Ten Year Old Classic - Aging Gracefully?

[Engstroms]

Thanks Utah Man and All for the thread!

Perfect timing for us. We're picking up our new to us 2007 Classic LTD 27FB on 6/8, we'll be the 3rd owners and looking forward to the journey.

Wow, so impressed with the forum and you'll. Looking forward to meeting some of you on the road.

Kyle and Lisa

[Utah Man]

Originally Posted by Engstroms

Thanks Utah Man and All for the thread!



Perfect timing for us. We're picking up our new to us 2007 Classic LTD 27FB on 6/8, we'll be the 3rd owners and looking forward to the journey.



Wow, so impressed with the forum and you'll. Looking forward to meeting some of you on the road.



Kyle and Lisa

Best wishes - we really like our unit, nicely sized for the 2 to 4 of us who typically go camping. New enough not to have too many issues. Hope you enjoy yours as much as we have ours.

Regards - Ron

[cwf]

1999... soo that is.. ummm 18 years... constant maintenance... some repairs... decals are in worse shape than anything... of course, not new... new axles, some plumbing repairs.. leaks (hey, it's a camper) repairs... so... there is hope for continued use.. just keep up with maintenance.... it doesn't wear out overnight... or, when it needs washing or tanks need dumping... go trade it in for a fresh one...

[tujeeze]

It is a pleasure reading all of your comments about the Classics. I am at the moment looking very closely at one to buy. It is a 2008 27 twin, and from what I read from you it may be worth driving to the left coast to purchase. Currently I'm looking for an inspector who can give me an honest evaluation of the trailer which is located in upper Washington state. If any of you reading this knows of one give me a shout. Thanks again for your "classic" reviews!

[m.hony]

My 5 year old Classic is still in pretty good shape.
She cleans up well.

[DaveP]

We are the third owners of our 2004 Classic. It has very low miles. We renovated the interior this year with new flooring, queen to twin bed conversion, 4-6 volt batteries and Magnum converter/inverter. Last year was new tires, bearing service, brakes and a few minor repairs.

The nice thing about buying used is someone has already fixed the things that were wrong when it was new.

We have gotten lots of compliments on it like "it looks brand new". Airstream Classics age gracefully!

[Soyboy]

Our '99 Safari is holding up well (profusely knocking on wood).

It's been stripped and polished (by me). Of course, that means continuous maintainence, especially since it spends a total of about 4 weeks a year at the beach (generally Assateague National Seashore and Delaware Seashore State Park). It had the infamous rear trunk leak. I pulled the rub rail and caulked the poorly designed "joint" - that seems to have worked. I chase a leak every now and then (currently chasing one around the rear window). I keep up with the Acryl-R around the windows etc. and use Sikiflex on the roof where necessary. Still on the original AC (replaced the shroud) it blows nice and cold (rapidly knocking now) and fridge (needed a new control board a couple of years ago) along with the water heater. I know both of those will go over time, but for now they are working fine. We use the trailer a lot and I actually think that helps keep some of this stuff working.

I put in a new Shurflo water pump right after I bought it in 2010 simply because the junk original one was too noisy. I also upgraded the single stage charger and put in an IOTA DLS 45. I also have AM Solar 150W worth of panels on the roof. They keep my two Trojan T105 6V batteries charged year round. I also got rid of the el-cheapo (Audiovox?) audio system and installed an Alpine head unit with JL Audio speakers and a Bazooka brand sub (under the couch). I also added a 25" Samsung HDTV that is wired into the Audio system.

The PO pulled the carpet and put down cork flooring - did a nice job. He didn't do the bath, so I finally pulled the carpet in there this spring and put in sheet flooring with a luan backing board on top of the plywood subfloor. This spring I also swapped out everything on the brakes and replaced it with new Nev-R-Adjust brakes from Dexter - I love them. It has never stopped better. I also put on new Dexter drums and new Timken bearings.

The PO replaced the stock fans with Fantastic Fans. The Flexsteel jackknife sofa's foam is starting to give up the ghost - at least on the side that is used the most. I've spoken to a local "hot rod" upholster that has a good rep and also does RV work, I hope to have the sofa, end compartments and some other matching trim fabrics redone this winter with Ultraleather. He will also re-foam the couch.

Some of the window operators have broken on the (now out of business) Creative brand (Hehr style) windows. But I have been able to adapt the current Hehr operators to work on them, saving the cost of a new window (which is what some people have done).

All and all I don't think it's too bad for a 17-year-old trailer. I'm sure that I could sell it for a good bit more than I paid for it.

[Utah Man]

Hey there... nice to see this older thread pop-back into discussion. I'm an infrequent Airforum enthusiast so I often don't see the posts until the weekend. We brought the AS (2007 27' Classic) out of storage and up to the house for some TLC and maintenance. Lots of little things add up when you spend most of your time with it camping. Replacing screen door latch and other minor hardware items, cleaning, getting 10 year old propane bottled addressed, etc.

I hadn't even cleaned it particularly well this year, so washed and Walbanized. Many of the minor tree limb and sagebrush scratches in the clear coat are starting to add up from true camping use but the Walbernizer wasn't helping much.

