Safari 30' bunkhouse owners club!

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by pawnguy

Hello everyone. We are looking at buying one
today from an individual and would like to know
what I should look for in buying one. Do I need to
Look at certain areas of the AS. It's a 2005 model
With the ls package and the bunks. When I looked up
The value in nada it was a lot lower then what I'm seeing
The camper sale for. The nada was 17,000-21,000 and
Most of the ones I see for sale are 30-40k. What's up with
That? Are the campers only for nada or are there values messed
Up? Any help would be great. Love the boards. Spent hours
Last night reading post about the bunk house LS. Thanks in advance.
Mark

How long has it been parked and not used?

Andy

[pawnguy]

Originally Posted by Rick Gillis

When looking at NADA, the values of all airstreams are far below market value. It is kind of like an exotic car; insurance companies say it is worth X, but buyers are willing to pay XX. This becomes an issue when purchasing insurance. On my bunkhouse, I have an agreed value policy. Should it be totaled, I would get what is the agreed market value of the trailer, not NADA. I also have this type of policy on a couple of collector cars I own.

As for items to look for when purchasing:

Status of tires – have they been replaced as they are now close to 7 years old. The same age concern with wheel bearings.

Look for cracks in the corners of the front storage compartment – this was a problem with this model, and was repaired under warranty. Mine was repaired, but still cracked again. To me it is not a big issue, but you should note it.

Skylight – after about 4 years, my skylight began to crack in the corners. This was a simple replacement I did one afternoon.

Other than the above items, my bunkhouse has been relatively carefree since I purchased it new in 2006. We have a lot family trips in this unit, it is perfect for our family of 5.

Last used last fall. Been sitting for about 4 months. Do you happen to know
If Pex was used in AS in 2005? Should I be concerned with water lines. Holding
Tanks misc stuff like that with a 2005? Also are there any airstream dealers or repair shops in southwest Missouri? How far would I need to go for service? Thanks guys your the best info anywhere. Proud to be a member.

[pawnguy]

Hello again looking at AS and they had told me that
they did not winterize the as this past winter. They sai they
hadn't use the sewer the past year. How can I verify it is ok? I'm
no AS expert.

[Amsterdamer]

I own an ’05 30’ Bunk House. I have not had any cracks form on the outside of my from storage compartment, but I have read that many other units have had this problem.

Here are the issues that I have had to address:

· I have had leaks where the outer screws connect the skylight cover, which I caulked.
· The grey water tank started to leak where the injection mold caused small thin spots on the underside, right near the corners of the tank. I used JB Weld to seal the grey water tank leaks a few years ago with no issues since.
· I use Rust Oleum rust reformer spray to arrest any rust on the frame or in the battery compartment.
· The chrome light cover on the license plate holder became pitted and I’ve replaced that.
· The subwoofer was not properly installed. It was not wired correctly.

When towing, watch out for your sewer connection. It’s pretty low and far back, so vulnerable.

Use a pressure regulating connection on your water intake when at a full hookup site.

It’s my understanding that NADA uses a blanket statistical model to determine values, rather than true market value research. Consequently, their numbers are not legitimate for vehicles that have higher residual values than average.

[ostream]

Originally Posted by pawnguy

Hello again looking at AS and they had told me that
they did not winterize the as this past winter. They sai they
hadn't use the sewer the past year. How can I verify it is ok? I'm
no AS expert.

A good test would be to hook it up to a city water source and turn the water on. Then go inside and check for leaks (sink, toilet, shower & water pump). The thermal expansion of freezing water can cause issues with pipes, seals and pump which will be evident when you pressurize with water.

Good luck!

[pawnguy]

That what we ended up doing. Did not see any leaks of any kind. Camper looled great. We ended up buying the 2005 Safari LS with the bunk package. We love it. Will try to figure out how to post a photo. Not sure of the used value of this AS but we paid $23,800.00 for it and feel we got a super deal. Using it this weekend. Thanks for all the help and info.

[pawnguy]

[SafariSS]

Very Nice! I think for 23k you got a swinging deal. I have owned mine since July of 06 (new) and have really enjoyed the floorplan with kids. I have towed mine not quite 60k miles and while I have done alot of upgrades I have very few problems.

Also read up on rear bumper sealing up here on the forum. Best thing you can do is keep up with any leaks.

Have fun and hit the road (heck with gas prices)...you can put a price tag on a good time with the family.

[pawnguy]

Originally Posted by SafariSS

Very Nice! I think for 23k you got a swinging deal. I have owned mine since July of 06 (new) and have really enjoyed the floorplan with kids. I have towed mine not quite 60k miles and while I have done alot of upgrades I have very few problems.

Also read up on rear bumper sealing up here on the forum. Best thing you can do is keep up with any leaks.

