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[goransons]

well here's what we've had and what we have scheduled.

We have a pending service already approved by Airstream for a front hold down issue. The front is flexing around the front compartment, belt rail is loose, and corners are showing creases in the front panel under the front window. Shower door is sagging and tears sweeps, needs to be removed and have a spacer installed. Also our front AC unit has a deflection in the roof where the condensate cups are. That will get scheduled in November I think. While it's there we now there is a leak in the main door, on a bright day when the door is shut you can see light around the latch side, mid-door. We store inside so it isn't critical until it's in for the rest of the work.

Punch list, lots of trips initially for things I wanted them to take care of including misaligned doors and catches, damaged freezer door, fabric flaw in one of the night add-in cushions for beds. Adhesive on the glass. We've had two LED lights fail and have been replaced.

Step pivot bolts weren't tight and came apart in the garage, they were all in only finger tight. Thankfully nobody got hurt and I learned to check them.

The awning led strip kept pinching and pulling it off the skin. Fresh tape, and a 3m zip tie mount on the pigtail to keep it flexing mid-wire was an early modification.

Demco hitch was inspected, converter failed and had to be replaced after our 3rd campout with a non WFCO brand thankfully. No problems since.

The bathroom wall behind the toilet was only attached with 2 very short screws and started to come apart near where the bedroom curtain attaches. Put in some better screws and added a toothpick with some glue to fix the stripped out threads.

We added the gas strut (thanks to the thread on here) for the door over the refrigerator.

First time we flushed the black tank we got a handful of shiny phillips screws out the waste line which must have made it down the toilet flange during assembly.

Other projects, the plastic trim in the bedroom causes the floor to make noise as things flex walking plus it's all deformed from the screws being in way too tight at the factory. I plan to replace that with aluminum cove trim I have laying around with a foam tape against the skin to stop the rubbing.

finally, figuring out how to keep that white floor white.. lol

I guess this seems horrible to have such a list but honestly we love the trailer. Hopefully the repair this fall goes well.

[GOUSC]

My guess is that you’re probably going to find you have a front end separation issue based on your symptoms. I see you are in Washington State. If that ends up being the issue it may be something that might better be handled by Jackson Center vs the dealership.

[GettinAway]

Originally Posted by goransons

well here's what we've had and what we have scheduled.

We have a pending service already approved by Airstream for a front hold down issue. The front is flexing around the front compartment, belt rail is loose, and corners are showing creases in the front panel under the front window. Shower door is sagging and tears sweeps, needs to be removed and have a spacer installed. Also our front AC unit has a deflection in the roof where the condensate cups are. That will get scheduled in November I think. While it's there we now there is a leak in the main door, on a bright day when the door is shut you can see light around the latch side, mid-door. We store inside so it isn't critical until it's in for the rest of the work.

Punch list, lots of trips initially for things I wanted them to take care of including misaligned doors and catches, damaged freezer door, fabric flaw in one of the night add-in cushions for beds. Adhesive on the glass. We've had two LED lights fail and have been replaced.
.

Do you have pictures of these issues? Or, if you’ve already posted them in another thread, could you please provide a link. I’d like to get a better handle on what you’re seeing. If you wouldn’t mind.
Thanks

[goransons]

We have been in contact with Jackson Center and they are confident the issue is front end separation and that the Spokane, WA dealership can handle it. A Jackson Center trip just isn’t in the cards with our jobs and the distance.

Sorry I really haven’t posted or taken many pictures. Honestly most issues have been minor and more often than not the result of vendor products not Airstream directly.

Here’s a picture of the front issue

[GOUSC]

Your pictures are similar to mine, except that mine was only on one side. It's a very small dimple / separation and looks like nothing. A fellow Globetrotter owner I met a Alumapalooza had the issue and told me I did as well. I didn't believe him until I took it in for warranty work and they confirmed. I know of 3 other people with FB Twins that have the same issue.

