
shirt, are very excited about our partnershipwith Coachmen Class B.
(41:38):
First off, Coachmen RVs has been a leader tothe great outdoors since 1964.
So next is the fact
Alright, guys.
For the second time, welcome back to theVanasore podcast.
We do this live Thursdays at 2 PM Eastern Time.
We're exploring class b, RVs, Overlanding, andVanlife co right here.
That's what we do.
My guests for the second time, Nick Schmidt ofSunshine state RVs.
(00:25):
What is up?
What is up?
What?
You know, what's up, man?
Hopefully, the signal is up.
That's what I hope is up.
Yes.
That's what I hope is up.
So this is episode number 7
me as Hang.
Thanks for having me as a guest, man.
I really appreciate it.
(00:46):
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
And just a little brief recap for everyone outthere.
We, I'm at Sunshine State RV.
You're also here.
So I'm you know, I don't know if that's part ofour problem, right, like, 2 dudes sitting at
Sunshine State RV trying to get a signal up andout So Robert Riel has says I can hear you
(01:07):
pretty good now so far.
No lag.
So there you go.
You know, the internet.
The internet lords decided to bless us with alittle bit of signal right now.
So there was there was a fish fry going on.
That's what you were telling to people.
How often do you, have, like, a it's kinda likea family gathering you have here at Sunshine
(01:29):
State RV.
I hope
you guys do that.
So it's pretty cool.
We we go fishing once a year with the entire,with the entire company.
So we had twenty five people go this time.
And then we did the big we always did a bigChris fry on the Tuesday or Wednesday after,
the fish ride.
This time we did it Thursday, because we do abig lunch every Thursday for the entire team.
(01:53):
So, you know, we do do things to help buildmorale, trying trying to do things to help
build, build everybody wanting to worktogether, be together, and, getting to know
each other outside of working.
And, you know, anytime Hank anytime Hank comesby here and hangs out with us, everybody
appreciates it.
He's like a local celebrity here.
(02:14):
So, it's pretty cool.
Pori there in the picture?
Yeah.
I'm running this picture.
Pori's the one that does all the walk throughs.
He teaches everybody how to use their RV.
There's another guy Justin as well that doesthem, and, after he's in that picture.
Yep.
But, yeah.
Fish fry was great.
Hank, was it my wife even came?
Did you see my wife there?
I I saw Mary.
(02:35):
I didn't take any pictures, but I did see Maryshe was here.
Lovely as ever, Mary, always good to see Mary.
Yep.
She was there.
She got to eat the punch, and it was, yeah, itwas great.
We had a couple of customers that were here.
Somebody just bought a roadtrek Zion.
So pretty I think they bought a roadtrek andthey got to eat some lunch with us.
(02:56):
And, there's some other people here now buyinga coach and beyond.
So very busy day today at sunshine.
Stay RVs.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
So one of the things, you know, you've been onbefore.
You'll be on, several times from from now.
One of the things I think that we wanna do isget to some of the questions that we don't get
(03:16):
to answer for folks out there, you know, thevideos are in the, you know, in the comment
section of the videos, or if you guys who aretuning in Hank questions.
So if you have them, you know, us withquestions, comments, and all that.
You know, maybe for the people who haven't seenthis before, you would wanna explain to them
what you do here.
So Thanks.
We're about to lose we're about to lose one ofour, listeners, Aaron Thor said she's out of
(03:41):
here.
What are we gonna do, man?
We have to we feel like ants around and
I don't know.
I mean, when they're detained here.
I mean, what are we doing?
Hey.
Listen.
This is one of the things that I think thatgoes back to when we make our videos, you know,
if we're think there's people here who areentertained.
So if you're not entertained, hey.
You know, was it Russell Crow?
I think Russell Crow said, oh, you notentertained?
(04:01):
We should get off gladiator swords and fight itup right now.
See see how that goes over.
One of the one of the biggest comments that weget on videos when we do videos is that we ham
it up too much.
So what, you know, what is it?
Do people like it when we ham it up in thevideos?
I'm gonna ask everyone out there a question youguys could tell us.
(04:22):
Do you like it when we Hank it up in thevideos, or you don't like it?
I always see people, oh, you guys talk toomuch.
Then there's a lot of people like, oh, this Ilove this.
It's entertaining.
So you know?
Yeah.
I I think for the people that don't like it,they might going to watch other other videos.
I mean Yeah.
Absolutely.
It's YouTube.
You always say freedom of choice here.
(04:43):
You know?
It's the whole point.
Lots of options, lots of options.
But, you know, this is the thing.
