2015 Flying Cloud 25FB

[Tincampers]

Originally Posted by Wayne&Sam

mrprez- I found my pump got louder and found the shelf was only help by one screw and that one was loose. It got a lot quieter when I put in a couple of new screws. I also put pipe insulation on the pipes that might touch cabinetry or each other.

OK thanks, I will take a look at that. I have a hard time standing on my head though, that space in the 25RB is really hard to get into.

I ordered 3 of the Pentek filters from filters fast.com. $27.92 with shipping.

[moosetags]

As you all have seen, we treated Lucy to a rear awning in a custom stripe pattern when she was at Jackson Center.

We really love her new awning and use it all the time.

Now we are considering adding a street side awning, and I have two questions.

1. How useful do you find the street side awning?

2. Approximately what would it cost to add a street side awning to New Lucy?

Brian

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by mrprez

OK thanks, I will take a look at that. I have a hard time standing on my head though, that space in the 25RB is really hard to get into.

I ordered 3 of the Pentek filters from filters fast.com. $27.92 with shipping.

That's a good price. I spent $16.95 for one. I'll get some backups from them.

Brian

[Wayne&Sam]

Great price.

[RareStream]

Originally Posted by moosetags

As you all have seen, we treated Lucy to a rear awning in a custom stripe pattern when she was at Jackson Center.

We really love her new awning and use it all the time.

Now we are considering adding a street side awning, and I have two questions.

1. How useful do you find the street side awning?

2. Approximately what would it cost to add a street side awning to New Lucy?

Brian

Hi Brian...

Are you referring to a street side window awning or a street side full patio awning?

On our older 19ft we had a street side full patio awning installed partly for looks but moreso for keeping the inside temperatures lower. It also was very beneficial for the refrigerator. We also really liked being able to keep our generator and bikes etc. covered and out of the rain/sun.

The roof rail is already there. And, for looks, you'll notice that the front and rear endcap sections of the trailer are a matte finish while the sides are a shiny glossy finish. This always looked funny to us. The awning poles hide this abrupt finish transition. And, having the rolled up awning in place at the roof rail hides the white roof when you see the trailer from the side. With the ducted air now however it would be even harder to hide the white roof with the awning but it would still help.

The difference in inside temperatures was worth it alone. But, when the sun used to beat down on that side the refrigerator used to really struggle and the little fan never stopped. The awning made a huge, huge difference in the refrigerator's performance.

The cost to have it installed at the factory was around $2000 and had a couple week lead time so they could order the parts. A 25ft would be a little more as they charge by the awning's size. Regarding the work done...some of the screwheads were stripped when they installed it and I still need to take it apart and tighten up the spring a bit...it wasn't the best installation in all honesty. The paint was badly cracked and flaking on one pole endcap (where it says ZipDee) and after a few months they sent me a new one to install myself.

At the same time, we added a rear awning as well in matching Pacific Blue Fancy which is the fabric we chose for the street side awning. We love that one and it was installed perfectly. We removed the clear protective tape from the trailer because it was installed terribly and looked horrible.

Our original curb side awning was originally gray and we had this changed to Pacific Blue Fancy when we bought the trailer at the original dealer...cost was around $400 or so to do that. I thought that was reasonable...so, you can have all your awnings match for a decent cost. I still have the new gray fabric saved from our trailer...don't let them keep it if you swap yours out...

Hope this helps!

[amaier7771]

Originally Posted by moosetags

As you all have seen, we treated Lucy to a rear awning in a custom stripe pattern when she was at Jackson Center.

We really love her new awning and use it all the time.

Now we are considering adding a street side awning, and I have two questions.

1. How useful do you find the street side awning?

2. Approximately what would it cost to add a street side awning to New Lucy?

Brian

Brian,

We have a 2013 FC FB Twin. We had the street side awning added about a year after we bought the AS. Cost about $1800 installed if I remember correctly. It makes a huge difference in keeping the interior cool, the refrigerator can keep up on hot days, and it is super easy to take down and put up!! Awning down, blinds up, windows open on a hot day boon docking, makes for a very pleasant interior place to hang out. Also, nice in the rain to get to stuff on that side of the trailer. We also added the rear awning and find that a great addition.

Al

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by moosetags

As you all have seen, we treated Lucy to a rear awning in a custom stripe pattern when she was at Jackson Center.

We really love her new awning and use it all the time.

Now we are considering adding a street side awning, and I have two questions.

1. How useful do you find the street side awning?

2. Approximately what would it cost to add a street side awning to New Lucy?

Brian

Brian- Not sure of the cost, but we sure use ours a lot. Easy to deploy and does shade that side of the AS which is nice in sunny weather.

[KJRitchie]

The 25fb on mine has one outside storage door on the curb side that is small but large enough to allow my wife to crawl through one time when she locked herself out. On our Airstream there is a drawer at the foot of the bed but the remaining area under the bed is accessible from the outside storage. the newer models compartmentalize the area under the queen bed so the storage area is smaller. I only store small easy to reach items in the front storage. I wouldn't be able to use a front storage door because my Arvika bike rack supports wouldn't allow the door to open. If I were to switch to twin beds I either renovate mine 25fb Classic or more up to a 25rb twin.

Kelvin

[Antique Pedaler]

Brian, I agree with all the good reasons for having the streetside awnng, cooler interior, refrigerator efficiency, etc. But the single strap holder in the center is quite insufficient. A stiff wind will throw one end of the awning 45 degrees up or down with a loud noise. As I think you can see in the photo, I added Zip Dee straps at the awning ends. So it is totally wind proof with no more shifting ends. I suggested this fix to Zip Dee and they just yawned.


