2016 22FB Sport rear bumper?

[Boxite]

Originally Posted by Barnyard

I was told adding number to new Bambi would void warranty. Suggestion was to wait till warranty was expired.

Do you believe everything you're told?

Sooo.... how can a failed refrigerator board be denied a warranty claim based upon a bumper installation? If such things were true... then replacing a light bulb would cancel your warranty. Or upgrading tires ...or even adding air to tires...would also cancel your warranty. You better not put anyone's water but Airstream's in your fresh tank or your pump failure is on YOUR nickel.

[PatSoozy]

This FTC ruling about manufacture requirements to keep a warranty intact is certainly timely!

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/pres...ranty-coverage

I think we don't need to worry about proper installation of Airstream provided parts.

[waninae39]

WRONG warranty

make a better trailer with more safety and a warranty would be void

NO

[Barnyard]

The salesman, of course. Thank you I'll take this information with me.

[Andrew T]

Interesting fact for you. We have hundreds of customers with sports. We have installed 2 bumper kits. Yet we have never repaired body damage on the rear of a sport. Yet we repair the back ends of Airstreams with bumpers all the time. Maybe the bumper is a false sense of protection? The bumper doesn’t stop much.

[Boxite]

Originally Posted by Andrew T

Interesting fact for you. We have hundreds of customers with sports. We have installed 2 bumper kits. Yet we have never repaired body damage on the rear of a sport. Yet we repair the back ends of Airstreams with bumpers all the time. Maybe the bumper is a false sense of protection? The bumper doesn’t stop much.

How is that comment supported if you've never repaired the back end of a Sport? (bumper-equipped or not?)

The rear bumper on a Sport is not just (admittedly only slightly-so) protective, ...it's also a very handy and much-needed storage area.
It's also over-priced...which may be one reason you haven't sold/installed very many. (But proves it's a Genuine Airstream part.)

[waninae39]

i made a book with all the drawings i got from AS.

the electrical section clearly shows a bumper on the as22FB.
this drawing has a date from 2008, 10 years ago

[Barnyard]

We had AS install bumper on our 2018 22Sport. Love the extra storage for 30 amp cord.

[Barnyard]

We store our power cord and surge protector. The lift assist works just fine for us. Still have room for emergency triangles.

[Belbein]

--here goes.



First, the FTC announcement was not really on this particular issue. The FTC announcement was about the issue of whether a manufacturer can force you to use OEM by threatening that anything else voids your warranty. The answer is and has been for years: NO, YOU CAN'T DO THAT. That's not really a change, but the FTC has to repeat this ... repeatedly ... to get manufacturers to understand that the rule applies to them. [If you imagine me ranting for 15 minutes here about "new technologies" wrongly believing that the "old" rules don't apply to them, you'll save us both time.] But that's not the issue, actually.



Second: it's is pretty standard for manufacturers to void warranties when people re-engineer their products. Imagine that Southwest decided that the Boeing 737 would be better as a biplane and added another set of wings. If the airframe failed, Boeing would be right to argue that an alteration of a critical component would avoid any liability. As the previous poster said, it's ridiculous to say that a Non-OEM bumper will void the refrigerator warranty. But anything that could be affected by the new bumper on an Airstream--water infiltration into the cabin, rust on bumper-adjoining parts, wear and tear on the rear frame, etc.--the manufacturer could legitimately claim that the unauthorized addition caused this problem. I'm extremely consumer friendly, but I'd find that a pretty good argument, depending on the circumstances. (Someone said that the dealer added equipment so that can't void the warranty. Au contraire. The dealer would be liable for any damage they caused, but the manufacturer would still legitimately argue that the addition was unauthorized and any warranty relating to the damage was void.)



Third: The poster who said "make a better product you wouldn't need a warranty ... " This makes common-sense sense, but it's not actually the way economics (or law) works. Nor would you want it to if you'll think about it. The warranty is an assurance to the buyer that the manufacturer stands behind their product, in case it's not as perfect as they meant it to be when they designed it. That way, if as a buyer, I get bit by the nothing's-perfect or the it-came-off-the-assembly-line-on-a-Friday-night bug, then they'll make me whole. G-d help us if manufacturers ever start saying, "It's perfect so you don't need a warranty." It has the virtue of almost making sense, but a whole lot of consumers are going to get badly hurt when they find out that the economic realities of the market will mean that quality will get worse when manufacturers don't have to stand behind their products. The internet and all those no-customer-service and no-contact-number companies are a perfect object lesson in this. [Here let me stop and let you imagine a 15 hour history-based lecture about moral hazard and the patently wrong argument that the free market drives improved quality without the need for regulatory intervention ... and apply that saved 15 hours to the first leg of a trip towing your AS away for the weekend.]

