1987 Sovereign 25'-Any Issues??

[nukesul]

I'm going to look at an 87 Sovereign this week. Does anybody have any experience with these? Is there anything in particular I should watch out for in the 87s? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[nickcrowhurst]

I recommend looking inside the rear flap which covers the rear fender storage for electric and water pipes. Look in each corner to check the extent of corrosion of the part of the frame that is visible. You should see some access holes about 3 inches in diameter. These let you look with a flashlight inside the frame members. This will give a clue to the extent of corrosion in the rest of the frame. I saw a similar trailer for sale last month in a trailer park full of Airstreams at Melbourne, Florida. This section of the frame looked perfect from the outside. I just happened to notice that there were a few pop rivets at the edge of the frame, where I knew they should not be. A closer look revealed that the whole of the visible exposed outside section of the frame ( about 6" by 4") had been covered over with a very thin sheet of steel, pop-riveted in place, and painted to match the rest of the frame. When I pressed the centre of the new panel, I heard the true frame collapsing and desintegrating inside. If you didn't have detailed knowledge of this model trailer, you would have been easily deceived. Caveat emptor! Nick.

[Richard Vroom]

I have an 86 Sovereign 25 and love it. We have water leak problems that got into the floor in the bedroom. Water will run down the support beam from the rear bumper and rot out the floor. Lift out the beds and check the floor. Also check the floor under the sofa. It is quite expensive to get into replacing the flooring. Also check the flooring near the entrance door with a nail.

We love our Sovereign 25 so much and it has now been redone with new carpeting, granite countertops in kitchen and bathroom and a new chine toilet.

Best of luck.
Richard

[j54mark]

There are no particular issues with the coaches of that era. Any Airstream should be checked throughly for rot in the floor. Take an ice pick. Altough it may not look like it at first, all of the floor can be seen except under the furnace. You can even remove panels and see under the toilet and shower, but that is a bit more difficult.

The other issue is the polybutylene plumbing that was common in all RVs of that era. The connectors - Tees, elbows, etc. - get very brittle and blow apart. It will very likely have some repairs, or may even be replaced. Check the quality of the repairs.

One leak that seems to be fairly common is caused by the sink waste pipe coming loose from the grey tank fitting. this can rot out a surprising area and, if located next to the furnace (many are) can rust out the furnace housing as well.

Personally, I think the 80's and early 90's models offer the most for the $$.

Mark