New Oasis 25BH on order

[roadmaven]

As we await the arrival of our Oasis 25BH in about a month, just thought I'd check in with other Oasis owners to see which floor plan you have and what your overall thoughts are. I've been doing a bunch of research on all these new things I'll need for towing a 28' trailer that I didn't need with my 15' Scotty: weight distribution hitches, tow mirrors, leveling blocks...all sorts of research that keeps one's head spinning!

[warno]

As the Shasta forum seems sparse to say the least, I will chime in here.
We bought a Shasta Oasis 31OK and are for the most part very sastisfied with our purchase.
You have to realize that a Shasta Oasis is not a top of the line luxury RV and is priced as such. But they have everything you need to camp with ease. And if you're even a bit handy, you can add a lot of those "luxury" items and still be way under the cost of pricier units.
We've only owned ours for one season but everything has performed well as far as appliances, slide, awning etc. The few things that we had problems with were promptly fixed by our dealer.

Here are a few of the mods I've done or plan to do this year that were not included on our trailer. These things are not necessary but do add a little something:

- no led awning strip light.
I added an led strip light under the awning rail. It has a remote and multiple color choices. Much better than the standard single color. We've had a ton of compliments on these. Cost about $25. Fairly simple to install.

- no power tongue jack
I only had a crank style tongue jack but found a decent one for about $130. Didn't need one but it sure makes hitching and unhitching a lot easier! Easy to install.
- no large grab handle on entry door
Many units have the large fold out grab handle to make it easier and safer to climb the stairs in and out of the trailer, but the Oasis trailer only have a small fixed handle. Bought the nice swing out handle for about $40. Install was simple. I didn't really need one but it makes it a lot easier for young kids to climb the stairs.

- no power stabilizer jacks
I just had the standard crank down style scissor jacks. It took a lot of cranking to extend all four jacks. Solution? Camco makes a bit that attaches to a cordless drill and fits the jack bolt head. Now I can extand all the jacks in about a minute. Cost, under $10.

- under the bed storage lid
There is a flip open lid on the queen bed to access under storage as well as pass thru storage. The problem is that the lid is heavy and it is difficult to put in bulky items and hold up the lid. A lot of more expensive units have gas shocks to hold the lid up. Well, you can find those same gas shocks at a lot of places for not a lot of money. Install is fairly easy and now I can open the lid, have it stay and close it with one finger. Cost was about $40.

- Upward opening cabinets stays.
I have five upward opening cabinets in my trailer. So when I want to get something I have to hold open with one hand and fish out the item with the other. Not a big deal but I saw that some other trailers had spring loaded arms to hold the cabinets open. I got some from campingworld for about $5 for a set of two. Really inexpensive, and work well.

- no stereo or outside or inside speakers
Running speakers and such after the fact is no easy task. I rarely listen to terrestrial radio while camping and I have an outside kitchen so I installed my Sirius radio and ran my antenna from there. I had two wireless speakers that I paired to the Sirius radio. I have one speaker in the outside kitchen and one in the trailer. They work really well and I can move them to wherever I want if I so choose. I can also plug in an mp3 player or smartphone. Cost was $0 as I had all the components already.

- no black tank flush
You can add a black tank flush but a simpler solution that works for me is the Camco dual flush adaptor. It is clear and goes between your sewer hose and your tanks. You attach a garden hose to the side so you can flush out your tanks when done dumping and it's clear so you can see when things are really fully flushed out. Cost is about $20.

And I'm sure I'll be doing more mods, not because our Oasis is lacking but just because I enjoy doing it!

Overall, we are super happy with our purchase. It performs well, is super functional, has lots of space for our family, tows great, and the price was right.
So while you might be sacrificing a few options, they are things you can easily add on and still be saving thousands from stepping up to a more high-end model.
Where we live in Canada, we can only use our trailer for about 4 months out of the year so it was tough to justify spending $30,000 or more.

If you have any other questions, I will do my best to answer them.
Happy Camping!

[Super Thirty]

We have a 26RL Oasis. We purchased it new last year for exactly the reasons Warno provided. We have had a few minor issues that the dealer has dealt with and overall we have really enjoyed our travel trailer. A lot of the mods that were described are ones that he identified and we will be addressing those too. One of the most annoying things for us were the upward opening cabinet doors so that will be one of the first things come spring that will be done. I haven't been able to find the spring loaded hinges but now have another place to try.


