2016 Classic questions, options, etc

[OilnH2o]

Originally Posted by daveswenson

I had myself convinced to buy a 2016 Classic. We went to the local dealer to see the one they had. But it was partially disassembled for some repairs. And the salesman really didn't know the unit and couldn't answer some basic questions.... I was ready to buy, but my disappointment with the salesman's knowledge, my wife's objection to the flooring, and the insulting offer for my trade....

Stopped by AS-NW about the same time, I think. Taking our AS "to see her people" and check out the bike racks. Only had one Classic - and that "in the shop" - but no, "they just pulled it out" the salesman says. So we got to walk through it but we knew more about it the the sales guy. I'm posting this because my wife, too, didn't care for the flooring and asked about it - but he didn't know what it was. He was willing to go find answers but we weren't going to buy... especially after my wife said "We'll keep our "classic." Nice to now know what the flooring is... but it was the looks of it, not the utility, that put off SWMBO.

[davcarv]

That did it, ... Thanks Joe.

[Sjcjr]

What product are you all using to clean and nourish the gorgeous cherry wood on the classic?

[ghaynes755]

Murphy's Oil - also mentioned in the owners manual.

[Sjcjr]

I previously posted this on a separate thread. and received no comments or thoughts. I decided to re-post on this thread in the hope it would receive a helpful response:

My wife and I just purchased and took delivery of a 2016 classic. The first trip was uneventful with all systems operating properly. On our second trip this Labor Day weekend I noticed that a water leak occurred during and after showering. Water accumulated on the floor outside the shower door and rear bedroom wall. (Depending on level angle front to back). Oddly, water was also dripping inside the bedroom TV housing compartment and down the bedroom wall behind the shower. We obviously have a leak that needs to be addressed. My concern is that the leak is coming from a fitting high inside the rear shower wall. I have searched the forums for a similar thread but couldn't find anything specifically on point. The obvious action is to take the unit to my dealer for service but I thought I would first seek help from the forum. Any thoughts?

PS---i want to make clear that we love our airstream and I am not interested in starting a "trash the airstream thread!"

[Arcticfox]

Originally Posted by Sjcjr

I previously posted this on a separate thread. and received no comments or thoughts. I decided to re-post on this thread in the hope it would receive a helpful response:

My wife and I just purchased and took delivery of a 2016 classic. The first trip was uneventful with all systems operating properly. On our second trip this Labor Day weekend I noticed that a water leak occurred during and after showering. Water accumulated on the floor outside the shower door and rear bedroom wall. (Depending on level angle front to back). Oddly, water was also dripping inside the bedroom TV housing compartment and down the bedroom wall behind the shower. We obviously have a leak that needs to be addressed. My concern is that the leak is coming from a fitting high inside the rear shower wall. I have searched the forums for a similar thread but couldn't find anything specifically on point. The obvious action is to take the unit to my dealer for service but I thought I would first seek help from the forum. Any thoughts?

PS---i want to make clear that we love our airstream and I am not interested in starting a "trash the airstream thread!"

I think a buddy of mine had an issue like this with his 2015. At least that's what my memory tells me. I will send him a note and ask him to chime in if possible. I know they are traveling right now but I will try to get him to articulate the problem he had and how he fixed it..... Stay tuned...
Cheers
Doug

[silverlabs]

Sjcjr - With respect to your water leak. We too as Arcticfox mentioned had a water leak with our shower we noticed after a few uses of the trailer. It occurs after taking a shower. What I found on mine was that after pulling the panel which covers the shower manifold, is that Airstream uses a shim where the water line goes to the little manifold that the shower head hose connects. When Airstream goes through their pressure testing process, all is good as the leak only occurs when the shower head is actually turned on by use of the little button on the shower head. When that occurs, we had a significant leak at the connection behind the wall where the shim is. An Airstream dealer in Albq, NM took it off and used a thinner shim then tightened the connection back up and all was good. What was happening is that the thicker shim was not allowing the connection to mate properly, thereby sealing the connection. All is fine now. It is a very simple process to fix.

