18' Series priced new 18.58-2 OB today

[Ssil2000]

Hi guys love the forum lots of good info

After much deliberation we have decided the 18.58-2 is the van for our family but before I pay the deposit there are a few things I am still not sure about and hoping you guys can help me a bit

Extended draw bar - is it crucial? Does it improve the ride on the outback? Does it add a lot to the cost as I completely forgot about it today

The jhub - they told me it wasn't an option even though I told them it was on the 2017... later looking for the fridge options he found it but it's a fairly big upgrade ~$700 extra from the coast to coast... thoughts?

The fridge - I am struggling here I am not sold on these absorption fridges and asked to upgrade to a Waeco 220lt compressor fridge and they couldn't tell me if it was possible they need to call jayco to confirm (They also said it would be a 1300 upgrade if it was possible...) anyone have any feedback on the Thetford 174 Lt that comes with it? And has anyone switched to the waeco or similar?

The coupling - is there any benefit to the upgraded swivel one?

Battery - sales guy said you can just add a second battery is this Correct? Is the system set up for dual batteries? I'm not convinced.

just FYI I have opted for the ESC, external shower, they are "throwing in" the stereo to and powered antenna, pretty sure the water tap to a frame is standard and the gas bayonet for the weber q also standard shame you cant get bike racks on these models

Any feedback will be appreciated its a fair chunk of change don't really want to regret things

Kindest regards,

Sergio

 

[bigcol]

I will break down each of your questions, and answer as best I can

Extended draw bar - is it crucial? Does it improve the ride on the outback? Does it add a lot to the cost as I completely forgot about it today

the extended draw bar does help with towing, yes it makes the whole unit longer, but easier to maneuver, as well as reversing and also having area for fitting stuff on the front if wanting to

The jhub - they told me it wasn't an option even though I told them it was on the 2017... later looking for the fridge options he found it but it's a fairly big upgrade ~$700 extra from the coast to coast... thoughts?

I always work on the belief that new technology is great, but the first attempt is usually the crappy one, for my mind (non techie person) the Coast to Coast is good

The fridge - I am struggling here I am not sold on these absorption fridges and asked to upgrade to a Waeco 220lt compressor fridge and they couldn't tell me if it was possible they need to call jayco to confirm (They also said it would be a 1300 upgrade if it was possible...) anyone have any feedback on the Thetford 174 Lt that comes with it? And has anyone switched to the waeco or similar?

very hard to change after manufacture - as it wont fit through the door, that being said - wouldnt have a clue to an answer for you

The coupling - is there any benefit to the upgraded swivel one?

lost me there, as I am not sure which coupling you are talking about - over here in Wait Awhile, if you order the Outback version, you get the Tregg style hitch - thats it

Battery - sales guy said you can just add a second battery is this Correct? Is the system set up for dual batteries? I'm not convinced.

yes it is correct, but even if it was slightly more expensive than fitting yourself, you would be better off getting it fitted at manufacture - the reason? - because then the weight is included in your Tare, and will not come off your payload weight

just FYI I have opted for the ESC, external shower, they are "throwing in" the stereo to and powered antenna, pretty sure the water tap to a frame is standard and the gas bayonet for the weber q also standard shame you cant get bike racks on these models

ESC should be standard on ALL vans now a days - at a minimum
yeppers, bayonet point and drawbar tap are standard - although you may want to get a new hose for the weber (3m is good) with the bayonet plug on the end - just remember there are 2 sizes of the gas hose - BSPT (British Standard Pipe Taper) and BSP (British Standard Pipe) - they are NOT the same thread
bike racks will always be a bug bear for those that want them and need them, there is some great ideas people have used to sort out this problem, you will just have to do a search

Any feedback will be appreciated its a fair chunk of change don't really want to regret things

we aim to please (but miss occasionally)
we are however good at helping you spend your hard earned on mod and must haves............

cheers

 

[Ssil2000]

I will break down each of your questions, and answer as best I can


the extended draw bar does help with towing, yes it makes the whole unit longer, but easier to maneuver, as well as reversing and also having area for fitting stuff on the front if wanting to

Legend mate appreciate it, I think the drawbar is a lock in I haven't hears 1 person say don't get it

I always work on the belief that new technology is great, but the first attempt is usually the crappy one, for my mind (non techie person) the Coast to Coast is good

If I can get it thrown in I reckon I'll get it the techie in me is bursting hehehe

very hard to change after manufacture - as it wont fit through the door, that being said - wouldnt have a clue to an answer for you

Yea I might just stick with stock and add some fans as I have seen a lot of people have done

lost me there, as I am not sure which coupling you are talking about - over here in Wait Awhile, if you order the Outback version, you get the Tregg style hitch - thats it

Sorry the tregg is an extra not sure if I will go for it or not not reading a huge amount of benefit not sure on this one still

yes it is correct, but even if it was slightly more expensive than fitting yourself, you would be better off getting it fitted at manufacture - the reason? - because then the weight is included in your Tare, and will not come off your payload weight

Ok, I wonder if I provision it if they will include it in tare?

