27RLWS

[MHBroker]

Originally Posted by Slympicins

Wayne... What's your opinion on Airstream trailers? I was looking at the Flying Cloud 27FB Twin. It's expensive but looks nice.

I had an Airstream 25FB two years ago. A nice trailer with good build quality but with many of the same headaches and problems we all tend to have in all the SOB units. Pros....a real head turner in every campground as everyone can relate to their iconic design and they are relatively easy to tow. Mine had a GVWR of 7300 and had a Hensley Hitch. Cons....next to nil exterior storage, extremely vulnerable to the smallest dents and scrapes from any landscape (ie: campgrounds), old style non ducted AC which can be noisy when trying to sleep or watch TV and overall I just felt that they were high maintenance to keeping it in it's expected shiny appeal. Another complaint was most Airstream layouts do not lend themselves to easy chairs or recliners.
In short, I was always uneasy parking the Airstream in a shaded area awaiting for a limb to fall and always trying to stay ahead of well known corrosion issues that follow the late model Airstreams. They can easily razzle-dazzle you but I sold mine after one year. I just didn't need that much fun. Also....no slide outs.

iMHO

Harlan

[Slympicins]

I was just looking for the reason you stated but I have been on their forums for a bit and find the corrosion issue is huge. Seems they spend their time preventing it rather than enjoying their time. That all doesn't compare to the huge cost of these rigs. I had thought they were built much like airplanes but only to find if airplanes were built the same way, they would be falling out of the sky from corrosion in just a few years. Major QC lacking at Thor and their pushing quantity no longer quality. It's good to learn about other rigs out there to feel better about what we have.

[Wmoses]

Originally Posted by Slympicins

Wayne... What's your opinion on Airstream trailers? I was looking at the Flying Cloud 27FB Twin. It's expensive but looks nice.

Truth be known, I like Airstreams becaue of their style and build quality and ingenuity. I would probably never own an Airstream though because of their complete impracticality when it comes to space, and their absurd prices. Before I buy an Airstream, I'd probably buy a motorhome of some sort and the price differential would likely not be that great.

Imagine, for the price of an Airstream approaching my trailer's length, I could get my trailer, a speedboat and trailer and a motorcycle, and I am talking new.

Lastly - my wife would not even set foot in an Airstream because of price and the somewhat claustrophobic feeling which she says makes her feel like she is in an airplane.

So there you have it. Nice to look at but the interest passes in all but 5 minutes. And then there is Harlan's review above which suggests that even my 5 minutes is a total waste of time.

[Devilscreekw]

Originally Posted by Rockwoodjoe

Have there been any complaints about excessive movement of these units. I have my stabilizers down, but when adults walk from the dining slide to the sofa slide the corner stabilizer comes off the ground and rattles. Would putting lifts under the stabilizer feet help this? I wish now I had foregone the electric stabilizers and gotten the manual scissor jacks.

I have the manual jacks, and still experience some movement. I will experiment a bit with this next season, but I think the cure lies in several areas. The main part of the wobble is side to side.

1) Use as many wood blocks as you can fit in to minimize the height you have your stabilizers extended. Even the manuals are surprisingly wobbly FROM SIDE TO SIDE! especially when fully deployed.

2) I would like to come up with something to attach the top of the driver's side set of blocks to the passenger side bottom and vice versa.

3) Some posters have added additional non attached jacks of several sorts to the frame in the wheel well area to minimize the bounce of the suspension & tires.

[Taranwanderer]

Originally Posted by Wmoses

Truth be known, I like Airstreams becaue of their style and build quality and ingenuity. I would probably never own an Airstream though because of their complete impracticality when it comes to space, and their absurd prices. Before I buy an Airstream, I'd probably buy a motorhome of some sort and the price differential would likely not be that great.

Imagine, for the price of an Airstream approaching my trailer's length, I could get my trailer, a speedboat and trailer and a motorcycle, and I am talking new.

Lastly - my wife would not even set foot in an Airstream because of price and the somewhat claustrophobic feeling which she says makes her feel like she is in an airplane.

So there you have it. Nice to look at but the interest passes in all but 5 minutes. And then there is Harlan's review above which suggests that even my 5 minutes is a total waste of time.

I couldn't agree more. I don't get the appeal of Airstreams. They're stupid expensive, are very cramped, have no slide outs, and require enormous amounts of time to keep them polished and shiny. That's time I'd rather be camping, and cash I'd rather be spending on a modern rig with more room (and camping.) Are they well built? Supposedly, as you can see from the many old ones you still see around. Usually that old one is in the midst of a refurb though. If you watch "Extreme RVs," you'd think they were the greatest thing ever to roll out of a factory. DW and I walked into one at Hershey this past fall, took one look at the interior and the price, and walked right back out. No thanks.

