Tiger Build up

[fyreles]

On page 3 of this thread is a pix of my Tiger that I had a friend make a 30 inch rear platform for storage. It helps for supplies on the long trips. Mine came without a gen also, I haul a Honda 2000, it works for my needs. I added a roof air also for obvious comfort issues. The Dodge has better clearance than most other configurations even at stock height..

[DiploStrat]

For what it's worth: A cassette toilet will not fit in a Tiger. A Nature's Head, however, will.http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...ull-time-usage

[ed604]

Esmi, you had me laughing my a## off! I guess I like the way your Bogarting leans.

Les, that is fantastic input I will use a fernco coupler to do that. Pretty easy to do too. by the way, are you loving your Bengal?

Overall I am really trying to resist rebuilding this camper, being in the construction industry I have to admit that I am tempted to go all the way with custom cabinets and tops. The more I do, or plan to do, the further I want to take it. I keep having to remind myself that I don't have to do all this to get in it and go! I am a builder/creator at the very core but I want to be an explorer too!

I guess I have an image in my mind of what this thing will be when completed, but like I said I have to stay diligent to govern my building ways!

Ed

[lqhikers]

ed;

since picking up our bengal i have had a chance to really look it over
and comparing this one to the few older ones i have looked at it seems to me
that the new owner of provan is upgrading the built to a much higher level
than older ones.

as with any semi massed produced camper there will always be areas that
will be weak and will need to be corrected.

as the unit is delivered it will be 95% fine for most owners.

having owned a number of campers over the years most areas that are out
of sight are hashed together,on the bengal the hidden wiring runs are tight,secured,
and pretty well laid out.

weak point on ours was the access to the battery compartment,you had to loosen the water pump
and the wiring to 12v outlet and 110 outlet remove two panels cut flooring ,i rewired outlets to one panel
cut the flooring added a plate to access panel remounted panels so they could be removed with 2 screws
now it takes just a minute to check batteries.
even though they are sealed i would not want to have to check then in the field as mounted at factory.

the new storage box on rear is now larger and will hold 2 five gal gas cans inside or on top of box.
the rear swing out rack it built equal to or stronger than any after market unit i have seen.

they now use much stronger straps to mount holding tanks,but for me not there yet,the straps are 1"wide
and from past experience the spots they contact tank is the week spot as the weight is in the 1"
area.what i will do is as i have done in the past. take a L shaped 2" angle run along edge of tank,then
mount straps over them this will spread weight over the length of tanks.

people have complained about cabinets coming loose,but after looking at how they are mounted
i doubt they will come loose unless you fill them with a months worth of canned goods!

as we ordered ours we deleted the sink in the bath which gives you much more room,again
i think they have a sink to make it kook like a home bath! still had the shower facets mounted.

i would assume that proven stopped making the pop top model as they are going to be weaker
and more prone to problems,but that is just my thought on pop up model.

so to answer your question we are very happy with our bengal tiger.

drive slow and enjoy "its the journey"

Les,lqhikers

[chromisdesigns]

We are seriously looking at the Bengal Tiger, and one of our questions was the cassette toilet. Just heard back from Mark via his new West Coast rep that a cassette toilet is indeed available for the Bengal, if desired, but it has to be requested/installed very early in the build stage, as it involves relocating a few things.

He also noted the Nature's Head option. Apparently, they have one and are evaluating it for use in Tigers. Not sure about a composting toilet, though. Anyone have one of these, or one like it, in an RV or perhaps a boat, that can comment on how they work? I can see the value for a remote cabin, for instance.

[DiploStrat]

We are seriously looking at the Bengal Tiger, and one of our questions was the cassette toilet. Just heard back from Mark via his new West Coast rep that a cassette toilet is indeed available for the Bengal, if desired, but it has to be requested/installed very early in the build stage, as it involves relocating a few things.

He also noted the Nature's Head option. Apparently, they have one and are evaluating it for use in Tigers. Not sure about a composting toilet, though. Anyone have one of these, or one like it, in an RV or perhaps a boat, that can comment on how they work? I can see the value for a remote cabin, for instance.

Good news on the cassette as that represents a change. You did see the link on Nature's Head above, no?

[Photomike]

I have a TCer with the standard RV toilet and most times I love it. Use it many times, find an RV dump to empty and start over again. For standard camping I would never look at changing to anything different.

I do have two issues with the standard toilet for my type of camping - first it is hard in some places to find a RV dump station and with more and more starting to charge for the use it is becoming another expense. My system is that I try and dump the black water everyday that I am moving (grey as well but we can work around this). That way if I miss a day then I am still in good shape, with places charging $5.00 & $10.00 to dump it is not feasible for me to dump a mostly empty tank and if the next couple of days finds me not near a dump station then I am in trouble.