ESC should be standard on ALL vans now a days - at a minimum

100% agreed

yeppers, bayonet point and drawbar tap are standard - although you may want to get a new hose for the weber (3m is good) with the bayonet plug on the end - just remember there are 2 sizes of the gas hose - BSPT (British Standard Pipe Taper) and BSP (British Standard Pipe) - they are NOT the same thread

Learn something new every day! Cheers for that

bike racks will always be a bug bear for those that want them and need them, there is some great ideas people have used to sort out this problem, you will just have to do a search

we aim to please (but miss occasionally)
we are however good at helping you spend your hard earned on mod and must haves............

cheers

Yea bike racks will wait till after warranty then I will sort something out

Really appreciate it mate!

 

[mikerezny]

The fridge - I am struggling here I am not sold on these absorption fridges and asked to upgrade to a Waeco 220lt compressor fridge and they couldn't tell me if it was possible they need to call jayco to confirm (They also said it would be a 1300 upgrade if it was possible...) anyone have any feedback on the Thetford 174 Lt that comes with it? And has anyone switched to the waeco or similar?

Hi,

It will be important to consider how you intend to use your van. If you will be free camping, you will need to power the compressor fridge somehow. This may well involve larger solar panels, a second battery, and possibly a generator for those overcast days.

I don't know the average current draw for the Waeco, but 3A may be close to the mark. Others will know for sure.
3A for 24 hours will be 72Ah. So, with a single 100Ah battery, you will be down to 28% in 24 hours. Not good, since this
will impact on the life of the battery. One should aim to discharge to only 75-80%. If so, you will have only 25Ah from a 100Ah battery and you will then get only 8 hours from the battery. Dual batteries will still only get you 16 hours.

If you add solar, you will need to generate 72Ah per day. At 15V, that is about 1kWh per day. Assuming you can get 5 hours of sun per day, you will need 200W of solar panels. But it is not always sunny, so 300W of solar would be prudent. You will need a generator if you get more than 2 days of overcast weather.

Now, absorption fridges. I initially also wanted to avoid them. But, we have had our van for 2 months and I am now more positive about them. We got 20 days free camping out of a 9kg bottle which included running the Dometic RM2350 90L fridge, cooking, and washing. We don't have hot water. At $20 per refill (at Bunnings, but $15 is possible), that is $1 per day.
(with refills, you may get up to 9.4kg, you only get 8.5kg from a swap'n'go),

You have a bigger fridge, but from asking around, it seems you may get about 12-15days from a 9kg bottle for fridge, cooking, and hot water. Again, there will be others who have more experience with how long a bottle lasts.

I think I have improved our efficiency of late, so hopefully, we can stretch the bottle out even further: insulating the fridge, adding fridge fans, made a chip burner to heat water, and started using our solar shower.

Batteries, solar and generator will add significantly to the cost of an upgrade from an absorption to a compressor fridge.

I can keep our battery topped up with only 1 hour per day from a 40W solar panel. But we only run lights
(installed a light dimmer, so they use only 25-50%. Jayco LED lights are really bright and use about 800mA!),
a small oscillating 12V fan (about 750mA from memory), and a fridge fan which draws 100mA. My usage is less than 2Ah per day.
So, with one 100Ah battery, discharging to 75% will give me about 12 days of overcast weather before I need to be concerned.
At 5 hours of sunlight, I can replace about 12Ah per day. So, I need approximately one good sunny day per week.

If you stay in camping grounds, you get both absorption or compressor fridge on power. But you may well hear the compressor kicking in and running. You will not hear an absorption fridge running.

cheers
Mike

 

[Ssil2000]

Awesome info there Mike!!! I think that's the way I'm leaning.. go with the thereford 174 which is standard on that model and install the fans sooner rather than later the noise of the compressor fridge is a concern

For the extra money I could get a smaller fridge for the car and use my cfx as a backup/beer fridge in the van

I will have 150w on the roof and 150w portable i do want to move on to more free camping but initially it will only be a couple of days here and there and will have a generator as a back up as well

Cheers!


