75th Anniversary Bambi

[Randjg1]

Hi everyone,
Love the photo Campadk!
Thought i'd share a newbies experience for all your amusement.
Finally worked out a time to take her out on our first trip. Nervous as i've never towed nor backed up with a trailer since towing her home in March.
Anyway got off the plane from a business trip and rushed home to back her out to leave.
First problem, electric post in front wouldnt work. No matter figured out how to do manually. Then came the 30 minute ordeal backing it out of side yard between trees and on a slope. Success.
We finished loading and headed out. Luckily we chose a park 45 minutes away as it was already 830 at night.
We pulled in and i saw a pump and hose so i stopped to fill. As its nearly full i notice a sign that says non potable water. Hmm that doesnt sound good. I pull ahead to the ranger station to check in. We're in luck, an electrical site had a cancellation (we had called all week to no avail) I purchase some firewood. By the way where is the water fill site? Oh its further up ahead. That was the dump site i filled at. Eww
Ok so i dumped the water out and refilled with fresh potable. We decide to not drink or shower until we flush again or bleach it or something.
Anyway we set up and everything worked great. We were comfy (wife and I and two boys 7 and 9) slept well and trip was great.
Only other issue. Turned on water heater and no hot water. Wife kept running water but no hot. Read and reread instructions. Maybe its only a gas heater? we turn on the gas, yup. I hear it fire up. Nice hot water. Oops now no water? Turns out we ran through it all. No matter, i pull back out and fill up again, very close to our site and come back, took 20 minutes tops. Let some grey out to make sure we had room. Drought here so gravel parking spot soaked it up in a jiff.
Saw another streamer so went for a visit. Nice couple. Fulltimers in an excella maybe 27 ft? Had a ball. When i got home equalizer brackets were loose again. Same thing happened on way home from showroom. Those things worry me.
Monkeyed around with electric post today, had loose connection is all so working well. Thanks again to all who encouraged us to jump in. We love it and look forward to our next trip a bit wiser.

[Don Cook]

I think you might regret the choice of a trailer that small when your boys get a liilt bit bigger. Unless you are going to trade up in size in a year or two I would buy for five years ahead and enjoy the extra room now. (Ha, as if there is such a thing as extra room in a trailer)
Good luck,
DC

[campadk]

Great report Randy!

First trip or so with a new rig is always fun and a learning experience!

We've been out camping with our 75th 4 times and have racked up 22 nights in it so far. Another 4-5 trips in the works.

Backing up is becoming pretty easy. We use walkie talkies and I have Kate guide me in. I have her continual 'talk' to give me feedback, and we generally have it backed in in no time. The only 'issue' is getting the trailer perfectly oriented for water views, sunsets and such

I haven't bothered with fill sites. I just take a 6gal jug past a nearby water tap whether I think of it. We don't economize much on water... generally we transfer the gray water to a 25gal blueboy tote every day or so.. (about 4 showers plus doing dishes) since we don't have hookups.

Water heater is just gas, yup. Takes us about 5 minutes for some mightly hot water.

Hope you weren't dumping out grey water at your site! Most places wouldn't like you doing that!

Personally I wouldn't worry about the size of your trailer when the boys are older. I hear from a lot of campers that they bought so and so a camper for the kids, and then later on they want to stay in a tent. Neighbours today were tell us that as well. My son also prefers to have his 'own place'.

Besides when they become teenagers, they sleep in so late... thats a pain if they are sleeping on the dinette.

[CanoeStream]

Randy & Dave -- Excellent camping reports. Great photo Dave!

Randy, your manual has a clear description of the simple disinfection process for your water system. Sometimes I manage to do it frequently, sometimes I don't. It's almost easier for me to bring bottled water. Some campground water is high in iron and makes lousy coffee anyway. What-evah...

[soldiermedic]

Originally Posted by CanoeStream

Randy & Dave -- Excellent camping reports. Great photo Dave!

Randy, your manual has a clear description of the simple disinfection process for your water system. Sometimes I manage to do it frequently, sometimes I don't. It's almost easier for me to bring bottled water. Some campground water is high in iron and makes lousy coffee anyway. What-evah...

Wow...great shots. Wish I was having as much fun in my David Winick trailer as all of you are. <tag> Jealous </tag>

DDS Bob,

Don't you use a filter on campground H2O? Ever since I saw the orange water at Morraine View, I have carried one.

Steve

[tetstream]

Hey All,

Just closed the deal on our new 2007 75th this morning. She's #45. It'll be our first travel trailer. We weren't really serious about getting one for maybe another 4 or 5 years. Then my wife saw the picture of the 75th edition, and said that would be the only one for her. Long story short, we got excited about it, and I found one 500 miles away from me. Bought it sight unseen....which makes me very nervous. I'll pick her up in a few weeks.

