2022 30 ft bunk Airstream Connected prewire connected location

[mrhankuk]

Can someone point me in the direction of where the Airstream connected prewire location comes into the trailer on a 2022 30 ft Flying Cloud Bunk? I know there is the plug on top for the antenna to be installed and I’ve looked behind the radio/DVD player and I’m not finding the wires there. Thanks.

[Bobbo]

Are you talking about a satellite antenna prewire?

[mrhankuk]

No. In the new models they are wired for a Pepwave modem that can be installed at the dealer. There is a small plug on the roof that once removed will get access to the wires for the roof antenna. I can’t find where they terminate inside.

[Bobbo]

A call to the mothership may be in order. Airstream is very responsive. I have never even HEARD of Pepwave, and judging by the lack of other responses, I may not be alone.

[Colossus]

Op, search for this thread “Our poynting / pepwave set up using AS Prewire”. They have a 2021 GT that they’ve installed a pepwave using factory prewire. Their GT is a FB and the prewire terminated in the front bedroom cabinet, so your FBB prewire may terminate in the front bedroom cabinet as well.
I’ll be interested to know if it does as I have a FBB on order and plan to do the same install.

[Colossus]

Originally Posted by mrhankuk

Can someone point me in the direction of where the Airstream connected prewire location comes into the trailer on a 2022 30 ft Flying Cloud Bunk? I know there is the plug on top for the antenna to be installed and I’ve looked behind the radio/DVD player and I’m not finding the wires there. Thanks.

See above post^^

[s1000pre]

Originally Posted by mrhankuk

Can someone point me in the direction of where the Airstream connected prewire location comes into the trailer on a 2022 30 ft Flying Cloud Bunk? I know there is the plug on top for the antenna to be installed and I’ve looked behind the radio/DVD player and I’m not finding the wires there. Thanks.

I just sent you a PM to give me a call. You can install the 7 in 1 by using the existing pre-wire to pull the wires on the 7 in 1 into your front left wardrobe. I just did this on my 2021 30 bunk two weeks ago.

[alexair22]

Originally Posted by s1000pre

I just sent you a PM to give me a call. You can install the 7 in 1 by using the existing pre-wire to pull the wires on the 7 in 1 into your front left wardrobe. I just did this on my 2021 30 bunk two weeks ago.

Hi there! We have a 2022 30' Flying Cloud Bunk. We have hit a snag (literally) pulling the 7-in-1 wires from the roof. We attached our new 7-in-1 to the 5-in-1 wires, assuming we would easily be able to pull the bundle through from the roof into the mini "closet" to the left of the overhead locker in the front, then through the grommet that leads into the left overhead locker. However, we got to a point where the wires will not pull any further. I reached my hand up through the ceiling speaker opening and could feel the mesh sheath containing the wires there, but it appears the mesh sheath goes through a collar in one of the roof "ribs" and it's quite snug. I believe this is the point where our new cables are stuck and we can't advance.

I've heard other folks may have had success pulling one wire through at a time, and then attach two wires to wire 4 & 5 since there are 7 new ones and only 5 old ones. How did you pull them through?

Thank you so much!

[jondrew55]

There are a ton of borescopes/endoscopes on amazon for under $50. It's one of those tools that really comes in handy for jobs like this. It saved me from cutting another hole in my drywall when installing ceiling lights. It also helped me find a dead mouse in one of my motorhomes. This is not the one I have, but it's similar.

https://www.amazon.com/DEPSTECH-Indu...2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

Originally Posted by alexair22

Hi there! We have a 2022 30' Flying Cloud Bunk. We have hit a snag (literally) pulling the 7-in-1 wires from the roof. We attached our new 7-in-1 to the 5-in-1 wires, assuming we would easily be able to pull the bundle through from the roof into the mini "closet" to the left of the overhead locker in the front, then through the grommet that leads into the left overhead locker. However, we got to a point where the wires will not pull any further. I reached my hand up through the ceiling speaker opening and could feel the mesh sheath containing the wires there, but it appears the mesh sheath goes through a collar in one of the roof "ribs" and it's quite snug. I believe this is the point where our new cables are stuck and we can't advance.