If I'm gonna do a video with somebody in an RVwith them, talking about an RV, my natural
personality is gonna come out, and my naturalpersonality is that, somebody who hokes fun at
my friends around me, someone who puts my lifeexperiences and things, someone who, you know,
(05:07):
looks at a bunch of different scenarios and notjust going through a bunch of facts and and and
stats about an RV, but it's actually, you know,how are people gonna use this?
How am I gonna use What are we gonna do?
And it's just making light of everything andhaving fun with it.
So that's the way I do everything.
So that's obviously the way that I choose todo.
(05:28):
Yeah.
Now, obviously, you know, Sunshine State RV isyour business, but I try to explain to people.
You're not really at the sales guy here.
You have really good sales, folk here, right,at Sunshine State RV, but in the videos, your
kind of like the sales guy for the video, andI'm kind of like playing the customer.
And I try to ask questions from my point ofview, you know, my limited knowledge of fans
(05:52):
and all that kind of stuff of owning a van andgoing around and seeing a bunch of this stuff.
And then, you know, you hit me back with yourknowledge of selling these things and selling a
lot of different vans from different companies.
So that's that's kind of what our videos are,and we we try to play off of that.
It's not just entertainment.
There's some information.
In there, you know, and we try to keep it fun.
(06:13):
And I think most people realize that and enjoyit.
So
No.
You're right.
I think you're absolutely correct.
I think the, the banter back and forth doesmake it a little with everybody else's.
And and the I mean, this is all I do all dayevery day.
So I have a lot of knowledge about the EVs andand sometimes I can bore the paint off of a
(06:37):
wall talking about RVs.
So let's keep it interesting.
Yeah.
Exactly.
So like I said, if you guys have questions outthere, things you wanna know about the the,
class B van business, you know, If you wannaknow about these kinds of RVs, let hit us up
with those questions right now, and we'll getto it.
(06:58):
What do you let's start with this, Nick.
What do Hank, what do you feel is the state ofthe class b RV industry right now?
Is it up?
Is it down?
Is it in the middle?
You know, I think that, the classroom industryis the only industry, the only segment of the
(07:18):
issue that is growing.
That is, still doing good.
That is staying strong.
We actually Hank our Wells Fargo rep heretoday.
He was that's when we do all of our RV bankingwith.
And and and what they said was guys that arejust and travel trailers and class a's, they
are really, really struggling.
What people that are well diversified in theclass b's some of the c's and motorized stuff,
(07:42):
they're doing much better.
So, you know, this is this is still still a, agood market for last lease.
You know, is it what it was 2 years ago?
No.
But we are right.
We are exactly on par with where we were lastyear.
So January 1st to June 30th, 2022, 1st January1st to June 30th, 2023, we sold the same number
(08:08):
of RVs.
So it's we're not down, but we're not up.
We we have sold the exact same.
So know, the industry is good.
What's great right now is I'm really hoping wecan see some innovation from the platform
manufacturers.
I'm really, really hoping that that the onesthat that are creative and that can come up
(08:28):
with some nice stuff they can action.
Like, now it's when they starting to put somecool stuff in the vans that where the last 2
years, they weren't able to because of partsshortages, because of things, now they're
actually, becoming innovative again, which isreally exciting.
Yeah.
So, do you think that what's happening rightnow, right, in terms of, you know, in the
(08:53):
overall RV industry sales backing off I would Iwould say, like, from my point of view, with
with class b vans, it's either like you'resaying the same or down a little bit.
Do you think that's due to the economy,interest rates, people are worried about things
going on, all of the above.
(09:14):
Yeah.
No.
I I really think it's everything.
I mean, it is interest rates Hank havedefinitely marketing.
So that's making people think twice.
And then and then also, I mean, the economy isis, questionable.
You know, real estate still good here inGainesville, but in some parts of the country,
it's not as as good as it was.
(09:37):
You know, there's equipment.
There's a lot of uncertainty in the country,and I think it all kind of plays an effect on
our on the recreational mark it.
But I think that as as new stuff comes out, itit it brings people back in.
So what's exciting is as coaching and roadtrack and all of that as they're as they're,
(10:01):
you know, being innovative as they're comingout with with new features, new options, new
ways RV, that it's bringing people who aresitting on the sideline bringing them back into
the market, which is nice.
Yeah.
I so I think this you could tell me if I'mwrong here.
I think the traditional buyer for class bs arekind of the retirement age.
(10:22):
So folks who've worked their whole life,they've saved for this, you know, and now they
decide, hey, we're gonna get out there and thecountry.
Right?
Is that the traditional buyer?
Would you say?
Okay.
And so the big boom you guys had is peopleoutside of those traditional buyers were coming
in along with the traditional buyers.
