New member - Jacksonville, FL

[yeagert]

I'm new to the RV world. I've always liked the way Airstreams look and their design so I will probably buy an Airstream but don't know which one. I'm also in the market for a new truck that will haul one of the larger Airstreams. My name is Tom.

[tvketchum]

Welcome! Which Airstream is for you depends on what you need and want. Best bet is to look at several, ask questions of Airstream owners you meet, and, if a dealer is close by, visit and look. As far as truck, we tow our 31' Classic with a 2013 F150 with the 3.5 L Echoboost engine. It has more than enough to do the job.

[Rollster]

Welcome, Tom! We're practically neighbors - we live in St. Augustine. The way we decided on which Airstream to get was by making a number of visits to JD Sanders out in Alachua (south of Gainesville). You can check their inventory online before you go (they close early on Saturdays and are closed on Sundays). We even drove down to Tampa one weekend to check out Bates RV. Once we decided we couldn't afford a new one, I started watching this forum's classifieds and also Craigslist for used/vintage models until I found our DreamStream nearby. We have owned travel trailers before, so that helped knowing what size and configuration we wanted for us and the big dog. We tow our 25 with a 2010 F150. Good luck with your search- it's fun!

[Rollster]

Sorry - Alachua is actually north of Gainesville!

[Remax gal]

Welcome Tom! I agree the only way you are going to know what you want is to visit airstream dealerships and spend time in every make and model. If you have a family your needs will be different from others. We thought we knew what we wanted until we saw the Eddie Bauer model - then it was all she wrote. We ordered ours in November and it is due in around the middle to end of February. We can wait! We are buying the 27' and we will tow it with my husband's Dodge Ram 1500. It will not be a problem whatsoever! Good luck and keep us posted!

[Remax gal]

I meant to say..."we CAN'T wait!!" LOL!

[m.hony]

We just got home from Florida.
Towing our Classic 30 with a Tundra.

[captmatt]

Wife wanted room, thought was we may use it as a Summer Home away from the heat of South Florida. Knew before we even looked that a new 27' + was out of our league. Found a vintage in good shape (after lots of looking & learning) 31' with issues that we have almost cleared up in just 3 years. Don't get me wrong, we have been camping all the while and even just finished a nice 4,000+ mile trip out west, but it is a work in progress. Matched that up with a '97 F350 7.3 diesel, way more truck than needed but price was right and it was at almost new mileage... this combo should be on the road for decades to come!

[moosetags]

Welcome to the Forums, Tom. We're glad to have you with us. You've found the right place for all things Airstream. We are camped in Jacksonville tonight.

Brian

[ShinyPete]

Welcome! We're Southwest of you in central Florida. I know you will enjoy the Airforums, it is very informative while you are looking, and then even more so after you bring an Airstream home!

We're new to Airstreams too, although this is our 5th coach in 12 years or so of RVing. We purchased a Flying Cloud 27 Front Bedroom with twins in early November (our Pete) that we tow with an F150 crew 2wd 5.0 v8. With the right hitch setup and tuning, any Airstream with less than 8000lb gvwr in my opinion should tow nicely with most 1/2 ton pickups properly equipped to do so. That means a 27' or less, pretty much. If you settle on a larger Airstream (read longer and heavier), a 3/4 ton is probably your sweet spot.

Good luck with your search! It is a lot of fun!

[PharmGeek]

dangerous you already being on this site asking questions....you are on the way to being ruined

Use the google search function for all sorts of questions to get lots on info...

If you want specific advice then provide plenty of detail...but I think with some searching and basic considerations you can nail down which trailer you want (length, layout, model/design, etc)...

We just got our new AS 11/15/14, the wife, 2 small children, and boston terrier are already lovin' it....good luck!

[PharmGeek]

[Tomzstream]

Hey Tom,

Greeting from another Tom, also here on the First Coast. Welcome to the forums!

My wife and I have been streamin for about 5 years now. Some years more than others. We first bought while living in the Piedmont of NC with an eye on visiting the SE coast, but now that we live near the beach, our priorities have changed somewhat. We consider our trailer first and foremost a Bug Out vehicle in the case of Hurricanes, and a possible survival module if there is ever major damage to our abode. Since we store the unit near the coast, it is imperative that we be able to move it with reasonable notice. But as you probably know, JAX is pretty well protected from Major storms, at least so far.