[ChrisnPatty]

Question to those who have installed or had installed the bumper on the 22FB Sport.

Do the bolts that secure the rail extensions to the existing frame go through the galvanized skin at the rear of the trailer, OR is the skin removed, the bolts placed, and the skin re-riveted in place?

Thanks.

[Johnnyooo]

I have a 2016 Bambi sport 16’.. Had the bumper installed at the dealer who cut holes for the supports to go thru, and then caulked the space around the cut.. A small tap on the bumper is far better than hitting the body.. It’s not the strongest bumper, but it’s a little protection from hitting.. Extra storage as well.. It’s worth it...,

[waninae39]

this is our 22FB bumper install from last year

the bumber is not that hard to install

the lid is a different story. i had to make a custom hole to get a locking lid as we keep our elec chords in it now

[HankStarr]

I'm about to install the bumper kit on my '18 22' Sport FB. Seems fairly straightforward, especially with the added tips in this thread. It looks to me by eyeballing the relationship between the bottom of the tires, the bottom of the skids and the back of the trailer, that the skids would still protect the bumper from dragging - at least on hard surfaces. Anyone have experience?


Ironically, we drive all over with the trailer and the place that we are most likely to scrape is at the bottom of our driveway where it meets the road.

[davincent]

I just installed the rear bumper on my 22 Sport. I ordered and picked up the bumper kit from a AS dealer located 2 hrs from my house to save on shipping costs and sales taxes. The bumper kit was missing the instructions, screws and bolts. The dealer was clueless about the missing parts and never got back to me about them. Using Boxite’s instructions and Wanninae’s pictures, I was able to glean enough information to successfully install it, so I would like a special shout out to both of them for their informative posts. The only problem I encountered was the storage box was 1/4” longer and wouldn’t fit between the bumper brackets. I drilled out the rivets on the end cap of the box, removed the end cap, trimmed the box 1/4”, and re-installed the end cap. I’m using the bumper box to store sewer hose extensions, extra fittings and rubber gloves and I like the extra protection bumper protection when backing up.

[waninae39]

hi davincent

mine came with ZERO instructions. i had to search the web for details
i had to drill holes in the frame.
the bolts that AS supplied were not strong enough ie, they had too low a rating
went to my local supply store and they had the correct grade. i told that what i was doing and the said this grade will work
they suggested lock tite also. it comes in red and blue so get the correct one. one can be removed, the other cant.

the hardest part was the black lid as i had no details as to where the front was suppose to be. i could not find ant close up pictures
my front end is flush withe bumper edge close to the AS.
it is suppose to overlap.
whatever, its going to stay as is
i also had no details on how to install the twist latch. mine are in after a lot a finagling
also added a cylinder lock

yours looks fin in the picture.
i'm glad i added the bumper

[davincent]

Hey Waninae 39,

After reading your reply to my post, I’m go to stop whining about the lack of instructions and hardware with my bumper kit. Apparently this is the AS method of operation. I also put the edge of the lid right up against the edge of the bumper, like you did. I didn’t want to drill a hole in the bumper for a latch. I ended up using two of the water heater type spring latches to keep the lid tightly shut, not fancy, but it works. What did you use for a latch?

[HankStarr]

I bought my rear bumper kit through Colonial Airstream. It comes dropped-shipped right from Airstream. Full kit with instructions and all the parts. The instructions could be better (photos dark and fuzzy as well), but if you read them about ten times along with all the helpful comments on this thread you should be able to get there.

[ChrisnPatty]

I finally installed my rear bumper today. I suspect the kit was never intended to be a do-it-yourself kit, but was intended for dealer installation. The instructions were probably thrown together by a service technician after AS discovered the kits were being requested by home hacks. They are not very clear and downright inaccurate in spots. They do provide a framework to figure it all out.

I'd hoped to avoid the broken bolt problems other experienced, but alas, broke two of the AS supplied bolts and one Grade 8 replacement. Fortunately, I was able to extract all the broken bolts and re-tap the holes. If I were to do it again, I'd drill all the frame/frame extension holes with a 1/4 inch bit, tap them out with a 5/16-18 tap, and seat the bolts with a lock washer and threadlock. That is essentially what I ended up doing.

I also added two cam locks (matched key, weather resistant, from Grainger) to my lid instead of using the provided spring latches. My hesitancy here is that a lock might invite break-in whereas a spring latch might look less inviting. I added a little rigidity to the lid by backing it up with a piece of 1/8 inch aluminum.

The dealer estimated his work at 3-4 hours. Ended up being a day and a half for me. I'm pleased with the end result though.

[waninae39]

nice @ChrisnPatty

great idea about the latch . i wish i knew that before i drilled my holes

i like the idea of the flat place to reinforce the top panel