Right?
That is correct.
(10:43):
Yeah.
There's, you know, it's always kind of been thesame buyer in the fifty five to seventy year
old, couple typically who is retired and kindawanting to go visit some grandkids, see the
country, kinda, you know, have a little bit offreedom doing things.
And then through the boom, it was it was a lotof people who were working remote who, you
(11:06):
know, instead of traveling internationally,they traveled domestically.
And people who were just like, man, I've I'veI've never actually seen our beautiful country,
and and I really wanna I really wanna spendsome time in energy seeing it.
So that was a lot of of the reason that we wereselling.
I mean, that's a lot of the reason for the forthe big growth for the last 3 years.
(11:29):
Yeah.
And I think going back to what you said aboutthe, you know, the companies in this particular
section of industry innovating.
I think when they think about innovating, notonly, obviously, I get it why they wanna think
about the traditional buy because those are thesolid buyers.
Those folks who are retiring, even thoughthey're concerned about the economy and
interest rates, They're they're retiring now,you know, and so they still do what they wanna
(11:54):
do.
But if you wanna bring in the younger folks,you want to make these vans more flexible, you
know, cooler.
You wanna think about your, age, the agedifferences there or the generation
differences, I think, with people.
That's that's my opinion.
And then folks out there, you guys can let meknow, or you can let me know what you think
about that, Nick.
I know we talk about sometimes.
(12:16):
Yeah.
I like what Travel Green was saying.
It's infotainment.
Oh, yeah.
For us to infotainment.
Yes.
Infotainment.
Let me get some comments in.
Day 49 says what a nice company tradition.
You can just go out on the boat for a ride.
(12:37):
Yeah, I guess those guys are kinda competitive.
Right?
I think you had a competition of who caught thebiggest fish.
Sure.
But some people Yeah.
And Shelley, one of our, sales people, one ofour top sales people, she she won the
competition.
She called a 20 pound red snapper.
Yeah.
(12:58):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Pound red mapper.
Shelly.
Shelly's badass, man.
I'm a big fan of Shelly.
You know, that's who I bought my van from.
When when Lee came here, and she's awesome.
So Oh, that's true.
That is true.
Yeah.
So I'm trying to get the comments up here andget to questions.
Look, see.
Lola has some.
So let me get something in from Lola.
(13:20):
She says, I wish Mercedes offered all wheeldrive on the B plus Tifin, renegade, Thor,
Etcetera.
It is ridiculous to pay.
Oh, this is a comment from someone, so Lola'sgiven us those.
It is ridiculous to pay 2.60 k for a B van whenyou can get plus for 160 k and have, you know,
2 feet.
So they're okay.
I I'm sure you hear this one.
(13:43):
What's your answer to that one?
So, yeah, you know, Mercedes just startedoffering, the the all wheel drive, and they are
not doing it on the B plus on the cutawaychassis yet, only on the the B van.
My guess is that they will start offering it,within the next year.
(14:05):
So that's my guess.
There's usually a little lag thinking of lag.
Right.
There's usually a little bit of a lag when itcomes to them offering things on the on the
other way chassis versus the van chassis.
But, you know, it would be really nice to haveit on the, on the D plus.
Yeah.
I think it's possible to see that.
(14:25):
I was looking at Coachmen, the class b section,I forgot what's the name of the I did a short
on it.
Is it Man, I forgot the I forgot the name ofit.
Maybe Lobo remember what I'm talking about.
Here was a really nice Mercedes, and it's anewer Mercedes, but it's, yeah, it's not on
that chassis yet.
And that would be nice because you can get allwheel drive.
(14:48):
There are some options out there of all wheeldrive from the Ford point of view.
There are some companies that are buildingstuff on the all wheel drive, chassis that's,
you know, B plus C.
So, yeah, I think we'll see it.
It'll happen.
Take your time.
Let's see.
I think so too.
I agree with it.
(15:08):
Here's a question from day 49.
It says any rumors of the new Ford TransitTrail model being used in a new Forward
Thinking RV design.
Good question.
You got some rumors that you can share withoutgetting into too much trouble?
Yeah.
Notice I said don't get in trouble.
(15:30):
We've definitely heard the rumors.
Right.
We're good.
We're we're probably if if you wanna me to takethis first, right, because I look at a lot of,
a lot of this stuff of what's coming out withthe Strange and all that.
It's really cool.
Basically, folks don't know how there forthemselves Hank seen how popular these vans are
(15:50):
for folks not only buying RVs from traditionalbuilders, like coachman, American Coach,
Winnebago, etcetera, but people just buying avan and fixing it up to get out there go more
off road and everything.