I've heard other folks may have had success pulling one wire through at a time, and then attach two wires to wire 4 & 5 since there are 7 new ones and only 5 old ones. How did you pull them through?

Thank you so much!

[s1000pre]

Originally Posted by alexair22

Hi there! We have a 2022 30' Flying Cloud Bunk. We have hit a snag (literally) pulling the 7-in-1 wires from the roof. We attached our new 7-in-1 to the 5-in-1 wires, assuming we would easily be able to pull the bundle through from the roof into the mini "closet" to the left of the overhead locker in the front, then through the grommet that leads into the left overhead locker. However, we got to a point where the wires will not pull any further. I reached my hand up through the ceiling speaker opening and could feel the mesh sheath containing the wires there, but it appears the mesh sheath goes through a collar in one of the roof "ribs" and it's quite snug. I believe this is the point where our new cables are stuck and we can't advance.

I've heard other folks may have had success pulling one wire through at a time, and then attach two wires to wire 4 & 5 since there are 7 new ones and only 5 old ones. How did you pull them through?

Thank you so much!

You need to pull one at a time and the first wire can be a bear. Be sure to use plenty of wire lube, wire lube is the key. By the time you pull the third wire it will get much easier. Your OEM harness is 5 wires not 7. So you will be pulling 2 wires with the last two wires being pulled. Hope that makes sense. If you need help send me a private message and I'll send you my cell #.

[alexair22]

Hello everyone,

Thank you all for the encouragement and ideas.

We were able to pull all 7 wires through. It took several hours and lots of fiddling. The keys were: 1. pull one wire at a time (or 2 in the end) by "connecting" to one of the wires in the 5:1 preinstall. 2. you might need to get rid of the SMA caps and replace once you get through. For us we lost a cap pulling through one of the wires so we found this out accidentally. 3. we connected the existing wires to the new wires using LOTS of electrician tape and tried to make a smooth, gradually tapered (rather than bulge right where the 2nd wire or connectors meet. 4. We lost some of the mesh bundle sheath. That seemed ok. Maybe made it easier, maybe harder? 5. Lots of lubrication. 6. We were able to take off one of the speakers and the sheath ran past it. That let us jiggle the bundle or the new wire we were pulling to make it easier.

Bottom line - this CAN be done. But, it is pretty difficult.

Thanks everyone!

[alexair22]

Oh yeah, one more thing - Airstream was NOT helpful at all. They said you can't do it. You need to take the inside panel off and you need to go to a dealer to do it or you will void your warranty.

[Colossus]

Awesome work, glad you were able to get it done.
It would’ve been nice if the Mothership would’ve been more helpful. I find it very hard to believe that a dealership would’ve removed a panel for that installation.

[ASMichel]

Originally Posted by alexair22

Bottom line - this CAN be done. But, it is pretty difficult.

what if I tried to pull only the 2 additional cables for the cellular by pulling 2 with each existing cellular cable (thus matching the 4 cables for LTE/5G an leaving the 2 wifi and GPS in place)
would that make it easier or just the same?

Also when you say 'remove the caps' what do you mean? cut off the SMA connectors or just remove the plastic caps that usually cover the connectors?

Michel

[Ericncsu1204]

Originally Posted by alexair22

Hello everyone,

Thank you all for the encouragement and ideas.

We were able to pull all 7 wires through. It took several hours and lots of fiddling. The keys were: 1. pull one wire at a time (or 2 in the end) by "connecting" to one of the wires in the 5:1 preinstall. 2. you might need to get rid of the SMA caps and replace once you get through. For us we lost a cap pulling through one of the wires so we found this out accidentally. 3. we connected the existing wires to the new wires using LOTS of electrician tape and tried to make a smooth, gradually tapered (rather than bulge right where the 2nd wire or connectors meet. 4. We lost some of the mesh bundle sheath. That seemed ok. Maybe made it easier, maybe harder? 5. Lots of lubrication. 6. We were able to take off one of the speakers and the sheath ran past it. That let us jiggle the bundle or the new wire we were pulling to make it easier.

