EKKO VAN | Winnebago Ekko WINTER CAMPING on MT.HOOD | MANAGING HEAT,PROPANE & WATER | SNOW FUN | RV
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ย. 2024
- Overnight adventure in our @WinnebagoRVs EKKO, AKA “Bad Betty”. With a basic direction in mind to visit Mt. Hood, but NO particular destination, we set out through the
snow equipped with a @catuned-offroad bumper, @VanCompass lift and a set of @falkentire WildPeak ATW3 tires discovering new roads and adventures with confidence.
We found an amazing snow park just as you enter Timothy Lake, with snow mobile trails and an absolutely gorgeous setting. We settled in for the night, enjoying a warm cozy evening listening to 80’s music, cooking Gyros on our Trail Fire Grill, and playing Connect Four/Yahtzee with the comfort of our @TrumaNorthAmerica heater.
Wrapping things up with some great food and a visit to Cathedral Ridge Winery for a tasting.
Thank you for Subscribing and supporting our Channel. If you are interested in ordering and learning more about the "Bad Betty Package", email us at ekkonesters@gmail.com. Where we will be happy to provide you with additional information on the CaTuned Off-road recovery bumper equipped with the Warn Industries 12K winch, VanCompass lift and suspension upgrade, Falken Tire package and the European Wilderness Front Grill.
#rvlife #camping #winter
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We are Portlanders too and just picked up our 2025 Sprekko yesterday!! We are so excited. You have given us tons of inspiration :)). Have been watching your Winter Camping Series as we are hardcore skiers and intend to use our "Yet to be Named" beast for many adventures. Thanks for leading the way, please keep it coming!!
@@NancyPinney Hello Nancy, congratulations on your new Sprekko. I can only imagine how excited you are. Thank you for the kind words and comments. You’re gonna love taking your rig up to the mph train. Especially with all the convenience and storage. Not to leave out of course the capabilities. Keep us posted on your travels and if you have any questions or have some advice to share with us, please let us know. Maybe we will se you all out on the road.
You two are a terrific couple. Love your rig and thanks for sharing. And oh your pup. She is sweet.
Thank you for the kind words and comments. She was such a sweetie for 16 years. She passed away with us and we kiss her. We appreciate your following our channel. We are so happy that we captured so many memories with her.
OMG I’m so jealous of you both. You have convinced me that EKKO is the camper I’m getting 👍👍👍
Marlon, that’s great to hear.
Keep us posted on when you make your final decision and take delivery.
Be safe and again, thanks for watching and subscribing to our channel.
i enjoy watching this, it heals my mind
Thanks for taking time to watch or channel. Much appreciate the comment as well. It was pretty awesome camping in the snow and cooking on the trail fire.
It's crazy that Ford didn't spin those seats before they mounted them! I don't think it would take more than 1/2 inch to the center and you could do it without opening the doors!
I agree. What is interesting, is there are folks that have claimed that it can be done without opening the door. I would say, "BIG MAYBE" but by the time you keep inching the seat back and forth, etc. etc, I would already be kicking back enjoying the comforts of my EKKO dinette and Cabin chair from the simple spin and go..
Love the Wazzu chairs... Class of 1990 here.
❤️
love it
Thank you 😊
My fav rv navion winnebago
Lou Lou is certainly a sweet baby. I know you guys enjoy and love her.❤
She certainly was. We really miss her. She passed away on August 17th. I know you did not know this, and we are very grateful for you sharing such kind words about her. It’s very sweet to hear others remember her.
@@ekkonesters599 Oh that is so sad. Lou Lou I bet just loved riding and being there for both of you. I know we’ve had Dachshunds and they have all five passed away. We have Princess a long hair dachshund terrier mix. She is very sweet. Stay safe and Merry Christmas.
ty
You are very welcome, thank you for watching our video and leaving a nice comment.
Hope you’re doing well.
Great video, thank you.
Thank you Tom for the feedback and for taking your time to watch and support our Channel. Happy Travels.
Go Cougs!!!!! My nephew is #0 the free safety.
