An update on the Bengal:
Our Bengal is coming up on 4 years, almost 60,000 miles, over 500 camping nights and doing well.
The 2019 Ford F-350 regular cab 4x4 6.2 gasoline is doing well. The OEM starter battery only lasted two years but was replaced prior to any failure. The OEM AT tires lasted 40,000 miles and were replaced with a HD highway tire (Grabber). We were struggling to reach 12 mpg and the gasoline price spike inspired the switch to a highway tire. The highway tires plus switching from synthetic blend to full synthetic motor oil boosted our MPG's to "struggling" to get 13 mpg which was good progress. Our Granby averaged 15.5 mpg over 100,000 miles. We use Mobil 1 or Pennzoil Platinum. We are VERY happy with the regular cab since hiking has taken us to many "tight" places.
The Bengal is doing well. Our dislike for the over-the-cab side windows increased when one shattered on the short drive home from our storage facility four days before our trip departure. Provan assistance and a local glass shop had us on the road one day late with a plexi-glass replacement. Nothing hit the side window and we assume structural stress shattered what we would call thin glass. Hopefully, the plexi-glass will be stronger. Our credit card number was also stolen during those same repair days and so fixing both issues prior to the trip was GREAT!!!!
Maryland scaled our gasoline, regular cab, no generator, no A/C, no awning, loaded and wet camper at 10,300 pounds versus a GVWR of 11,300. A diesel, SRW, crew cab, 50 gallon fuel tank, four people, all the toys might want to skip Maryland which scales everyone over 10,000.
The only other significant issue was breaking a weld on the aluminum spare tire carrier while traversing large oscillating wallows on a National Forest road in Washington. The custom bumper company offered a free repair but the shipping cost exceeded having a local body shop weld and repaint the carrier. The weld was originally reinforced but the gauge of the reinforcement was too thin. We sliced a bevel face on a 2x4 wood shim with the table saw, drilled two holes for tie-downs, and slid the shim between the spare tire carrier frame and the bumper for additional reinforcement.
The Bengal paint is too brittle for our travels and has cracking at some joints but is not a "deal" breaker for us. Provan had reported touching up these points on used campers they resold prior to our purchase so this was a known issue for us.
The 400 watt solar system and MPPT controller have worked flawlessly and maintained our 300 amp-hr Lifeline batteries in near new condition for four years. We routinely cycle the batteries down to 90% and have never gone below 60%. We routinely use only the solar panels in campground sites with hookups and skip plugging in.
The Nova-Kool refrig is trouble free but we keep a thermometer in the refrig and adjust to hold the ideal temperature.
No plumbing, pump, shower, or hot water heater issues. We fill the system with RV anti-freeze every winter and flush every spring.
The Propex furnace (which was our choice, not Provan's) has worked well below 5,000 feet but is not reliable at higher altitudes because of a low combustion air shutdown. Others have reported a similar issue (the campgrounds in the Alps must be below 5,000 feet, sorry 1,700 meters). Our cooking stove is flawless and we only fill our propane tank once each year.
The wood cabinets and flooring are holding up well while the couch vinyl required minor repairs associated with wear from opening and closing the couch/bed every camping night.
We continue to study different campers but our leading replacement camper choice is another Bengal (without the over-the-cab windows...).
Edited by iowahiker, 18 April 2023 - 12:15 PM.
