Im really interested to get into this, although I live in Germany. Im trying to figure out if it could work to live 24/7 in that climate here, but Im not sure. Also im overwhelmed by the hundreds of RV choices. I would really appreciate it if some current owners could give me their opinion:

- Can heating be sufficient during winter or will it be really uncomfortable all the time? (several months of snow?)

- Will energy production be way worse than say San Francisco?

Thanks!

I don't have a Rialta, I've got a 2008 Coachman Freedom Express. I bought it on consignment 2 years ago with only 3000 miles on it. I didn't really know much at all about RV's at the time, I just new that after visiting 30+ countries I should spend some time exploring my own. And what better way to do it than go whole hog!? My main criteria was that it needed to be small enough to maneuver in tight spaces, and have big enough storage for a couple bicycles, kiteboard, snowboard & parachute, and have room for a friend or two. 

These are the pics from when I first bought it, but it's pretty much unchanged other than some of the stickers peeling off. So now it just reads "xpress" which I'm fine with! ;)

I recently completed my goal of circumnavigating the US, and so now I'm back in California, kinda wondering what to do with my life again! hahah I have grown to really love the RV lifestyle -- especially once I learned I could run my fridge of propane and didn't need shore power all the time! I did stop by an RV dealership the other day to look at some smaller options. Who knows what the future holds...

I have a 1995 Rialta Q/D you can see it here http://www.cccgis.com/Rialta.htm

Robert Crouse

Hey guys, this is my 1995 Rialta FD; I bought it off eBay back in November 2012 with around 62K miles on it. Haven’t had a chance to take many pictures until now, it’s been in and out of the shop for the last couple of months (had to get the transmission rebuilt which took a few weeks, and had a custom $2500 JL sound system installed - figured what the heck, if it’s gonna be my home AND my car stereo, might as well go all out). 

Haven’t done too many mods yet, mostly been fixing any problems and repairing the interior (filling in holes in the wood, repairing cabinets and drawers, fixing/upgrading furniture etc). This post is quite long as I’m also using this thread to document all of my progress so far, so feel free to skim! :)

Here’s some pics of the exterior:

I’ve taken the Rialta out on a few trips now, and have really enjoyed it; even lived in the Rialta with Tahoe's snow & ice for 10 days, and she took good care of me! (Once I got chains, it was much easier to navigate the ice and snow, lol). The heater kept me plenty warm too, as long as it had enough resources to work properly!

If you notice on the picture above, I broke the bumper. I was backing up into what I thought was a just a fluffy wall of snow...and *crunch*! It was a wall of concrete, just buried under snow. Doh! Just the back left skirt was demolished; I should be able to order a new one for about $99, also going to check any Winnebago junkyards and see if they might have any I can procure =)

Here’s a shot of the bedroom. I love the full-size bed, I’m 6’2 and it fits me just perfectly. 

One of the sliders for my drawer completely came off and was bent, had to remount it and re-bend the metal to make it work better. Also, the CO detector was dead, so it was replaced.

Here’s a shot of the kitchen. I love magnets! At the risk of sounding like a nancy-boy, I absolutely love my magnetic salt & pepper shakers I got from Bed Bath & Beyond. They look like little rabbit ears or something, and mount underneath my microwave. Also, the Magnetic Knife Bar is fantastic, it’s the second one I tried (the first one was too long to mount properly, the second one is more proportional and matches the color of the wood). 

Above is another shot of the kitchen, showing my NorCold Refrigerator, Paper Towel Rack, and my rubbermaid storage setup. 

Here’s the stove & sink. The stove is really clean; according to the previous owner, it had never even been used! (He always ate take-out food and didn’t cook for himself in it). 

Here’s a shot of some custom carpentry work; a spice rack mounted to the cabinet above the kitchen. Also the plastic bag holder works well, given that my SimpleHuman trashcan takes plastic grocery bags =)

Here’s a shot of the kitchen drawer. When I bought this RV, the drawer was in really bad shape. While I was in Tahoe, I attempted to open the drawer, and it fell out and completely disintegrated! My Dad helped me rebuild the drawer piece by piece, putting in extra wood blocks to stabilize, drilled screws into it instead of using those crappy weak nails that came stock, and remounted the sliders. 

Here’s a shot of the bathroom. It was pretty clean when I got it, other than a little bit of mildew in the roof in the bathroom — bombed it with Clorox and it took care of that little problem =)

Here’s a shot of where my 10” JL 10W6V2-D4 subwoofer is placed. Had to ship it back and get it RMA’d, it shorted out during my trip to Tahoe. Driving back with no bass all the way from Tahoe -> SF -> LA was painful, LOL! I only had my system for a little over a month before the subwoofer crapped out. The sub can handle 600W with no problem, and I’m only pushing 500W with it, so it probably was just a faulty unit from the factory; testing it with a voltmeter showed a short. At least it is covered under warranty; I should have it back again here really soon!  

BTW, when I was getting the system installed, I was trying to figure out where to place the Subs. I saw that Tynan placed his where the stock heater is, facing the driver & passenger seats. After consulting with a few audio shops, they actually recommended to put the sub facing sideways, since bass is omnidirectional; this also gives the sound waves a surface to hit and reverberate off of, similar to being in the trunk of a car.

Above is a shot of my JL C3-650 6.5” speakers. These guys sound crisp; it’s a combination speaker and tweeter in one combo (the speaker/tweeter can be separated as well, but in this situation it makes more sense to have them combined)

Here’s a shot of the solar system panel. Not sure the exact wattage of the panel, but when I bought the RV it came wired with one solar panel already installed, as well as this panel. It’s handy to keep my eye on the battery voltage, as well as know if I’m getting any sunlight to charge the battery. Also, above that is my trusty ol’ thermostat which kept me alive in freezing Tahoe :)

Here’s my amp, the JL HD900/5. It’s an amazing little amp, and powers the entire RV just by itself. 500 watts goes to the subs, the remaining 100 watts is split between the four channels (FR, FL, RR, RL).

Here’s a shot of the front of the cab. The pull-out table which I use to eat and use my laptop on (my mobile office/desk) was rickety as hell, pulling on it made it wobbly. With my Dad’s help, we pulled the whole desk assembly out, rebuilt it with strong wood screws, then put it back in and mounted it properly. Now it’s mounted solid, like a rock!

These are the JL Audio C5 Series 6.5" 3 Way Component System Speakers. These components ROCK! Sounds so crisp and clean, I’ve heard parts of my favorite songs that I’ve never heard before on other speakers. 

This is my headunit, a Sony DSX-310 BTX. It’s OK, but I’m going to be upgrading to a Pioneer AVH-X7500BT when it comes out in March (Single-DIN large video screen, rear facing camera, touchscreen compatible with my iPhone apps/GPS, line-in for music production/laptop feed, bluetooth, etc). 

OK, that was the tour of my new RV — well, new to me anyways =) Thanks for reading! I'll give more updates when I get more upgrades done. [A few upgrades coming up: I'm going to mount a monitor/TV, wiring LED strips that I can control the color/patterns with an Arduino micro controller, as well as match the ambient lighting with average color being displayed on my computer, and new video head unit with rear camera for backing up.]

I'm going to look more into it this weekend, but has anyone claimed their RV as a residence for tax reasons? There's some federal tax benefits for money invested into solar setups, if I understand correctly.