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

The 25fb on mine has one outside storage door on the curb side that is small but large enough to allow my wife to crawl through one time when she locked herself out. On our Airstream there is a drawer at the foot of the bed but the remaining area under the bed is accessible from the outside storage. the newer models compartmentalize the area under the queen bed so the storage area is smaller. I only store small easy to reach items in the front storage. I wouldn't be able to use a front storage door because my Arvika bike rack supports wouldn't allow the door to open. If I were to switch to twin beds I either renovate mine 25fb Classic or more up to a 25rb twin.

Kelvin

Kelvin- we had an 06' 25, an 08' 25 twin, and now a 14' 25 FB twin. There are 3 storage compartments outside; curbside, street side, front side. The 25 Twin RB has 4 and the long one in the back will open with the Fiamma bike rack; we checked when we were considering the 25' RB model. We chose FB because we back into a lot of sites and enjoy the view from rear dinning area. Both models have great storage which we did not realize until we went from the 08' model to the 14' Twin. We also wanted LED lighting and other features with the newer models. We are now considering the 2015 or 2016 Twin with ducted air....just not sure if it will be 25' or 27' or 28' twin model...

[moosetags]

Thank you everyone for all the information on street side awnings. We had not really considered a full size patio awning. We are looking for something quick and easy that can withstand some winds. Our camping style is such that we rarely spend any time at the campground. Accordingly, we do not deploy the curb side awning very often.

Brian

[trakker]

Newbies back from our first long weekend to a spot about 50 miles from home. armed with info from all of you folks it went well. tow back in driving rain but could not find any leaks in trailer or front compartment.
Question: the camp site was sandy soil. those lego leveling block things were terrible, came apart. needed one board on one side to level. when I pulled up on the board it popped up and hit the trailer, fortunately only broke the cap off the storage tube. Tried again and it was perfect, but ... any tricks/tips for preventing this, leveling on sandy spot? It only need thickness of a 2x8. I suppose I could have just tried to scoop out some soil but just did not expect the board to pop like that.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by moosetags

Thank you everyone for all the information on street side awnings. We had not really considered a full size patio awning. We are looking for something quick and easy that can withstand some winds. Our camping style is such that we rarely spend any time at the campground. Accordingly, we do not deploy the curb side awning very often.

Brian

Hi Brian,
We have had some high winds in the desert Borrego trips and mountain canyons. I remember once getting up in middle of the night to fold up the big awning on our 08' model. Now we tie down the ends of the curbside big awning as a precaution to bumper in rear and a-frame in front. No issues so far. But the Street side awning is easy to deploy and only has the one connection. It also is not very big, so open/close fast and connects to hook on the AS. Suppose if you were leaving the camp site for a while and expected winds, you could very easily roll up (5-10 seconds) or tie ends down as someone had suggested. For us, if it is going to be windy and we are going away, we roll all ours up....but that is very rare. Still, not much of a hassle. Take a look at one at one on an AS and you will see what I mean about easy up/down. I do like your custom colors on the rear!

[Gene]

A few things—if the water pump is noisy, isolating it from the trailer by using rubber washers under it can help—just unscrew the screws, install washers, screw screws. It helps a little.

Mackinaw Bridge. I guess it was not windy when we crossed, there were no restrictions I remember. That was about 5 years ago.

Gene

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Hi Brian,
We have had some high winds in the desert Borrego trips and mountain canyons. I remember once getting up in middle of the night to fold up the big awning on our 08' model. Now we tie down the ends of the curbside big awning as a precaution to bumper in rear and a-frame in front. No issues so far. But the Street side awning is easy to deploy and only has the one connection. It also is not very big, so open/close fast and connects to hook on the AS. Suppose if you were leaving the camp site for a while and expected winds, you could very easily roll up (5-10 seconds) or tie ends down as someone had suggested. For us, if it is going to be windy and we are going away, we roll all ours up....but that is very rare. Still, not much of a hassle. Take a look at one at one on an AS and you will see what I mean about easy up/down. I do like your custom colors on the rear!

We have tried out the little street side awnings at a couple of Airstream dealers. They are very easy to deploy and retract. If we decide to get Lucy one of these, we will probably order a custom blue, green, and yellow stripe one to match her rear awning.

In the short time that we have had it, we have come to really like Lucy's rear awning. We deploy it just about any time that we make camp. As a matter of fact, it is deployed right now out in the alley behind the house.

Brian

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by Gene

A few things—if the water pump is noisy, isolating it from the trailer by using rubber washers under it can help—just unscrew the screws, install washers, screw screws. It helps a little.

Mackinaw Bridge. I guess it was not windy when we crossed, there were no restrictions I remember. That was about 5 years ago.

Gene

When Lucy was just at the Service Center in Jackson Center they put rubber washers under her water pump. It is now a lot quieter than it was.

Brian

[chaseav]

Originally Posted by moosetags

When Lucy was just at the Service Center in Jackson Center they put rubber washers under her water pump. It is now a lot quieter than it was.



Brian

Just happened across this comment. I used my water pump for the first time yesterday. Yeeeeow that thing is loud! I have no doubt that it is located under our coat closet in the 25fb... how is it accessed though? Something has to happen there. I sounds like it's sitting on bare metal and just as loud as can be.

[Wayne&Sam]

That panel will open like a cabinet door.

[moosetags]

Open the wardrobe door. Take a small screw driver and stick it behind the panel below that has the furnace vent in it. Pop open the door. It is hinged on the left. You'll see the water pump about a foot in.

Brian

[Arcticfox]

My pump is also a little load. But yet when I put my hand on it (while running) it does not seem to be as big an issue as the hose lines. When I hold the hose lines the sound gets dramatically better. I'm assuming my hoes must be touching a cabinet or something but cannot really see in there well enough to confirm. Has anyone got any idea on how to isolate the hoses a little better?

Thanks

Doug