And the Strange is very popular for that beingall wheel drive.
So Ford is lifting it, putting bigger tires on,adding a power pack that can cut the hole and
(16:10):
install a max fan for you.
So that goes a long way to that, you know,being a camper van, even if it's self build,
but then also now it creates the opportunitywhere some of these company can come in and do
their own build.
And I think whoever's going to do it on thetrail is probably gonna think about making it
lighter weight and making it more flexible likewe were talking about.
(16:33):
I'm gonna imagine that's what they're gonna do,but we haven't seen, I think when Ford
announced this, the only one that that I sawout there is, Van Duet.
So they have, you know, they have a prototypeout there, but I haven't seen anyone else
because the vans have not gotten delivered yet.
(16:55):
Right.
So they've only gotten the one Some of theother manufacturers have told me that they're
thinking they're getting one soon.
Right.
So, you know, my my thought is by next year,we'll definitely see some of the Strange Hank,
the Strange trail.
But I don't think hang on.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't think they have the dual wheels.
(17:15):
I They're just single rear wheels.
Is that right?
Yeah.
Because I think Ford's focus with the transitis more off road.
So the van's gonna be more off rotable if it'ssingle wheels.
Now, traditional builders, I don't know of anytraditional builders that are building with the
single wheels.
I think well, what Bago's prototype for the ERV2.
(17:36):
That's on single wheels.
That's electric.
So I'm trying to
think 27 North 27 North.
They Oh, yes.
Right.
They're they're port on a single wheel.
They don't do anything with dual wheels becausewhen you're off roading, when you're off
roading in the, like the transit or theSprinter or the ProMaster.
Oh, ProMaster doesn't offer it, but they wannahave dual wheels like rocks get stuck the
(17:59):
middle, they said, and just weight wise and allthat with single wheels to better off road
machine.
Yeah.
I agree with that.
And and as you said, I think, 20 in North iskind of like the off road vans that you are
carrying here at Sunshine State RV.
Right?
Yeah.
Yes.
They are.
Now everybody has an offer inversion.
American coach, Coachmen, everyone kinda has anoff road version.
(18:22):
Mhmm.
But 27 I mean, Winnebago has the rebel, andthey have bunch of, like, 27 north is that's
what they do.
Like, they do it very, very well.
They do off road vans.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And in the interest of fairness, just becausePJ will probably look at this and leave a
comment there.
(18:42):
So does Mod vans bills all of their stuff andsingle wheels.
If you're looking for that, there you go.
That's a good option too.
I don't You don't carry that.
Uh-huh.
I don't know anything about Van Duyn.
I've I've I've seen them and met them.
They're great, but I don't know what
mod vans, mod vans, mod vans, you're saying.
(19:02):
I Hank, well, you know what?
Van do it, probably also.
A lot of the smaller, like, off road oroverlanding builders are probably gonna build
on single wheels versus dual wheels, dually'sin the back.
And the dually's are gonna give you morestability the road, they'll be able to carry
more weight, etcetera.
So, that's gonna be that's gonna be your bigdifference with that.
(19:25):
Lola has another question here from from, fromsomeone, has American coach gone back to 12
volt AC unit?
What other options are there in B vans, that'sfrom Ryan R.
And I think that was on a video we recently didwhere you and I were driving the new, American
Coach MD4 Patriot.
(19:46):
Yeah.
So the American Coach is still doing theapproval.
They are also offering what they call a greenair conditioner, g r e e.
It's a brand new design, brand new airconditioner.
It is a one thing.
Mhmm.
Very energy efficient, very quiet, and and lotsof, BTUs.
But, but, yeah, no, American Coach is stilldoing the premier 12 volt air conditioner.
(20:12):
Coachman is doing the same air conditioner, butCoachman's doing So as you guys might have
already heard Lola and myself our brandambassadors for Sunshine State RV.
And as Vanasource, I wanna take this moment toencourage anyone who is in the market a class B
van to start their journey with SS RV.
Sunshine State RVs specializes in selling classB vans and B plus RV.
(20:36):
That is the reason why they are the number onedealer in all of the state of Florida.
Number 3 in the whole United States.
SSRV will fly you right to their location inGainesville, Florida.
They'll give you a very detailed and thoroughwalk through of your van, and they'll give you
a 2 night stay at a local campground so you canget used to your van anywhere in the United
(20:57):
States of your RV.
We bought our coachman from Sunshine State RV.
2 years ago.
And over the past 2 years, we've seen how theytreat customers when it comes to warranty side.
Their service team is great.
Whether you bought it from them or not, everyperson that comes in there gets the same
service and care when it comes to warrantyrepairs.
