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Desikk · 04-08-2011, 06:35 AM

This is a simple install of your rear bedroom TV. I found my TV bracket at Menards for around $20. Then you adjust the in and out and up and down for TV fit or the addition of a DVD Player. I found a new DVD (small) player on ebay for $19. Give me a call if you have any questions.. Doug Sikkema

Schools Out · 04-08-2011, 05:02 PM

Doug,
Thank you for the reply & the pictures. One more question. Is the black shelf part of the old tv box? Your drawings & photo are great...I think we'll be able to complete this project before Michigan camping season starts.

AZLandYacht · 04-12-2011, 04:48 PM

Hello,
I need help with guidence regarding the "packing of the front wheels" of a '97 Land Yacht (31ft). Should this be done? It has been parked (in Arizona) for the last 6 years (whith no movement or travel). All the tires themselves need to be replaced...(belts and hoses...etc.) but, I don't know the rules about when the wheels to a motorhome need this care/work. Thank you...AZLandYacht

Michigander · 04-12-2011, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZLandYacht

Hello,
I need help with guidence regarding the "packing of the front wheels" of a '97 Land Yacht (31ft). Should this be done? It has been parked (in Arizona) for the last 6 years (whith no movement or travel). All the tires themselves need to be replaced...(belts and hoses...etc.) but, I don't know the rules about when the wheels to a motorhome need this care/work. Thank you...AZLandYacht

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on your first post.

Rather than tack this on to an existing thread, I suggest you begin your own thread either under the "Airstream Knowledge Base, General Motorhome Topics or Land Yacht/Legacy Motorhomes" sub forums.

That way, I'm sure you'll get more bang for your buck.

If you have any questions on how to do this, just ask away.

DaveFL · 04-12-2011, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZLandYacht

Hello,I need help with guidence regarding the "packing of the front wheels" of a '97 Land Yacht (31ft). Should this be done? It has been parked (in Arizona) for the last 6 years (whith no movement or travel). All the tires themselves need to be replaced...(belts and hoses...etc.) but, I don't know the rules about when the wheels to a motorhome need this care/work. Thank you...AZLandYacht

You already put a new heading for your enquiry, just do it as a post as new topic.
Moderators sometimes will help out and do it.
But while it is posted, I will answer: While the wheels are off it is a simple job to grease. I just did mine after doing new disks. 35000 and I don't believe the bearing had ever been packed as grease was dried out and crusty outside of the actual bearing surface area.

Aage · 04-13-2011, 08:11 AM

AZ Land Yacht,

Michigander had a good idea there. If you agree, just hop over to Land Yacht/Legacy Motorhomes - Airstream Forums and start a new thread with your topic.

I'll clean up things here and move your posts over.

Oh, and welcome! You're gonna love it here..

Schools Out · 07-10-2011, 10:55 AM

It's been awhile so I thought I would share some pics of our latest improvement. I know it's not everyones "cup of tea" but we recently had the moho carpeted. We were just going to redo the bedroom carpet & use laminate over the existing vinyl flooring...After much thought, we decided that carpet would be warmer, quieter & would visually unify the spaces. Just spent 1 week at a campground on Lake MI. & with mats at the door (1 inside, 1 outside) the sand wasn't a problem. Just as easy to clean up as the old flooring...the color in the pics, isn't true. It's a little less grey, a little warmer.
One more change. We didn't have the wooden cup holder (by the front chairs)put back. We never found it to be very useful and now we have room for a little table between the chairs when we're parked.

Aage · 07-10-2011, 05:34 PM

Looks great! I like carpet, just that nobody wants to clean our trailer.

A hard floor is easier to sweep clean...

Schools Out · 07-11-2011, 05:11 PM

Thanks, Aage. We like it , too.

Michigander · 07-24-2011, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dowpells

It's been awhile so I thought I would share some pics of our latest improvement.........

Dowpells, thanks for the photos. Your interior looks great and is very similar to ours. (How do you keep your captain's chairs so clean?)

Which Lake Michigan CG did you visit? We go to Ludington SP a lot (also Wilderness SP) and it would be nice to meet up with another LYG sometime.

Schools Out · 07-25-2011, 07:40 AM

Hi Michigander. Thanks for the nice comments. The captains chairs probably look clean because I shot the pics just after I cleaned them with my "go to" cleaner, Simple Green. It's great stuff...sold as a degreaser, but mild enough for most everything.
Ludington SP is one of our favorites. But, we couldn't get in over the 4th. So, we now have another favorite...Whispering Surf Campround is a smallish park located between Pentwater & Ludington. The campground is on Bass Lake & walking distance from 2 (or 3 if you like to walk) Lake MI beaches. The beaches are hidden on the other side of the dunes...kind of a secret unless you're from the area. I'll try to add a picture of the beach showing Bass Lake as it joins Lake MI.
You're right, it would be fun to have more encounters with other LY. Our next adventure is taking the SS Badger (out of Ludington) across Lake MI & on to South Dakota. We would love to see one or more then.

woodytwo · 10-31-2011, 09:52 AM

Hi to all.

