What should I order if purchasing new.

[missysanford]

I am looking at replacing my 1994 Excella with the 28 footer with back bedroom. We have dogs so I think the leather is a must. Probably will go with the Serenity series. What recommendations does everyone have? We pull with a Ford F350.

[kscherzi]

I have a 27FB Serenity on order, due here in a couple weeks. I opted to include the microwave and street side awning. The awning is cheap when new, but expensive to add later. The leather too, same reason, dogs. I now wish I had also added in the inverter option, mainly because the extra wiring that included during construction. I think adding that later will be a lot of hard work.

[Jim Flower]

Originally Posted by missysanford

I am looking at replacing my 1994 Excella with the 28 footer with back bedroom. We have dogs so I think the leather is a must. Probably will go with the Serenity series. What recommendations does everyone have? We pull with a Ford F350.

F350, bigger trailer. 16" wheels and LT tires,awning package, solar by AM Solar including 2000 watt inverter and 4 AGM batteries, have the inverter wired into your ac system, perhaps a second air if you are going to be on the desert, perhaps an auxiliary electric heater if you are going to spend time in Canada or Alaska, maybe a generator if you are going to be in Washington, Oregon , or BC. Maybe a big pot for lobster if you are going to Maine. A mirror for the head. You will end up with a long list of stuff where the decider will be determined only by the thickness of your wallet. I am getting confused by my own wish list. The serenity has a beautiful, airy, calm environment. Feels refreshing. The plexi over the upper cupboards hide the junk that is stored there better than the overheads on the Signature.

[Jim Clark]

I pull my 28 Serenity with a Ecoboost F-150 so a 350 may be overkill and be to stiff for the trailer, the 28 has a heavy tongue weight so may be ok. We added the bike rack, and a extra sewer hose carrier, had the curtains swapped for day night shades. We have dogs and like the Ultra Leather. If ordering i would add rear and street side awnings. Enjoy.

[missysanford]

Great info. I am in SW Missouri but I field trial dogs all winter, which means our F 350 actually has a dog bed. We have 7 dogs right now. That said, we spend many a cold, snowy week dry camping around the Midwest NE, CO, MN, ND, KS etc. Our Airstream is the tops when watching others around me with hair dryers trying to unfreeze their trailers. Keep the info coming-- you all are the tops at getting the best information.

[moosetags]

The 28 is a great choice. If I were ordering a new Airstream today, I would have the skylight deleted. Lucy's skylight has been blocked with insulation since new, and has leaked several times. We found out early on that the Skylight defeated the air conditioner in warm weather. Once we blocked it with insulation, the air conditioner worked great.

Brian

[murreywalker]

Ultraleather for sure. Plus Inverter and additional awnings.

If I were ordering a 28, I would seriously consider a 13,500 BTU A/C to help the 15,000. It gets hot enough in SW Missouri for the additional cooling capacity.

Don't know about the older skylights, but the new have shades.

[switz]

I had the dealer install rear and street side ZipDee awnings, Centramatics wheel balancers, and a 150 Watt solar panel with controller. He also a installed a HDMI cross over switch so the Dish television TailGater signal (serves only one TV at a time) and factory installed DVD player signals can be switched between the two factory installed TVs.

I would order the 16" Michelin tire conversion and have great tires from the get-go.

[moosetags]

I would also absolutely go with the 16" Michelins. The stock Marathons are not very good tires.

Brian

[dkrug]

We bought our 30' Serenity off the lot. If I were going to do it over I would order the street side awnings and delete the micro/convection combo and go with the gas stove. I would also eliminate one of the A/C units in favor of another Fantastic fan. In the 10-11 years we have owned an Airstream we have only used A/C twice. Once in Texas and once last year in Michigan.
We usually travel with 2 dogs and a parrot and we love having the ultra leather. Super easy to clean.
We are thinking about adding solar.

[daveswenson]

I'm in the other camp for the oven. We replaced the gas oven with the micro convection, and love it.

[gandttimes]

We just ordered the 2014 25ft FB International. We ordered the awnings as we had them on our 20 ft and I wouldn't be without them now and leather because of dogs.We also got the inverter, which is now a 1000watt on all the 2014's , and a dealer installed 180 watt solar. Didn't have a choice re the TV's as they are both standard now and are 28 in. We stuck with the oven as we like to boondock and not use our generator unless it's an emergency.
We are very excited!
George

[dkrug]

Originally Posted by daveswenson

I'm in the other camp for the oven. We replaced the gas oven with the micro convection, and love it.

Dave, we mostly camp where there is no electricity. Micro/convection won't work

[Drathaar]

Here's another vote for solar. Go with at least 150 watts. Be aware that some dealers charge 2 or 3 times what it should. Shop around for reference prices. Last I checked, it should be about $3/watt for the panel.

[missysanford]

So more questions. Why the bigger wheels? 16 over 15? Tell me the difference.

[missysanford]

Also, what is the point of the solar charger and inverter?

[DKB_SATX]

16" wheels give you a better tire selection, it's tough to get a high-quality tire that offers more than about 2000 lb/tire load capacity in a 15".

A solar charger keeps the batteries quietly charged anytime there's sun shining on the panels, and the inverter lets you run certain 120v accessories (TVs, for example) from the batteries. If you know with certainty that you never camp without electrical hookups, it doesn't buy you anything but it makes the trailer more adaptable to different styles of camping.

[Jim Flower]

The addition of Solar to your Airstream just provides a few more camping and storage options. I can run everything except the
Air conditioner and since I live in the frozen north, that's not a big deal. I never need shore power since the solar system maintains the 4 AGM batteries all year. I now consider Solar a necessity, like a computer. Of course, you really don't need this stuff, but.......

[missysanford]

I'm keeping on this solar thing. We charge from tow vehicle pretty quickly. I like the idea of solar, I just don't know if it is worth it. It seems everyone loves it. Why?

[missysanford]

We also love our twin beds. Really, the International doesn't have this option?