My unit is in Oasis' shop now and repairs should start shortly--I will try to keep everone informed and post pics if possible.
I had a good visit with Joe (owner of Oasis). He advises to retain the existing rectangular door but round the corners of the cut-out where the door will be installed. In addition he said he would likely shore up the ends of the new front panel with angle iron anchored to the steel frame. He is presently doing that to another unit in his shop which he said Jackson Center had botched. He pointed to the horizontal line of rivets at the bottom of the panel that are covered with a moulding and said that the moulding looks bent and that possibly some rivets had popped. He also said that he uses a stronger rivet than the factory. I asked him 'if the stress cracks happen again after my warranty expires in Nov. '07 will it be repaired again under warranty?' The answer was NO--once the warranty expires there will be no more repairs under warranty. AZstreamin: I am not willing to give up the front access to that storage area so I will go with Joe's recommendation to replace the existing front access door.
In the first week of June we expect to be in the Las Vegas area and having guests in the Bunkhouse. It will be the first time we've ever tried to sleep five people in the trailer: 2 on the front queen, 2 on the rear double, and 1 on the dinette. Four adults, one kid. I love having a trailer that can do that!
We've had five or six people over for dinner at once, so we know how to do that, but never for an overnight. Anyone else packed five or more in at once? Any tips? This should be interesting ...
In the first week of June we expect to be in the Las Vegas area and having guests in the Bunkhouse. It will be the first time we've ever tried to sleep five people in the trailer: 2 on the front queen, 2 on the rear double, and 1 on the dinette. Four adults, one kid. I love having a trailer that can do that!
We've had five or six people over for dinner at once, so we know how to do that, but never for an overnight. Anyone else packed five or more in at once? Any tips? This should be interesting ...
We've only had one overnight guest-that was my mom and she slept on the sofa. She didn't want the it opened. She said she needed to sleep on her side for medical reasons and thought the sofa back would keep her on her side. I think she was just trying to be of as little trouble as she could be. It's easy to open though.
We've never even lowered the dinette into the bed position. I know how to, just never needed to. Total we can sleep is 8. I'm afraid that would be crowded though. I think the sofa would touch the dinette and make and offset bed for four!
__________________
2006 30' Safari - "Changes in Latitudes"
2008 F-250 Lariat Power Stroke Diesel Crew Cab SWB
Family of Disney Fanatics
WBCCI# 4821
BTW, I bought a FM modulator to route the aftermarket DVD player into the stereo system and it calls for plugging it in-line with the antennae. When I pulled the head unit last night, I couldn't find the juncture between the antennae and the antennae lead. It appears that the antennae lead may connect to the antennae wire inside the wall of the Airstream. Has anyone installed an FM modulator to add XM radio or iPod, if so, how did you plug it in-line with the antennae lead? Where is the juncture?
__________________
2006 30' Safari - "Changes in Latitudes"
2008 F-250 Lariat Power Stroke Diesel Crew Cab SWB
Family of Disney Fanatics
WBCCI# 4821
Las Vegas area and having guests in the Bunkhouse. It will be the first time we've ever tried to sleep five people in the trailer: 2 on the front queen, 2 on the rear double, and 1 on the dinette. Four adults, one kid. I love having a trailer that can do that!
We've had five or six people over for dinner at once, so we know how to do that, but never for an overnight. Anyone else packed five or more in at once? Any tips? This should be interesting ...
All those miles and no house guests Rich?
Ok so maybe I'm brave, dumb, or crazy....
Last year end of September...
We loaded up the F250 and the Tin Cabin..
4 Adults and 1 four year old
now you're thinking yeah so what..??
To clarify....
that is 2 in-laws
a married couple
and child...
The destination...Monument Valley...just like in the movies Clark....
750 miles round trip and 3 nights later I can say we own the best airstream on the market...
I gave the master bedroom to... our guests...
I slept on the dinette...which if you are less than 6 foot it is decent for 1 adult..A foam egg carton helps the cause out a lot...
also the dinette is fun to put down and put several kids or a few adults for watching movies...kind of feels like camp....
wife and daughter slept in the bunks....
so all the in-law jokes aside for a moment...
we basically took two people who have not been camping since god knows when on a road trip that was a lot of fun...I'd even consider doing it again...(or maybe I'll let them sleep in the tincabin on the next visit............in my driveway....teeeheee)
bottom line...this less than 200 sq ft of living space offers great flexibility that is more like a home than a camping trailer.... .
__________________ AZstreamin goin' where the weather suits my clothes....
Has anyone installed an FM modulator to add XM radio or iPod, if so, how did you plug it in-line with the antennae lead? Where is the juncture?
The thick black antenna lead should plug directly at the back, possibly plugging directly into the head unit. The connector should be no more than three inches behind the head unit.
