2019 –  As retirement approaches,  my son and I talked about building van conversion that we could share when he moved back to the Bay Area after medical school.   After rebuilding my fishing boats a couple years ago,   I was definitely tooled up for the project and had some great ideas on what to build.   My love of fishing and his love of rock climbing and surfing pointed toward a van conversion that could also serve as a mobile workstation.  We already camp with an 18 foot LANCE travel trailer but our project was to build something that was much more versatile.   Something that was easy to drive and stealthy enough to sleep overnight at a Walmart with not to much effort.     With Covid shutting down air travel,  much of the country was thinking the same thing.   We started following people  on Youtube who were trying to live out of their vans.  Mark and I started to draw up plans in early 2018 to build the ultimate 19 foot 4wd Mercedes Sprinter Van conversion.–nothing like the old VW Westfalia Gina and I use to camp in in the 80’s.  Last year,  we decided to look at the state of the art Mercedes Van Conversions and had the opportunity to look at Winnebagos third generation Revel motorcoach.    It had everything we wanted to build in a very well designed layout.   It had a full bathroom,  a rear Bed Lift,   4wd,   and a fully lithium solar battery system that could run an air conditioner overnight.    It has a tow hitch with a 5000 lb towing capacity,    After figuring out how much it would cost to build our own Revel,   We decided to start with the Winnebago and upgrade from there.   There exists a huge community of Revel Van Modders on facebook and other social forums that have helped us customize our ride for the things we like to do.

In early 2019,  we found a used one for sale in Palo Alto.   The seller was asking over 20 thousand dollars over the  MSRP of a new 2021 Revel.   Covid made finding a new on for sale  very difficult and their is a huge demand for used Revels.  We found RECVAN in Fremont and they assured us that they could sell us one at 5 percent below MSRP and have a 2022 model delivered in less than 6 months.   A year later in August,  we took possession of our new 2022 Revel.   Since then,  the value of the van has increased over $50,000 dollars due to demand,  supply chain and decreased production (Biden economics).

2022 Winnabego Revel

Designed specifically for active outdoor enthusiasts, the all-new Winnebago® Revel takes a no-nonsense approach to adventure, with straightforward design and function-driven features. Taking full advantage of the proven 4×4 Mercedes-Benz® Sprinter chassis 44E, the Revel’s 3-liter turbo-diesel puts 325 lbs./ft. of torque through an on-demand 4WD system, complete with high/low range and hill descent mode for added off-road capability. Inside, the Revel’s unique features start with a floorplan designed around a 140-cu. ft. gear garage with a power lift bed. A full galley, including a 2.5-cu. ft. compressor refrigerator, makes meal prep a breeze, while the all-in-one wet bath and gear closet boast a cassette-style toilet that eliminates the need for a separate black water holding tank. Add a standard solar power system, diesel-powered heating, a dinette with a pull-up table that converts to additional sleeping space, and many more innovative features and the result is the new Revel: quite simply the most off-road capable RV Winnebago has ever built.

Whats NEW in the Synnabego

MODIFICATIONS

CA Vans Mods

The 2021/2022 GLSS™ – UTILITY SERIES 2.0 – GARAGE LOUNGE STORAGE

Scadden Zonker Pro Mountable to back door

NOTES – ON the Road

Prefered Oil  -Mobile 1 5W30 ESP (green labeled bottle)

HOT WATER

15-20 minutes should enough to get some hot water. Click the tool icon scroll through until you get to the stats page. Your heat exchanger should be around 180 at 20 minutes or so. If not, turn off solar, turn off your power and wait 30 seconds. Cycle everything back on and try again. You should hear your diesel heater fire up. Go outside and check to make sure there is heat and exhaust coming from your heater exhaust pipe in the driver’s side. This should fix it. If not, I have one other option. Let me know and I can walk you through that as well.

1. How much fuel are you on? 2. Turn both the fuel and the burner on 3. Did you wait past 30 mins to try.. the system shuts off at 30 mins default.. and you will have an ice cold shower… trust me 😉

Timberline Diesel Heating System Not Working and How to Fix It – MY21R/20MB
11-19-2020, 03:18 PM
I just turned the Timberline diesel heater on in my 21 Winnebago Revel and the control panel turned on but the diesel burner did not. I spoke to Josh at Elwell and there is a software glitch in the earlier models. In short sometimes when the ambient temperature goes below freezing the control system encounters an error and the system needs to be reset. Elwell is working with Winnebago on rolling out a software update that will fix this issue. However, if you have a problem this is what you can do now to fix it.

1. Turn off the batteries at the panel above the bench seat.
2. Remove the cover under the bench seat to access the Timberline System. You will see a white box that says Timberline Control (see pic). Unplug the left black wire and wait 30 secs.
3. Plug back in the black wire and then turn batteries back on.
4. Turn on diesel burner and hot water and the system should now fire up.

Service Schedules

Oil change
Diesel motors: MB recommends 20,000 miles; however, we recommend between 10,000-15,000 miles so you are able to see a dealer, if you choose to, while in bumper to bumper warranty twice.
Gas motor: MB recommends 15,000, whereas we recommend 8,000-10,000 because we would rather be safe than sorry

Cabin & Engine Air Filter Replacements
Every B service or every 40,000 miles (for both diesel and gas)
The engine filter is the first line of defense for outside interference with your turbo, hence why we recommend this mileage.

Brake flush
Approximately every 40,000 miles or 2 years, whichever comes first

Transmission service
MB recommends 40,000 miles then 60,000 miles. We recommend every 40,000 miles. It may be expensive, but a new transmission is around $5,000.

Fuel filter replacement (Diesel models ONLY)
Approximately every 20,000-25,000 miles. (Time does not necessarily have to be a negative factor, but don’t exceed 2 years without getting it checked out)
First line of defense for high pressure fuel system.

Differential Service
Every 80,000 miles

Diesel Exhaust (2010-present models) Fluid/AD Blue (DEF)
What Should I Use?
Any type is fine, but the expiration date has to be checked since the DEF starts to lose potency also ENSURE THE DEF MEETS THE “ISO 22241” STANDARD (this should be printed on the bottle itself)

When is the Right Time to Fill Up DEF?
We generally recommend anytime you’re getting fuel just to top it off or before long road trips.Low DEF can cause your Sprinter to go into countdown mode or even be speed restricted to 15 mph, depending on the year and how many engine starts you went through.

Dos and Don’ts of Idling Your Van (2008-present models)
The warning: “Don’t idle your van too long, or you’ll damage your exhaust system” is true to an extent. If you have to idle your van for 4-6 hours without moving, make sure you drive it around on the highways for at least 45-60 minutes to heat up the exhaust system. This way, your van can burn off the soot build-up from idling. Be sure to also use the correct oil, which needs to be low ash oil. We recommend Mobile 1 5W30 ESP (green labeled bottle) since this is what most dealers carry and what MB recommends.