New Airstream 396XL owner

[adonh]

Yes it has the leveling system and I do have a manual on this. The PO had all of the manuals and other documents in a big loose leaf binder and some file folders.

Originally Posted by masseyfarm

When I read your owners manual again, I see it does say your step cover is tied to the air suspension, so if it is dumped, the step would not work in this case. I find this odd, as I would have thought the step cover would be plumbed to the main chassis air, and not the suspension side.

Your owners manual does not mention a leveling system. Do you have a hydraulic level system on there Don? And do you have a book on it as it is not in the Airstream manual.
http://www.airstream.com/files/libra...9f63512971.pdf


Dave

[adonh]

The original Corian range top covers for the Bi-fold range top had what I first thought were chips along the front edge. But I found out that the damage was not actually chips in the Corian but burn damage. Apparently the Corian cover came in contact with a burner with a pot on it and burned as shown in the picture below. My first though was to order a replacement Corian cover from Airstream, but they no longer have the "Midnight" Corian tops. Next I thought I could repair or trim it up and eliminate the burned spots. In talking with Airstream they said these were attached with double sided tape and I thought they should come off fairly easy. But they were actually attached with epoxy. I had to pry them off in pieces. Since I could not find any 1/4" Midnight Corian I decided to make a "Butcher Block" type cover in 2 pieces and attach these to the range bi-fold top. It is 1/2 thick so it is not flush with the counter top but looks more like a cutting board sitting on the counter. I will not use it as a cutting board and stained and apply a satin finish poly and it looks pretty good when closed and open. It folds back just like the Corian one did and does not appear to be close enough of the burner to cause a problem. I have attached a couple pictures of the final results below

[masseyfarm]

Looks good Don. My only concern would be possible damage again from high heat with pots on the back burners. I always seem to use the back burners. After a few tests you will know if there is going to be a concern.

Now you know how to do it, it will be an easy repair the next time.

A real AIRSTREAM enthusiast would have installed folding ALUMINIUM PLATE there.

Dave

[adonh]

I am not sure how the Corian tops got burned. There seemed to be plenty of room. I have the same 3 burner cooktop in my 1976 Sovereign and and made the same type wooden covers 5 or 6 years ago and I have never burned them. So I will keep and eye on it.

Thanks

Don

[adonh]

This looks like a good product to protect the tow vehicle.

Protect-a-Tow

[masseyfarm]

Yes, I have one.

Dave

[adonh]

Great, I am going to order one. On my way to Freightliner tomorrow morning. Then later in the week will get the base plates installed on the Chevy Sonic and should be ready to tow.

Today I am going to try the satellite system with a Dish receiver from home. Where do you put the receiver. That upper cabinet over the drivers seat where all of the wires are seems to small.

[masseyfarm]

I have an older sat reciever and it fits in my cabinet above on the passenger side along with the DVD etc. All my wireing is on the passenger side. But I have no entrance door there to interfere with access.

You might even have room underneath your TV???? Is there room there?


Dave

Originally Posted by adonh

Today I am going to try the satellite system with a Dish receiver from home. Where do you put the receiver. That upper cabinet over the drivers seat where all of the wires are seems to small.

[adonh]

In looking at the compartment above the drivers seat the receiver should fit but will be close. I did not get a chance to check that today. I pulled the coach out for a little drive and filled up the fuel tank. Really a problem getting in and out of these residential type gas stations. Although the diesel pumps or on the end there is usually not a lot of room. But I got diesel so I am set for a while. Without a tow vehicle behind me I can still back up when I need to but that won't be the case when towing a car. I also stopped in a large empty parking lot and practiced back up. I will need to back in to the storage spot that I have rented when I move the coach over there in a week or so. I found this utube video that has some tips that seem to really help. Just need to practice.

