Big Red Otis Mods and Repairs

Thought I would list all the mods and fixes that we have done to our 2021 Solis 59PX.

The stock Solis is good and well balanced, but once you start researching a little it becomes obvious what cost cutting solutions Winnebago used. Essentially most components in the Solis are reliable components, but are on the low end. It isn’t just one component, it just about everything. These are the kinds of things that if Winnebago would have spent 30% more on each component they would be good if not great. Of course that would mean the overall price would have gone up a little. Much less than the 30% direct cost as the majority of the build cost is labor.

A couple examples of this:

• The Solar charge controller. The Xantrex Solar Charge Controller 30 retails for $130. For $160 they could have purchased an MPPT controller with bluetooth built in.
• The One Place control center where the levels of tanks/batteries, etc can be checked. A battery shunt which will show the exact % of battery charge is only $50 retail, but instead we get four lights that don’t mean much.
• The insulation throughout the van is really cheap, just sort of plain old foam strips. There are a lot of other options out there that are significantly better, that don’t cost much directly, but they would slow down the production a little compared to just slapping in foam strips.

The other thing I think needs to be mentioned is the build quality of the van. Once again it is “fine”, but there are plenty of places where one would question the quality control of the build. There are many accounts of crooked items, screws going into nothing, parts left in cabinets, cracked framing, trim pieces cut too short/long, etc. I thought this was just a low-end class-B RV issue, but with a small amount of research, these issues are industry wide and are on all levels of RVs. Buying an expensive RV doesn’t guarantee these quality issues don’t exist, they are just more likely to be hidden behind some facia. Again, the Solis is “fine”, but don’t expect superior workmanship.