I felt pretty comfortable with the buy since it was an Airstream, and I thought they were the cream of the crop. Now, I see some posts that some of the construction is kinda dumb/cheap. I did notice in some pics the dealer sent me that the plastic/rubber gasketing between cabinets and the cabin walls seemed cheezy for the high level and price of the unit.

Anyway, I hope to be a happy camper. I think I got a good deal and it has the solar package with 600W inverter, the awning package, and satelite radio.

It's just my wife and I and we are not big people. The bed/lounge arrangement and the walnut veneer is what sold her. I didn't care for the fact that there is no fan over the range, but justify it as being "in keeping with the vintage style" (....which of course, is meaningless since it has solar and satelite radio...)

I'll be studying this site and thread for hints from you experienced guys. I'll post her once she's home.

If anyone has a fix for the thermostat in the bathroom, please post. I was wondering if the stat could be moved/turned around and wired through the cabinet next to the range..and then maybe extended to a more logical location. Just a thought...but then I don't even have my Bambi yet.

[ljmiii]

Originally Posted by tetstream

Just closed the deal on our new 2007 75th this morning. She's #45. It'll be our first travel trailer.

Congratulations! The 75th is a beautiful trailer.

Originally Posted by tetstream

Long story short, we got excited about it, and I found one 500 miles away from me. Bought it sight unseen....which makes me very nervous. I'll pick her up in a few weeks.

We had a very similar experience with our Quiksilver Bambi - it was the only one for us but the closest one available was 1000mi away. We bought it sight unseen about a year ago, have loved camping in her, and haven't had any problems so far (knock on veneer).

[asherkobin]

The thermostat being in the bathroom proved annoying and I had the dealer move it to the other side of the cabinet. They were gracious enough to put a round mirror in the bathroom where the thermostat used to be.

So here's the catch...with the thermostat now being on the kitchen side, the thermometer gets screwed up just the same when you're cooking :P

So it's a trade-off. Of course ideally it would be on the other side of the trailer. One note is that Witnick's prototype had the thermostat on the kitchen side...

--
Asher

Originally Posted by tetstream

Hey All,

Just closed the deal on our new 2007 75th this morning. She's #45. It'll be our first travel trailer. We weren't really serious about getting one for maybe another 4 or 5 years. Then my wife saw the picture of the 75th edition, and said that would be the only one for her. Long story short, we got excited about it, and I found one 500 miles away from me. Bought it sight unseen....which makes me very nervous. I'll pick her up in a few weeks.

I felt pretty comfortable with the buy since it was an Airstream, and I thought they were the cream of the crop. Now, I see some posts that some of the construction is kinda dumb/cheap. I did notice in some pics the dealer sent me that the plastic/rubber gasketing between cabinets and the cabin walls seemed cheezy for the high level and price of the unit.

Anyway, I hope to be a happy camper. I think I got a good deal and it has the solar package with 600W inverter, the awning package, and satelite radio.

It's just my wife and I and we are not big people. The bed/lounge arrangement and the walnut veneer is what sold her. I didn't care for the fact that there is no fan over the range, but justify it as being "in keeping with the vintage style" (....which of course, is meaningless since it has solar and satelite radio...)

I'll be studying this site and thread for hints from you experienced guys. I'll post her once she's home.

If anyone has a fix for the thermostat in the bathroom, please post. I was wondering if the stat could be moved/turned around and wired through the cabinet next to the range..and then maybe extended to a more logical location. Just a thought...but then I don't even have my Bambi yet.

[tetstream]

THAT was exactly my thinking, although I was speculating that I could extend the wiring thru the cabinet over the range and mount the TStat on the end of that cab facing the dinette seat. I'll check it out when I take delivery. The bathroom needs a mirror anyhow, and that seems a suitable fix.

Thanks for the reply.

[campadk]

Congrats tetstream!

Don't worry about some of the comments. These are all pretty minor in the whole scheme of things.

I haven't tried it yet, but I was going to adjust the thermostat so the on/off swing isn't so great. If you move it over by the monitor, that would be great, and shouldn't be too difficult. Being near the stove should be an issue either since you likely don't want the heater on anyways when you have the stove going. For us here in the north, we will only be using the heater in early spring and late fall... for you in SF Bay area, maybe you won't ever need it!

We have tried a few things to improve the bed/lounge comfort. Turns out a 1.5 inch (roughtly) piece of memory foam makes it quite comfortable, and it rolls up nicely for storage during the day if you make the bed back up into a couch (we normally do, its quick and easy).

One think we wish Airstream had done was include one of the vintage color zip dees like the blue stripped on which would have looked more athentic than the plain gray Zip Dee awning.. oh well.

My only issues at the moment are to improve on the boondockability of this unit. Unfortunately the fridge uses about 2A with the fan on (its on a lot if its warm out). Apparently older units are much more booddock friendly. The heater blower as well sucks the juice. We are using about 35AH a day with little light usage or anything else for that matter, so a generator/good solar panel is a must if you have no hookups.

