2017 Basecamp Issues

[YoungishJedi]

Originally Posted by YoungishJedi

It was me. This happened the morning after camping out while I was breaking camp. There wasn't any wind but my trailer wasn't level as I had hooked it to my TV already. I was going to stash the chock and levelers in the trailer and as I opened the door the latch slipped out of my hand. The door flew open and hit the side of the trailer. Shortly after I started to hear the glass cracking and it beginning to spider.

I should have patched it before traveling but didn't have anything with me to do so. The hole came after a 2hr drive home. I was supposed to drop it off at the dealer for the recall on the fridge but missed their closing by 15min.

Now it's in my driveway, patched, and waiting to take to the dealer on Monday. Is this a common thing on Airstreams?

Just wanted to follow up on this. I dropped the Basecamp off at our dealer this morning and have been in touch with Airstream. Apparently the door contacting the frame in this manner is something they have tested for and this appears to be a fluke. I'd have preferred to get the fluke ticket in the lottery last week but such is life.
Anyway, they are addressing the issue and the new glass should be here sometime next week. It looks like we'll be back in business!

I can't say enough good things about our dealer, Airstream of Albuquerque, and the Airstream customer service.

[Gail Miller]

I can't seem to find the post(s) about the back door of the 2017 Basecamp only having the rubber gasket seal at the top (about 1/3) of the door. Today, I added additional gasket so mine goes all the way around now. I bought it by the foot at a local (non-Airstream) RV dealer. I just guessed on footage and bought 12 feet ... it took at least 10' to do it. Whew ... better to have 2ft. too much than 1" to little in my book. At least the back door closed after I installed it! I cleaned the plastic door frame real well with undeluded white vinegar before I applied the gasket.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Gail Miller

I can't seem to find the post(s) about the back door of the 2017 Basecamp only having the rubber gasket seal at the top (about 1/3) of the door.
. . .

Are you referring to your Post #500 in this thread?

[click on arrow in quote to go there]

Originally Posted by Gail Miller

I just went out and looked at my rear door seals. I have two inner, full seals, but the outer seal just goes over the top and down a few inches. Yes there is some dust inside the door frame. 4streams: Your outer seal goes all the way around your door? Also, the seal on the inside frame can easily be pulled way. Does than need to be glued into place??

You can find posts in any thread by clicking on the link in the blue menu bar above "Search this Thread." When the search box appears, click on Advanced Search, then in the box for Search by User Name, fill in your user name, and the site will automatically fill in the options in orange. You then click on the exact correct name, then go down and hit the search button.

When you see the post you are looking for, in the search results, go inside that post's summary box, and click on the title or first words of the post to go directly to it.

Good luck,

Peter

[Gail Miller]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Are you referring to your Post #500 in this thread?

[click on arrow in quote to go there]



You can find posts in any thread by clicking on the link in the blue menu bar above "Search this Thread." When the search box appears, click on Advanced Search, then in the box for Search by User Name, fill in your user name, and the site will automatically fill in the options in orange. You then click on the exact correct name, then go down and hit the search button.

When you see the post you are looking for, in the search results, go inside that post's summary box, and click on the title or first words of the post to go directly to it.

Good luck,

Peter

Yes, that's it. Thank you Peter. I was searching in the search box at the top of the page, instead of the thread.

[badgeruw]

Originally Posted by dickgeo

Badger



I am confused. My roof poles are all the same, whether for the rear or side tent (3 for each). They are 2 pieces of polished metal and one end slides into the other. One end has a groove on the end that fits into the cross piece and the other end fits into the sleeve which is next to the trailer. The end with the sleeve has a small fitting on the end with a thumb screw that allows you to tighten the connection once the proper length is established.



This sounds different than what you describe. There is certainly no shock cord in the middle of either pole



I have not been happy with the setup or stability of the tents once setup and wonder if I am doing something entirely wrong.



Thanks for the information

Here is a picture of the roof poles which came with both my side and rear tents. They're as you describe, but they've got a heavier duty locking mechanism to hold them firm when they're extended. (Separately, my sun visor poles do have the thumb screw you describe.) As you'll see, there's a shock cord holding the two pieces together. The poles look like they only have two sections, but in fact there are three; the third section is inside the pole with the lock. If you push the lock handle forward, that section slides out completely. The shock cord is between the end section (with the grooved end piece) and the middle section. Cut the cord and discard the middle section, then slide the end section back in to the section with the locking mechanism. NOW the pole can be shortened enough to fit properly in the middle position of the rear tent roof. I hope this helps. If not, let me know and I can email you more pictures.

[AThiker66]

Originally Posted by bikechuck

I think that the short legs are a problem because they are used when the bed is deployed and the table tops have the weight of two people pressing them onto the short legs.