Sergio

 

[mikerezny]

Awesome info there Mike!!! I think that's the way I'm leaning.. go with the thereford 174 which is standard on that model and install the fans sooner rather than later the noise of the compressor fridge is a concern

For the extra money I could get a smaller fridge for the car and use my cfx as a backup/beer fridge in the van

I will have 150w on the roof and 150w portable i do want to move on to more free camping but initially it will only be a couple of days here and there and will have a generator as a back up as well

Cheers!


Sergio

Hi,
you might want to check the Thetford specs for the fridge that is supplied. Some Thetford models come with fans installed and an extra two-speed switch on the front to control them.

cheers
Mike

 

[Tucker]

We have the same van some things I would have liked is 2 picnic tables the front tunnel hatch to put the bigger hatch in there as the standard ones are too small and upgraded the solar panel from 120w to 150w and get a hatch for the rear tunnel

 

[bigcol]

yeppers, bayonet point and drawbar tap are standard - although you may want to get a new hose for the weber (3m is good) with the bayonet plug on the end - just remember there are 2 sizes of the gas hose - BSPT (British Standard Pipe Taper) and BSP (British Standard Pipe) - they are NOT the same thread

Learn something new every day! Cheers for that

I should also add - I cannot for the life of me remember which one the Weber uses.......

if you go to your local Weber dealer - they will have the hose, and from memory I think they are / were about $60
(every extra for a Weber seems to be $60 - over here in WA anyway)

 

[Ssil2000]

We have the same van some things I would have liked is 2 picnic tables the front tunnel hatch to put the bigger hatch in there as the standard ones are too small and upgraded the solar panel from 120w to 150w and get a hatch for the rear tunnel

Does yours have the 174lt fridge? Do you know the model number by any chance? Can't find anything online at all

 

[bigcol]

Battery - sales guy said you can just add a second battery is this Correct? Is the system set up for dual batteries? I'm not convinced.

yes it is correct, but even if it was slightly more expensive than fitting yourself, you would be better off getting it fitted at manufacture - the reason? - because then the weight is included in your Tare, and will not come off your payload weight

Ok, I wonder if I provision it if they will include it in tare?

when it rolls off the assembly line, and gets weighed - if its not on board - its not included



with the solar - if you can upgrade to bigger / more panels, I would, again for your weight, but also for ease of mind

 

[Tucker]

Also think about getting the washing machine
And the outside 12v and 240v outlets get another set in between the 2 picnic tables also

 

[Ssil2000]

I should also add - I cannot for the life of me remember which one the Weber uses.......

if you go to your local Weber dealer - they will have the hose, and from memory I think they are / were about $60
(every extra for a Weber seems to be $60 - over here in WA anyway)

I almost bought one today with the works but I figured I may need to buy the van first

 

[Ssil2000]

when it rolls off the assembly line, and gets weighed - if its not on board - its not included



with the solar - if you can upgrade to bigger / more panels, I would, again for your weight, but also for ease of mind

That makes sense, I will have to get the second battery upgrade through the senate! I am looking to upgrade to the 150w panel but I will also have a portable 150w panel so I think I am covered for solar

Also think about getting the washing machine
And the outside 12v and 240v outlets get another set in between the 2 picnic tables also

Washing machine is on the team I've seen some people putting tressel tables in the front bed end if I can do that I wont bother with the extra built in one I reckon

 

[mikerezny]

bigcol said: ↑
yes it is correct, but even if it was slightly more expensive than fitting yourself, you would be better off getting it fitted at manufacture - the reason? - because then the weight is included in your Tare, and will not come off your payload weight
Ok, I wonder if I provision it if they will include it in tare?

Provision only means they supply the cables and a battery box. I very much doubt that a battery will be included in the tare since it won't be in the van after it comes off assembly and goes over the Jayco weighbridge. A battery and provision is about $400 retail. We got 20% off all options, so that came down to $320. A 100Ah Gel battery is around $300.

One thing, the Setec power unit supplied by Jayco will only charge Gel batteries. I originally wanted to install my own AGM battery. Luckily, I found this out before I bought a battery that would have not been compatible.

But, as bigcol stated, wrt tare:
A battery weighs about 40kg. On a campervan you get only 300kg for your stuff, which will include 9kg for gas in one bottle and 83kg for water in one tank. So, if I had bought my own battery, I would have already lost 132kg of my 300kg!!!!