Love your thread.

I have been an Airstreamer for 14 years but we always towed a 31 ft Classic; latest is a 2000 31' model.

Thinking of purchasing a 2005 LY slide 30 ft with the free standing dinette. But have lots of questions for current owners. Dealer was not much help since they handle mostly trailers.

Wandering has been mentioned on this thread. Is this a real problem? or just on windy days. I test drove this LY and first impression was the steering seemed to have lots of play. But I didn't attribute this with wandering. Was not really windy that day.

Seem to be lots of rattles in the interior. Is this normal?

I have been told that the fresh water tank is right under the bed. Where are the gray and black water tanks? Is the belly of the mh enclosed like on an a/s trailer?

Do you need to have the furnace running when it's 50 degrees to augment the heater from the motor?

Do you ever need to use both rooftop a/c?

We have alot more interior storage in our trailer than the LY has. My wife Diana wants to know how you cope with this. What are your secrets?

What is your experience with towing a toad wheels down? do you get more sway than when not towing? How does towing your toad affect your gas mileage? Do you use a Brake Buddy or something similiar?

I assume that you have to have the chassy serviced at a truck shop and that the service is more expensive. But does it need more frequent service than a pickup or car?

Tried the driver's door exit/entrance. What a chore. Does anyone really use it?

Can you walk on the roof or is the ladder just for show?

What experience have you had using the generator other than upsetting your neighbours?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Diana and Bill

Schools Out · 11-01-2011, 07:52 AM

First, let me say how smart you are to ask the questions before buying. We have a LY (05) with slide that we purchased 16 months ago. It's our first motor home & had we known to ask those questions, we would have saved ourselves some worry. That being said, here's what we can share to help you with your decision.

The first 2 questions you ask about, were the first 2 things we had taken care of. We had a ridiculous 1st ride home...bumpy, noisy, etc. The solution...the air bags needed to be replaced & a steering arm took care of the wandering. Who knew such things existed? The dealer we purchased from really was no help in educating us.

The fresh water tank is under the bed. I can't compare the location of the others with the trailers.

Not exactly sure what you're asking about running the furnace to augment the engine...But, while driving, the engine adequately heats everything. While parked, we don't run the engine to heat the coach. The furnace does a great job and at 50 degrees, we use a small electric heater only.

Only once did we need to run both AC's. We were in Fl. It was very hot, very humid. In MI we mostly use the fantastic fans.

Secrets to storage could use it's own thread! My 2 biggest issues with storage are, no dresser type storage & limited kitchen storage. My fix in the bedroom was to put shelves in the 2 bedside wardrobes with pull out totes. These are our dresser drawers (sort of). For extra kitchen storage we use one of the outside trunks for bulk kitchen items. (crock pot, large fry pan, etc) We also use the space under the closet & under the lowest drawer for canned items. And once parked & set up the area behind the captains chairs is good space. I dislike visual clutter, so I found some baskets with covers that fit that space.

We tow a CRV and forget it's there. Gas milage is not effected much. We get 10mpg while towing, 11mpg with out toad. No brake buddy.

We have all service done by our car mechanic. His facility is set up to handle it & he seems to enjoy the challenge. (I think he wants to buy the LY, so he takes good care of us

You are right, the driver's door is a pain. We don't use it.

Yes you can walk on the roof. Hubby goes up on the roof to clean and check the chalk seams.

We use the generator when electric hookups aren't available. For us that means we are on the road & there aren't any neighbors to annoy. When we go south in January, there will be no open campgrounds for the first 2 nights. It's so nice to park, turn the generator on & have heat, lights & coffee in the morning. Once we get to a campground, we don't use the generator... there's no reason to, everything runs on electric.

Whew, I hope this helps. Let me just wrap this up by saying that we love our LY. We've been able to take some great trips, fitting into smaller campgrounds & getting decent gas milage while having our own bed, bathroom, closet & dog along!

woodytwo · 11-01-2011, 06:09 PM

Thanks Dowpells For your lengthy and timely feedback.

It looks like we will have to spend some $ on the steering situation if we buy this MH.

with respect to the ride qualities I did see on another thread that the air bags nust be maintained at 55 psi. I thought that this MH had airbags but never thought that you would need to inflate them from time to time. Sure hope that the valve stem is easy to reach.

Diana appreciated your uses of the extra storage locations.

When you leave MI in January do you de-winterize the MH before your trip south? ie put water in the fresh water tank? That would be great to do. We usually spend the first two nights in a motel with our trailer.