The same service, attention, and care.
(21:17):
And their team does a great job getting youback on the road safely.
So if you guys are in the market for a b or bplus van, consider Sunshine State RV.
We've got a link in the description that youguys can use to see their current inventory and
have someone get in touch with you.
That is the beauty and the beast of going live,and I'm not talking not me, as the beast and
(21:39):
Lola as the beauty, but, you know, I didn't seethe countdown end, so I didn't get a chance to
you know that we were going to that break, butit was a sunshine state RV break.
So
I mean, I can't complain too much thing.
Yeah.
You gotta forgive me on that one.
Yeah.
So, but my bad, do you wanna finish yourthought on that here before we move on?
(22:02):
Yeah.
So just the total air conditioner.
It is America coach is still doing it.
Coachman is doing it.
Winnipeg it's not.
Roadtrek does not.
They're they're they're both, road trucks doingthe truman air conditioner mainly.
Mhmm.
And, Winnebago is still doing pullman, MDQ, themock air conditioner, the 110.
(22:23):
Yeah.
I have the, truma in my van.
It's awesome, but it's not 12 volts.
It is more efficient, though.
I found that it that it's more efficient to runit.
By the way, did did you give me your shout outsfor for hooking you up with Tremont.
I mean, I feel like I should get a little bitof credit for that, Hank.
Okay.
You can get you can get that credit, you know,any other credit.
(22:47):
That you are due.
But, so, you know, we
always argue over who gets credit for
life.
Yes.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Giving me credit.
No.
I don't.
Yeah.
So you try to you try to catch me right here,who I don't have any choice.
I was gonna ask you about degree from AmericanCoach because that AC looks really nice.
I've not used it extensively to, you know,really try it out, but it looks really good.
(23:12):
Is that 12 volts or 110?
Do you know?
No.
It is a 110 air conditioner.
It is it is a newer air conditioner startusing.
It is more energy efficient than the the medicAC that they've been using.
It's quieter, and and it has a built indehumidifier as well.
So there's a lot of a lot of cool features thatthat degree offers.
(23:33):
And that's an one of the reasons that thatAmerican coach was using it because of that.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Okay.
Travel Dreamer has this question here.
And if you guys have questions, please leavethem.
Smash the thumbs ups.
Okay.
We need that.
I know we had a rough start here, but I'm sureyou guys out there will forgive for the rough
start.
Travel dreamer says, are you seeing the ProMaster begin, creating an all wheel drive
(23:56):
version, or do you think that will happen fromRam all wheel drive ProMaster.
I hope.
I hope.
I really, really hope.
That would be if they do that, they're gonnaI'm
not seen it.
Yeah.
If if, wow.
Can you imagine that?
I think if if, Ram put out a all wheel drivePro Master?
(24:18):
Cause they who has the biggest who sells themost vans, chassis wise?
Is it Ram?
Do you Hank, or is
it Yeah.
It is It is Ram.
I mean, Ram Ram sells the most.
What's been cool the last couple of years isthat Ram has really stepped their game up.
So be on almost a level playing field withMercedes and Ford, where they have the push
(24:39):
button start.
They have the sweet transmission.
They have, the the big navigation screen.
They have all the safety features that the Fordhas.
And so they've they've really every year, theykeep stepping their game up to do a better job.
And with them add if they add an all wheeldrive to it, it would really, really be a game
changer for them.
(25:00):
I think I think that for anybody that uses arandom chassis, that would be a big deal.
Yeah.
I would, yeah, I would agree with the Ramchassis just looks really, really, really nice.
I was trying to see if I had a picture here onmy phone that I could pull up really quick for
you guys, but I got so many picture I don'tthink I'm getting to I mean, I'm not gonna get
to it fast enough to show you all actually, oh,no.
(25:23):
You know what?
I do have a nice picture here.
From Coachmen.
This is gonna be an upcoming video, but, thisis a, I'll switch over to my phone here for a
second.
Boom.
So that's gonna be a nova.
That is a way better looking van now, Nick, waybetter look at it.
That's nice.
That's nice.
(25:43):
Really, really nice.
And then is it just coachman doing thesewheels, or is that are those Ram wheels?
Cause these wheels look good.
Do that that we're getting on there.
Those are those are coachman wheels.
Yes.
Oh, okay.
So that's an exclusive thing to coachman.
Well, yeah, no.
Coach invites them, and they upgrade thosewheels.
That is not a standard wheel.
(26:04):
That's not what comes with it, but that that isthe brand new chassis.
Okay.
Yeah.
That's a great idea from Coachman, I think, todo those wheels.
