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I am glad you like it. We are going to do reviews of the NEW 2025 17B and 17R, this coming week. The improvements they have made are incredible.

It really is very nice.

We have found that a "normal" size mattress will fit in the 17B. It will stick over the little shelf at the end of the bed, but who is going to miss it? There is still room for charging or some other stuff there. Check out our video, th-cam.com/video/exnKuxVbedo/w-d-xo.html

We like visiting state parks that were built by the CCC. The Park we just visited a week or so ago (Cleburne) has some neat information about it. th-cam.com/video/22NdakEmDPw/w-d-xo.html Palo Dura Canyon talks about the CCC quite a bit.

I don't know. The 2025 17B is very differen, and I haven't seen it yet.

I have heard that recently, but I have had mine on the back bumper for 2 years, and I check for any metal fatigue, and see nothing. Having said that, reinforcing it would not be a bad idea. It isn't strong looking set up, but how strong does he really have to to hold one tire?

@funinourrv I guess it depends on what the weight of the tire and the amount of bounce on the factory weld. Not sure I trust it, quite honestly!

Very reasonable. I just had it on there for two years before I heard the concern. I definitely would not add anything to it, like a bike rack.

Those are probably good tires. Good advice. A couple of month ago I made a video with suggestions for tire emergency tools. I thought I was prepared. I never dreamed that the jack's handle wouldn't fit the handle. I've got that fixed, but I think I will buy a hydraulic jack. It is really hard to get under there with anything else. Try it.

I am probably going to get a hydraulic jack. That would make things go so much easier. Thanks for the comment!

Not typically, or initially. It is possible to get solar, or generators, with an inverter, etc., but that is a little complicated and expensive. Thanks for the comment and question.

If I can, I will go back to the Davis Mountains, several more times. I want to see it in all four seasons. The "Star Party" is amazing. You can actually see different things at different times of the year. In the Fall or Winter you can see Andromeda with the naked eye. I want that so much.

We purchase virtually everything on Amazon. What isn't from Amazon, is usually Walmart or a couple of things from Harbor Freight. I don't have the part number for the thermostat, but given that there are really only two makers of water heaters, it wasn't hard to find. Thanks for you question. Just Google - "rv water heater adjustable thermostat"

Thank you.

We really appreciate your comment and you advice, but having said that we can share this with you. 
1. This was the first video we ever really intentionally tried to make. At this point we were making any videos we did, for our kids and grand children. We were traveling just to get out of the house away from Covid Cabin Fever, without having the have contact with other people. We were shocked when we had 1000 views. Then the next thing we saw was 30,000 views. 2. Since then we have tried many different microphone configurations. 
3. The worse result we have had, was with a wireless lavaliere microphone.
Here it is.
th-cam.com/video/cFeD2cZWStw/w-d-xo.html There was no wind in the area until a couple of minutes after we started filming. You can actually see it start OK, then go to crap. 4. A wired in lavaliere works pretty good.
 5. Of the various types of attached microphones we have tried, a dead cat seems to work the best. But nothing seems to really work well in the high wind conditions we often face. 6. We have tried real digital movie production cameras, with stabilizing hardware, and a mounted power dead cat mic. 7. To be honest my new iPhone with nothing attached works quite well for video and sound, if there is no wind.

@funinourrv my favorite is the Neewer. You have to learn to use them, though. I use mine under my shirt and get great results, and I haven't used the dead cat yet. Your editing software is also your friend, with great noise canceling features that are easy to use.

We will try that, but we have had some success along the way.

@@TheOlderCreator What editing software do you recommend?

@funinourrv CapCut is easy and powerful. My channel will teach you how to use it from an older person's perspective.

Very interesting.

We will check it out real soon!

Thanks!

The 17R is a good way to have more floor space and make it much easier to get in and out of bed. Other than that, changing the dinette seating like I did helps too. The shealf and night stand idea is wort looking into as well.

We are glad you saw something you can use. It really helps us if you share our videos. Perhaps your friends can learn a few things too.

I agree with all of that.

I also bought the 17r, built to a price to be sure, but I am one at a time adding the pieces that were they original equipment would have sent the price sky high!

I agree. Perhaps the best example is the tongue jack. It cost about $150, when I installed it myself, and it was easy. How much would a dealership or manufacturer had charged me to do it? The Spare tire and the tongue jack have been, so far, are the only two things that have cost me over $100. I have spent about $3000 on 50 upgrades. Half of that amount would have needed even if I had bought a unit for twice as much. The spare tire and tongue are two examples.

This past weekend we were forced to put two better rated tires on the ground. The spare I bought two years ago was a much better tire. This weekend the original equipment tire failed for some reason. I bought a new tire and made the remaining original tire the spare. We consider ourselves very lucky that someone was able to tell us about our tire before it might have come apart. VERY LUCKY!

You are not the first person to comment about it. I think that you might have to remember that every detail the manufacturer does adds $1000 of dollars to the price. This is a budget RV. In fact, I like to think of it as a kit for people who are interested in doing lots of stuff to it. If you look at small RV with lavatories in the bathroom, you will see an enormous difference in price. Not only that but, in my mind, there is little difference in having the sink in the bathroom, or three feet away. I also have to point out that there is hardly enough room in the bathroom to do what need to be done. I can't imagine having a lavatory in there too. My wife and I also use the shower head to wash our hands in the bathroom, all the time. Thanks for your comment.

I can see that being true.

That is interesting. I will check that out.

Just bought the 17B… no tv included or Radio. Interesting.

​@@Kimmcgowen5 Did they give a reason?