On another thread I read about some of the windows fogging up. On our test drive last week, I saw fog on the passenger front side windows. Tried to use fans to clear this up to no avail. So I quess that the fog is on the inside between the 2 panes of glass. Have you heard of anyone fixing this rather than replacing the glass? There are some companies that specialize in this.

Thanks again.

Diana & Bill

Airstream12557 · 11-02-2011, 05:03 AM

Diana & Bill, this is my third attempt at posting a reply, so I will abreviate this one.

TOAD: We tow a Toyota Corolla five speed four wheels down. We loose about one MPG while towing, but experience no adverse effects on handling. We have the Stay and Play brake control (see SMI MANUFACTURING). We like it from the stand point that everyting is attached to the toad and all you have to do when you hook up the toad to activate the brakes is to flip a switch near the clutch and insert the brake away switch at the fron of the toad.

HANDLING: We are very comfortable with our rig's handling now, but wasn't at first. We installed new tires, had the tires balanced on the coach, had a front end alignment, and installed new front air bags. One of the old bags leaked. The valves to check and add air for the bags is inside the hood over the radiator. The two valves are about two inches apart. Now, the handling is very acceptable.

AIR CONDITIONING: We have had a number of times when both AC units would have been nice. We are looking into modifying the coach so the rear AC can be operated from a separate 20 amp power source.

HEAT: We haven't driven in below freezing temps, but when it is cooler, the engine heater keeps the coach comfortable.

SERVICE: We change the engine oil and filter, generator oil and filter, and perform other minor service ourself.

STORAGE: We have less storage in the coach than we had in our 1999 Safari 27 ft Airstream. We downsized some, added a four drawer plastic storage unit between the bed and wall, another plastic drawer storage unit in the bottom of the hall closet, and added a foot stool from Target (about 3 ft cube with lid), and use the small area in the water heater access door.

In general, we have not regreted getting the motorhome. It is a good size for extended stays and traveling. Most of the systems are the same as on a trailer, except for the generator, hydraulic jacks, and automatic steps.

Hope this helps. If you have questions, let us know.

Sam

Schools Out · 11-02-2011, 08:32 AM

Diana & Bill, glad I could offer some helpful ideas. We have been mostly on the receiving end of good advice on the forums...so it's nice to reciprocate.

De-winterizing: We do not do this when we leave MI in Jan. This is the system we came up with last year. We took several gallons of water along for drinking, cleaning up & flushing. We did not hesitate to use the plumbing once under way as the coach gets warm enough to keep the pipes safe. Once we get south, the system gets flushed out. An experienced RVer told us we could have put water in the tank (just leave expansion space)...not sure we trust that.

Foggy Windows: We were told by an AS salesperson that this is caused by a defect in the material used between the glass. It is not moisture, but a coating that has failed & is turning powdery. We were also told that AS is well aware of the problem, did a lot of window replacement, no longer uses that type window, etc. (You might be able to get the seller to replace for you.) We have one window that is starting to show this foggy condition, I would be interested in the repair approach if you have information.

woodytwo · 11-02-2011, 04:39 PM

Thanks agian for your reply.

The treatment for the fogging windows was to heat the window gently with a heat gun, constantly moving the gun around until fog disapated. This treatment would last a few months and then you would have to repeat the process. If you heat too much the inside glass will shatter. But if this problem is a coating and not fog, shattering would be good.

Remove the interior glass, clean the exterior glass and seal the gap around the frame. You end up with just the outside glass which will form condisation when it is really cold. (We used to do this on the old Airstreams trailers that had these double windows that would eventually fog.) But the alternative is to replace the double panes on a motorhome at $250 each.

Bill

woodytwo · 11-03-2011, 11:02 AM

Talked to the Airstream factory service center in Ohio today.

Yes, what I am seeing is fogging. No, he doesn't think it is the film inside deteriorating. Replace the window or perhaps have the Florida company restore the window. (There is a company in Florida that removes the window, separates the glass, cleans, reseals and reinstalles the window for about $100 each.) Yes, the supplier had been offering some extra warranty replacement but that is no longer the case.

What I learned researching this topic is that fogging is just a matter of time; age, sun and the number of bumps will take its toll on the seals.

So, why bother to replace or restore? Just remove the inside glass and have some condensation on the windows from time to time. I can live with that.

Woodytwo

Schools Out · 11-03-2011, 04:50 PM

Thanks for the research & information. Interesting, why double pane windows were put into something that moves as much as a motor home.

Rolltop · 11-03-2011, 09:52 PM

Hi, Rolltop here, new to the forum. I have a 05 30SL LY I bought used in 2008. The windows were all compromised. I had them taken out, cleaned, repsealed and replaced by Suncoast Designers, Inc., in Hudson, Fl. Cost was $200 - $250 / window. Great experience and job. Will have some questions later about some other issues.