And I guess other guys can do nice fancy wheelsalso.
He put it on there.
Yeah.
Every I mean, we, yeah, we do that witheverybody.
I mean, we're always Mhmm.
Always upgrading wheels for customers.
I mean, there's a lot of logs, stuff like that,we do.
(26:26):
Yeah.
So I think, you know, just on the on thesubject of the ProMaster, right, This big
change that we've seen that happened, a lot ofthese companies don't really how often do they
change these things?
Maybe 5 years, maybe 6 years?
Them to do another generation.
Yeah.
So I don't know if and if we see it witheverything going on, we're probably gonna see
(26:50):
electric know some people wanna get mad when Isay that, but that's probably gonna be the
future changes we see.
Yeah.
I really think that's gonna be the change witheverybody from Mercedes before before it's
already there.
Ford's already doing it.
Mercedes is making their electric cars and abunch of their cars.
(27:10):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think
And I don't think mhmm.
Ramit's doing well.
I've heard rumors, but what does that mean?
You know what I mean?
I've heard rumors that Ram is planning onhaving an electric ProMaster.
We haven't seen in America, them, announced thee Sprinter.
Everybody is.
(27:31):
Yeah.
Mercedes is gonna have Hank e Strange.
You know?
So, yeah, we we're gonna see some stuff onthat.
Here, here we go.
What's Lola at?
Okay.
On the all wheel drive, can you flat tow like 4wheel drive?
That's from the hangman.
I'm not sure.
We're gonna have to
(27:52):
I know people
Mhmm.
Go ahead.
People bought the these Strange vans that arefour wheel drive, to tow behind their big class
a.
So I must they can be flat towed.
Mhmm.
All wheel drive, I'm not sure it's still it'sstill pretty new.
So this is my understanding of that is that Sothat's why a lot of folks, what they have RVs,
(28:14):
tow a jeep, right, like a Wrangler, becausethis, four wheel drive is completely different,
right?
Unless you put it in 4 wheel drive, it's it'sin rear wheel drive.
So, towing that and being the all the wheelsbeing flat on the ground is fine.
But if you're towing anything all wheel drive.
You can flat tow it from what I understand, butyou can't flat tow it that far.
(28:35):
So if you're flat towing that, you have to stopmore off in and let all that stuff cool down
because everything's everything's gonna beturning as the wheels are going.
So, yeah.
And like I said, I'm not a mechanic, So myunderstanding is you're gonna have to put that
on a trailer if you wanna be safe and drivelong distances.
And friends I've had in the past that have hadall wheel drive vehicles like Honda made one
(28:58):
for a long time that was very popular withpeople RVING, and you had to stop.
I think it was like every thousand miles orsomething.
And let that sink cool down or whatever.
So but that's a that's a question that themanufacturers would be able to answer the
easiest.
Sorry.
Go ahead, Nick.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No.
I was, you know, I was, we always get it.
(29:18):
We always get this question every time one ofthe American manufacturers can incorporate some
of the European models because that is aquestion that every every time every time we go
live, every time we're at it today, that thatquestion always, always, always gets asked.
I think it's a great question.
What's your answer?
I think
to be an there's there is an answer Hank.
(29:41):
Mhmm.
Okay.
I'm weighted with waiting with baited breath.
You wanna know the answer?
Yes.
Go for it.
So, roadtrek is on to buy a European company,and they they are gonna be releasing some
European models.
(30:02):
They promised me this year.
So they've already started with a pivot, whichhas a European flare to it, but they have
another model coming out in, bytheendofthisyear, that is gonna be a European
model.
And so, Hank, I already got all the backstageaccess to it when it comes out.
(30:23):
Okay.
Doing pretty exciting, but, road check seemslike they're gonna be the first one to do it
this year.
I you know, everybody's talked about doing it.
Just haven't seen anybody actually do it.
Yeah.
There's lots of promised things out there, butwhat I would say is that I think a lot of the
(30:43):
manufacturers hear those same calls from folks,and I'm starting to see more elements of
European styling being worked in.
Aren't you seeing that too?
Not like not like full blown going, you know,to exactly what it looks like in Europe, but
I'm we're starting to see stuff getting workedin, I think.
Yeah.
I think the RVs are not made in Indiana.
(31:05):
So I think that like, Winnebago has some hashad some of that little here, little there.
And then definitely definitely the, you know,road track being made in Canada.
And and them and them have being owned by aEuropean company, they are very much influenced
by by the European way of making RVs.
(31:28):
So I would say that they are gonna they'llprobably be the first ones to bring it to
Marcus.
Yeah.
And let me just say this is a complete aside.
