Newbie to AS

[ImaTarHeel]

My wife and I just purchased a 2008 19’ International from a friend. Everything looks in great shape and towed it home about 400 miles this weekend. Towed it effortlessly with my Silverado 2500HD. Now doing some general clean up (washing outside) the AS and wondering about other kinds of maintenance I should do? Also would like to know about initial set ups at campgrounds with and without hook ups. My friend showed me pretty much everything but obviously a lot to absorb for a first time. ( we set up and took down with his help at the campground).

Thoughts??

[hoagy_007]

Originally Posted by ImaTarHeel

My wife and I just purchased a 2008 19’ International from a friend. Everything looks in great shape and towed it home about 400 miles this weekend. Towed it effortlessly with my Silverado 2500HD. Now doing some general clean up (washing outside) the AS and wondering about other kinds of maintenance I should do? Also would like to know about initial set ups at campgrounds with and without hook ups. My friend showed me pretty much everything but obviously a lot to absorb for a first time. ( we set up and took down with his help at the campground).

Thoughts??

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome the AS family! Like yourself we are pretty new to the AS family and purchased a 2018 30' FC Bunk, so you can imagine not a lot of maintenance up front. But there are quite a few things I did/bought out the gate for basic maintenance. Good torque wrench to check the lugs bolts every so often. Andersen leveler kit (other work as well). I opted for a wireless tire pressure monitoring system and a good portable compressor (you could always check with a gauge but won't give you temperature updates). There are a number of other updates we did and tools I bought but it depends how much are you going to use your TT. We plan on living full-time in our AS in 2019 so are in the process of gearing up and making it home.

In regards to what you need to set up at a campsite/RV park I would look at the hundreds of Youtube videos out there. Great information and give you the chance to see what applies to your AS life, what you need and may not need. Hope this helps.

Hoagy

[Woosch]

Congratulations on your purchase. You might get a copy of "The (nearly) Complete Guide to Airstream Maintenance".

[dbj216]

Welcome from Colorado: Yeah, there is quite a bit to learn about your new Airstream. I too recommend the books from Airstream Life. They are easy to read and understand. A convenient link is here;

https://store.airstreamlife.com/coll.../books-and-cds

Campground set up:

Check trailer level, chock wheels, unhook tow vehicle, plug in shore power (if), connect city water (if), connect sewer hose (if) and make yourself at home.

Maintenance: Are tires good, less than 5 year old, at recommended pressure. Are lug nuts torque to spec, are brakes adjusted, are bearings packed within the last year, any moisture detected in the subfloor, appliance propane burners clean, any propane odor, CO detector works, fresh water tank sanitized, any plumbing leaks, 115vAC circuits test good, converter puts out 13.2 volts DC, battery tests good, window rubber seals clean, no tears and silicone lubricated, no rain water leaks noted, door locks lubricated, and other stuff I can't think of.

The books will help. You may have the owner's manual for your trailer to study too.

David

[Leilanisteve]

Don’t force stuck windows. Learn the credit card trick around the seals if stuck and wipe them with 303 protectant twice a year. Our previous owners forced through the screen to push open the front window.
Check your lug nuts closely. They might have the covers that can crack.
Careful connecting city water. Make sure the hose is connected to the correct inlet. Yes I just told on myself. Narrowly avoided a disaster.
Steve

[rmkrum]

Steve, you mean you don’t appreciate the awesome beauty of a brown fountain shooting forth from your roof vent pipe and cascading down the side of the trailer???

Yes, I thought not! (Grin)

Keep in mind close, is often too close....

[Leilanisteve]

No brown fountain but it had to be within a few seconds. I’ll credit my wife for catching my mistake before utter embarrassment ensued. As it was we slowly rehitched and I crept to the dump station. Luckily it was our season opening shake down run at a state park and we had the amenities.
Steve

[rmkrum]

As a marker, I stick a garden hose quick connect into the sewer flusher connection. My flush hose has the other end permanently screwed on. A nice big label also helps. Don’t need it much with sewer solution system, but ya gotta be careful...

[ImaTarHeel]

Thanks for the valuable information on starting out with my AS. The books sound very helpful. Did have the stuck window but remedied that with little problem. Do have an area where my vinyl floor has pulled away from the molding. Can’t detect where there has been any leaks though. And after thoroughly soaking and washing TT from top to bottom can detect not water inside st all. Any thought on trying to get the vinyl pulled back under the molding or a possible other solution besides the obvious of replacing it all?

[NCMEDIC]

Find a rally in your area. Show up and announce that you are a newbie and need help learning. You'll be able to benefit from their decades of experience with rigs similar to yours.

Enjoy and travel safely!!