Bottom line - this CAN be done. But, it is pretty difficult.

Thanks everyone!

Which 30' model do you all have? We have the 30FBB and I about to tackle this next weekend (installing 7 in 1 antenna).

[alexair22]

Hi there. We have a 2022 30' Flying Cloud Bunk.

[Renagade69]

Originally Posted by ASMichel

what if I tried to pull only the 2 additional cables for the cellular by pulling 2 with each existing cellular cable (thus matching the 4 cables for LTE/5G an leaving the 2 wifi and GPS in place)
would that make it easier or just the same?

Also when you say 'remove the caps' what do you mean? cut off the SMA connectors or just remove the plastic caps that usually cover the connectors?

Michel

I just did this. I pulled the 5-wire bundle 4 ft out of the roof. I then taped two additional wires 3 inches apart so both were not going through at the same time. I was able to get them in the speaker cavity easily. It did take some back and forth with two people. If it got stuck the person on the roof pulled back and then immediately pulled forward. We then pulled into speaker area and un-taped them. Pulled the rest of the way from there.

[JeffKim]

We have Starlink, it works great, but alas we tend to camp where there's trees resulting in connection issues, so I've just started looking into installing the cell antenna and router as a backup. So naive question: Why a 7-wire antenna instead of the 5-wire? I assume this requires a router that supports 4 cellular inputs (Pepwave MAX BR1 Pro)? Or is there a solution for a router with 2 inputs (much cheaper)? (For reference, our 2023 GT has the 5-wire as well.)

[JeffKim]

I bit the bullet and got the Pepwave 42G and pulled the wires through. Thanks to the postings here at least for our 2023 25' GT it wasn't too bad using the one-at-a-time method and 2 at the end and kudos to the SO on the other end. The hardest part was getting the AS Connect cap off. I didn't realize it had 4 screws hidden under the Dicor so it basically got ripped off. Also, the bundle was heat wrapped at the beginning and end, so this needs to be cut off.

The only hitch is that the connector ends pulled off a couple of wires. I can put them back together but they don't stay together very well. The connectors don't appear to be crimped, so not sure what I need to do. I can put them back and secure with heat tubing, but seems kludgy. Any ideas? I contacted Pepwave and waiting on their solution.

[JeffKim]

Originally Posted by JeffKim

We have Starlink, it works great, but alas we tend to camp where there's trees resulting in connection issues, so I've just started looking into installing the cell antenna and router as a backup. So naive question: Why a 7-wire antenna instead of the 5-wire? I assume this requires a router that supports 4 cellular inputs (Pepwave MAX BR1 Pro)? Or is there a solution for a router with 2 inputs (much cheaper)? (For reference, our 2023 GT has the 5-wire as well.)

Poor, uneducated Jeff from a week or so ago. Enlightened future Jeff is here. Yes, need 7-wire with a 4x4 modem/router which has much better gain than 2x2. Wi-Fi connections are RP-SMA and antenna are SMA, so not interchangeable. Also, it's two-way so the Wi-Fi signal is received and broadcast from the roof, so need either to disconnect the Wi-Fi antenna and use the panel antennas on the modem (no camp Wi-Fi) or get an access point.

Future Jeff opted for the Mo-Fi 5G router which arrives this week. It doesn't appear to be as bullet proof as Peplink, but it's our secondary connection and a lot cheaper as well as future-proof. Since I'm using Starlink as the primary connection, I opted to try Google Fi (T-Mobile) as the cell carrier at least for the time being. It's the only one I can find that has a pay for data plan that was pretty simple to sign up for. Future, future Jeff might have more to say.