RVSEF - Motorhome Backing Tips - YouTube

[adonh]

Spend all day Monday at the Houston Freightliner shop getting the chassis and systems checked out. No surprises, everything looked good. Changed oil oil and transmission fluid and serviced the Air Dryer. Tightened up the belts which all looked good. Cleaned the radiator coils and checked the coolant level. They could not find the reason that the warning light comes on "low Coolant" every now and then. The sensor was fine as well as the coolant level. The engine is not overheating so they think it could be in the information system modular. Since it comes on and off they said wait until it stays on and then they will track down the issue that is causing it. The air bag heights were fine and the tires, shocks and brakes, steering were all in line. All in all went fine. One thing that took a lot a time else was replacing a bulb in one of the side marker lights. When the new bulb was installed the light still did not work. After removing the light housing from the coach they found that the socket had corroded and and was bad. The problem is that they did not have one to match. So in the end they left the old one on and I am going to try and fine a match for a replacement. Maybe Airstream has these. I will take some pictures later today and post them.

Today I have to find a Texas Department of Public Safety Inspection station that will inspect the Airstream so that I can submit the documents to get the title and registration here in Texas. I also will need to get it weighed. The tax office will not take the weight on the FL title or listed on the coach.

[masseyfarm]

Good deal Don.
Try to have the unit empty of water and waste for the weigh scale. This will give you confirmation as to what your carrying capacity is. Sometime later, while traveling with a full load then, you can weight it again so see how much stuff you are carrying.

I think you have the same side lamps as the Clipper and Cutter of the late 90'. Look on previous threads for some info. I will try to do a search later also.

This should be it here.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f313...ml#post1265630


Try to get the LED as they will last forever.
These are the LED.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Red-3-Ambe...5761b7&vxp=mtr




Dave

Originally Posted by adonh

Today I have to find a Texas Department of Public Safety Inspection station that will inspect the Airstream so that I can submit the documents to get the title and registration here in Texas. I also will need to get it weighed. The tax office will not take the weight on the FL title or listed on the coach.

[Tony Lee]

I can only park for a short period in my drive way but this will give me time to load and unload after trips.

Ditto on think it over before bothering.

We have spent about 10 weeks in Mexico and the "normal" offering in many RV parks away from where the snowbirds lie around all winter is a standard 15 amp domestic outlet nailed to a wall or to a tree. My 36' survives quite happily on that and we can have the charger running plus one roof aircon on as well. Need the microwave, just turn off the aircon for a while

[adonh]

Originally Posted by adonh

Thanks Dave, I am calling my local Freightliner shop Monday morning. I will check the Cat model tomorrow.

Here is another little fix that I need to look in to. The coach rides great, Me and my friend were able to track down a few little rattles and squeaks along the way and fix them so it is pretty quite. Except what sounds to be under the drivers dash/instrument panel. On smooth roads it is only a small squeak,like rubber on rubber, not a wind noise. But on a rougher road its like 2 squirrels fighting. I crawled under there today with a flash light and see a lot of wires and stuff but nothing that I could see that would do this. Any thoughts.

Thanks

Don

After riding around Houston for the last few days taking care of the Freightliner inspection and getting it inspected and weighted I have had more time to lessen to this squeak and try to determine where it comes from. my hearing is not the best and I have trouble telling where sounds come from. Although it sounds like it is coming from the dash area on the drivers side it could be coming from the slide out just behind the drivers seat. I am going to try applying some silicone.

[adonh]

Still can't find that squeak. But I have the new Bluetooth, Sirius XM radio working so at least I can turn up the sound so I don't hear the squeak. I did find out when I was having the radio installed that by loosening the screws in the dash board itself you can carefully open it up a little to see under the dash and maybe fine what is squeaking. I may try that this weekend.

Question the coach has speakers up front in the driver/passenger area, 2 in the kitchen area and 2 under the cabinet over the head of the bed. The volume is controlled from the radio as far as I can see. Are there separate volume controls somewhere in the bedroom for the 2 speakers over the bed. There is a volume control panel by the bed but it appears to be for the CD changer only and there are 2 small speakers under the cabinet over the bed that are not connected to the radio.

