'99 Excella 34' question

[Airline]

I am looking at a 1999 excella 34'.I dont have the best photos of the rear,but it looks like there are aluminum skin pieces rivited to the rear corners.This trailer has the airstream bike rack,but I have not seen these before.Can anyone tell me whats up?
heres a pic,I think you can see what I'm talking about

[PhilipKS]

Mine doesn't have that. Looks to me as if it was reinforced to take the weight of the bike rack. Nice looking unit, by the way! Can't go wrong, but I may be biased.

[sandlapper]

That looks like the "elephant ears" repair on the rear, done to repair rear end seperation without totally dismantling the trailer. May have even been done at JC, I think they do them there. I have seen them before but can't speak of their success. Just fine I think.

Good looking 34.

John

[cwf]

Can't say. Our 99 doesn't have "elephant ears" or bike rack.

Looks like it is in great shape!

[sandlapper]

Do a "elephant ears repair" search, plenty of reading.

John

[Airline]

thanks sandlapper for telling us the term for this.

knowing what they call it,I was able to find info.

I am running away from this unit,too bad,it appears so nice.....

the search continues..........

thanks all who responded !

[sandlapper]

Glad I could help. I don't know the nuts and bolts of the repair, but suspect it is not necessarily a bad thing, considering the history of the legendary rear end seperation horror stories that have plagued AS since the beginning. Many units out there right now could probably benefit from some type of rear end repair. Most just don't know it yet. A call to JC may be in order.

I have seen these repairs up close, and done right, they don't look too bad cosmetically. Just can't comment on their effectivness.

But of course don't make your descion based on my opinions. I would probably be inclined to walk away myself, mostly because I am just too conservative sometimes.

Hope you find a sweet 34, they are indeed special.

John

[BigFamilyGuy]

John (Sandlapper), I'm the tall guy you met at myrtle beach this year at ocean lakes in June. I had the 30 ft airstream classic and bought the flag pole attachment from you. Question: I haven't gotten any flags or poles yet and I know you mentioned a certain kind I should get but it has slipped my mind, do you have a website where I can purchase them? Hope all is well.

Warm regards
Chris

[Dwight]

The elephant ears were a cheaper fix to saggy rear ends mainly on models that had the rear bath.

[perryg114]

Sag is usually a result of water intrusion and rarely due to severe overloading of the rear end of the trailer. I expect the elephant ear fix was done to fix rot problems. The 34 most likely has a center bath so there is not much back there to overload the rear of the trailer. I would be concerned about the repairs.

Perry

[sandlapper]

Yep Perry, rear ends seperate mostly due to rot. And it need not be a rear bath to have rot. The age old Airstream plague.

A call to JC may decide the validity of the repair.

John

[perryg114]

A better photo would help with that. My center bath had rear floor rot and I fixed it the correct way by ripping the floor out and the inside skins.

Perry