I hope you learned your lesson.
About having a big fish fry over here and theneating dessert and all that and then getting on
camera, because I can see every time you yawn,you can meet you on.
This is remember I said to you, I don't wannaeat anymore because I gotta fall asleep.
(31:54):
Can you tell what I'm on I I guess.
I'm like, cool.
Oh, no.
I'm over.
I'm over trying to protect you on that one.
This is what happened next.
Don't do this.
Don't have a big dinner.
I'm gonna give you
a scrape of that right now.
We had fried fish.
We had it all.
Yes.
Your stomach is working overtime right now.
(32:17):
I I know Craig was like, okay, I ate too much.
I was like, what do you mean?
Too much.
She's like, oh, people kept giving me, what isit, bread pudding?
Remember I said I'm not eating that breadpudding?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I was staying away from that.
Yeah.
Okay.
So there you go.
Carolyn Smith's, food forest homestead says I'mjust yards outside of Gainesville Cause cable
(32:40):
keeps going in and out on me.
Also, there's a stow solar storm out theremessing with internet signals.
So there you go.
That's from,
I know I think ro Robert, Rojas has a goodquestion, Hank.
Oh, okay.
You want me to get to that?
I was gonna get to Tommy, but let's see.
Let's get to Robert Rojas first.
I have a question for answered Tommy.
(33:02):
Oh, you did?
Okay.
I missed it.
Okay.
A question for both of you guys as far as theTrivado 59 k and 59 kl.
Which would you guys prefer if you were to buyif you were to buy 1 is lithium better or is
the generator better?
Do you wanna go first on that one?
So, you know, hang I always mention this duringour videos.
(33:24):
Mhmm.
People always ask what would we do?
They ask you, what would you do?
They ask what would I do?
And and I'm like a good politician.
I always turn the question around back on you.
How are you gonna use the RV?
Why do an RV?
What problem are you trying to solve with yournew RV?
And then that will help me better answer yourquestion.
(33:46):
Robert, if you really care about medium,whatever.
I would buy.
I'd buy a lithium 1, but they're not foreverybody.
You know, not everybody needs a lithium 1.
Some people, they're be in Campground to everynight for as long as you own it, you can you
can get by as a generator, just plug in.
And then for a little bit of time, that chipthat you want to run the AC without, being
plugged in, just turn your generator on.
(34:07):
But if you tell me you're always gonna be inin, in, national parks and off the grid and all
that, then I would tell you you need, liftingpatterns.
So, you know, everybody has a different reasonwhy they're gonna buy an RV.
For me, I buy a lithium 1, but everyone uses itso different.
And, and so this is this is a a very, verypersonal question.
(34:33):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I agree.
You know, from my point of view, I agree thatit is a a a personal thing.
I mean, it also has do with your budget.
Right?
The lithium generally is gonna cost you more.
Right?
So Yeah.
That's something to think about.
There.
So for example, I I bought a, AGM, so I boughtmine had a AGM battery and the generator.
(34:54):
Right?
And then I converted it to lithium battery, soI have lithium and the generator.
And I'll tell you guys, and Nick is probablygonna laugh right now because he saw me
experiencing this to day.
I'm not doing generators anymore.
I'm over generators.
So if I buy any van that I buy from now on,it's just gonna a lot of lithium and a second
(35:16):
alternator in it, and that's it.
I have been cured of any I remember when Ifirst did this, Nick was like, I don't know why
why do you still want the generator?
Let's just put a bunch of battery And I waslike, no.
I gotta have the generator for the apocalypse.
Alright.
I'm done.
And like I said, my personal preference is Buteverybody uses them differently.
(35:39):
You're in a parking lot doing a podcast.
You need as much lifting and batteries that youcan fit in your RV Hank.
Right.
Right.
Period.
You just need as much looking batteries.
Not everybody does podcast from parking lot.
Like, I mean, if you're not doing that, youneed lithium batteries.
You can get by with the generator if you'regoing from Kitter.
Save the $20 and go buy your camp grounds forthe next 10 years.
(36:01):
Mhmm.
Yeah.
So I think yeah.
You know what?
I mean, it's true.
I think people look, with the generator, youjust have to maintain it and all that kind of
stuff.
Probably what I did comp located everything.
Right?
I think buying something and then spending moremoney.
It's better if you buy what you want in thefirst place, and that manufacturer has built it
all to work together.
Versus you're now introducing part things tothe system that didn't exist there.
(36:26):
So I'm not I I I'm not really knocking thegenerator, but I really do think after looking
at this for a long time.
That lithium second alternator, that's reallythe best way to go, but it's gonna cost you
more.