One consideration for us, a pretty major one, was being able to stay in the variety of state parks in this part of the world. That meant buying a smaller trailer. Many parks have very limited availability for trailers over 25 ft. We went with a 23ft Safari SE LS with Front Lounge. Suits us well.

We focus primarily on festivals now and will consider dry camping, but time of year is critical given the need for AC much of the time here in FL. We do have a Yamaha Generator for such occasions, but many of the festivals we frequent do have at least water and electricity.

We recently rejoined the WBCC and belong to a club that spans several SE states and has a focus on "Camping". Have yet to make a rally though.

Let us know if we can be of any assistance in your search. There is an RV SuperShow this weekend in Tampa. A good place to try on various models.

Regards,
Tom

[yeagert]

Thanks Tom for the information. I never even considered the length of trailer and what most parks can handle. I plan on going down to an Airstream dealer in Alachua this weekend. Not sure I want to drive to Tampa. If I can ask what do you pull your Safari with?
Tom

[Tomzstream]

Hey Tom,

We actually bought out TV before we bought the trailer, and had an eye on getting one of the GM going out of business deals. We looked at Chevy's but couldn't find a single vehicle with the minimum creature comfort and safety standards. My wife had her eye on a Caddy that included the blow air up your butt seats (a real nice thing to have in humid climates and long drives). So we settled on an Escalade EXT. Similar to the Avalanche but with more standard features and more power. Not much to add to it. It has more than ample HP @400 and a 6.2L engine with heavy duty alternator and transmission cooler, with 6 speed tranny and Tow Haul mode. Never had an issue with hills or overheating whatsoever (Appalachian mtns that is.)

While the carrying capacity is limited, we watch what we load and its just the two of us and a small dog. It has the advantage of having several lockable compartments (saddle bags) for this and that, as well as a sturdy tonneau cover. We really appreciate having a place to carry and store dirty and smelly stuff like generators and camp stoves and grills as well. I have plans to add a couple of 250w solar panels to the tonneau cover at some point, to act as additional battery boost when we need it.

Something we didn't consider was the AWD and the Auto leveling which both came with this truck. Nice to have the former and while some consider the latter a liability, we utilize a weight distributing hitch and the auto leveler is OK as long as you set it up right to begin with.

But let me tell you that your time actually spent trailering is most likely meager compared to the time you spend in your TV not trailering, so get something you really like as a driver.

We Love the AWD for driving to and ON the beach. Easy setup when all you have to do is open the tailgate. The Caddy drives like it is on rails with 22inch rims... More stability trailering too. And then there are the blow air up your butt seats....

But nowadays, you can get a similarly equipped Silverado for not too much more than the deal we got (about 50K new) and I'd probably go that route. Its a lot to spend on the TV, but what we saved getting the smaller trailer makes up for it and as I said before, you'll spend more time in the truck than you will trailering if you are like most folks.

A word of caution though, while most folks do their own research, there are many opinions here so I won't begin to tell you what's right for you. There's plenty of others that will. LOL!

Tom

[jayseejay]

Hi Tom. We're just NE of you in Fernandina Beach. We too started searching for new, visiting Sanders and Bates on successive weekends, and deciding that a 25 with twins was for us. Then on RVTrader up popped a 2011 25 foot Flying Cloud with front twin beds on consignment at a nonAS dealership in Wilmington NC. We drove up there, inspected, and drove home our Aerie the next day. Haven't looked back. We tow it with an Infiniti QX80 and a Reese hitch that came with the unit. Enjoy the process! regards, Joe

[Remax gal]

We have a 2013 Dodge Ram 1500 and it tows like a dream. Extremely comfortable as well. It came with the side tool boxes making it very easy and convenient to get to the tools of the trade. We have had Fords, Lincolns and Chevrolets but this Ram is our favorite!

[AdamFL]

I'm in St. Augustine and redid a 29 Sovereign. It is mostly done, short of some exterior striping/polish. I use an older F250 7.3 powerstroke to pull. I have less than 20k in the whole rig and I would take it most anywhere. Like anything else there are lots of ways to do what you want to do.

[xrvr]

Jd sanders in alachua closes at 2 pm on Saturdays I think. Jim