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[warno]

Originally Posted by Super Thirty

We have a 26RL Oasis. We purchased it new last year for exactly the reasons Warno provided. We have had a few minor issues that the dealer has dealt with and overall we have really enjoyed our travel trailer. A lot of the mods that were described are ones that he identified and we will be addressing those too. One of the most annoying things for us were the upward opening cabinet doors so that will be one of the first things come spring that will be done. I haven't been able to find the spring loaded hinges but now have another place to try.


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Camping world sells the plastic and metal cabinet stays. I got the metal ones as reviews said they were more durable but either should work. And the price is very reasonable compared to similar items at Home Depot.

[Super Thirty]

Camping world sells the plastic and metal cabinet stays. I got the metal ones as reviews said they were more durable but either should work. And the price is very reasonable compared to similar items at Home Depot.

Thanks for the tip. Do they come in different sizes or one size fits all?


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[warno]

Originally Posted by Super Thirty

Camping world sells the plastic and metal cabinet stays. I got the metal ones as reviews said they were more durable but either should work. And the price is very reasonable compared to similar items at Home Depot.

Thanks for the tip. Do they come in different sizes or one size fits all?


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Pretty sure they are one sized fits all. But you can vary where you mount them on the cabinet or use two for a larger cabinet.

[Super Thirty]

Excellent. Thank you


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[roadmaven]

Thanks for all the great ideas! I do like the LED light strip idea. Where did you pick up yours? As for some of the other power items, I went with the manual tongue jack since that's one less thing that'll break. About the only power option I went with was the awning. I know the cabinet doors will be something we'll want to address, as it sounds they're the same as our Scotty was, which were rather cumbersome at times.

One thing we plan on doing is dressing up the kitchen a bit. We found some tiles called Smart Tiles through Home Depot that we'll install on the outside wall in the kitchen area. My wife got a pic of a 25BH and created a little before & after of it using Photoshop:



One thing we were able to get with the deal for a small amount of $$ was to have the aluminum rims that come on the Flyte put on it instead of the generic white wheels. My wife PhotoShopped the rims onto a 25BH Oasis and it dresses it up quite well. Just for fun, I had her put on Shasta wings on it. I may look into that...but that'll be after the warranty is up!

[Super Thirty]

The one thing I did last year was put a TV in to entertain the grandson on rainy days. Didn't get much use but worked well when we needed it. All this modification discussion reminded me that I am going to switch out my 20lb propane tanks for 30's. Not having an electric water heater means a little more propane usage. Really noticed it in September when the furnace ran. Just need to get a longer fastener rod because the 30's area bit taller. Will add a little extra weight to the tongue but should be negligible.


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[Super Thirty]

My wife just reminded me that I installed a stove top cover last summer and ordered some sink covers that will give us some more counter space. Is it spring yet?? Lol


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[warno]

Originally Posted by roadmaven

Thanks for all the great ideas! I do like the LED light strip idea. Where did you pick up yours? As for some of the other power items, I went with the manual tongue jack since that's one less thing that'll break. About the only power option I went with was the awning. I know the cabinet doors will be something we'll want to address, as it sounds they're the same as our Scotty was, which were rather cumbersome at times.

One thing we plan on doing is dressing up the kitchen a bit. We found some tiles called Smart Tiles through Home Depot that we'll install on the outside wall in the kitchen area. My wife got a pic of a 25BH and created a little before & after of it using Photoshop:



One thing we were able to get with the deal for a small amount of $$ was to have the aluminum rims that come on the Flyte put on it instead of the generic white wheels. My wife PhotoShopped the rims onto a 25BH Oasis and it dresses it up quite well. Just for fun, I had her put on Shasta wings on it. I may look into that...but that'll be after the warranty is up!

The tiles are a good idea and the rims look great!

You can find the led strip lights all over ebay.
Cost about 25 bucks. Make sure you get waterproof ones 5050 leds and 300 lights per strand. You can either hook them up directly to your 12v or get a 110v adaptor and plug into a standard ac outlet.

[warno]

Originally Posted by Super Thirty

The one thing I did last year was put a TV in to entertain the grandson on rainy days. Didn't get much use but worked well when we needed it. All this modification discussion reminded me that I am going to switch out my 20lb propane tanks for 30's. Not having an electric water heater means a little more propane usage. Really noticed it in September when the furnace ran. Just need to get a longer fastener rod because the 30's area bit taller. Will add a little extra weight to the tongue but should be negligible.