I noticed the problem when my wife and I were checking out a Basecamp at our local dealer and I just concluded that I was too heavy for a Basecamp. Now I am more hopeful that this is not just a problem for heavyweights such as me and perhaps AS can come up with a fix that would make a Basecamp suitable for my use.

I will continue to monitor this helpful thread in this most helpful online community.

I've had my Basecamp since the end of February. I encountered several of the problems discussed in this forum and had the dealership repair them when I took it in for the axle recall. The dealership recommended that I use silicon spray on the short support posts that were sticking. I did that but it didn't help. I've been on 5 trips and have struggled disconnecting the table tops from the supports. I finally used a rubber mallet to tap the metal flange and that seemed to work. I always try to pull them off before tapping and during a recent trip, I pulled and the flange pulled right out off of the table with the screws stripping out of the holes. I repaired the table when I got home and used plastic anchors in the holes that were stripped out. That worked until near the end of my last trip, last week. As I was tugging at the table, the flange pulled off again! When I returned home, I drilled new holes and purchased longer screws 3/4" - #10 and it seems the flange is fairly tight. We'll see if this works. The stock AS screws look a little short to me. I spray with silicon before every trip. The long support poles are not a problem.

[Bborzell]

Originally Posted by badgeruw

Here is a picture of the roof poles which came with both my side and rear tents. They're as you describe, but they've got a heavier duty locking mechanism to hold them firm when they're extended. (Separately, my sun visor poles do have the thumb screw you describe.) As you'll see, there's a shock cord holding the two pieces together. The poles look like they only have two sections, but in fact there are three; the third section is inside the pole with the lock. If you push the lock handle forward, that section slides out completely. The shock cord is between the end section (with the grooved end piece) and the middle section. Cut the cord and discard the middle section, then slide the end section back in to the section with the locking mechanism. NOW the pole can be shortened enough to fit properly in the middle position of the rear tent roof. I hope this helps. If not, let me know and I can email you more pictures. Attachment 293489Attachment 293490

It appears that the tent manufacturer has changed the poles. When was your Basecamp delivered?

[badgeruw]

Originally Posted by Bborzell

It appears that the tent manufacturer has changed the poles. When was your Basecamp delivered?

In February. However, in addition to the same pole issue (which I didn't know how to fix at the time) one of the metal grommets tore out of the tent skirt so it was returned to the tent manufacturer under warranty. I just received the replacement last week which had the same poles as my original tent. Maybe I just ended up with two tents of the same vintage and pole design.

[OTRA15]

. . . may be just a bad pole-ish joke . . . ?

[Mrs.B]

Originally Posted by badgeruw

Here is a picture of the roof poles which came with both my side and rear tents. They're as you describe, but they've got a heavier duty locking mechanism to hold them firm when they're extended. (Separately, my sun visor poles do have the thumb screw you describe.) As you'll see, there's a shock cord holding the two pieces together. The poles look like they only have two sections, but in fact there are three; the third section is inside the pole with the lock. If you push the lock handle forward, that section slides out completely. The shock cord is between the end section (with the grooved end piece) and the middle section. Cut the cord and discard the middle section, then slide the end section back in to the section with the locking mechanism. NOW the pole can be shortened enough to fit properly in the middle position of the rear tent roof. I hope this helps. If not, let me know and I can email you more pictures. Attachment 293489Attachment 293490

I have both the rear and side tents. I returned my original rear tent under warranty . My replacement rear tent has the same poles shown in the photo above and the same poles as my side tent. I believe these are the wrong poles which is why the middle pole doesn't fit. My original rear tent came with different ones. My original rear tent had the same type of pole they feature in the instructional video on the airstream website and shown in the directions. I will try the adaptation mentioned. Thank you.

[gwolson50]

I'm not sure this is "just a fluke". We had our basecamp for a just 10 days when we moved it from our driveway to our backyard. As we opened the door to check the trailer for level, the door got away from us. Seconds later the window closest to the door shattered. We had to wait six weeks for it to be repaired. We just returned from a lovely week in Quebec. On our return home our side door would not remain closed. It was quite hazardous having to pull over on mountainous roads to close the door. Many thanks to a gentleman who spoke little English while I spoke little French, but "duct tape" must be universal. We taped the lock lever from inside and also taped the door on the outside. We made it home. Now we are awaiting that repair.

[rmkrum]

Originally Posted by gwolson50

.....snip....Many thanks to a gentleman who spoke little English while I spoke little French, but "duct tape" must be universal. We taped the lock lever from inside and also taped the door on the outside. We made it home. Now we are awaiting that repair.