[Slympicins]

They seem to have an issue where the body meets the frame. Lots of corrosion in that area. They still leak like other campers and there is no storage. From what I see I can buy three of my campers for the price of an Airstream.

[MHBroker]

Another large problem with owning an Airstream is the inequity of insurance coverage. Example...my 2007 Airstream Safari 25FB had a used NADA retail book value of $21,000 and a "street value" of $35,000. Should I have had a total loss of the trailer, every insurance I chatted with said that in such event, they would settle the claim for $21,000 at best. In other words, I had to be willing to self insure or subsidize the trailer by $14,000. Not good. There is an occult-like following of the Silver Bullets. I was not quite intrigued and sold it a year later for $35K to the first caller from an ad on Air Forums. I also had 8 other contingency buyers in the batter's box.

Glad the Airstream resides elsewhere now. I am guessing I can buy a new 2015 27RLWS with Emerald pkg. and other options in the $26-28K range with a whole lot more livability than the Airstream. Just wish FR did not use those 14" cheap tires.

Harlan

[dannyabear]

Too many pages to look thru, but I think we talked about tires sometimes back there.
After a year and just a couple 000 miles i changed out the Westlakes for a set of Hankook RA08s. They weigh about 5# more and look great and were mfg. this year. I went with the 195-82/14 because of the same OD, but with an additional 300# capacity per tire and 8 ply load range D. Only have a couple hundred miles on them so far.

[Slympicins]

That is one thing I don't like about our TT is the 14" tires. Where did you get those Hankook tires?
Another issue is there isn't a lot of beef to Jack the TT up either.

[dannyabear]

The Bus Depot in Pa. They are only company who would take the time to verify the date on the tires before shipping. $505.00 for 4 shipped to my front door and another $100 for local shop to mount, balance and install hi pressure valve stems; these tires run 65# pressure. The alloy wheels do not state a max pressure, rather just a max weight allowed.

[Slympicins]

Thanks Danny. I search the darn Internet over and over and couldn't find them anywhere. Before we head out for the long trip in the summer I will be changing the tires.

[dannyabear]

They are very tough to find; I originally wanted the Kumho 857 but found out they have discontinued the 195-14 sizes and the 205 is too big in dia, to fit these trailers; Bus Depot is very friendly to deal with, give em a call when you're ready

[Slympicins]

Thanks Danny

[dannyabear]

Other good info is that they rated to carry 2094# rather than the 1760 of the ST205 trailer tires and also speed rated to 99 mph rather than 65. I was not comfortable with the Westlakes running about 100# below their max weight and running at their max allowed speed. Feel much better now, a little piece of mind.

[Slympicins]

I definitely like that. Since our first trip I have always been worried of a blow out going down the road. I will be looking into these in a few weeks when it warms up.

[Slympicins]

The plan is to change out the tires and add the high pressure stems. Then it's a toss with the TPS to go either on the stem or on the rim inside the tire. Haven't research the difference with the two other than its a pain to change batteries. Although the batteries last five years and the tires will get replaced every two.

[seashel29]

Finally took the time to catch up on the forum. We just went to Michigan's largest RV show last weekend. Still love our 27rlws layout the best. We bought our 2015 late last summer, and have only weekend camped with it so far. Looking forward to our 8 night stay this July. "Our" trailer was at the RV show, and I think we convinced another couple to buy one, too! They were glad to ask questions to owners instead of dealers. We did notice a couple of slight changes on the '15 at the show. One, is that the rear windows do not open once again. Ours actually do, a plus for me. The other change was that the battery disconnect is back in the bathroom. Ours is outside by the battery. The trailer at the show still had the old front, not the molded one.
Can't wait for Spring!

[Slympicins]

We hit the local RV Show and looked at everything possible and nothing compared to the room of the 27RLWS. The DW loves it as it has a huge "sociability" factor. Well me... I would rather socialize outside.

[Rockwoodjoe]

I talked to the factory rep at the Tampa show. My concern was how unstable they this unit is. The rep recommended putting 4x4 blocks under the feet of the electric stabilizers. Better yet, Don't buy the electric stabilizers. ( Wish I hadn't gone that route.) Use scissor jacks with wood blocks under them so that they don't open fully. I noticed that the holes are predrilled in the frame for the scissor jacks.

[cub22908]

Well, OK, but I haven't noticed any stability problems with mine and I have electric jacks. I would never own a TT without electric jacks now that I have had them.