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New owners from Texas
Hello all.
I have wanted an Airstream for as long as I can remember and now my wife and I are new owners of a 2019 Airstream Sport 16RB. I originally had it in mind that I wanted to restore an older trailer, but my wife wasn't quite sure about taking on a project like that right out of the gate. Also, we don't exactly have the space at home to take on a project like that. After some discussions and walk-through of many small trailers, we fell in love with the 16 foot Bambi Sport. We looked at everything from cheaper trailers like some of the Forest River and Geo Pro models to T@B teardrops and R-Pod trailers. We considered that many were much more budget friendly that Airstream, but we didn't think we'd ever be truly happy if we let money be the major factor in our decision. An Airstream, no matter how beat up or meticulously cared for puts a smile on my face every damn time I see one, so in the end we did our due diligence by looking at quite a few trailers, but the only trailer for us was an Airstream.
We took it directly from the dealer for a three day shake down to get to know it a little better. After a thorough walk-through at the dealership and plenty of Q&A we headed West for 131 miles to camp for a long weekend. It pulled well, but I could definitely tell it was back there moving around just a bit in cross winds as well as when being passed by big trucks, not too bad though. Overall the initial towing experience was quite uneventful. Since the shake down trip I have added a weight distribution and sway control hitch, and while I could have went with a sway control only, or even nothing at all based on the previous trip, I like the peace of mind I get from the new setup.
We were also curious how long it would take to fill the 21 gallon combined black / gray tank. We didn't go out of our way to conserve water on the first outing and we filled it up pretty quick. While the sensor seemed stable-ish when I checked the fill percent, it definitely filled quicker than I expected. We actually had to pull out of our spot and take it to the dump station about halfway through the second day, but we didn't mind, it was part of the learning experience regarding waste management of our trailer. For the future, I went ahead and purchased a black water tote to help us manage the situation if needed without moving the trailer.
The 165 mile trip back home was equally uneventful and it cruised well at 65mph on the interstate behind my wife's 2017 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. The fuel economy for her Jeep is usually around 23 mpg and dropped to 15.2 with the trailer in tow.
Regarding build quality, I read hundreds of posts ahead of time and pretty much knew what to expect going in. We try to consider that the trailer is basically a rolling earthquake for many hours each trip and that we should not be surprised if things come loose, need adjusting, etc. While I agree that there are plenty of opportunities for build quality improvement by AS on this trailer, I'm trying not to focus too much on the small things I can easily manage myself. I have already taken care of a few minor issues in the driveway with just a few dollars spent and a few minutes of my time. Honestly I prefer to do whatever I can myself as I feel it builds a better level of understanding of my trailer. It's an hour each way to the dealership and it is likely that I will put much more care into correcting minor issues than they will, so we will let them do their part when a major issue arises that is outside my comfort zone.
So far we are very happy with our purchase and extremely excited about towing it all over the country and meeting other owners along the way.
See you down the road.
Shawn
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