The way JC explained it to me in my situation, there are 4 L brackets that come down vertically to secure to the body to the subfloor. 2 of the brackets did not extend to the floor due to the front compartment opening and one of the other 2 had snapped. In addition, the connection to the subfloor was only screwed to the subfloor. That left only 1 of the 4 brackets only connected. We had been travelling in some heavy rains from a hurricane and the separation also allowed water intrusion through the front. That was our first alert that something was wrong.

The fix was to extend the 2 brackets to the subfloor / use beefier L brackets that won't snap / through bolt the connections through the subfloor. No issues since then.

[GettinAway]

Hmm, I think I’ve got small dimples at the bottom corners of my front storage compartment. Anything else I can look for to confirm front end separation? I’ll get a pic.

[GettinAway]

I have the same crease. Guess I need to schedule a trip to Johnson Ctr.. (Pic Rotated, but it’s still easy to see).

[GOUSC]

Originally Posted by GettinAway

Hmm, I think I’ve got small dimples at the bottom corners of my front storage compartment. Anything else I can look for to confirm front end separation? I’ll get a pic.

Somebody more knowledgeable than I can weigh in on this. I don't think you can do this yourself but I thought I heard you can have someone get under the front compartment and have someone else stand on the rear bumper and bounce up and down a little. If there is frame separation you will see the movement of the separation in the front area.

Best way is to just have JC check it out.

[goransons]

I know that bumper test works on older models, but not sure you can see on newer ones, might take a few people to flex that. The repair sounds similar to what JC explained to me. We are having Airstream of Spokane do the repair. The dimples/creases will remain because the small cosmetic issue to us is less of an issue than the front being done with olympic rivets which we despise. The damage is more on the curb side, the crease is very minimal on the drivers side.

Our reality is that JC is almost 2300 miles one way from here. and we can't take weeks off work and spend that much on fuel etc to get it out there (not to mention repairs right now are booked into January at this point).

[GettinAway]

We bought our 2020GT in January. I’m thinking I’ve been seeing these dimples since we took it to Florida in February. Might have been there when we picked it up..

[jeffmc306]

We are taking our 2019 27’ GT to Jackson Center October 27 for a punch list of items and this is on the list. Ripples in the flooring and checking the galley sink separation is on it too.

[Lamar]

Well I need to add this separation to the list of things to have checked on my GT......

[goransons]

Update: We picked up our trailer from Airstream of Spokane (Washington) today. They are a small mom and pop style shop. I took it in just after Thanksgiving for a long list of little things plus the front hold down.

The small stuff

1. replaced a defective skylight shade.
2. raised shower door, added a spacer to keep it from dropping and installed new sweep
3. fixed a loose ground on the porch light
4. Finally solved a mystery for us, our solar controller and tank/battery monitor system showed drastically different voltages, sometimes a full volt different. It always has. Turned out the solenoid switch for turning the power on and off in the trailer was defective. Items like the fantastic fan and power awning work so much better.
5. entry door alignment adjusted

The also took care of some bigger items
1. They fixed both mounts on the AC units to eliminate the pressure the condensate cups were putting on the roof.
2. Front hold down. The short of it, it failed because the factory missed the hold down braces entirely with the inside skin rivets. They reattached everything, added metal as instructed and doubled up the inside skin and made sure the rivets hit their mark. Everything was clean and ready for us, and best of all, no olympic rivets (although we asked that they leave the existing exterior panel because we specifically didn't want the panel to have 100+ olympic rivets). That meant removing the bed and the headboard to gain access. WORTH IT in my opinion.

We have one more that the dealership couldn't solve, that we know is still an issue. The trailer since our second to last camp trip has a noticable sewer gas smell after being closed up. Now I know someone will say propane, we emptied the system and disconnected the tanks and still had the smell. It's 100% for sure black tank related. The toilet flapper hold water (at this point rv antifreeze) for days, and the traps are full as well. The sinks have P traps so I don't think it's coming out the actual drain, and no signs of leaks anywhere. At a friend's suggestion I'm going to replace the toilet flange seal and see if that helps. Any other suggestions?

