Safari 30' bunkhouse owners club!

[SafariSS]

We bought our bunkhouse new in summer of 06. It has been awesome, but as the poster above says check the front hatch skin, plumbing exterior pipes, general underbelly skin as it tends to have some electrolysis. Looks like the one in the ad has had some paint work in the belt line and trim items. Look closely for skin peeling and pitting.

Enjoy! We love ours with just over 110k towing miles

[Amsterdamer]

The price is quite a bit less than we sold our '05 BH for last year, so if the condition is good, the it is a very fair price, in my opinion. Our unit did not have cracks in the skin by the front storage compartment, but look for them. Check for leaks around the retaining screws in the skylight. At $27,000, even $8000 in additional repairs to bring it back up to near perfect is still market priced for a 30 BH.

[Mortland]

Thank you for the advice! I'm unable to go and see it in person I don't have the greatest of feelings about this one, we will be patient and continue searching. The "silver lust" is real! We have been saving and planning for so long that we almost get impulsive which is never a good thing when spending this kind of money. All your insight has been very helpful. Looking forward to joining the club soon!

[WineStream]

It sounds like you've decided not to buy and I think that's a good decision. The observations above are all valid. I would add to it seems fishy that the black stripe around the mid-body (not original) and the black-trimmed tail lights (also not original) were added at some time between all the pictures. I am guessing the pictures without the black additions were pics from the seller when camping privately. It looks like they were taken in a field. The pics with black trim look like they are in the dealership lot. It also looks like someone took a spray can of truck & tractor paint or underbody paint and just "hosed down" the tongue (black tapers off as you look down the chain to where it attaches to the frame. On the inside, the colors don't look right...maybe owned by a smoker? This is most obvious in the bunk picture. The plastic trim is white and contrasts highly to the walls which appear yellowish. The wood throughout the unit looks too dark / too yellow. In ours, it is very light. Personal opinion...good to steer clear. FYI, we bought our BH used from the original owners in 2013...$22k. Yeah, we got a screaming deal. Today for a 2005-2006 BH over $30k is tough since these units are 10 years old now and Airstream is making bunkhouse models again. That makes the value of the older ones go down. But, when I caught the Airstream bug (not when I bought my BH), I willingly opened my wallet and didn't question the value. I just wanted one. I know what it feels to be in your position.

[cliffcharb]

I recently purchased mine and it was considerably higher than that. I think you will find a nice trailer in the $30-$35k range.
I also financed 50% with Lightstream. Happy hunting

[Mortland]

Yeah we decided against that one. We are currently waiting to get approved for financing and then we'll move forward with getting a more expensive but MUCH nicer one. Really hoping everything goes smoothly! We'll be paying in that 30k-36k range. Seems fair for the condition, relative rarity and market demand of the trailer. Won't have to do a thing to it minus making it our own with little personalized touches

[WineStream]

Originally Posted by FishByFly

Attachment 215102

Attachment 215103

Attachment 215104

Attachment 215105

Attachment 215106

Attachment 215107

Attachment 215108

Attachment 215109

Photos show the lounge bench, the center flip up table, the bench without the cushions, and the bench in a folded up position.

We kept the wheel well cover but did not rest the new framing on it. The supports are built around the cover. When the bench is down, we wanted to have space under the bench for some storage.

Also attached are images of other work we did. The dinette has new upholstery that matches the new lounge. The laminate at the lounge flip up table, dinette table, kitchen counter, and bath lav is the boomerang pattern. The edge banding on the counters is a polished aluminium. New faucets were installed at the bath and kitchen with additional wall brushed aluminum at adjacent walls.


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

We are having our dinette and chairs reupholstered but we are trying to source the material ourselves. Do you happen to still know the yardage that you used to reupholster the dinette?

[FishByFly]

Winestream, I'm not where I can check but will do some looking to see if we still have that information. Back to you in a week

[pawnguy]

Hello looking to add some LED lighting to the awning. Has anyone done this and if so how did you find a way that works best for power and convenience? Just upgraded all inside to LED and love it. Makes a world of difference. Any tips and tricks would be great. Mark

[rosmuck3]

Hello everyone!

My wife and I are almost finished modifying our 2005 Safari 30 Bunkhouse into a mobile office for both of us as we are both online teachers. We plan to be living in it full time come March 2017. We are attaching some of our "almost finished" staging pictures.

We are sharing this since for those individuals who want to work on the road and need 2 separate office "areas", the bunkhouse version (either Safari or the newer Flying Cloud) is a great option to make this work with some modifications.

The great majority of the carpentry work was completed by my father-in-law in central Kansas. We re-used the great majority of the bunk bedroom wood and dinette wood to make new desks, etc. This carpentry work took him quite a long time but everything fits nicely.

