B190 Enthusiasts

Hi all,

I've been enjoying the site and learning a lot. Thank you all for contributing to this wonderful resource. I'm a grad student and have been looking for a low cost living solution that would enable me to spend my time on writing, photography, and of course travel. I've wasted too much of my life working for other people for not nearly enough money and now want to focus on my true work. I've always loved to travel and I've gone across country on Greyhound twice and by car twice. On my first cross country trip, I happened to stay at a KOA because the youth hostel I'd planned to stay at had gone out of business. I was amazed at the RVs with satellite dishes and washing machines, etc. It certainly put the seed in my mind to eventually cross this great big country in an RV. Many years later, I came back to this via the tiny house/RV/van dwelling communities. It seems the world has finally caught up to what I wanted to do and so many people are doing this.

I have long wanted to live in an Airstream trailer, who hasn't? I found the B190 through an ad a few months ago and fell in love. I had scoffed at the idea of living in a van instead of a Class C, thinking it would never feel like home. The B190 is like the best of all worlds: the solid build and smaller size of a van, but the over cab storage and oven of an RV. I can give up a lot, but not an oven, I love to bake and my Kitchen Aid will hit the road with me.

I hope to join the ownership ranks soon!

Erica

Welcome to the club!

Welcome to the tribe!

Consider checking your tires for tread and age first.

Enjoy.

Welcome to the club! My wife loves baking, too. She has a Kitchenaid at home but I haven't seen it in the camper...yet.

Hi Erica,

Did you find a B190? They're out there but hard to find and finding one in good condition can sometimes be difficult. We looked at one and talked on the phone to sellers of a few other vans before we finally found one we liked. We live in the southeast U.S. and recently sold our van to a young couple with an 11 year old daughter. Sounds like they'll give the van a good home for several years. Hope you find one soon.

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for the kind replies. I thought I had set up to receive notifications, but I didn't see any. I'm just now seeing all of them.

I have not yet bought my rig, finally getting the money together. I am in the midwest now and looking at several (I may have mileage confused between vehicles, but most are b/w 90-100k):

$4000 1991 144k miles, a little rust that looks to be paint/surface, no toilet (was thinking I'd do a composting toilet eventually anyway).

$12k 1998 V-10 99k miles, added alarm system, great condition, although I dislike the all in one fiberglass bathroom and spare because it limits storage access from the back and leaves little storage.

$6k 1991 44k miles (dubious, 5 digit od), no oven (big issue, it's one of the reasons I like the B190, as I'm a big baker), I'm wondering if it would be a big hassle/expense to remove the existing cabinet, route gas line, and have an oven installed.

I haven't had any luck finding volunteer inspectors via airforums near the first one. It's either a steal or a money pit, not sure which. As long as it's mechanically and otherwise functional, I can deal with the repairs later, especially since it would be paid for, no loan.

Someone posted recently about the rig posted by a dealer in AZ on eBay. I wish I'd bid -- there was no reserve and no bids. I might have got it for a song.

What was your process like for finding your B190? I really like them due to the oven and overhead storage/bed, it seems like the best of both worlds between the compactess of a van and livability/storage of a Class C.

Have a 93, the older style bathroom. Both have their advantages, as everything in life. The thing I also don't like about the newer style bath is the spare tire location-- always thought that it should not be to difficult to find a door mount for the tire, like the earlier versions, then customizing the inside space for storage..... just a thought.

I also have a 93 bought it last December love it. It took me a while to find one that i liked after looking at other brands of b van i knew the 190 was the one for me keep looking you're going to find yours just stay away from the v 10 or the 351 all though the 351 is a rock solid engine its a little small for this application the v10 not so much. Good luck I'll keep my eye out.

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Agreed, that tire wastes so much space inside! If I was handier, I'd take out or alter the fiberglass, so the storage was accessible from inside.

So I'll probably go for an older unit. I can't believe there are some without ovens though.

weekender wrote:Have a 93, the older style bathroom. Both have their advantages, as everything in life. The thing I also don't like about the newer style bath is the spare tire location-- always thought that it should not be to difficult to find a door mount for the tire, like the earlier versions, then customizing the inside space for storage..... just a thought.

Definitely prefer the B190 due to quality inside, over cab storage and oven.

What don't you like about the V-10? The $12k one is a later, V-10 model, thought that engine was better?

190-b-651 wrote:I also have a 93 bought it last December love it. It took me a while to find one that i liked after looking at other brands of b van i knew the 190 was the one for me keep looking you're going to find yours just stay away from the v 10 or the 351 all though the 351 is a rock solid engine its a little small for this application the v10 not so much. Good luck I'll keep my eye out.

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Sub2RainEN wrote:I can't believe there are some without ovens though.

It was an option. Our B190 had the oven, but our '95 Airstream trailer doesn't. The upside of not having the oven is that you get another cabinet for storage, so it's not all bad.

True. I don't have experience with convection ovens, maybe I'd get used to baking with one. I really want the oven, although the extra cabinet next to the sofa is perfect for my huge laser printer. I need to be able to print 40-150 pages at a time for school.

skater wrote:
It was an option. Our B190 had the oven, but our '95 Airstream trailer doesn't. The upside of not having the oven is that you get another cabinet for storage, so it's not all bad.

Sub2RainEN wrote:True. I don't have experience with convection ovens, maybe I'd get used to baking with one. I really want the oven, although the extra cabinet next to the sofa is perfect for my huge laser printer. I need to be able to print 40-150 pages at a time for school.

They're fast. We have one in our trailer (a countertop toaster/convection oven). You can get crispy fries in half the time. We've baked muffins and such in it - it works extremely well, you just have to be careful about time because it's much faster.

One of these days, we will replace the microwave in the trailer with a microwave/convection oven combo unit, so we don't lose the counter and storage space for the separate toaster oven.

The v10 wasn't one of fords better ideas i some have good luck. But alot haven't im lucky enough to have a long time friend the own's a ford shop and has for 29 years he knows his stuff if he speaks i listen it usually saves me money 460 millions made parts are plentiful. He also has a b190 89 one of the first #36 in the run that's what got me started. Im not speaking from experience just from good advice the ones that I've known with the v10 didn't keep'm long.

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My one experience with a convection oven was at a time share. I obliterated some baked potatoes. Fortunately, I knew they were faster, so I checked them halfway through the normal amount of time. I'm more concerned with my cookies, even an electric oven can entirely change the texture of the crumb.

skater wrote: They're fast. We have one in our trailer (a countertop toaster/convection oven). You can get crispy fries in half the time. We've baked muffins and such in it - it works extremely well, you just have to be careful about time because it's much faster.

One of these days, we will replace the microwave in the trailer with a microwave/convection oven combo unit, so we don't lose the counter and storage space for the separate toaster oven.