Hopefully that is all it is for you and that will solve it.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Chuck

[Sjcjr]

Originally Posted by silverlabs

Sjcjr - With respect to your water leak. We too as Arcticfox mentioned had a water leak with our shower we noticed after a few uses of the trailer. It occurs after taking a shower. What I found on mine was that after pulling the panel which covers the shower manifold, is that Airstream uses a shim where the water line goes to the little manifold that the shower head hose connects. When Airstream goes through their pressure testing process, all is good as the leak only occurs when the shower head is actually turned on by use of the little button on the shower head. When that occurs, we had a significant leak at the connection behind the wall where the shim is. An Airstream dealer in Albq, NM took it off and used a thinner shim then tightened the connection back up and all was good. What was happening is that the thicker shim was not allowing the connection to mate properly, thereby sealing the connection. All is fine now. It is a very simple process to fix.

Hopefully that is all it is for you and that will solve it.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Chuck

Was your leak causing water to drip into the TV mount housing midway up the bedroom wall? That's well above the shower connection your referring to. That's my concern, unless of course, the pressure causes an upward spray into the TV mount housing.

[silverlabs]

Nope, but I am in a 2015 28FC so a little different set up. The leak very well could be spraying up. Since you mentioned it coming after a shower, this was just the experience I had and I have talked to at least one other that had the same issue. It's worth checking but unfortunately yours may be something else too. Good luck.

Chuck

[davcarv]

Any 2015-2016 Classic guys towing with an equipped 2016 - F150 that has a tow capacity of 12220?
Thanks
Dave

[Arcticfox]

Interesting question Dave. It will be good to see if anyone chimes in.

[graysailor]

I had a 30' Flying Cloud that I towed with a 2015 F150. I found that I was quite lacking in the payload department and at times felt I was getting pushed around by winds and passing vehicles. In the mountain area's I knew the truck was working quite hard. This was a Platinum trim level. The higher the trim the lower the payload. Anyway when I decided to go with a 2016 Classic which is about 1000lbs heavier I decided to step up to a F250 diesel. While attending the International rally I did not see any F150"s towing a 30 footer except myself. In 2017 the F250 series will become as smart as the F150's are now. I really enjoyed my F150 but was a little too squeamish pulling a 30 footer.

[davcarv]

TinCan, ... Very informative. Currently, I'm pulling a 89, Excella 1000. 29. it's GVWR is 6800, ... (I never travel with anything in my tanks). My F150 is rated at 9800. So it makes sense that I've always felt comfortable towing her.
I can well imagine at 8800, or 10000 a significant difference.

Thanks for the great feedback.

[Arcticfox]

Originally Posted by graysailor

I had a 30' Flying Cloud that I towed with a 2015 F150. I found that I was quite lacking in the payload department and at times felt I was getting pushed around by winds and passing vehicles. In the mountain area's I knew the truck was working quite hard. This was a Platinum trim level. The higher the trim the lower the payload. Anyway when I decided to go with a 2016 Classic which is about 1000lbs heavier I decided to step up to a F250 diesel. While attending the International rally I did not see any F150"s towing a 30 footer except myself. In 2017 the F250 series will become as smart as the F150's are now. I really enjoyed my F150 but was a little too squeamish pulling a 30 footer.

If I remember right the current F150 has the ability to have substantially larger payload than the early 2015 did. The HD payload package has not been available till now but this option gives it a payload very similar to what an F250 normally is. Couple this with the Eco-boost and I'm thinking the F150 would deal with something like a Classic very well.

Hope this helps

Doug

[ghaynes755]

Looking at the F150 page the highest payload spec was 3270# (V8). EcoBoost, Regular Cab 4x2, 141.4" WB was 3240#. 2016 Ford F-150 Full Size Pickup Truck | Payload Specifications | Ford.com

[davcarv]

Doug, I would think so too but look at Tin Can's response. He had a FC, 30 being pulled by a 2015 F150, (I assume it was properly equipped to handle 12200), and he's saying he was getting blown around and the engine was working hard. ....
Whenever I watch you tube vids of Gas vs. Diesel Gas vids are always working hard.
That's just what they do.

I think this, 'working hard', behavior is true regardless if it's a gas truck pulling a trailer or a Gas Class A.

Tin Can believed, that his F150 seemed inadequate.

I think it's very interesting that he didn't see other 150's towing a 30footer. Is that the 150 hasn't garnered the respect amongst the traditional AS crowd? Is the 6.7 F250 overkill? Could it be that Airstreamers are REALLY risk averse?

