Just bought my 2013 22' Sport... What do I need to buy now?

[jump]

Our 2013 International came with a sewer hose ... What it did not come with was cold beer.

[BAB]

Be sure and let us know how things go. We are reliving our first trip through your posts!

[dkrug]

Originally Posted by jump

Our 2013 International came with a sewer hose ... What it did not come with was cold beer.

You would think that for the price of these trailers the least they could do would be to stock the fridge!

[wncrasher]

Key to happy camping is making it as easy as possible. Outfit your camper with items that will stay in the camper and nt be moving back and forth between camper and house.

Making a list and head for Walmart or Target. Just about everything you'll need can be found there.

For cooking is a long list of items, depending on how you roll. I got acrylic glasses, Corel dishes, silicone utensils and non-stick cookware. Dedicated linens, towels, etc to keep in the RV. I keep a certain amount of clothing in there too.

A dedicated tool kit is also a must. Cheap tools will last many, many years doing RV duty.

I keep my camper ready to roll. Just add water and food, hook up and go.

[Luigi123]

Check out Amazon, simply scribe,"Airstream" about 25 books will pop up. I am awaiting the arrival of my 2008 AS, so I have been reading everything. August arrival

[cwf]

Can you "stay" a couple nights at Dealership to work through many first questions to fit your comfort level? It is in their best interest and I hope their own desire to provide exceptional customer service.

Congrats!

[interstateflyer]

Our 2013 International 19 didn't include magazine racks so we bought two from Airstream and mounted them on the closet door. That took care of the magazine clutter.

We completely fried (smoked) the external surge protector on our last Airstream earlier this year. So I purchased a high end surge protector/power manager from Camping World. We decided to spend $250 instead of $75 to protect our new trailer's electrical system. They go between the RV park's power source and your power cord. Some RV parks have very questionable power systems. Best to be careful.

[tallen5]

Our AS Sport is now in our driveway, stocked, and ready to cruise to Ouray, CO this weekend. Thank you to everyone for all of your help. I'm sure I have lots more to buy, but everyone's input gave me a great start. I thought I'd post a photo of our son with the Airstream. He's so excited about being in a "real" bed and not a sleeping bag in a tent. I also wanted to share what I ended up buying and give other 22FB Sport owners some great news regarding sheets that I discovered through a lot of research.

Here's what I bought, mostly from Amazon:
Storage bin for under bathroom sink- Amazon
Velcro (to hold remotes in place)- Dollar Tree
Mini Dish Drying Rack- Amazon
Sewer Hose Support- Amazon
RhinoFlex Sewer Hose- Amazon
Leveling Blocks- Amazon
Disposable Gloves- Amazon
15/30 Adapter- Amazon
Wheel Chocks- Amazon
High Flow Water Regulator- Amazon
Husky Coupler Lock- Amazon
Plastic dishes and cups- Dollar Tree
Set of silverware for 4- Dillon's
Mini cutting board and knife-Target
Small teflon pan- Target
Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body Wash bottles- Target's travel section (these fit in the opening in the shower perfectly)
Full XL Mattress Pad- Amazon
Full XL Sheet Set- Amazon
Suspenders (see below)- Wal-Mart
Twin XL Fleece Blanket- Target
Hitch leveling bubble- Local RV Supply Store

Now, the news on the sheets! Full XL sheets fit the bed in the 22FB Sport almost perfectly. They don't have the 2 rounded corners obviously, but other than that, they are perfect. I found some on Amazon with a high thread count that were half what the Airstream sheets cost and I got them 2 days after I ordered them. Based on a recommendation from another post, I used the suspenders to firmly hold the mattress pad, fitted sheet, and the foot of the flat sheet and blanket securely to the bed and it worked beautifully. From what I can tell, you can only find Full XL mattress pads and sheets, at least easily. I did, however, find that a twin XL blanket fits reasonably well. It's a little narrow with only about 4 inches of overhang on the sides, but it works!

I've got a growing list for what to buy for the next trip, but I think I've got the basics ready for this trip. Thanks, again everyone!

[VTSafari]

I am sure you will have a great trip. I bet your son is ready to leave NOW!


Bill

[janeinthemtns]

Hahaha. Most hilarious thread on the forums so far. Makes me feel like part of American although I am so remote, no one knows I'm here.

[KippyDoo]

Nice setup! How does the FJ handle towing this? We have a 2013 FJ TT and are hoping to pickup our first airstream sometime this fall/winter. Primarily, we have only been considering the 16ft, but wondering if the 19ft, etc. would be possible. Have you done anything extra to your FJ for towing, ie, tranny cooler, airbags, heavier springs, etc.?