Here is a summary of the modifications/improvements we made:
1. We took off ALL of the "mouse fur" on the walls and got a most of it off as well behind cabinets, etc. - Most of the aluminum panels looked fine afterwards (after removing glue, scrubbing, etc. but a few areas were slightly imperfect. This by far was the hardest and worst part of the job. We just filled in the holes with more rivets.
2. We removed the carpeting from the bedroom area, put down an epoxy coating on the subfloor to protect it from any future leaks. We also added a bed lift kit to the queen bed.
3. We installed FLOR tiles in the bedroom and then over most of the vinyl floor in the rest of the trailer.
4. We removed the bunks from the rear bedroom, moved the shower drain pipe to be closer to the edge of the trailer, put in a custom wooden enclosure around it. We then modified one of the bunk house bed panels and made it into a desktop and reinstalled that into the old bedroom/new office.
5. We removed the dinette and installed a new custom desk there with access panels to the furnace and some of the HVAC.
6. We installed Formica on top of all countertops, new desks and couch surround.
7. Harper Camperland in Great Bend, Kansas installed 3 new Fantastic fans and they will also install new bathroom fan, a soon to come Maxim skylight, new satellite dish, and antennas for our 2 cellular boosters and wi-fi extender. This was their first time working on an Airstream.
8. Replaced all lighting with new LED fixtures. This really made a big difference in the quality of lighting and has a much "cooler" look inside
9. Steve at Wildcat Upholstery in St. George, Kansas, reupholstered the couch, modified the padding a bit and did an awesome job. The couch has an awesome new modern look and is more comfortable than it originally was.
10. We removed all curtains, blinds, etc. and put in OceanAir shades. In the front bedroom window and the rear escape window, we installed Ikea's DIGNITET wire curtain system and made some custom black out blinds.
11. In the new gaps where the mouse fur met the cabinets, etc, we installed PVC carpet trim to hide the gaps. Sometimes it fit in snugly and sometimes it required some dabs of glue to stay in.
12. On some of the transitions between the vinyl ceiling and the now exposed aluminum (where the mouse fur was), we installed metal floor transition.
13. We took off some of outside window and seam sealant and resealed those areas. Our job was not as neat and tidy as we would want and we will likely get this professionally done in the future.
14. We also added a new double-din radio. It is satellite ready and has DVD. We did have to cut part of the front to make it fit, but it looks great!
15. We bought a new Vizio 24” Smart TV. We had to move the TV mount and my wife made a new velcro strap.
16. We also took out one cabinet door below the cutting board and put our microwave there. It fits VERY snugly.
17. We added a couple of new outlets. One in the rear office and the other in the cabinet next to the other desk.
18. We ordered a new metal front door threshold to replace the wood one. It was modified slightly by trimming the edges.
19. We installed new countertop trim ordered from Aistream along the kitchen countertop and all of the desks.

[Mortland]

We pulled the trigger and purchased our first home...a 2005 Safari Bunkhouse! It arrived on Saturday. We love it and can't help but smile when we look at it. I've attached a photo of our rig setup.

Ours came with the two "office" looking chairs. We've already removed those and need to remove the wooden desk area. Has anyone done this? The "mouse fur" is kind of gnarly and we would love to update that to something a little more aesthetically pleasing, ideas are welcome!

Partial list of things to do before we full-time in May 2017.

• Two new fantastic fans
• Queen bedlift struts for additional storage
• Update all the window curtains and get rid of the cornishes
• Update bathroom walls as they are peeling a little and my wife does not enjoy the "style"
• Add some LED lights
• Buy portable solar panels
• Win the lottery

We're going to do these projects as time and $$ allows. Now that we are Airstream owners I am loving this forum even more. So much information is just a click away.

Thanks for all your advice as we went through this process!

[Mortland]

Rosmuck,

Your work looks great! I'll definitely be messaging you about the mouse fur removal. Are you happy with how it all looks, sounds, etc?

Happy travels!

[rosmuck3]

Hi Mortland!
Your plan sounds great. We removed the mouse fur from our Safari and kept all the aluminum behind it. Removing it and washing off all the glue is tons of work. Most of the aluminum that is behind was in pretty good shape but sometimes it didn't look too great and sometimes it had a lot of rivets in a non-organized pattern but it still looks "cool". We added a few pieces of aluminum in a few "ugly" spots.

When removing the mouse fur, it also goes behind the closets, etc. and sometimes one can cut it and get a lot of it out.

However, when removing the mouse fur, it does leave a gap between the wall and the closet so we installed some PVC trim to fill the gaps.
One could also add a new fabric, another sheet of aluminum or something to the wall and that would solve that problem.

Let me know if you have any other questions about your renovation.

I apologize for my delay in responding to you.

[DaveMc]

Hi Bunkhouse owners!!! We're looking at a '05 Safari Bunkhouse for sale and are hoping to get some insight from you guys on what you value your trailer at. There's one listed on the classifieds here: http://www.airstreamclassifieds.com/...ri-30-texas-3/.