The thick black antenna lead should plug directly at the back, possibly plugging directly into the head unit. The connector should be no more than three inches behind the head unit.
I'll take a close look at it this weekend. It looked like the antennae wire was attached internally at the back of the head unit. That was the first place I though of being the juncture but it didn't come out when I pulled firmly. I'll try again with a little more force and if it doesn't turn out to be the connection point, I'll take some photos and post. If all else fails I'll post a photo of the schematics from the manual. I really can't make heads or tails out of it myself. If it is a standard for the manufacturer, it is a Sony unit if that helps.
__________________
2006 30' Safari - "Changes in Latitudes"
2008 F-250 Lariat Power Stroke Diesel Crew Cab SWB
Family of Disney Fanatics
WBCCI# 4821
We have a 2005 bunkhouse. I've read through most of the postings and see that the cracks in the bottom corners of the front storage compartment are common. We noticed 2 inch long diagonal cracks at each bottom corner after about 10,000 miles of use. A month before our 2 year warranty expired, I took the trailer up to JC for repair. They cut out the cracked area, inserted new sheets of aluminum into the voids, and riveted everything together. No further cracks have developed. My wife, who is a biomechanist and lectures on material properties, says that the reason why the cracks develop is because of the sharp corners which act to concentrate stresses. Airstream needs to redesign the front compartment (on 25FB, 27FB?) and include rounded corners to stop the cracks from forming. I have said as much to management and repairmen at the JC service center. There comeback was that they only repair the trailers; they don't design them. Repair pictures will follow in later posts.
Here's a problem not yet discussed. The metal straps under the trailer retaining the gray and water tanks are inadequate. When viewed from the side, our trailer use to look like a pregnant cat ready to give birth when the tanks were full. I fixed the problem by welding up rigid stainless steel c-channel straps to replace the originals. I was worried the the added flexing of the tanks when going from empty to full would eventually lead to leaks, especially aroung the outlet piping. The fix added about 5 lbs. Again, pictures will follow.
While we have filled our gray tank while camping, I empty it daily and save up the last day's contents for flushing the hose after dumping the black tank. I usually keep about 5-10 gallons at most in our fresh tank for those last minute potty flushes before we pull out of the camp ground and for use when we stop on the road.
There has only been one occasion that I have actually towed the trailer with the freshwater tank full and that was last weekend when we went to a rally about 150 miles from home. I had actually put about 2/3 cup of bleach in the fresh water tank and filled it so I could disinfect it and all of the fresh water lines before using it at the camp ground. We used the water in the tank for the showers, etc. for the first morning and switched to city water for the rest of the trip. That left about half a tank in the fresh water tank.
Now you have me concerned that I shouldn't carry any of the tanks full when traveling. Anyone else notice this issue with their 30 footer?
__________________
2006 30' Safari - "Changes in Latitudes"
2008 F-250 Lariat Power Stroke Diesel Crew Cab SWB
Family of Disney Fanatics
WBCCI# 4821
I have noticed the swelling of the tanks, but only a little. I think they will buldge and it probably would not hurt to support them a little better. Airstream uses the same design on most of the safaris/internationals, but I am not sure the size of the tanks.
I would utimately like to put the tanks up between the frame rails and between the crossmembers for better clearance and to get rid of the "box trailer/ma and Pa kettle look". It seems that every picture I take of my rig out on the road the one think I always see is that gangly 1.5" pipe that runs aft. I am thinkin that it would not take much road debris to take the whole valve out and coat the freeway with blackwater suprise. Anyone know how the classics are done. I know some of them actually have a access door in the underbelly wrap that allows access to the main line.
This is a must do for me in the near future. I think a underbelly removal aft would quickly determine the feasibility/size of tanks allowed.
I don't think the bulging of the tanks is a real problem, nor do I have any reason to believe the supports are inadequate. The tanks are flexible and will bulge with a full load.
We've been full-timing for 18 months and we carry full fresh water every time we tow (because we rarely are sure where we'll be next) ... haven't had a tank fall off yet.
When I towed ours with the fresh tank full, I could tell a difference at first. Maybe the added weight was the issue, but it seemed a little gangly (?). After a few minutes I didn't notice any difference though. I guess it was a tendency for the trailer to feel like it wanted to continue on a horizontal track as I was going around the corners in my neighborhood. But once I was on the highway, I didn't notice any difference. I can see the weight on the axles giving additional stability, though. However, I can also see that the additional weight between the axles might cause a little additional resistance to turning when backing in and making sharp turns...at least that is my story for the problems I had getting into a tight space (tree on either side of the site entrance and a retaining wall opposite the site) at 10:00 PM!
__________________
2006 30' Safari - "Changes in Latitudes"
2008 F-250 Lariat Power Stroke Diesel Crew Cab SWB
Family of Disney Fanatics
WBCCI# 4821
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