Safari 30 bunkhouse owners club! - Page 14

RossFam05BH · 07-16-2007, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rluhr

RossFam, we wore out our Marathons at 30,000 miles and never had a failure. (We did lose one to a drywall screw and another when we had lug nut failure, but those were not failures of the tires.) We're now running three Marathons and one Tire King without any trouble so far (about 15,000 miles).

Hi Rich,

I agree that tire manufactures should not be responsible for foreign object damage, or for that matter tires compromised by hitting 3 inch deep potholes in the road surface. However, we can now document 4 out 5 Marathons failing in the time that we have owned our trailer (see our thread in tires). All failures have been tread separation. I'm meticulous (my wife uses another word, which refers to an orifice) about tire inspection and maintenance, and maybe that is the reason why we have not experienced a blowout. The last series of separations occurred on our why back from Washington D.C. to North Carolina. We choose I-95 for our trek rather than I-81, which may have contributed to the Marathons' demise. Our trip that day occurred as the air temp reached 95 degrees. The road temp was blistering, I'm sure. If we would have taken I-81 at higher elevations and lower road temp, or slowed our travel down to 45 mph on I-95, I may not be posting now. So I guess what I am advocating is the you add to your list #7, which is that on hot days you must take more Marathon friendly paths, or slow to a snails pace for tire safety. I decided to follow choice #8 on my list, which is to ditch the Marathons. BTW, which compass direction do you face while dancing; I prefer south, which may explain my situation.

Happy trails,

Paul

Minnie's Mate · 07-16-2007, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rluhr

MM, you can get a wide variety of struts at an auto parts store. I'd probably just replace the two struts you have rather than try to rig up a third one. Take one into the auto parts store to match the size and see if they have a stiffer one.

Thanks Rich, I'll have to take one off this weekend and see if I can locate a stiffer one. Do they put the rating on the strut somewhere?

Also, I have read that some folks strike the side of their tire with a tire iron when they stop at rest stops as a check to make sure they are OK. Why or what are they checking for? Or are they just trying to beat them into submission?

pintoman · 07-17-2007, 02:53 PM

Minnie's Mate
Thumping a tire to check inflation is an accepted method in the trucking industry,but it does take experience,a tire that looks properly inflated can be as much as 25 pounds under inflated but by thumping will sound different from the others.
I recently had a small tree branch poke thru my sidewall when I made a turn.Tire had been properly inflated(65psi).
Doesn't give me much confidence in tires construction.

Minnie's Mate · 07-17-2007, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pintoman

I recently had a small tree branch poke thru my sidewall when I made a turn.Tire had been properly inflated(65psi).
Doesn't give me much confidence in tires construction.

Gee, I knew it was easy to slit a tire but that is ridiculous.

R&SZinser · 08-05-2007, 10:49 AM

We returned from our latest trip to Wisconsin (round trip 2400 miles) and sure enough, our trailer developed the cracks stemming from the front storage compartment. We currently have a little over 6000 miles on the trailer. The trip itself was great! We stayed at my mom's and she had a 30 amp plug put in for us to use.

We did weigh the trailer on the way up, to verify how much air to put in the tires. Based on the weight, we kept the tires at 60 PSI and didn't have any problems.

I guess now we need to contact Jackson Center and try and schedule an appointment to get the cracks repaired.

Minnie's Mate · 08-06-2007, 07:44 AM

I neglected to check the air in the tires last year (our first summer of use) because our dealer had been so great with prepping ever thing else. I just took it for granted that the tire pressure was spot on too. Before starting this season I checked the tire pressure and discovered that there was 48-50 PSI in all of the tires. Since it was so close in all of them, I assume that they all started out at that or pretty close to it. I had the air pressure increased to the max of 65 PSI per the rating on the side of the tires since I have a tendency to tow faster than 65 MPH.

My concern now is that the first year of the warranty the tires were low in pressure and cushioned the trailer preventing the cracks from appearing and now that the pressure is higher and there is less flex in the side wall of the tire, the ride will be harder and may cause the cracks to appear next season when the warranty has expired.

Given the nature of the cracks and the fact that nearly every 30' Safari has had this problem occur, why hasn't Airstream had a recall? Have they ever recalled a trailer line/model? Are they just afraid to admit they made a design error?

rluhr · 08-06-2007, 09:23 AM

We'll be in Jackson Center for service in September, but I am not sure if I'm going to have anything done about the cracks. They have not changed since we initially discovered them about 20,000 miles ago. They are about 1" long and haven't widened. So I'm wondering if a repair would be worse than the problem.

However, our front compartment does leak when we tow in the rain and I'd like to get that fixed. It may be that we can resolve both issues at the same time.