Great video
Thanks Chris,
Go Cougs!! Is your nephew Sam Lockett III?
Our son is the #37 Freshman Long Snapper, Luca.
@@ekkonesters599 He is!!!!!
We’ll keep an eye on #37
@@chrisb765 do you ever make it to any games? If so, send me a message pregame one of these times and we can say hi. We have a few videos a ways back where we had a good time at the Coug!
@@ekkonesters599 We do. Saw a couple last year. What a great start. I’ll send you a message when we can make a game up there. I live in Cali now so definitely going to make the Cal game.
So cool!!! MT. Hood and sasquatchs peeping Tom's?
😂
I just recently purchased and installed the AquaGo antifreeze kit in our Ekko and had a chance to travel in mid 20's temps. Worked great, but now I'm wondering after watching your video if I even needed it. Unless I missed something it appears you don't have one. Cool video , looked like fun. Cheers RS
Hello Ray, winter camping is definitely fun and provides for new experiences.
I’ve gone back and forth on the Antifreeze kit and whether to invest the $320.00 or not. I think the idea and engineering behind it makes compete sense, especially if the EKKO is going to sit in extreme (cold) weather for a period of time with out heat/circulation. My understanding the anti-freeze kit will operate without LPG while in stand-by mode with the burner turned off and is a great option when driving and the propane is turned off. Keep in mind though that id you S.E. driving and it’s cold, typically the vehicle is warm enough to keep the lines from freezing based on the fact that the lines and holding tanks are on the internal side (not exposed). But don’t think for a moment Winnebagos lines can’t freeze, because I have had them freeze twice. More in that in a moment.
The only time I had an issue was when we had some unexpected freezing temps while I had Bad Betty parked in the driveway. I forgot to pull the filter cartridge and the water that was remaining froze. The nice thing is that the filter cartridge did exactly what it was designed to do in the event of freezing. That is (pop the break away button) and keep the unit from being damaged. While storing and considering that the temps will drop its such and easy thing to pop the cartridge out and can be a good habit to form when draining the system in general.
We’ve camped in 6 degrees and everything was fine. We traveled in 6-8 degree temps without the anti freeze kit and things were fine as well.
Since you’ve already made the investment at least you have a little more piece of mind.
Thanks again for watching our videos. We don’t take for granted anytime someone takes time to watch and comment. Safe travels and be safe.
Thank you for your great uploads! We have been watching your videos for a while now and we are wondering if you can help us with a question. We are a couple from Australia who have booked an RV relocation from Edmonton to Toronto mid-March. My husband is a 4x4 expert, has driven trucks and travelled extensively in USA (in a car...in summer) and a very confident driver. Our trip is booked from 15th March for 2 weeks and we put this question to a Canadian forum on FB and got really negative feedback about travelling on the roads at the end of winter. You do a lot of winter camping, so just wondering if we are completely crazy to be doing this trip? The RV is fully winter ready, so full use of everything + snow tyres and we will be sticking to the highway. We are aware that parks only open on 1 May, but we have found some that are open for the whole year, so we'll be okay we think.
Welcome and thank you for subscribing to our channel! It's great to hear from you. Your upcoming trip sounds truly exciting. While I haven't personally driven that route, I've been informed that March can be quite unpredictable in terms of weather.
I believe the most pertinent question I can asked at this time is about the type of RV you'll be using and its equipment.
It's also fantastic to connect with an Australian 4x4 family. I often watch Australian TH-camrs and consider Aussies to be among the best globally in terms of 4x4 expertise and recovery knowledge
@@ekkonesters599 thanks for your reply. We are told the vehicle is a Maxi Motorhome (MH-A) with Canadream. They don't seem worried about us doing the trip at all, but so many people are concerned about us driving on the roads at that time of year. We have considered changing our dates to mid April. The bucket list is to do a trip in Canada in the snow, so we are ignoring the 'come in summer' comments :)
Thanks! I didn't think there'd be much condensation, but it appears to have been on the glass windows and windshield. I noticed the cracked windshield...mind my asking how that happened? Hopefully, your comprehensive insurance will cover that. By the way, I love the informativeness of your videos. I'm contemplating getting an EKKO, and I'm weighing either the Quigley lift OR the VanCompass lift...any suggestions? I really think the front bumper job you guys did was terrific! That winch is really cool! I'm also thinking of doing the central vacuum system I saw installed in a video by "The Fit RV". Finally: James at Fit RV experienced a cold wall/condensation on the driver's side bed. He put a mattress warmer on the bed on that side and it seemed to work. How did your rig do with the driver's side wall on any cold nights? Once again, thank you for your highly informative videos!