I think you're looking probably depending onhow much lithium and all that, somewhere, like,
somewhere between 10, 20, maybe $30,000 extra.
(36:46):
For that.
Well, now they're having a 1000 amp hourbattery packs, 3000 one inverters, 300 watts of
solar.
I mean, there's some very, very serious lithiumdeals out there that they're not cheap you
know, just the batteries himself are 12 to$15,000, then the inverter, then the
(37:07):
installation.
I mean, it's a serious it's a seriousinvestment.
And like I said, if if you need it, you'regonna use it.
It's all.
Yeah.
I think yeah.
There you go.
So that's that's I don't know if that's adecline answer for Robert, but I think based on
that, you know, my experiences, I I wouldn't Iwould just go with lithium.
And then also there's big lithium power packsthat have now, or what they call solar
(37:30):
generators, or all this kind of stuff.
So Strange alone ones, Lola and I havesomething from Jackery.
We just bought a bigger one from Jack degree,but that one you that you can move around.
So you can have it in your van and then move itto like, I'm gonna have it in my electric van
or you could put it in the house and stuff likethat, but they tend to get heavy too as they
get bigger, and it's not purpose.
(37:51):
It's not purpose built for vans.
And if you put those in your van, you betterhave room for somewhere.
Right.
100%.
So Yeah.
There you go.
Yeah.
I hope that answers your question, Robert.
That's a long answer for a short question.
Right.
Now there's a question I saw
on Hank is scared of that.
Yeah.
(38:11):
Well, I'm trying to give people all the, theknow, the different perspectives on it.
You know, and then there was a question thatcame in from, Facebook you know, as well that
someone was asking about medications.
So I'm gonna try to see if I can get Lola toanswer that while I'm on the air not, that
(38:32):
Facebook question, I'll just let her answer itseparately.
Just to tell you guys what I'm talking abouthere, someone asked about medications and
traveling and the R and stuff like that.
Lola's a pharmacist.
I think she's probably a better person toanswer that.
So maybe I'll answer that in a different video,or she'll just go personally.
Answer that one.
It is a good question.
(38:52):
You know, if you're gonna travel in the RV,there's fridges in here.
Some medications need to be in the fridge.
Some don't have to be.
RVs do tend to get hot though.
So you might wanna keep those things in thefridge.
So I don't know if you have an answer for that,like, when you're traveling with medications.
I mean, I would say that you should definitelyconsult Lola on that.
Yes.
(39:17):
There you go.
And Lola's That's my professional opinion.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah.
She's the one who's a pharmacist.
I'll get her to answer that.
If she answers it while I'm here on the chat,I'll give you guys whatever her answer is,
about that.
So what other what other FAQs do you get fromthe videos that you could think of?
(39:38):
You know?
I know there was someone complaining on thatvideo where we drove the all wheel drive.
There's always people complaining.
So but this guy was complaining, and I won't Iwon't show the comment here.
I'm not trying to, you know, set people up oranything, but this guy was complaining because
I was trying to point out to you that when anall wheel drive, when you take off a stop, you
(40:01):
don't get that skipping that happens.
And he was like, what are you talking aboutskipping?
And what I meant is you have a 4 by 4.
Like, I've had a 4 by 4 pickup truck, and I'vedone this when I've driven the 4 by 4 vans or
even just rear wheel drive Hank.
When you first go to start that, those rarewheels just spin out sometimes, especially if
you kinda like match on the on the gas.
(40:22):
Obviously, these things have a lot of weight,so that kinda keeps everything pinned down.
But I do feel that skipping sensation on thewheels, and maybe I'm just a lead foot, but I
was pointing that out to you that that justdoesn't happen with all wheel drive.
And this person thought that I was crazy.
What do you think about that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I you know, it's it is it is different whenyou're depends on where you're diving from and
(40:49):
what you doing and all that, you know, thethere is the all wheel drives kinda kinda mean,
that's why you have your, the dual wheels.
You have the all wheel drive, traction control.
You know, that's that's the yeah, kinda allpart of that system there.
But the all wheel drive, it's meant toautomatically pick in same on the Mercedes and
(41:13):
the transit where it automatically kicks inwhen you need it.
And when you don't need it, it's not there.
And that's kinda
We're taking a break.
We're taking a break.
Hold on one second.
Lola and I are now official brand ambassadorsfor Coachmen class b.
So I wanted to take a moment to tell you guyswhy we, as Vanosaurus, like it says on our t
shirt, are very excited about our partnershipwith Coachmen Class B.
(41:38):
First off, Coachmen RVs has been a leader tothe great outdoors since 1964.
So next is the fact
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