Mods/Updates Completed

Category		Mod	Description	DIY?	Do Again/10	Approx Cost	Notes
Exterior		OHV Lift + New Struts and shocks	Lifted the front and rear to provide clearance for dirt roads, etc.	N	8	$4500
Exterior		BF Goodrich KO2 245/75/r17	The lift provided space for the larger tires. Purchased 5 tires.	N	6	$2000
Exterior		Landed Gear spare tire mount	Driver side rear door spare tire mount plus license plate mover	Y	5	$500
Exterior		Gutter Passenger Side	Added a gutter to the passenger side to prevent water from dropping on us every time we opened the slider after a rain.	Y	9	$50
Exterior		Juggernaut Generator Plate	Installed generator protection plate as even with the lift, we still tagged the generator on a large curb.	Y	9	$350
Electrical		Victron MPPT 100/30	Upgraded the Xantrex to an MPPT controller to harness more power on cloudy days.	Y	9	$250
Electrical		Victron BMV-712 Shunt	Installed a shunt to be able to monitor the actual SOC of the batteries	Y	9	$300
Electrical		Added in a usb/12v charge panel and switches above jump seats	Allows for more charging ports (one the kids can’t kick/break) and the switches are hooked to 12v ports in the rear driver side cabinet above bed. Allows us to turn cell booster and router on/off	Y	7	$100
Electrical		Added additional lights in garage of 59PX	Added some 12v lights to the garage to make it easier to work back there. Since then extended the bed, which makes the lights kind of pointless.	Y	2	$25
Electrical		Upgraded USB outlets to USB-C	In a couple places, replaced the USB outlets with USB-C outlets to charge new devices	Y	5	$50
Electrical		Installed light strip around under kitchen counter	Light strip adds a nice amount of light at night that points downwards and is connected to the Tank Indicator light switch	Y	7	$30
Electrical		Replaced main overhead light	Installed a larger overhead light outside bathroom that has two sections controlled by switch. Gives more light to eating/table area	Y	7
Dashboard		Radio upgrade	Replaced the stock radio with a Pioneer 4600 and Maestro controller box. Also replaced speakers in doors + installed speakers under driver/passenger seats.	Y	9	$1000
Exterior		Sumo Springs on rear	Rear Sumos help with van bounce and generally provide a nicer driving experience	Y	10	$300
Storage		Misc wall netting/storage	Added elastic web netting in a few places to increase handy storage.	Y	6	$50
Storage		Added shelf in driver side under bed cabinet	Just makes that storage area more usable	Y	6	$20
Comfort		Extended bed to almost a full king	Added brackets and a removable 2×4 + 1×12 surface to garage which allows the bed to be larger and we can sleep with our heads north south instead of east west.	Y	10	$75
Comfort		Mattress toppers	Added mattress toppers to the Murphy Bed (king size, cut down a little) and pop-top (full size)	Y	7	$250
Comfort		Murphy Cushion replacement	The cushions on the Murphy bed are pretty lame/cheap/uncomfortable. We happen to have a very expensive older futon that we were getting rid of. We cut the mattress up and replaced just the insides of the Murphy bed cushions	Y	?	$0
Storage		Added L-Track to rear doors	The L-track on the rear doors allowed for moving a lot of the wires, hoses, etc that one carries to the doors so that the garage had more space.	Y	10	$100
Storage		Made rear floor storage accessible from garage	We removed the rear board from the rear under floor storage to make that store accessible from the garage. Added magnets in so that we can close it up with the original board	Y	7	$25
Comfort		Misc insulation upgrades	Every time I opened a panel I replaced the cheap insulation with thinsulate. So far: Rear doors, driver side behind upper cabinets, water panel and water pump, entire pizza oven, front doors, rear corner pillars.	Y	6	$300
Electrical		Bluetooth Mach 10 ceiling panel	Replaced AC ceiling controller with a bluetooth version allowing temp control and fans that only go on when AC compressor is on.	Y	10	$300
Electrical		Added Heat element to Mach 10	Added heating element to Mach to augment propane heat.	Y	10	$50
Plumbing		SOG toilet exhaust	Installed SOG on cassette toilet to help with bathroom smells	Y	7	$250
Comfort		Ruggable rugs everywhere	Cut Ruggable rug up to fit floor. Makes floor generally more comfortable	Y	7	$300
Electrical		Lithium + LiBIM	Replaced AGMs w/ LifePO4 100ah x 2	Y	10	$650
Comfort		Fridge Light	Added an LED strip to top, inside of fridge.	Y	7	$5
Exterior		Rear gas tank	Added 8gal gas tank to landed gear spare mount	Y	6	$150
Exterior		Replace Marker Lights	Replaced all marker lights due to leaking	Y	3	$100
Comfort		Replaced cooktop	Due to recall, just replaced cooktop with Dometic.	Y	3	$250

Mods/Updates Planned

Category	Mod	Description	DIY	Priority/10	Cost
Comfort	Replace tension rods on pop top	Pop-top tension rods are a little weak, upgrading to 120lb instead of 100lb rods	y	8	$75
Comfort

Repairs

Issue/Repair	Description	DIY	Cost	Notes
Slider window shattered	Replaced entire slider window after it shattered for really no reason	Y	$50	Sent pics and video of even to Winnebago and they send a new window for free. Replacement took about 2.5hrs.
Buckling ceiling	Above kitchen the ceiling has bowed a little, prob 0.5″.	?	?	Haven’t started process to fix.
AC won’t run on generator	On generator, when AC compressor kicks in the generator stops with overcurrent error.	Y	$0	Winnebago sent a Hard Start capacitor for the AC and haven’t had the problem since. Took about 30min to install in total
Water in Shorepower outlet	Whenever it rains and I open the shorepower port, there is always water accumulated inside	Y	?	Haven’t dealt with it yet, probably just buy $30 replacement outlet and install with extra sealant.
Rear Seatbelts	Seatbelts locked up, couldn’t pull out	Y	?	Removed rear seats, installed new seatbelts, problem solved… removing/reinstalling a bit of work though.
RAM transmission recall	RAM transmission recall	N	$0
Cummins recall	Cummins recall	N	$0