Overall Airstream of Spokane was absolutely incredible!

[jeffmc306]

Thanks for posting your update with details! Now I know what to do to fix our torn shower door sweep.

I'm glad the dealer was able to repair your frame separation issue. I'm 5 hours from Jackson Center so they fixed ours in October.

How did you discover the issue with the condensate cups on the roof? Is it something you can see from the roof under the AC units?

Boy, you've hit all the obvious things to check with the sewer odor. I know Patrick from Colonial always mentions to leave the drain plug in the shower while traveling to avoid odors but that's grey tank, not black.

Thanks again for posting your update and congratulations on getting everything taken care of. Now you can enjoy that Globetrotter.
-Jeff

[goransons]

The dealer mentioned that the condensate cup kits say to add a second gasket and a second layer of foam legs on the unit (which I recall from when I put one on a trailer a few years ago) in order to give clearance for the cups to not put pressure on the roof. Airstream doesn't, in the dealer's opinion because it would make the units at least another inch to 2 inches taller. He fixes them by adding a 1/2" gasket. How I noticed it was quite simple. I was on a step ladder Walbernizing the trailer and saw the deflection in the roof. I was worried about stress in the long term, not to mention it seemed like a really easy way for water to pool and find a way in.

Yeah, it's all we can come up with on the odor as well. I'm going to try the seal after work tomorrow. Simple enough test. I'm also going to look around in cabinets and see if they utilized a one way check valve vent for any sinks that might be the issue. If black and gray share a vent that could do it as well.

Agreed on the shower plug, we leave it in except when we are using the shower just in case!

[goransons]

Sorry I didn’t find the photo before my edit option timed out. Here’s before

[link2dks]

"The also took care of some bigger items
1. They fixed both mounts on the AC units to eliminate the pressure the condensate cups were putting on the roof."

Scott

The photos below are from my 2019 27' Globetrotter. I sent the photos to Jackson Center (there were more than two)as soon as I saw the indentations on the roof a couple of months after I took delivery. All four of my A/C condensation cups (two A/C's) were resting on the roof and had indented the roof. I was told this was "normal" and that they looked at several trailers in the shop for service at the time and that "they all have that."

I was not happy with their answer but I believe the problem is a lack of structural integrity with the "new" ducted air roofs. The roof collapsed under the weight of the A/C enough to allow the condensation cups to rest on the roof.

Unfortunately I don't think adding a gasket to lift the cups farther away from the roof will solve the underlying issue of the weight of the A/C denting the new roof design that accommodates the ducting.

I plan on bringing this up again when I go back to JC before my warranty expires but I'm not sure anything can be done about it.

No one had been on this roof prior to these pictures being taken.





Dave S

[GettinAway]

We have a slight sewer odor if our GT has been closed up for a long time. It seems like it’s the fluid in the toilet leaking out. We’ve been it it now for four days (trip to AZ) no smell.
Does the odor go away while you’re camping?

[crispyboy]

I have installed air conditioners on a 1975 AS and a 1986 AS. The standard method is to use two gaskets so there is room for the condensate line between the two drip cups. I am not sure if there would be much difference unless AS did not put enough structural support in the layer of aluminum for the roof ducts.

[link2dks]

Originally Posted by crispyboy

I have installed air conditioners on a 1975 AS and a 1986 AS. The standard method is to use two gaskets so there is room for the condensate line between the two drip cups. I am not sure if there would be much difference unless AS did not put enough structural support in the layer of aluminum for the roof ducts.

I suspect inadequate structural support is the issue although I have no way of proving it. I see no other possible reason for the roof deforming right over the duct work. Hopefully Air Stream has realized this and has addressed it.

Dave S