2011 Bambi 19'

[mesaman]

First trailer of any kind owned and what a way to start, but, the LED lights for general lighting are amazingly bright. I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how to diminish the amount of light or perhaps soften the color to a more incandescent, warmer ambiance. Has anyone felt the same and come up with a solution? Can you install any kind of a rheostat on a 12v system? Filters? Any thoughts would be really welcome.

Oh, we seem to be losing a few rivets (interior) along a line from front to back above the door......can this indicate a specific problem?

Thanks.

[CamperDan]

I conquered the same problem with LED brightness and found it a year ago on this site. Forgot where. I used Lee gel filters, marlene #506 and it works great. The original person used two layers and I used only one. Two would probably be better. you can find a sheet of the Lee, Marlene on stagespot.com. Click gel in left column...then select sheets...under manufacturer select Lee...search for Marlene. Color temperature is good. Good luck. Cost is $6.25 a sheet. One should be plenty. Of course, shipping is extra.

[mojo]

You can switch out the bulbs for 5 watts.
Popping rivets could be the harshness of the ride or to tight of a WD hitch. What tow vehicle and what kind of hitch?

[TBRich]

Popped rivets can be the result of several things...a bumpy ride, stress to the frame and skin, out of balance running g ear, etc etc... We had popped rivets inside from time to time until we put cetramatic self-balancers in place...since we have no issues with rivets popping.

[robert claus]

Airstreams like a soft ride. Your Bambi only has 500# of tongue weight - if you are using a WD hitch with heavy bars, and/or pulling with a TV with a stiff suspension, you may be beating it to death. The PO of my trailer did that, but fortunately didn't tow it very much or far. I bought the trailer and TV (3/4 ton 4WD Dodge truck) together, drove it 300 miles home, and sold the truck and WD hitch right away. Man, was it harsh.

[mesaman]

appreciate it and will be checking that one out

[mesaman]

2012 Ford F150 with the Eco Boost V6, huge torque, and Reese WD bars rated for 10k lbs pulling and 800 lbs tongue weight. we do live 4 miles up a dirt road but it's in good shape so i need to keep an eye on exactly when new rivets appear on the floor.....

[mesaman]

thanks, will look into the ceramic whatsits - really appreciate the feedback

[mojo]

You are not going to need a whole lot of weight distribution with that truck and the Bambi, so don't set your bars too tight...

[racoco]

Our Bambi was delivered with no roadside shock. Couldn't figure out why we were popping rivets inside - found shock missing - installed correct shock - no more rivets popping. Must have been a lot of stress on the skin(s) with one shock instead of two.

[mefly2]

Thanks for the hint, racoco. I'd better check ours just in case ....

[interstateflyer]

Originally Posted by mesaman

First trailer of any kind owned and what a way to start, but, the LED lights for general lighting are amazingly bright. I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how to diminish the amount of light or perhaps soften the color to a more incandescent, warmer ambiance. Has anyone felt the same and come up with a solution? Can you install any kind of a rheostat on a 12v system? Filters? Any thoughts would be really welcome.

Oh, we seem to be losing a few rivets (interior) along a line from front to back above the door......can this indicate a specific problem?

Thanks.

Our 2013 International 19 Bambi has dimmers (variable rheostats) on the LEDS.

Might be able to have your AS dealer install the update switches.

[mesaman]

Thanks for that idea, I'll call em.