Pretty sure this is also it before an upholstery change: http://www.airstreamclassifieds.com/...i-30-oklahoma/

Since these are a bit of rare model, I'm having a hard time pegging a value for a clear title one. If any of you guys are willing, would you mind PM'ing me to let me know what you'd value yours at if you were to sell it? Not interested in trying to talk you into selling, but I'm at a loss in trying to figure out if I'm getting a fair deal. I know that value is only determined by what someone is willing to pay, but figuring out if we are in the ballpark would go a long way in helping us understand if we're in the right lane. Thanks in advance!!!!!

Dave

[pawnguy]

Hello we own a 2005 Bunkhouse model and we had actually thought about looking for something a little smaller. All of our kids are grown now and I'm thinking we could get by without a bunk house model. My insurance made me take mine to an RV dealer that deals in used Airstream's to put a value on it. They had written me a quote for $35,000 which they said was what it would cost to replace it. I've seen them from 32,500 to 40,000. Ours is all original with the 2 chair and fold up table on door entry side and dinette that folds into a bed. It's sleeps 6 comfortable. We don't travel with it much so it has very low miles on it. Had the roof sealed 3-4 years ago. We love the camper but as we get old it just seems we don't use the top bunk at all and becomes a catch all. Our kids are 20-27 now and they never all get to come visit at the same time. The last 5-6 years we have used the camper about 25-30 days a year. You can inbox me if you have other questions but Roger back to your question I would guess 30-38k on a Bunkhouse. With the new runs running 90k it's really helped the value of the 2005-2006.

[pawnguy]

Ours has a clean and clear title. We are the second owners.

[WineStream]

Originally Posted by DaveMc

Hi Bunkhouse owners!!! We're looking at a '05 Safari Bunkhouse for sale and are hoping to get some insight from you guys on what you value your trailer at. There's one listed on the classifieds here: http://www.airstreamclassifieds.com/...ri-30-texas-3/.

Pretty sure this is also it before an upholstery change: http://www.airstreamclassifieds.com/...i-30-oklahoma/

Since these are a bit of rare model, I'm having a hard time pegging a value for a clear title one. If any of you guys are willing, would you mind PM'ing me to let me know what you'd value yours at if you were to sell it? Not interested in trying to talk you into selling, but I'm at a loss in trying to figure out if I'm getting a fair deal. I know that value is only determined by what someone is willing to pay, but figuring out if we are in the ballpark would go a long way in helping us understand if we're in the right lane. Thanks in advance!!!!!

Dave

My opinion...

The ad states that the salvage title was due to hail damage. So long as that was the only reason for "salvage"...then to me it would be no biggy. If the frame was straightened (don't know if that can even be done on a camper!) or there were major functional replacements...OK, then problem.

Otherwise, it looks nice and $30k seems like a good starting point. If the two links really are the same camper, then good job by the owners on renovating. I like the removal of the mouse fur in the bunk area. It looks like they did a really good job of it. We recently had the dinette and the chairs reupholstered in ours and even buying surplus for the ultraleather it cost us a bit over $1000 to have re-done (including Amish labor). That with the other reno's in the camper...looks good to me. If I were to try to sell mine, I would start at $35k.

[m.hony]

Originally Posted by joplinpawn

Hello we own a 2005 Bunkhouse model and we had actually thought about looking for something a little smaller. All of our kids are grown now and I'm thinking we could get by without a bunk house model. My insurance made me take mine to an RV dealer that deals in used Airstream's to put a value on it. They had written me a quote for $35,000 which they said was what it would cost to replace it. I've seen them from 32,500 to 40,000. Ours is all original with the 2 chair and fold up table on door entry side and dinette that folds into a bed. It's sleeps 6 comfortable. We don't travel with it much so it has very low miles on it. Had the roof sealed 3-4 years ago. We love the camper but as we get old it just seems we don't use the top bunk at all and becomes a catch all. Our kids are 20-27 now and they never all get to come visit at the same time. The last 5-6 years we have used the camper about 25-30 days a year. You can inbox me if you have other questions but Roger back to your question I would guess 30-38k on a Bunkhouse. With the new runs running 90k it's really helped the value of the 2005-2006.

It's cheaper to keep her and use the bunk as storage.
It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
You'll just spend more money to trade out of it.


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[ajarosinski]

Ours was also $35k and we thought that was a fair price. There was no remodeling done on ours but it did come with solar panels and an upgraded audio system.

On the classifieds post it mentions an upgraded electrical system. Any ideas on what that is?

[rosmuck3]

The price seems very fair to me, even with the rebuilt title. We bought ours over the summer for $36,000. I would definitely get it inspected by an RV inspector. We did that for ours and it was worth every cent.