Q&A | Leisure Travel Van: Unity
Updated: Feb 13, 2020
Tire and Suspension:
What modifications we made to our Leisure Travel Van?
We added airbags in the rear, a 8 leaf-spring kit, and upgraded our sway bar. Added new shocks in the rear, and new struts in the front.
Tires are BFG All-terrain 235/85 on 16s.
Cost for Suspension Upgrades on our Lesiure Travel Van?
8 Leaf package-$1200
Koni Red Shocks-$230
Koni Red Struts-$460
Sway Bar-$215
Sprintek Air Bag- $500
Total for Parts- $2605
Labor- $2300
Suspension Total- $4905
Where did we get the Suspension Upgrades Installed for our Leisure Travel Van?
The Sprinter Store in Portland, OR.
Composting Toilet:
Do we plan on installing a Nature’s Head composting toilet in the Leisure Travel Van, like we did in the fifthwheel?
No. Since we use this as our everyday car, we’re able to go to dump stations easier because we’re always driving places. Vs the fifth wheel, we would want to be able to stay put in one camp site for a while and not worry about needing to go to a dump station.
Dry Camping/ Boondocking:
How long can we dry camp for before needing to refill our fresh water tank, and empty our black and gray tank in our Leisure Travel Van?
Five Days. We can comfortably go 5 days without needing to refill or empty our tanks. Yet, we are able to go longer if we plan ahead.
Where & how do you empty your tanks, and refill your fresh water tank?
Check out my video on YouTube How to Stay out of RV Parks | Free Camping & Places to Park | Boondocking. In this video I go over finding free camping spots, finding water, and places to dump your tanks.
Problems:
How is the Leisure Travel Van after 5,000 miles?
After 20,000 miles on the Leisure Travel Van the stabilizer jacks and door step stopped working. Other than those two problems, our LTV has been great.
Living in a Leisure Travel Van Unity CB:
Is the Corner Bed an issue, when the person by the window side of the bed needs, to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night?
For us, the person that sleeps by the window is the person that doesn't ever really get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Otherwise, you may be waking the other person up because it is a small space.
Solar vs Generator?
Our thoughts regarding solar panels and generators.
Solar:
This is really going to depend on what kind of RVing you plan to be doing. Do you plan to be at an RV park all the time? Or most the week? Or not at all.
Our LTV Unity came with 400 watts of solar. The more solar the better. Having solar helps us to stay out of RV parks. However, a bigger battery bank is what will help you stay off grid longer. The batteries will also recharge when we drive, which we drive pretty frequent because the LTV it is our main transportation. If you really needed to, you can also start the RV to help recharge the batteries.
Generator:
Our LTV came with a LP generator. We upgraded our inverter to 2800 watts, so we don't have to use the generator, (to operate our Instant pot, coffee pot, or espresso maker) anymore. We only use the generator now when we are in hot weather and need to turn the air conditioner on for the dogs. However, when we are in hot weather, we plan to connect to shore power at an RV park because the generator can go through a lot of propane in just a couple hours with the AC on. If we had custom ordered our LTV we would have went with a diesel generator. As we have herd, with a diesel generator we wouldn't go through as much propane and the diesel generator is said to be more quiet.