Holly stopped in at the SLC AS dealer and they recommended a product (photo below.) I was skeptical but tried it this morning with pretty good success. Most of the minor scratches are no longer visible and the bigger ones are much less obvious. We'll see how it wears over the coming days and weeks.

Anyway, still love the 10-year old AS Classic. Some minor maintenance but we get great enjoyment out of it. Neighbor told me it looks like new (not quite).

Hope to see you out on the road soon... safe travels.

Regards - Ron

[Soyboy]

303 is a great protectant, but I am leery of how it will hold up on clear coat scratches. It would be great if you will keep us updated after it has been rained on a couple of times. Hopefully, it will work out, my sense is that it won't hold up.

I'm curious and perhaps someone reading this can answer: not having a later model with the newer clearcoat myself, can light scratches be buffed out similar to on an automotive finish?

[Utah Man]

Soyboy... will do. I have similar doubts that it will be a final solution but I did use some elbow grease in applying. In any event, it will look better than it did for our AS club rally at Bear Lake in a couple of weeks. I am curious what others have done with success, now that you ask the question (there likely are threads on this topic but I didn't search.)

Not quite as perfect and shiny as a new Classic, but quite nice for us once-in-awhile weekenders.

Regards - Ron

[Woosch]

We were at the mothership in September for a remodel of our dining area. Water damage discovered when removing the furniture. That blew the budget. Water entered from the rear bumper area. Also, leak discovered in seal around the rear window.

[Utah Man]

Woosch - what a bummer. What did you do in the way of repairs? Any advice on what to watch for in terms of these types of leaks?

Regards - Ron

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Utah Man

Woosch - what a bummer. What did you do in the way of repairs? Any advice on what to watch for in terms of these types of leaks?

Regards - Ron

A bunch of water alarms.

[dznf0g]

[dznf0g]

[Al and Missy]

2002 Classic 30 is doing well now. Original owners sold it in late 2014. We bought it in February 2016. The original owner had a problem with a leak, presumably around the slide. They told me that they left the slide out all summer, every summer, at their waterfront lot which probably contributed to the leak. Their dealer repaired the floor under the microwave cabinet forward of the fridge. The second owner had done substantial upgrades - recovered sofa and dinette in leather (contact areas, rest covered in matching ultraleather), replaced LR and BR flooring with slate look tile, replaced all faucets. It's not clear he used it much if at all. The original owners used it as a lake house in the summer, and hauled it to and from the lake each year. Other than that, it only made two trips within Washington during their ownership.

Things I have done:
Upgrades-
Replaced nearly new OEM skylights with Maxims
Replaced roof-mounted SD satellite dish with DirecTV HD automatic dish
Added propane quick disconnect fitting
Replace Thetford dump fitting with Valterra
Converted Fluorescent light fixtures to LED
Installed locks on some drawers that opened wile driving *
Re-mounted original TV, but then replaced it with a larger one
Added BR TV

Repairs -
Replaced LP regulator and flex hoses
Caulked gap in trim molding over rear bumper. Looks like a tail drag problem. *
Realign slideout for proper fit
Reattach the slide wiper seal
Reattach bathroom floor molding *
Remount shower door which fell off while driving *
Replaced outside storage door gaskets
Corrected a leak at the galley sink caused by second owner's replacement of faucet
Replaced missing piece of wall trim molding
Replaced umbilical cable due to corroded connector pins

Maintenance -
Clean holding tanks
Re-calibrate tank sensors
Lubricated Sensar TV antenna
Inspect wheel bearings and brakes
Adjust brakes

Future Plans-
The items noted with * above are potential indications of dead axles. Combined with the original owners lack of movement, it is pretty clear the axles need replacing. Use it or lose it! Axle replacement is in the works.

The 30 Classic does not stop nearly as well as my 25 Safari did. I can't adjust the brake controller high enough to get the brakes to lock in accordance with the recommended procedure to find the point where the brakes just lock and then reduce the brake controller gain until they just don't lock. When the axles are replaced in November I will be converting to disc brakes.


Al

[JCWDCW]

Water leakage through rear bumper is a known issue. P & S told me to keep the seam between the bumper and the trim well oiled...simple and effective. Sealant doesn't guarantee the seam is sealed..water gets in from various sources but Oil seeps in and around the crack to repel water
JCW

[pappy19]

AL & Missy

Nice write up. I also have a 2002 Classic Slider and have done many of the same upgrades. Have you registered your Slider with the Slide Out Society? Look us up on this forum.

Mike Allen
SO/ S #6

[KJRitchie]

This is the first time I've seen reported rear bumper water leakage on a Classic on these forums unlike Safaris and Internationals of this vintage where there are numerous articles.

[Al and Missy]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

This is the first time I've seen reported rear bumper water leakage on a Classic on these forums unlike Safaris and Internationals of this vintage where there are numerous articles.

Kelvin,
I didn't have a leak, just a dent over the molding and a gap between the skin and the molding that I attributed to a PO rear end drag. I caulked the gap to be sure there wasn't going to be a leak in the future.

Al