The biggest reason that I would like to go with a cassette is for the winter months. I love the idea that I can pull the cassette and take in the house and the unit is winterized. Want to hit the road and you grab the cassette fill with water and go. Dumping is also a lot easier (currently) as a road site rest stop, gas station, etc and you can dump the tank.

A composting toilet to me is one that you would need to use regularly to keep working properly and I am not sure if it would be a benefit in cold weather.

[chromisdesigns]

Good news on the cassette as that represents a change. You did see the link on Nature's Head above, no?

Yep, saw the Nature's Head link. They are evidently evaluating it at the Tiger factory. The thing with the cassette, though, is it would be really hard to retrofit it, at least on a Chevy chassis. On the chevy, you'd have to not only remove the holding tank, but also reroute the fuel filler and some other stuff. Might be true on the other makes as well, but I was looking at a Chevy Tiger yesterday down in Fremont and retrofit would be tough.

He said it was no problem to do it during the early-stage coach build, though. I'm planning to find out if the deleted tank space can be used for additional fresh water, as the cassette toilet does not extend below the floor surface.

[chromisdesigns]

ed;

since picking up our bengal i have had a chance to really look it over
and comparing this one to the few older ones i have looked at it seems to me
that the new owner of provan is upgrading the built to a much higher level
than older ones.

as with any semi massed produced camper there will always be areas that
will be weak and will need to be corrected.

as the unit is delivered it will be 95% fine for most owners.

I'd agree with that. The cabinet, counter, etc. finishes are very nice now. There are still a few loose ends, though. The gasser Chevy Bengal we looked at yesterday didn't have too much mileage on it, but some of the headliner in the non-molded areas was peeling, and I'd definitely want to secure the under-sofa access panels better; they were coming loose when we saw the vehicle at the Mercury News outdoor living show in San Jose, and again yesterday. They seem to be held in only by a magnetic catch, and when you inevitably kick them, out they come. Some barrel bolts or the nicer marine equivalent and an hour's time would fix that, though.

My wife said she saw a few cabinet-coach seams that could have been fitted better. Stuff like that. And the extended cab Chevy we saw had a strange little "box" mounted between the front seats to hold the inner armrests that would have to go if you were ever going to want to get from the cab to the coach without damaging vital parts...

That feature is probably easily removed -- I saw some pics of another Chevy Tiger (2008) for sale in Colorado that didn't have it, and there is just a small cover over the driveshaft tunnel that wouldn't cause any problems. Much rather give up an armrest and have the ability to move between the coach and cab.

Other stuff we noted yesterday -- the extended cab version with the drop-in platform has enough space for a camping chair or other small, portable chair to sit on the platform and provide additional sitting space when camping (not for travel, obviously). I'm 5-8, and the headroom under the partition was adequate for that. Also, if you are petite, you can probably sleep on the sofa without opening it up. She tried it and said she thought it would be fine. I found the overhead bunk headroom fine for me (5-8, 205 lbs) but don't think I could live with the lower space in a CX -- those few extra inches would make a lot of difference in how easy it is to move around in the bunk, get in and out, change clothes, etc. Oh BTW, you can get the CX-style sliding windows on the sides of the overhead on a Bengal, by request.

I am told by the factory that they will have the order and availability dates for the 2013 Ram trucks "any day now". Also the next delivery dates available for custom orders are early August. However, they are building up 3 Chevy diesel extended cabs on 2012 trucks, none sold yet, with late June-early July availability.

Finally, Mark and someone else from the factory are going to be at Flagstaff this month with a Siberian and probably the Chevy gasser Bengal we saw, at Overland Expo.

[DiploStrat]

In re., Nature's Head: You asked about the practicality of using a composting toilet in a 4x4 camper. The link I provided was to a thread by an Expo member who has used one for eight months in a camper. He specifically contrasted it to the cassette that he had before.

The box between the seats contains Chevrolet parts that were moved to the console since the older model years that you saw. Sadly, it is not going anywhere unless you are willing to do some really serious work. (Sorry, I don't know exactly what parts they are; sound system, engine computer, or other.)

Similarly, Provan had to stop making the seat mounted swing up arm rests and go to stalk mounted arm rests due to factory changes in the seat. Dodge and Ford may be different. I will order ours without arm rests.

The really good news is that the current owner of Provan is very willing to work with customers. Was definitely not the case in the past.