I'm totally convinced duct tape is a universal force...it has a light side, and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

[YoungishJedi]

Originally Posted by gwolson50

I'm not sure this is "just a fluke". We had our basecamp for a just 10 days when we moved it from our driveway to our backyard. As we opened the door to check the trailer for level, the door got away from us. Seconds later the window closest to the door shattered. We had to wait six weeks for it to be repaired. We just returned from a lovely week in Quebec. On our return home our side door would not remain closed. It was quite hazardous having to pull over on mountainous roads to close the door. Many thanks to a gentleman who spoke little English while I spoke little French, but "duct tape" must be universal. We taped the lock lever from inside and also taped the door on the outside. We made it home. Now we are awaiting that repair.

Thank God for duct tape. Glad you made it back and sorry you had to go through this as well. When I spoke with Airstream they had told me this was one of the only incidents they had encountered. If this is wide spread then we need to make sure they know.

Hopefully a simple rubber bumper or door stop is all that's required to permanently correct this.

[Bborzell]

After nosing around at the bottom of the door, I'm thinking that there are two factors that cause me the question the viability of adding a cushion at that location.

First, the bottom of the door lies slightly higher than the proud area of the cladding. While you could still add a cushion of some sort, it might not sit optimally between the door and the cladding but rather be a bit off of the most direct point of contact should the door break free and swing hard.

In addition, the Stainless Steel latch that keeps the door open allows only a small clearance area between the door and the trailer body. If the cushion is thick enough to stop the door from hitting the window frame, I'm not sure that the hook would reach the eye.

One option might be to use a piece of material that maintains both shock absorbtion and resilience even though it is is not particularly thick. Sorbothane comes to mind.

Perhaps the simplest and most reliable fix would to to mount a lightweight hydraulic arm at the top of the door to dampen the swing. That said, I have not yet eyeballed potential locations to mount an arm at the door frame.

[Bullwinkle]

I removed the bumper I had attached. Hopefully someone at Airstream will come up with a fix

[Gail Miller]

I was searching the Internet to see if there was a recall on the refrigerator and I saw this. Does anyone know what this recall is?
2017 AIRSTREAM BASECAMP TSBs (2)
Bulletin:
1ST-TSB168-1228
Component:
210000 trailer hitches
Summary:
Discusses: completing a checklist to verify items to be correct on a vehicle that that has several variations of production vehicles released, and to make sure the units are up to production standards.

Here is the link I found to the recalls, which includes the one above. Nothing about the refrigerator, just the tires, axle, water tank and the above: http://recalltsb.com/2017/AIRSTREAM/BASECAMP

[Bborzell]

Originally Posted by Gail Miller

I was searching the Internet to see if there was a recall on the refrigerator and I saw this. Does anyone know what this recall is?
2017 AIRSTREAM BASECAMP TSBs (2)
Bulletin:
1ST-TSB168-1228
Component:
210000 trailer hitches
Summary:
Discusses: completing a checklist to verify items to be correct on a vehicle that that has several variations of production vehicles released, and to make sure the units are up to production standards.

Here is the link I found to the recalls, which includes the one above. Nothing about the refrigerator, just the tires, axle, water tank and the above: http://recalltsb.com/2017/AIRSTREAM/BASECAMP

While it does not appear to be a recall, I would nominate it for the most obtuse Technical Service Bulletin I have ever read.

[camperguy58]

I was wondering if the Basecamp had the same refrigerator as the Sport 16. I thought they did and when I looked at the most recent parts lists for each, they don't any more. As of August 2017 the Basecamp has a modification:

"Therm-O-disc relocated to absorber tube"

Now maybe some of you understand exactly what that means. I read it as AS has made a decision on how to address the refrigerator performance in the BC. Note that it still is the same Dometic unit, it just has a different suffix (04 for the Sport 16 and 05 for the Basecamp.)

I plan on calling my dealer on Tuesday and seeing if this truly addressed the issue, or is it just another attempt.

[Gail Miller]

Originally Posted by Bborzell

While it does not appear to be a recall, I would nominate it for the most obtuse Technical Service Bulletin I have ever read.

I see now that it's a Service Bulletin instead of a recall ... didn't make sense to me, which is why I mentioned it. I couldn't tell if it was talking about the camper or the tow vehicle.

[Camperjen]

Originally Posted by YoungishJedi

Just wanted to follow up on this. I dropped the Basecamp off at our dealer this morning and have been in touch with Airstream. Apparently the door contacting the frame in this manner is something they have tested for and this appears to be a fluke. I'd have preferred to get the fluke ticket in the lottery last week but such is life.

Anyway, they are addressing the issue and the new glass should be here sometime next week. It looks like we'll be back in business!



I can't say enough good things about our dealer, Airstream of Albuquerque, and the Airstream customer service.

We were camping, trailer was level. A gust of wind blew the door out of my hand, hit the side of the trailer, glass shattered. A fluke? We are home now, we'll call airstream and our dealer tomorrow. so sad[emoji58]