Thanks

Don

[masseyfarm]

Your radio I am sure is more modern than mine Don. My speakers are controlled by the radio and the equalizer located just below the radio. I can have radio sound in the front or just the back. Have you explored all your radio menu for options?
Find your radio model and there should be a manual available on line.

Dave

Originally Posted by adonh

Question the coach has speakers up front in the driver/passenger area, 2 in the kitchen area and 2 under the cabinet over the head of the bed. The volume is controlled from the radio as far as I can see. Are there separate volume controls somewhere in the bedroom for the 2 speakers over the bed. There is a volume control panel by the bed but it appears to be for the CD changer only and there are 2 small speakers under the cabinet over the bed that are not connected to the radio.

Thanks

Don

[adonh]

I can control the rear volume with the fade control from the radio. But was hoping there would be a separate rear volume control knob in the bedroom for the two speakers there.

In an earlier post I mention the Wingard Satellite power switch. I thought I had found it but it was the power switch for the "Jack" over air TV antenna. The Wingard satellite power switch is a rocker type switch that must be provided by Wingard. I order one with a wall plate and other hardware for about $10. I did find the power wires from the satellite and the 12v power wires from the coach and for some reason the Wingard switch had been taken out. Hope to have this up and operating next week.

[adonh]

After convincing my wife to trade her Mercury Sable for a 2013 Chevy Sonic my neighbor virtually gave me a Hitchmaster/Stowmaster tow bar that he had only used a few times, its like new. Other than the fact that the Stowmaster stays with the car not the motor home when not it use it should work fine. The next step was finding someone to install the Hitchmaster base plate brackets designed for the Sonic. After trying a few places I found "Master Hitch" here in Houston to order and install the brackets. They are due to arrive tomorrow morning. I measured the receiver on the Coach and it is 26" from the group to the middle of of the 2" receiver. The brackets on thye Sonic will be about 14" from the ground. So that would be a 11" drop to attached the ow bar in a level position. From what I read the same zone for off level is no more than 3". Is that correct.

Thanks

[JourneytoRet]

you and I are having a ball with our "new" MHs, I can see from the threads. we have a 2000 clipper and I just changed the low beams (4-light system) to a set of aftermarket lens with the halo addition. my kids say it's cool beans. and I finally figured out what cable and button combinations connect my winegard hd tv antenna to the front and rear tvs. what a headache that was! now if I could only figure out how to the get motosat to lock in a sat and send a signal to both tvs...

[adonh]

As I am getting ready to have the tow bar brackets installed on the Chevy Sonic early this week I am looking in to braking devices for the towed car. At an Airstream rally this weekend a few of the other Airstream Class A owners were looking over the new coach. We found this devise installed in the storage compartment where the Inverter is installed in the back curb side compartment. It appears to be an air boaster of some sort that looks like it connects to the coach and then has a line running to the back of the coach with a connection type fitting installed right by the 7 pin connector. A couple of the guys have M&G Air Brake system installed on their tow car that in turn hooks up to the coach air brake system. The connection at the back of the coach is similar by not the devise in the rear compartment. The feeling was that it is some type of a tow car braking connection but no clue to what it is. Any thoughts. Thanks





M & G Engineering - Car Braking Systems: Home Page

[masseyfarm]

I can not ID that item installed in your coach. Don't know why it would be there. If it was a pressure control valve, it should not require a small reservoir tank? If it was a breakaway control, it should be installed on the toad.

Has it got any electrical connection to it? Maybe for independent braking of the toad via the electric brake control on the dash?

Lots of reading here.
RV.Net Open Roads Forum: Dinghy Towing: Supplemental Brake Systems - update 8/7/06

My toad Air Brakes are proportional direct from the Chassis Brake System.

Dave