International AS Factory Mod

[Pahaska]

There is a factory modification for the International AS to reinforce the frame behind the wheels. Apparently the weight of the rear galley is causing frame droop in these models. It is about a 3-hour fix.

AS owners were supposed to get notification letters, but I haven't received any notice through the mail. My trailer was at the dealer all last week for a new AC thermostat. They had the bulleton in house, but it was unclear to them what trailers required the fix. Fortunately, I received a call from the factory a couple of days ago, asking whether I had the fix installed. This was the first that I knew of it. The dealer ordered the parts and hopes to have my trailer modified before I leave the 15th of this month.

Fortunately, I have never towed more than a few yards with anything in the gray or black tanks. Hopefully, I dodged any lasting damage.

[rbyrnesanmateo]

Well, here we are two months later...Airstream sent Al McInnes, their Western Regional Sales Representative to evaluate the issues with our trailer on August 12th.

After playing phone tag with Al back and forth and with the people that he had to contact to resolve these problems, Al put Larry Huttle into contact with us last Thursday, the 4th of September to discuss our options with the trailer.

On Tuesday, the 9th, we faxed a response to Larry Huttle regarding our options and Airstream's options. On Friday morning, September 12th, we called Larry Huttle's office directly and was told that he would respond to us this afternoon. We had yet to hear back as of COB today.

By not hearing back with information either way, is very frustrating and it makes you wonder, how far do the troubles in Jackson Center go? We believe that with the name of Airstream, the company should in theory stand behind their product 100%. For those of you who are unaware of our issues, we have some of them posted on the Airstream Forum - International AS 2003.

In the short of it all, the trailer has been sent back to Ohio once already, and the formica is once again de-laminating, and the fabric is pulling away from the walls due to it being cleaned and the glue being drawn to the surface, among many other problems...

Thanks for listening - we'll keep you posted as we go along!

[Pahaska]

My wall pulled away at exactly the same place. It is a p***-poor piece of design work since there is virtually nothing holding that thin piece of wall in place and when you pull a plug out of the AC outlet, it simply pulls the wall apart. I posted about this a long time ago. I finally fixed it with a row of virtually invisible brads and a couple of screws hidden under the thermostat. The thin section of wall next to the sink has the same problem (with the same fix).

The parts for my frame mod aren't in yet, so I have to take my 2000-mile trip without the reinforcement. I'm not too happy about that since it took 6 days for the dealer to contact A/S and get back to me and the parts could have been UPS'd here by that time.

rbyrnesanmateo, do you have the frame mod yet? Did you get a letter regarding the mos?

[LuvSub]

I e-mailed Airstream Technical Services for some guidance regarding this modification. They indicated to me that the modification is required for units with a serial number prior to 515567. Thankfully, mine was manufactured later than that so I do not need the modification.

[Pahaska]

I'm back from 9 days on the road and the modification kit still hasn;t made it to the dealer. Perhaps they sent it pony express.

In the meantime, the pressure switch on my water pump has failed. The pump runs continuously now, even with city water hooked up.

[Pahaska]

The frame mod was installed Monday. The trailer was put on jackstands at the axle mount plate and at the rear bumper drag bars. The instructions said to jack up the rear bumper "until the crack in the frame closes". Fortunately, my frame was not cracked; probably because I am very careful not to tow with anything in the gray or black tanks.

The reinforcement is a sizeable L-shaped steel plate with a number of holes. The plate is welded at the edges and around the holes. The plate sits just aft of the axle and is cut out so as not to interfere with the gray water box.

I watched the installation and felt that the dealer (Camper Clinic II) did a very nice job of installing the kit. The tech who installed it has many years in the business and had installed it on other trailers.

[markjoandall]

John,

Congratulations, with this last post, you made it to 2000 posts. You are the standard from which all are judged. (If you want to see your count, go to member statistics, 20 top)

Mark

Btw, I don't know how you have time to airstream.

[Pahaska]

Originally posted by markjoandall
John,

Congratulations, with this last post, you made it to 2000 posts. You are the standard from which all are judged. (If you want to see your count, go to member statistics, 20 top)

Mark

Btw, I don't know how you have time to airstream.

Actually, the statistic counter was apparently not implemented when I joined the forum, so some of my early posts weren't tallied there. I think that that is why the count on the left says 2118 and the count in the statistics say 2001.

Guess I'm justa compulsive poster. Like the support group for compulsive talkers; "On and on Anon".