2017 Classic Service manual

[riffgod1000]

Does anyone know how to obtain a service manual for a 2017 Classic?
I found the parts and owners manual but the mysterious how to fix fans, lights or what ever goes wrong with the newer Airstream’s seem rare as hens teeth!

Thanks,
Riffgod1000

[pcskier]

Originally Posted by riffgod1000

Does anyone know how to obtain a service manual for a 2017 Classic?
I found the parts and owners manual but the mysterious how to fix fans, lights or what ever goes wrong with the newer Airstream’s seem rare as hens teeth!

Thanks,
Riffgod1000

Does not exist. Airstream hasn't published "service" manuals for many years. All the 'bits and pieces' are aftermarket items from a variety of manufacturers.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Unless there are training documents hidden on some hard to find server ... no service manual. Even for cars and trucks, the production of service manuals seems to be a bit odd. You pay a fortune for them and the connection between the manual publisher and the car manufacturer is a bit obscure. There is only one source, but that may simply be a licensing deal.

Bob

[dznf0g]

You can get GM manuals. They are not available until the end of the current model year, as they are updated throughout the year. Info for purchase are at the back of the owner manual. They are spendy though. The relationship between GM and Helm, Inc. Is really very similar to that between author and publisher. Not odd at all.

[ROBERT CROSS]

AS makes nothing but the AS.....contact the component manufacturer for manuals....do the google, a lot of good info available there.


Bob

[kendrick.l.j]

Riff, it’s not you, manual is nonexistent. Fan trouble? Gotta call FAN-Tasic and try and get copy, lights? Call service department in JC and talk to John. Alde issues? Forum under Much Ado Alde, the list goes on and on. Sorry.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

You can get GM manuals. They are not available until the end of the current model year, as they are updated throughout the year. Info for purchase are at the back of the owner manual. They are spendy though. The relationship between GM and Helm, Inc. Is really very similar to that between author and publisher. Not odd at all.

Hi

Who funds what? Are the manuals written by GM or Helm employees? Does Helm just do the printing and funnel money back to GM? Do manual sales only cover production costs or are they a profit making venture? If so, does most of the profit go to GM or to Helm? Does GM management view manuals as a service or a source of revenue?

Indeed the manuals sell for quite a bit. How many are sold, I have no idea. How something like this would scale to a *much* lower volume product like an AS trailer is not real clear. If it simply scales by volume of vehicles produced, the manuals might end up costing >$10,000. My guess is that sales of a manual like that would be near zero.

Bob

[dznf0g]

GM writes them. Helm publishes, warehouses and distributes. Of course it's a revenue stream. GM is not a "not for profit".

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

GM writes them. Helm publishes, warehouses and distributes. Of course it's a revenue stream. GM is not a "not for profit".

Hi

In some companies (back in the good old days) things like manuals did go out at a significant loss. The assumption was, you wanted people to buy the vehicles and manuals were (like advertising) part of making that happen. Put another way, it was a cost center rather than a profit center. Yes, that was a long time ago.

Assuming AS followed GM and manuals had to be a profit center ... you would never be able to afford a manual that was specific to your trailer.

The modern replacement for manuals are YouTube videos. A lot of people have observed that you can get *much* better information there than in any manual. Want to pull the starter motor off your '64 Chevy? Off to YouTube you go.

The typical YouTube video is a *lot* cheaper to do than the equivalent pages in a manual. I suspect that at some point the model will go back to cost center and the content will all be on YouTube. Of course YouTube *does* pay for content .... maybe it's still a profit center for GM .....

Bob

[dznf0g]

For GM, I doubt many individuals purchase. My 2015 Silverado is about 9000 printed pages. I believe they are all on disc and/Or thumb drives now, no print anymore. Largest purchasers are aftermarket shops. We provide online access to our fleet customers, on an approval basis at no cost.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

For GM, I doubt many individuals purchase. My 2015 Silverado is about 9000 printed pages. I believe they are all on disc and/Or thumb drives now, no print anymore. Largest purchasers are aftermarket shops. We provide online access to our fleet customers, on an approval basis at no cost.

Hi

Well.... around here, a lot of people buy the truck and pretty much automatically buy the manual when it comes out.....Manuals are expensive, so are repairs.

Bob

[ROBERT CROSS]

I started out as a ‘knuckle buster’, got promoted to ‘grease monkey’, then mechanic, upgraded to ‘technician’, on to ‘computer assisted parts changer’….

Todays World >>>> if it’s not on-line, it doesn’t exist.

The iPad is taking over the world..


Bob

[paiceman]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

I started out as a ‘knuckle buster’, got promoted to ‘grease monkey’, then mechanic, upgraded to ‘technician’, on to ‘computer assisted parts changer’….

Todays World >>>> if it’s not on-line, it doesn’t exist.

The iPad is taking over the world..


Bob

Nailed this one. Even our grocery store when long lines develop at check out a person walks the lines with an Ipad and checks people out, then they simply to the register and boom, there is the receipt and payment can be made. Amazing times.

Bud

[rmkrum]

Sam’s Club has a phone app that you simply scan the items as you put them into the cart, hit one button on the phone to pay for the items, then head for the exit. The person at the exit scans a barcode displayed on your phone with their phone/scanner, it beeps and away you go, no waiting at the register.

Only issue is you can’t buy alcohol with the app.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

With Sam's Club, the app gets funded by the pay that no longer needs to go to pay for cashiers. With a manual for an Airstream, it's not at all clear where the funding comes from ( = who makes money doing it).

Bob

[rmkrum]

Another good example of a Service Manual system is Toyota's system. It's subscription, but you can pay for as little as a month. Everything is in PDF format, and freely downloadable...