Even on a tandem, which has 450kg, a self-fitted battery will use almost 10% of your personal allowance!

cheers
Mike

 

[Tucker]

Hi guys love the forum lots of good info

After much deliberation we have decided the 18.58-2 is the van for our family but before I pay the deposit there are a few things I am still not sure about and hoping you guys can help me a bit

Extended draw bar - is it crucial? Does it improve the ride on the outback? Does it add a lot to the cost as I completely forgot about it today

The jhub - they told me it wasn't an option even though I told them it was on the 2017... later looking for the fridge options he found it but it's a fairly big upgrade ~$700 extra from the coast to coast... thoughts?

The fridge - I am struggling here I am not sold on these absorption fridges and asked to upgrade to a Waeco 220lt compressor fridge and they couldn't tell me if it was possible they need to call jayco to confirm (They also said it would be a 1300 upgrade if it was possible...) anyone have any feedback on the Thetford 174 Lt that comes with it? And has anyone switched to the waeco or similar?

The coupling - is there any benefit to the upgraded swivel one?

Battery - sales guy said you can just add a second battery is this Correct? Is the system set up for dual batteries? I'm not convinced.

just FYI I have opted for the ESC, external shower, they are "throwing in" the stereo to and powered antenna, pretty sure the water tap to a frame is standard and the gas bayonet for the weber q also standard shame you cant get bike racks on these models

Any feedback will be appreciated its a fair chunk of change don't really want to regret things

Kindest regards,

Sergio

With the outside shower get a light above it and the extended drawer bar should be standard well work getting it

 

[Bretthar]

Got the same model and the Thetford fridge has worked well so far on my 2 trips. It has 2 fans fitted in it standard and a 2 speed switch on the front to turn them on and off. Freezer kept ice cream frozen at about -15 and fridge sat on about 2 to 4 deg, that was with it set at one light below max, found fridge went to 0 when set on max. So unless your at powered sites I wouldn't bother with a compressor fridge, also its right next to bed so would be noisy.
If you want a second battery get them to fit it, I only got one and they plonk it right in the middle of the space that would fit 2, I had to move mine to fit in a second, Setec wil charge both but will take longer, if your keen install a DC-DC charger to charge properly from car when driving
I didn't get extended draw bar due to parking space issues, main advantage for one would be room for a storage box, its a long van so even with standard draw bar it reverses ok, and when moving forward the shorter the bar the more the van will follow the car, the longer the bar the more it will want to cut corners

 

[Tucker]

Does yours have the 174lt fridge? Do you know the model number by any chance? Can't find anything online at all

Hi mate yes it is the 174lt great fridge but I don't have the model number the van is kept in storage not enough space for it
Any other questions just ask I'll do my best to answer them cheers

 

[mikerezny]

Does yours have the 174lt fridge? Do you know the model number by any chance? Can't find anything online at all

Hi,
I have a recent Thetford catalog and I can only see a N3185-E 185L fridge tropical rated, fully automatic, with 2 cooling fans.
and an N614E (electric ignition) or N614M (manual ignition) 184L oth with one cooling fan.

There is also N514 E/M 164L Thetford fridge.

Like you, I couldn't find a 174l Thetford fridge online.

cheers
Mike

 

[Tucker]

Hi,
I have a recent Thetford catalog and I can only see a N3185-E 185L fridge tropical rated, fully automatic, with 2 cooling fans.
and an N614E (electric ignition) or N614M (manual ignition) 184L oth with one cooling fan.

There is also N514 E/M 164L Thetford fridge.

Like you, I couldn't find a 174l Thetford fridge online.

cheers
Mike

Hi mate yes it is the 174lt great fridge but I don't have the model number the van is kept in storage not enough space for it
Any other questions just ask I'll do my best to answer them cheers

Hi I just looked it up and its actually the 185lt N3185-E 185L

 

[Ssil2000]

Hi mate yes it is the 174lt great fridge but I don't have the model number the van is kept in storage not enough space for it
Any other questions just ask I'll do my best to answer them cheers

So you find it keeps temperature well even on the really hot days? that makes me feel better I don't know why i am so skeptical of these fridges used to compressor fridges i guess

Hi,
I have a recent Thetford catalog and I can only see a N3185-E 185L fridge tropical rated, fully automatic, with 2 cooling fans.
and an N614E (electric ignition) or N614M (manual ignition) 184L oth with one cooling fan.

There is also N514 E/M 164L Thetford fridge.

Like you, I couldn't find a 174l Thetford fridge online.

cheers
Mike

Yea seems very strange that there is no record of a 174lt fridge anywhere! i hope it is one of the tropical rated ones that would definitely put me at ease

Thanks again guys