As full-timers, it's not a great option for us to have the trailer in the shop for multi-day projects. We can drop it off, but then we are stuck in a hotel or a on friend's couch until it is done. So we always think twice before committing to big jobs on the trailer.

The question in my mind is: Do the cracks represent a structural issue that, if ignored, will be more serious -- or are the skin cracks simply a cosmetic reflection of normal flexing in the trailer? No one seems to know for certain, and it is possible we won't know for until the entire batch of trailers has had many years of use.

We'll probably find out first. Our Safari bunkhouse has about 44,000 miles on it at this point. So far we've noted no other "smoking guns" in the structure, and the trailer shows no sign of falling apart. We haven't popped a rivet yet, it doesn't leak (we've tested it), and there is no unusual wear on body or frame visible. Still, I'll be keeping a close eye on this issue. Our warranty expires in a few months ...

FishByFly · 08-06-2007, 06:50 PM

The one thing that wasn’t complete was the outside sound system. I know that others have had some issues so I hope that I can get some advice.

I got two speakers and speaker wires in a box. I was told they connects to a four pin plug just behinfd the curb side rear wheel. (it looks like a four pin trailer plug.) (I have photos and can't figure how to post.)

How does one wire this up?

Please help...

rluhr · 08-06-2007, 08:11 PM

It's pretty easy. Plug the round connectors into the speakers, one red and one black into each speaker. I don't have mine right here to check, but I believe there's some indication on the speakers as to which plug takes red and which takes black.

Plug the flat 4-pin trailer plug into the connector on the trailer, which is right behind the axle on the gray banana wrap, as you indicated. This can be a very tight fit, requiring lots of wiggling and pushing on the plug.

Inside the trailer, find the rotary "Speaker Select switch" underneath the cabinet that houses the JVC stereo. It's a white plate with a black knob. Turn it to either "Out" or "Both". Turn on the stereo and you should hear music outside.

After a year of hauling around that enormous box that houses the two speakers, I finally left it behind in storage. It was too much of a pain to set up, took up too much space that I needed for other things, and the jack plugs kept unscrewing and disappearing in the storage compartment. We hardly ever used the outside speakers anyway.

Kevbo10 · 08-06-2007, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rluhr

\\ MASSIVE SNIP //

We haven't popped a rivet yet, it doesn't leak (we've tested it), and there is no unusual wear on body or frame visible. Still, I'll be keeping a close eye on this issue. Our warranty expires in a few months ...

i'm with you; gosh forbid we shouldn't extract every once of life outa the bauxite love shacks we hold so dear to our hearts...

overly dressed,

kevin

1001 the new 501

FishByFly · 08-06-2007, 09:39 PM

Thanks for the info about the switch inside. My efforts would have been extremely challenged without this bit of info.

I made a visit to Pep Boys today and came to the conclusion at a trailer four pin plug was what Airstream had envisioned. Wasn't what I had expected. I just stubbled on this. I guess if you build trailers, using parts on hand would be logical.

As for the speaker connection, I then went to Radio Shack. The clerk there had no clue what to suggest. I found "banana clips' that will make quick connections into the speakers. No need to worry about the screw-in wires. Now just plug-in and go.

Now the question is how to wire the speakers. Any suggestion or is this just trial and error? Mathematically, there aren't that many combinations with four wires.

I do have some smaller speakers that may become our replacements. I must have some outdoor music. I hav two daughters that dance. Outside causes less shacking ofthe trailer.

Minnie's Mate · 08-06-2007, 09:49 PM

Any body know if the wires are installed for the exterior speakers if you don't have the outside speaker option? I have been told they are there and you just need to drill the hole in the banana wrap and get a set of speakers and plug the wires into the back of the stereo head. I do have extra wires located in the back of the stereo head that aren't connected and an extra pair of "out" ports in the rear of the head unit.

I have set up a port for my IPod and wouldn't mind being able to listen to it outside, but really don't have an interest other than that for music out doors.

FishByFly · 08-07-2007, 10:21 PM

For you Bunkhouse owners, we have two questions tonight.

Mine: where is the water pump access? I've read the manual but not sure what they ar saying....

Wife: where doesone locate the kitchen trash? We previously had a small bag holder on the inside door under the sink. This unit doesn't seem to allow for that. Suggestions?

FishByFly · 08-07-2007, 10:24 PM

I was able to get my speakers wired tonight. The disappointment is similar to what others have said here previously. Itseems that the speakrs are wired incorrectly. When i switch to adjust between inside/out and both, the speakers mid-ship stay on in all positons. I hope that i can fix this by pulling the radio and swithing connections there. Has anyone resolved this by doing so?