First Timers

Jim Gibson · 09-15-2018, 08:26 AM

My wife, TeResa, and I are the proud owners of a 2007 Winnebago View 23J. I am 62, TeResa is younger

, and this is our first RV.

The motor home only has 16k miles on the engine and chassis, and it was given to us by two close friends. The only drawback to this wonderful gift is that a homeless man and his dog clandestinely called the motor home "home" for the last two years.

I will not post pictures, because there are some things best left unseen. To give you an idea of what we encountered, we removed over 20 full bags of garbage. We have gutted the inside and started the renovation. Our goal is to make it as good or better than it was when it came out of the factory.

I am sure we will use this forum to gather many great ideas for our renovation. I replaced the Parallax converter with a Progressive Dynamics 4645V converter and we are installing new light fixtures with LED soft white bulbs. We replaced the refrigerator and will replace the range hood and fan. It looks to be an interesting project but we see it as a blessing. We can actually make any needed changes while we have it "apart" and customize it just for us.

Any ideas for upgrades are welcomed. I am considering using a solid sheet of plywood for under the bed, closing off inside access to the passenger side outer storage bin. Any major drawbacks to that idea? We will also be replacing the mattress and all the cushions. TeResa is an accomplished seamstress, so she will make all the covers.

I'm happy to meet you all and look forward to reading your great posts. Maybe one day we will meet on the road...

Jim and TeResa Gibson
2007 Winnebago View 23J

SarahW · 09-15-2018, 11:51 AM

Howdy and welcome! Sounds like quite the project you have going; good luck to you. Please create a project thread and post some pictures as you progress.

usaborn_01 · 09-15-2018, 01:24 PM

Hey there Jim and TeResa from another newbie ! My wife and I are new to the RV scene also and purchased the same RV as you. I did find that the 2007 View is built on a 2006 chassis, so this comes into play on some parts orders. Don't know if all have the diesel motor and propane generator, but that's what mine has and am looking to add an Extend-A-Stay multi port propane adapter so that we can connect to external propane tanks when the onboard gets depleted when roughing' it. I'll have to post about that to see how/if someone has done it since I see there is a tee between the house propane and the generator propane. As for the bed, I somewhat like the idea of it being split and the ability to raise both sides if we would need to accommodate any tall items, but haven't found that need in two camping trips so far. Our View had 85k on the motor but hoping the diesel will endure for a long time, but the original owners prior to our were meticulous and ran it up to when we purchased, so we don't have the rebuild issue, but still am finding plenty to add. So far we are really enjoying it. Mark & Jennette

Jim Gibson · 09-18-2018, 06:15 PM

Mark and Jennette,

Sounds like we have the same motor home.

We look forward to completing our project and traveling. TeResa and I have quite a bit of experience in renovating homes, but this our first motor home. It will be a learning experience. I know that I need to make sure it is as lightweight as possible, so I will keep an eye on that. I am finishing up the electric and then it will be on to flooring and installing the new refrigerator. Good idea on the propane adapter, I think I will go that route also.

ForestF · 09-18-2018, 11:01 PM

06J here also. I just enclosed the bed area of the outer door also. I had to shim it out
1 1/2 " to clear and then router the plywood I used 3/8" to accommodate the gas strut hardware. I really like it. it was worth loosing the 1 1/2 of bed space. Keep in mind as you redo everything the weight limitations of the chassis.

Jim Gibson · 09-19-2018, 09:02 AM

Do you have any pics of the finished product? Thanks, I will keep weight limitations in mind.

grammag8 · 09-19-2018, 04:33 PM

We just picked our "new" Navion up last night and are new RV'rs....we need a little help on the tech end as I can't get the frig to work...we are plugged in at a campsite and we filled the propane tank but the frig just keeps giving me an error signal. Its a 2016 with only 3K miles on it...just trying to find a place for everything including the milk and meat
I brought up with ice packs ...GRR!!! so of course no frig is quite frustrating. The PO says ohh it works just hit A for auto so it can choose what power source it wants to use...BUT it won't allow me to choose anything before it goes into Flashing mode..Any ideas for the problem? I checked the coach batteries and they are fine..and the propane
is ON....tried troubleshooting in owners manual but came up with nothing I understand...thanks...in advance...grammag8

usaborn_01 · 09-19-2018, 07:59 PM

grammag8, The only issue I've run into with our fridge was that I found it has to be within a certain percentage of "Level" to function, so if you're not set up fairly level then that could cause the issue. Otherwise, sounds like you've done much of what I'd do, don't know if circuit breaker being tripped would give that error? Hope you found the problem before my reply .