Robert, first and foremost, Thank you for watching our video. You have great questions and I can tell, you’ve done your research. I’ll address the first question Windshield damage: There are lots of reasons this can happen and I can honestly say the obvious ones, do not apply (No rocks, no hot water poured on a cold windshield or vise-versa. I believe there was a defect with the glass and the expansion between temperature caused it. Story time lol: I’d went out to start and defrost Bad Betty as normal. Entered, started the engine and moved to the back working on other things. I then went back up front and started basic defrost mode with the heat controls. I was probably in there 30-45 min maybe a bit more. Didn’t think to much as I’ve defrosted my windows as far back as I can recall. Then I noticed the big “smiley” crack. I wasn’t happy and I was certain that utilizing nothing more than the Ford defrost, this was unacceptable. I do have a case open with Ford and the dealer confirmed that there was no sign of previous damage/impact.
Lifts: I’ve heard great things about the Quigley, but can’t say I have personal
Ride experience. My understanding is that Q-lift claims/allows use of Bilstein B6 struts, without putting stress on the front CV shaft/joint during full droop the suspension, (primary passenger side) but again, I’ve read conflicting information. Now, don’t get me wrong I love Bilsteins and use to sell tons of these when I was in the automotive industry. Where as the VanCompass includes an engineered/tuned front coil with a camber plate allowing factory alignment specifications. As for the rear adjustable Falcon shocks, I am very pleased. You do have to play with the setting to tune to your liking, but that’s what’s awesome you tune to your liking with the touch a simple dial. Im super happy with the VanCompass. The CaTuned bumper is great. Quality, craftsmanship second to none and honestly gives confidence while driving. Plus you can always help someone if needs. I also met Max the owner and he’s all about quality and customer service. We’ve actually built a friendship over the past few months as well.
Central vac: I did see the central vac and it was pretty cool. Not sure I’d find enough use for it though. We have a broom and I carry a small Milwaukee blower. I wonder if Stef and James have the vac system primarily for the cats (hair)?
The wall and condensation issue. Yes, we do notice a slight temperature difference between driver side bed and passenger side bed wall temperature during below freezing temps. James explains this as batwing/metal transfer of thermal etc. which I would agree with the reasoning. But, I don’t feel it’s enough to warrant not having the Batwing. Besides a simple blanket against the all at night will insulate as needed. I do have some other ideas regarding cause temp issue too on driver side bed. Which I may address soon in another video.
I hope I was able to help, do feel
Free to ask anything else that comes to mind. Happy travels and truly, greatly appreciate you subscribing.
@@ekkonesters599 When the windshield is made, (it's curved glass) there is an "annealing" process in which the glass is heated for many hours at a high temperature but not hot enough to soften the glass. Remember, glass is not considered a solid- - it's considered a super-cooled liquid. Regardless, a small percentage of windshields (and in cars, the rear window) have hidden stresses in them that were not "solved" by annealing and then due to these hidden stresses, they gave way and cracked (or even exploded!). I had a 1988 Mazda MX-6 GT and one day, out of the blue the rear window just exploded! Luckily, I was able to replace it the next day; insurance covered it. Ford has made multiple hundreds of thousands of Transit vans....perhaps over 800,000, maybe in the millions and Ford does know what percentage of them have stressed glass windshields that crack spontaneously w/o reason. Hopefully, they'll regard this issue on your EKKO as a failure within the glass (manufacturing fault) and will replace it w/o giving you a hard time.