Where we are in our life now is local campgrounds around the Atlanta area and Fla.
Some small mountains, (hills), in the N. Ga. mountains.

But one day I want to traverse the Rocky Mountains.

And I don't much care for the idea of white knuckle driving either up or down a big ol mountain a tiny bit more than I like the idea of sinking 65k into a tow vehicle.

the 2017's seem really nice though eh?

[Arcticfox]

When it comes to this sort of stuff everyone has their own opinion...
For tin-can to talk about he felt his F150 was a little short on Payload capacity. I'm guessing he was. He said he has a 2015 Platinum trim and as a result his truck will not have the HD Payload package and probably has a payload of around 1200 - 1400 lbs. He also talked about the truck being pushed around by larger trucks and heavy winds. This might very well have not much to do with the truck and have lots to do with the hitch he is using and how it is setup.

My 2014 Lariat has a payload of 1846 and I know the new F150 (with the payload package) can achieve a payload of around 2300 - 2500. That puts you into the same payload range as the F250 (depending on trim level).

I pull a 28' FC with my F150. I pull through the mountains all the time and actually just got back from a 6-week trip that saw me head west across the rockies and into Vancouver BC. Then down the Oregon coast and into Central California. From there we turned north and travelled the mountains all the way back up to Canada. The F150 performed perfectly and the Eco-boost has more than enough power. As a result I feel a F250 is not needed and a diesel engine would be a waste of money and time. I'm told the 28' Airstream has the heaviest hitch weight of (any) Airstream so thinking that my F150 would also perform well with a 30.

I put 78,000 KM (almost 50,000 miles) on my rig in the last 12 months alone and can tell you that I have NOT felt once that I wanted a F250. I have travelled to all the corners of North America so we have covered everything from Prairies to the highest mountains passes and I'm very happy with this combination.

Many established folks in the AS community feel they need a 250 series truck to pull their AS. This might very well come from the fact that they have been using these 250/350 trucks for years and they don't know anything different. As they say it's "Hard To Teach Old Dog's New Trick's".

Cheers
Doug

Originally Posted by davcarv

Doug, I would think so too but look at Tin Can's response. He had a FC, 30 being pulled by a 2015 F150, (I assume it was properly equipped to handle 12200), and he's saying he was getting blown around and the engine was working hard. ....
Whenever I watch you tube vids of Gas vs. Diesel Gas vids are always working hard.
That's just what they do.

I think this, 'working hard', behavior is true regardless if it's a gas truck pulling a trailer or a Gas Class A.

Tin Can believed, that his F150 seemed inadequate.

I think it's very interesting that he didn't see other 150's towing a 30footer. Is that the 150 hasn't garnered the respect amongst the traditional AS crowd? Is the 6.7 F250 overkill? Could it be that Airstreamers are REALLY risk averse?

Where we are in our life now is local campgrounds around the Atlanta area and Fla.
Some small mountains, (hills), in the N. Ga. mountains.

But one day I want to traverse the Rocky Mountains.

And I don't much care for the idea of white knuckle driving either up or down a big ol mountain a tiny bit more than I like the idea of sinking 65k into a tow vehicle.

the 2017's seem really nice though eh?

[graysailor]

In response to my thoughts and some of the above remarks. My 2015 F150 Platinum only had a payload of 1300lbs. Again as I mentioned above the higher the trim level the lower the payload. The truck handled the pulling part just fine. As pretty much a full timer I of course carry just about everything that I think I might need so consequently I was very much pushing the payload capacity. Aside from that my F150 was the most sophisticated and pleasant to drive vehicle I have ever owned.

I have taken delivery of my F250 (diesel) and to my pleasant surprise fuel economy is right up there with the F150 echo boost. I have not as yet pulled my trailer but I am assuming that when pulling my AS fuel economy should go up a couple of mpg.

[davcarv]

Thanks TinCan and Doug for your input.
Like anything new I guess if it weren't for the early adopters we'd never change our views right?

Any other early adopters pulling a Classic with a new F150?

[davcarv]

So a current model breakdown, ... on the AS site,
Classic Hitch = 773
FC 30 = 880
FC 28 = 976

The Classic weighs more than the others but it's hitch weight is roughly 200 pounds less than the Heaviest FC that Doug pulls successfully with his Lariat.

very interesting.