I still have to solve the dang buzzing, blups and pops the come out of the subwoofer. I'll get to a solution come soon enough.

Anyone else with a 75th, let me know if you have this problem as well with the sound system.

Cheers!

[TBRich]

Congrats to those of you who have the 75th Anniversary Edition. It's a beautiful AS. We came VERY close to buying one ourselves...the design is wonderful and the retro look and openess is great.

This was from a dealer in Phoenix (we are in Tucson). We saw it in person and drove home to give it some thought and count our pennies...then the sales guy called and we struck a decent deal with a trade-in of our small motor home....even gave them a credit card number over the phone to cement the deal, and said we'd be up the following weekend to turn in our motor home, give them a healthy down payment and sign the papers.

We were SO excited. 15 minutes later the sales guy called and said his sales manager had kaboshed the deal, and it would be another $10,000 on top of the deal we'd already agreed on. Can you imagine?? Talk about PO'd. That really soured us on the deal and the dealeship. I doubt if we ever go back to tha tplace for anything after this little fiasco. Thier attemtp at facy footwork has cost them a long-term customer, for sure. We felt misled, betrayed and sucked into a sales scheme. We told the sales guy the deal was off....no way, no thanks...and we don't even want to talk to you.

He called every day for the next week asking what he could do to save the deal, as if nothing had happened. Each time we told him he could stick to his original deal and we'd take it....but no. Finally, we went to the Tucson dealer where we'd done a lot of looking and general research...and bought a 2006 19' SE LS Safari 75th...not the "special 75th" but a 75th nonetheless, and a very sweet little trailer. In the end we are quite pleased, and now feel this is actually the better trailer for our needs. We are happy with the additional storage, the sink in the vanity area, and the larger converted dinette area that we use as a lounge in the evenings... So we are happy campers.

What's important is that we each enjoy our Airstreams and make the most use of them we possible can...that's our goal, anyway. We've only had our little trailer since Mar 07 and have already made three 1-week-long trips, some long weekend trips...and are loving it more with each trip!

Happy Trails to the rest of you Happy Campers!
TB

[tetstream]

CampADK - thanks for the post. I agree with your comment on the awning. I can't believe that they are dull gray! I was envisioning the strip and looking forward to it. I'll hope for a good working subwoofer.

TBRich - I was not aware that there was another "75th" model.

[moosetags]

All 2006 Airstreams had the 75th Anniversary Medallion. They made only 75 of the 19' Bambis 75th Anniversary special editions.

[TBRich]

Originally Posted by moosetags

All 2006 Airstreams had the 75th Anniversary Medallion. They made only 75 of the 19' Bambis 75th Anniversary special editions.

Yes, that's correct...that's what I intended to convey in my earlier post, but it didn't come through very clearly...we have the "2006 AS with the 75th Anniversary Mediallion" but not the "75th Anniversary Special Edition"...

TB

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by moosetags

All 2006 Airstreams had the 75th Anniversary Medallion.

so did the 2007 units....

cheers
2air'

[campadk]

Just updated my 75th Locator on my website. Lots of 75th's sold this summer/fall... looks like we're down to the last 5 75th's left on lots across the country! Better grab one fast if it's your 'ting'.

Prices are a LOT more reasonable as well

Camp ADK - 40 Winker - Locator

Cheers

[Bambi75th]

Since taking delivery of our 75th (#18)in April we have we have spend 50+ nights in it and have racked up close to 7K miles. Two of us and a standard poodle makes it cozy but very enjoyable. We agree that having the themostat in the Bathroom is a poor design choice. We have had no problems with doors and cabinet locks to date. Kitchen faucet leak was fixed by the dealer under warranty. Smoke detector is indeed too sensitive and LP detector likes to go off at random times.

[Bambi75th]

Update on our smoke detector and LP detector problems ... as I indicated in a previous post, the smoke detector was way too sensitive and the LP detector would go off at random times for no apparent reason ...... the dealer replaced both under warranty and no more problems with either one.

[Bambi75th]

Any one found an easy way to put the baby moon hub caps back on the wheels on the 75th Anniversary Bambi's wheels? I end up denting them when I push hard enough to get them on, and about one time out of three one will pop off in the first few hundred feet of driving.

The dealer told me one of the three tabs is smaller than the other two and to hook the cap on those and then push it over the smaller one, but I'll be darned if I can see the difference in the three.

I always check lug nut torque before heading out on a new trip, but these darn hub caps are a real frustration for that program.

Any trips or tricks will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Steve.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, Bambi75th. I don't have any experience with Baby Moons on a Bambi, but on the older cars, I would hook the cap on all but one tab and flat-hand-slap the cap [outward] in the direction of the last tab. That would spread out the force and not dent the caps.