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I have the 20lb tanks and they have been more than adequate but I don't do a lot of fall camping. Plus it must be a little cooler up in Laronge so the 30s could come in handy!

Originally Posted by Super Thirty

My wife just reminded me that I installed a stove top cover last summer and ordered some sink covers that will give us some more counter space. Is it spring yet?? Lol


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I've definitely been considering a stove cover.
We got sink covers included with our purchase and they sure help out with adding a bit of counter space.
I'm getting spring fever too and it's not even March!

[campdad7]

We bought a 30qb just about a year ago. We've been out in it about 6 times so far, anywhere from 2 nights to a week. We've enjoyed it a great deal, just like some of the other comments have stated, it's had a few minor issues to address with the warranty and a few customizations. We've upgraded the shower and reinforced the supports under the lower bunk beds. We have two teenage boys and a large dog that go with us, if one can't destroy it, the other two will, lol. A couple of upcoming customizations for us are the larger handrail mentioned in an earlier post and a different tv mount that will swivel. We went cheap on the mount when we originally purchased the camper and now wish we would have just went ahead and paid more for the swivel. Being newbies, we didn't pay much attention to the size of the gray water tank and thought the tank sounded like it was a good size. Unfortunately one spot we camp each year for 6 nights only has electric and that makes for a long stretch on that tank. Guess we'll be looking at some of those portable tanks to empty it soon enough.

[Super Thirty]

Originally Posted by campdad7

We bought a 30qb just about a year ago. We've been out in it about 6 times so far, anywhere from 2 nights to a week. We've enjoyed it a great deal, just like some of the other comments have stated, it's had a few minor issues to address with the warranty and a few customizations. We've upgraded the shower and reinforced the supports under the lower bunk beds. We have two teenage boys and a large dog that go with us, if one can't destroy it, the other two will, lol. A couple of upcoming customizations for us are the larger handrail mentioned in an earlier post and a different tv mount that will swivel. We went cheap on the mount when we originally purchased the camper and now wish we would have just went ahead and paid more for the swivel. Being newbies, we didn't pay much attention to the size of the gray water tank and thought the tank sounded like it was a good size. Unfortunately one spot we camp each year for 6 nights only has electric and that makes for a long stretch on that tank. Guess we'll be looking at some of those portable tanks to empty it soon enough.

Many grey tanks are smaller. We have a 25RL and we camp primarily where it's electrical only and when we have our grandchildren with us the grey water fills quickly. I have a tote for emptying the grey/black tanks but depending on the distance to the dumpsite that gets old too. If it is just the two of us we get 6 days easily but as soon as we add people that number starts dropping. We try to minimize the use of the grey water capacity by doing dishes once a day etc. but with more people it's difficult. Our black tank is seldom used in that campsite because there are a number toilets around the campground. Sometimes I wish our tank was larger but we have camped where the dumpsite is a long ways away and that's a lot of additional weight to tow so I guess it's one of those trade offs when camping with a travel trailer or 5th wheel. We got snow again yesterday so the camping season is inching closer but not quickly enough for me.


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[campdad7]

Never thought about waiting to do the dishes once a day. I was always more focused on trying to keep showers down to a bare minimum. DW never seems to like the campground showers but the boys and myself try to always use them. Being 6'4, the trailer shower will fit for me, but I can almost do a roof inspection while I'm in there, so not the most comfortable of accommodations. It got near freezing last night here too but no snow. I'm hopeful we can go for our first trip to Branson within a month. That will be my first dewinterizing, does anyone happen to have a checklist for that?

[vinmaker]

Those portable tanks are a great investment. You never quite know when you are going to need it.

Vin.

[warno]

When going for 4 days or less, I never bring the sewer tote, but for anything longer than that I always pack it. We have 2 kids and they aren't always as conscious of water use as the adults. You never want to be stuck somewhere with full tanks and no way to empty except hooking up and driving your tt to the dump station

Sewer dump is never that far away, and if I make a couple trips with the tote it empties most of the black and grey. For me it's just a part of camping.

[roadmaven]

After a long 10 weeks, our Oasis 25BH is now in the hands of our dealer! We took a look at it yesterday and pick it up this Monday. Looks like it's going to give us everything we need and more. Next weekend we'll take it out for a shakedown and see just how well it'll be to camp in. https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/110193...43933/sizes/m/

[Super Thirty]

Nice looking unit. Hope u have an enjoyable weekend trying it out. I wish we could be out but it's a tad too chilly up here yet.