[yikessue]

My advise is to find a way to block my husband (SteveSueMac) from seeing this thread. At least once a week I ask him if he is finally done buying stuff for our 27' Flying Cloud and it seems the answer is always "No...".

[SteveSueMac]

What? I heard there were more things to buy and came running!!!

[Burfield]

How did your Toyota Fj handle the Airstream? I have an Fj too and will be pulling a 16' Sport out to Arizona this fall with it. Almost went for the 22'.....

[tallen5]

Reply from MrAllen. Our week in Colorado was just great. This thing empty weighs 3600lb. Thats a big reason we went with this length of trailer. First off let me start with saying that we drive a highly modified 2010 Toyota FJ. Here is most of the items I just pulled from the FJ Forum that I previously had posted.
Warn VR10000S with in cab power switch and thimble.
Body Armor bumper with PIAA 520 lights.
Viair 450H onboard air with in cab power switch.
Two Additional 12V plugs next to 110V plug in back for ARB cooler.
Aluminess Roof Rack
Rear link bracket replacement with Poly Performance, (welded on)
Cobra C.B. with bandi and Q.D.
DVD player.
Blue Sea accessory fuse panel.
Ricochet Heavy Duty full set of skids.
Second horn.
Roof insulation 99% coverage.
Brake controller above rear view mirror & new plug in rear door not bumper.
Toytec adjustable coil overs.
OME 895E rear coil springs.
Numerous items for my off road tool box as well.
Expedition one washer fluid bottle.
Toyo MT, 10 ply tires.

I installed the above mods myself, minus the tries. I don't have the tooling. So with that said it will be interesting to see what mods the airstream will get over the next couple years.

First trip empty was, 9mpg, on the turnpike pushing 70MPH. This could be the easiest trailer I have ever pulled. During out 2K mile trip I learned quite a bit. I was able to achieve 12mpg at times. One of the first things I did was pump more air in the trailer tires. The FJ does best in 4th instead of overdrive. (I already knew that before purchasing the trailer). Also driving about 65mph really helps as well. A Few people regear the FJ's but due to the 4x4ing I have no plans to do so. The only other FJ item I recall tonight is that the side mirrors need extended out a bit. I don't know if any FJ Forum member has figured that one out, but I'll be watching out for it.

As of now my big complaint about this trailer is how low it is to the ground. Yes I love the CG being as low as it is. I also purchased a proper size drop hitch so the loaded FJ and Airsteam sit nearly level. I seem to have to carefully choose the gas stations, not only by fuel price, but also take into account the grade of the entrance and exit from the road. As for getting this little trailer in and out of somewhere. No challenge, traffic almost moves out of my way. Almost forgot, with in the first three hours on the road we lost the little stupid lid to the LP bottles. My wife says were going to stainless looking bottles in the near future.

Our next trip is just a little two nighter here in Kansas, I'm looking forward to another weekend away with the family, and our Bull Terrier. Thanks again everyone for your questions and comments, we've had lots of good help.

[BAAMbi7]

We lost our plastic LP cover lid on our last trip out, too! Easy $4.00 fix. Our Airstream dealer ordered it for us.

[Burfield]

Awesome Fj mods, Hope I get better than 9mpg! What's the roof insulation for? Not heard of that.

[GP1152]

Nice to hear about the FJ. We're towing our '19 Bambi with a Ford Raptor, but I want to be able to tow it with the FJ as well. Shame about the mileage. Surprisingly, I'm getting around 12 mpg with the Raptor. I'll save the "flat" terrain trips for the FJ I guess.

[KippyDoo]

Thanks for the response tallen5. I'm looking to build out our FJ about the same as yours, with variations of course. With the suspension you put in, do you have any sag issues hooking up the trailer? I'm leaning towards an icon stage 2 setup at the moment, and trying to maintain relatively close to stock ride height (unfortunately it's the wife's daily driver and she hasn't been won over to raising the girl up....yet), but accommodating the extra weight of full ricochet skids, arb front bumper, which, and hooking up a bambi to tow. People over on fjcruiser forums seem to have good things to say about adding airbags to the rear for trailer towing, but wondering if beefing up the suspension would negate this.

Also... I've nearly convinced the wife that in order to get her cute airsteam, we need the trd supercharger, although this is probably just overkill....

[rmkrum]

Overkill?

There is no overkill, only "open fire" and "time to reload".

If it's worth doing, it's worth OVERDOING, IMHO...a little extra power can often get you out of a situation where the brakes will only make it worse...