@@robertgedzelman380 It is interesting you mention this. I was reading some information regarding similar but not as well articulated as you have described. I’m going to still advocate on a defect. I should be able to start the vehicle, let the engine warm up and apply the defrost as normal. The same day this was occurring, I was defrosting our 2018 Subaru without incident. Thank you again, your feed back and information is well received and I am appreciative. I’ll keep you updated if that’s cool?
@@ekkonesters599 By all means. Read about annealing glass...you're clearly an educated person, and armed with a little more info about windshields, you should present an unmistakable case and Ford would be obligated to resolve this at no cost to you. I'd bet my bottom dollar that a certain small percentage of Ford Transit windshields might have had similar issue... a crack on the lower part of the glass due to differential temperature (inside vs. outside), with no evidence of a stone or other blunt object impact that could have been the cause. Also: See what your insurance coverage is...windshield damage often falls under comprehensive, with no penalties that the insuring company would raise your rates.
Ice on the inside of your wind screen, did you close the cab vents?
I don't believe we did. Did not even consider that one. Great advise thank you.
I have an important question for you and that is did you ever beat her at connect four? Such a nice video and also pretty informative!! Cutest cockapoo ever!!!
Thank you!
Jason may have won once or twice, but I definitely dominated! Lol
✌️- M
What is the firepit you guys used, could you include a link?
Absolutely, it’s called the Trail Fire Grill
Here is the link, trailfiregrill.com/
use discount code EKKOnesters at check out and you will save additional money.
Also, make sure you follow the instructions on prepping your WOK and seasoning it. Once you do you will not have to worry about it again.
It’s very similar to a cast iron pan.
trailfiregrill.com/
Chile pequin - get it in TEXAS. It's a hot pepper
I just looked these up. They remind of the little chilis on Christmas plants (best description I have). I’ll need to find some locally and try them out. Thanks for the suggestion. Any thoughts on mixing them with something. Maybe fresh of course or a Stew?
Roast the pepper, put it in a baggie for a few minutes, then skin it, slice it lengthwise, pull out the seeds, then dice it.
Chef, lol, I didn’t even think about that. I usually do that with Hatch New Mexico Chilis. Thank you for the great reminder. Next time it’s going to be your way for sure.
@@ekkonesters599 Yes, we do a Hatch Chili Fest here and roast, peel, dice, and then use them in all kinds of recipes. I even do a Hatch Chili Chocolate cake.
@@chefduane3742 cake sounds fire.
@@chefduane3742 hello Chef... Is your recipe for sharing? If so... We can a search for it
Cheers
its yeer -os - the g is a y in Greek. it mean to turn..yeerizo...to turn like the lamb on the spit is turning to make the gyros.
Thank you very much we never really knew, super grateful that you caught that in the video and helped to know. Thanks for taking your time to watch our channel. Wishing you happy travels.
Would running an electric dehumidifier reduce / eliminate the condensation on the windows in the cab?
How do you find the overall build quality of the EKKO? Great videos! Thanks!
That is a great question. I’m actually going to provide a fair and honest response when we get back from an event. I appreciate the candid question. Thank you 🙏. I do have some answers that cover many things I feel completely respect the decisions made during the build and others I think could be different.
What type of dishes do you use in the RV? I like the soup cups are they acrylic or some kind of unbreakable material?
Great question, I’m going to be experimenting with some different types in the near future. Currently we have some basic .50 plastic bowls and dishes from Walmart. They hold up incredibly well and surprising decent. I am
Considering some stainless steel options in the near future. I’ll try and find the set that I’m considering and send you some info.
Too bad you can't turn everything on from the inside. Which doesn't make sense to me but that's just me. I'm an idealist... laugh out loud... I'm considering either the 59gl trovato or the echo lithium and generator. Any suggestions on the best power situation for an RV that wants to be lived in and trapped in etc.....
Hello Donna,
Thank you very much for taking time to watch our videos.
The 2023 model year and newer actually has the inverter and the switch control for it on the inside of the EKKO. It was a change that Winnebago made and now it’s located underneath the seat while the switch is on the side of the seat. Meaning the dinette seat.
In respect to power, I prefer having a generator as a back up.