Thank you. Many people were not so lucky. Check out "Valley View Texas Tornado"

True. Thanks for the comment. 3 minutes and 55 seconds about us. Absolutely nothing.

I lost a little weight, but I shaved off my mustache. It makes my face look thinner.

Do you mean that the TV can play to the speakers? That would be cool.

Yes, that is the down side to this. The Dinette does actually make a good bed, but since there are two bunk beds. We made the choice to see which we liked. To be honest we haven't had the chance to try to out enough to say for sure.

@@funinourrv good deal

I can imagine that.

Yes it does, but why? There are just two speakers in the RV. The year after this they simply gave a Bluetooth speaker to everyone. I think that they quit even doing this the next year. RV Storage space is in short supply. Why take out a chunk of it for a radio. Couldn't they have just mounted the radio UNDER the cabinet?

It really does give us a noticeable amount of floor space.

It isn't "waterproof". Very few things are. It is covered by the plastic box, but the bottom of it is open. The buss bars under your RV are completely waterproof. Neither are electrical connections under your hood. Water gets everywhere. It is no big deal. Yes. I think there is an inline fuse.

Here are the details about the battery cutoff switch. th-cam.com/video/q9tz-awZnII/w-d-xo.html

We have done something like 15 trips and thousands of miles. A few or our trips have been over 2000 miles each. I have to say that it is holding up well. No major problems. There were a couple of minor trim issues, but the dealership fixed them right away. After two years, if I was starting over, the only thing I would do differently would be to get the 17R instead of the 17B. Having said that, our recent modification of moving the dinette seat looks like it might accomplish the same thing, but we haven't tried it out yet. th-cam.com/video/RWmdLUmEkrg/w-d-xo.html

Sorry to hear that. I just looked on Amazon and saw several that do come with such stuff. Here are the Jacks I got. Everything you need for $69. www.amazon.com/Trailer-Stabilizer-Leveling-mounting-Hardware/dp/B00M6D4QFY?ref_=ast_sto_dp

Thanks for your comment. We have two videos on the 17B compared to the 17R. For just two people, the 17r might be better. If we had it to do over, we would get the 17r. th-cam.com/video/mC6LCIveBoc/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/bA5KswgjjIY/w-d-xo.html

and it is gas only

Ours is LP too. The photo might be misleading, but I connected 4 wires. my two switches were identical except for the color. Someone suggested to me that the best thing to do in situations like this is to take a photo of the old switch before you disconnect it. unfortunately, if i understand you correctly you are installing a new switch where there wasn't one. I don't know how to advise you on that. Your heater might not be set up to turn off the light once the gas lights. I don't know how that might work for you.

Thanks for your comment. The Radio that came with my camper had Blue Tooth. One of my biggest issues with the radio was the cabinet space it took up. RVs have so little storage space to begin with. The 17b only costs around $13,900. It is what you are comfortable with. Everything is a compromise. I like the space with the 17b compared to a 13 footer. You be the one to tell my wife to use, a Cassette. She wants full hookups now. My wife and I van or topper camped many years. It worked OK. But we are not doing that again. I don't know for sure, but I would bet that the Scamp or the Taylor doesn't come with a spare tire, or tongue jack etc. We love our 17B. It is a palace compared to what we have had in the past, but we are already looking at buying a 25ft Forest River Surveyor.

I haven't done it yet, but I will use clear silicone. The holes are tiny so it should work well and the grey of the silicone should blend in.

Thank You very much I never would have thought of that. Have a great day and a wonderful weekend

I am glad you like it. I have to say, it isn't difficult at all. You can spend more time and money, but a 17b it is a cheap RV. If you want more instructions, I suggest you check out the Camping Loop video on it. He has a little more step by step than I do, but he had some construction issues with his RV to fix.

@@funinourrv thanks for the encouragement I think I will I can at least get started and see how far I get

As I mentioned briefly on the video, the hardest part is removing the "Quadrex" screws. A real Quadrex screw driver would help, but the screws are sometimes in a odd angle that makes it had to get a good hold on them. A Phillips just slips out. Other then that, it is easy.

@@funinourrv thanks for giving me the name of that screw so when I go to the store I can know what to ask for 👍😀

Some people refer to it as a "Combination Square and Phillips. Actually it is a combination "Phillips and Robertson" screw driver.

These are great questions. Thanks for asking! I just did this three days ago. I am thinking about putting a little silicone in the holes in the floor. I might get some grey caulk to do this, but regular clear silicone might work just as well, if not better. To be truthful, the three holes are so small I am not in a big hurry yet to do anything. First I secured the bench into the new position by screwing it to the bench that was not moved. I figured that if it was sturdy enough, already . I also screwed it to the floor. I did not find studs to use. In fact they are hard to locate on an RV. I used screws that would for sure go into the wall, but short enough that there was no chance it would touch the outside wall. I am guessing that this would be a bad thing to happen. By the time it was attached to the other bench and the floor, it felt pretty solid, even though it only had four screws attaching it to the wall. (Three in the top piece and one in the vertical piece.) I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask more questions.

@funinourrv thanks for the answers! I have used clear silicone in my house, I think it would work just fine. As long as there's no kids bouncing around on the relocated bench, screwing it into the wall might not be necessary.

@@RockinTUtah I agree.

@funinourrv Another quick question; did you pre-drill the holes for the piano hinges to prevent the wood from splitting? Is it even necessary?

Yes. I pre-drilled every hole. If you look closely you might see a moment when I am doing that. I am a firm believer in pre-drilling especially when dealing with cabinets and cheap wood. Always pre-drill.

That is a good idea.