Have fun and hit the road (heck with gas prices)...you can put a price tag on a good time with the family.

Would you happen to have a link on the sealing I need to do? Or keep an eye on? We noticed it looked like the hot water Heater had started leaking. Any ideas
where to even start looking? Thanks.

[pawnguy]

Hello another newbie question. Noticed our rear roof vent had a corner chilled off of it. I'm thinking by what I've read is that it's a 14x14 vent. What's it how is the best way to change it out without messing up side of AS with a ladder? Thanks again for all your help in advance. I'm sure there will be more questions. It's also suppose to rain today.

[pawnguy]

Landed at the camp ground tonight on our maiden voyage to find out there are things not working. I have no idea if it's just a switch or if it just doesn't work. Here's are the problems we are having.
1.) the outside outlet on the door side does not work.
2.) we cannot get the refrigerator to work. It's set on auto then after a moment it goes to Gas then does nothing.
3.) the outlet above the stove does not work.
4 since we got to the sight we tried to level the AS it looks level on the bubble level but the door is hard to shut.
5 when hooking up to sewer line after I get it connect do I just open both lines? Never had a camper the had septic. I'm clueless as you can read above. And after we are ready to go home what needs to be done... We really appreciate all the guidance. I'm sure there will be more questions to come.

[SafariSS]

Pawnguy,

I bet the outlet outdoors is not working due to a tripped gfi indoors.

In regards to the door it took me while to figure it out. You cannot put to much pressure on the stabilizing jacks, I usually start with the street side rear and work around counter clockwise. On the last jack check door closing, you do not want to rack the body just keep it from bouncing

On the fridge put it on auto, if you are plugged in to shore power it should go to AC. If no 120v then it should cycle to gas. Make sure your gas is on and I usually purge the line at the stove if she has been sitting up. On gas it will try a few times and then cycle to error.

On the hot water heater I bet you have a bad t&p valve. This valve is is supposed to start leaking water if too much pressure or heat gets generated.

Did you get any paperwork? Owners Manual etc?

[pawnguy]

Ill have a look for the GFI. it seems that most of the outlets do no work. None on the trailer walls work. The one in the upper cabinet works where the tv plugs in. Im at a camp ground that says 30amp. In the box it says 50amp which is a bigger plug, 30 amp and a 20amp. I flipped the 20amp off thinking it would make it 50 amp if they were both left on. I'm clueless as you can see. We have a few pcs of paperwork but really none that helps. The Fridge is set to auto. Once I turn it on i hit auto then after a few minutes it goes to gas. then never kicks in. We fired up the burners on the stove. Is that what you mean by Purge? Thanks for the help.

[SafariSS]

Did you check all of your breakers under the refrigerator?

Because the fridge is going to gas after trying AC tells me it does not have 120v power either.

[pawnguy]

Checked the breakers. Will check fuses today one by one. I'll ask the camp ground owner about the amount its putting out. It never shuts off after going to gas. Is it suppose to shut down? Thanks

[SafariSS]

If it stays on gas that is a good sign, if the trailer is plugged into shore power that means you are either not in auto mode or there is no 120v going to the fridge. If gas stays lit the it will stay in gas mode and not error mode. It will take a good 10-12 hrs to cool down from warm if on gas. I leave mine on going down the road and pre cool it a couple of days before leaving on a trip.

[pawnguy]

It is staying in the gas mode so far. We will just leave it on and see what happens. I checked all the fuses and they all look good. Checked the gfi in the rest room and we reset the 20amp breaker under the fridge. Still no outside power in the outlets and there are only 2-3 outlets in the camper working. Could it mean that the power is just messed up.

[SafariSS]

If it is staying in gas mode that means it is ok, just leave it on and it should begin cooling depending on how warm it is outside.

Not sure on the AC power. You need to start at the service and troubleshoot from there. Does the tv work?

[Aviator]

Be sure to level your trailer side to side buy placing blocks under your wheels. The jacks are NOT jacks, but stabilizers to keep the trailer from rocking. If you lift the trailer with them, you will bend your frame and have no end of problems. Main door difficulty in opening and closing is one sign yhat your trailer is not properly level or excessive stress is on your frame from the stabilizers.

[pawnguy]

SafariSS yes the tv is plugged into the camper top shelf storage unit above the dinette table. Also the power plug works inside the queen room next to the window curb side and the power outlet in the back bunk area. Will take it to a rv center for service to see if they can figure it out. Im sure its something simple. The camper has had very little use. Unless it was broken and not working when it was new. Thanks again for the help. Its been very useful. The fridge is working good on gas. Just odd that the fridge doesn't work on shore power. Could that be an extensive problem? Have a blessed day/night. Mark