I know California has band generators, but I can’t say for sure that that’s something that’s going to be the norm in the future.
The lithium batteries are definitely a powerhouse for storing energy.
Equipped with solar panels you generally can be off grid for quite a while assuming there is sunshine. However, a lot of it will have to do with the demand she put on the system.
I would imagine if you had two lithium batteries and at least 450 W of solar mounted on the roof you could do quite well especially since a lot of products now are low energy use and LED lights are such a plus.
I hope this information helped.
Let us know in the future what you decide it would be cool to hear what direction you went.
Hello, I really like the videos that you upload. I wanted to ask you a question. Is it worth buying an RV and traveling around the countries? I always wanted to do it, but it scares me a little because of how it is
Hello, thank you for taking time to watch our TH-cam channel. That’s a pretty broad question for sure and one that would require taking a lot of consideration into account. In respect to traveling the US in an RV, Van, etc. we haven’t travels all of the US as to date. We’ve definitely seen more than a handful of States and cities. Originally we use travel with our boys in a 2006 Sprinter van. It quite as luxurious and comfortable as the EKKO, but we have countless amazing memories of travels and how to improvise with what we had.
The EKKO is definitely a game changer and includes many amenities for travel and comfort. Depending on what your size/needs are and what your willing to adjust in your life, the experience can be incredible. There’s times where we just go and let the road make the decisions for where we end up while other times it’s a fully plant travel plan. If you don’t mind, could you share your thoughts on what your fears are? We all have them and depending on risk tolerance (so to speak) maybe we can provide some advice. What a great discussion you started. Thanks for taking time. Hope to hear from you soon.
How did you guys get the Crack in the windshield???
Well it’s up for debate. 😂 I believe it’s a defect. We had some freezing rain in Portland and I was out doing some regular winterization turned the vehicle (Bad Betty) defrost on and after about 30-45 min. I noticed the crack. I do understand the idea of hot/cold exchange in respect to the glass, but, I should be able to turn the defrost on inside the Ford cab, and as anyone would expect, simply defrost my window. But I think that there is an underlying issue with some stress/issues with the original placement of this particular windshield. I have a case opened up with Ford. I am waiting to hear back. I’d be surprised if they except it, but the dealer did know there was no previous evidence of a rock chip or any damage.
How did your windshield crack?
Hey here's an idea: stop whipping the camera around so fast! And why didn't you actually show us the thermal barrier instead of explaining it...did you run out of film lol. And SHOW US the interior of your RV! Somehow black boxes got more attention than where you sleep.
Hello Chris, thank you for taking time to watch the video and provide some constructive criticism. We are planning on doing video soon about the sleeping area, “more in depth”. But in the meantime, we do have a video “Winnebago EKKO Tour, Check it out ... a little story ABOUT US I Vanlife I EKKO VAN”. If you skip to the 4:25 mark in the video, there is a good view of the sleeping quarters and some info that may be helpful. Thanks again for watching our channel.
Someone said there are no heat vents in the bedroom. I that true?
Absolutely true. There is an opportunity to add one but it would require a little work. However, I will say that it does get plenty warm. There is a duct in the galley and one just at the bottom of the first steps.
How do you keep the pipes from freezing?
Couple things: in one of my other videos I discuss insulating the area under the drivers side bed where there is a void and a bunch of waterlines. The other thing is when I’m use, the Truma heater offers some constant heat that helps as well. Winnebago also placed most plumbing inside rather then exposed out side.
@@ekkonesters599 How much propane would you go through in one night if it go really cold? Single digits or less? On a super cold night, would it better to run the generator and operate a 1500 watt electric space heater with the Truma air system on to blow the warm air around the coach and storage areas to save on propane? How well does the generator do in cold weather and high altitude?
Is there a link for the storage boxes you have in the garage?
Hello Christina, great question. I just updated the description and included a link to our Amazon store. If you decide to use the link and order a set, we get a small commission that in return helps support our channel. Thanks again for watching hope you have a great day and safe travels. amzn.to/3wluW3s
The audio fluctuations (volume) make this difficult to watch.
Your whiny comment makes it difficult to read