Aluminum Camper Forum

If you can glue it back on with maybe contact cement(?), treating it with 303 Protectant should keep it from sticking and coming off again.

I had to take out my 2015 16TBS shower pan shortly after I bought the camper because the drain was misaligned with the pipe underneath and it caused a flexing of the pan along with bad draining. The shower pan sits on a full size piece of 1/2 inch plastic that in turn sits on the aluminum framing. The plastic gives the pan support. It's possible that support plastic on yours broke, or maybe the shower pan is just getting old. It's not too big a job to get the pan out and they are a standard item to buy.

We just got home from our 7000 mile trip. So many lifetime memories......landforms around Arches NP, monstrous redwood trees, too close an encounter with a prairie rattler, getting snowed on in the late May Rockies, the Oregon coast, the well-named Badlands NP, and on and on. The Camplite performed great, but the Suburban water heater quit heating on electric. Looks like burned up wiring is a common problem with those. Should be recalled.

My one major complaint is I think the Garmin 795 RV navigator is an epic fail. I bought and updated one just before the trip. It was very untrustworthy, accidentally directing us into grocery store parking lots and a mobile home park. It sent us through busy downtown traffic when much better towing routes were available and 2 times it told us to turn exactly the wrong way getting into a state park. It even got itself completely lost once. Google maps isn't ideal for towing, but it's reliable. The Garmin 795 will be getting a bad review from me.

Nice! Both the electronics and panel have advanced a lot since 2018. I'm not at all surprised at the increase in output, even with 20 W less of panel.

There are no easy, inexpensive, exact replacements. Here's a post from last year about a company that may sell them, but wow on the price, which will likely be much more this year. Other than this, you'll need to talk with an RV dealer to get a window that will work, but it won't be like the original.

https://aluminumcamperforum.com/index.php?topic=1739.0

I don't have the technical expertise to say whether or not the double bumper would safely support that. From practical experience, I would say no. First, the bike rack is going to be live weight and bouncing 160 lbs with leverage off a bike rack hitch or mount is really significantly more stress than 160 pounds just sitting there. Second, that 160 lbs off the back of the camper is going to really significantly reduce the tongue weight up front and cause serious sway unless you compensate somehow. Keep tongue weight at least 10-15% of the loaded camper weight. Bottom line is the rear of the camper is a bad place to add a lot of weight.If you have to do it, I would ask a professional RV tech at a dealer about the bumper issue and I would add at least 160 lbs to the tongue to compensate.

Wow! Very nice unit. I like the slide in the compartment for easy access.

Nice😀 Are you getting the base or rover version of the Intech? I like all the windows. Let us know how it works out camping.

Outstanding! You really did it right. When my regular flooded lead-acid batteries age out, I'll follow your lead and do the very same thing. Thanks for the info on the power center. That makes it all a much more doable mod.

I know from experience with the VE Smart Shunt it's important to have the parameters set for your particular battery specs if you want to monitor precisely. Take the time to look up those specs and program the shunt via the app.

When I did a similar thing with my dual torque flex axle 16TBS 4 years ago, I went with the Dexter units. They were very easy to install and have been completely trouble and maintenance free since. I assume the Dexter brakes you're looking at are self-adjusting. Every so often etrailer.com runs sales, so check with their site.

Unless you have experience with the tools necessary to install the press-fit races, I suggest not going with a set up requiring that.

And kudos for paying attention to brakes!

What city/state?

Interesting about the dimmable red lighting. Great idea for all kinds of sky-watching.

There are framing members in the back wall you can securely screw into. The trick is finding them. You may be able to push on the interior wall enough to figure out where the frame is. Another member just posted about updating the bathroom with a new cabinet on the wall and new sink. Hopefully they will chime in here.

https://aluminumcamperforum.com/index.php?topic=1771.0

Quote from: Cajun on January 21, 2025, 02:54:07 PMSorry kind of late on this one, you may have it fixed by now.

I have a 2014 16DBS and had the same issue. The diamond plate bottom trim was separated from the frame from the front of the slide to about 1 foot from the rear of the camper. I removed the trim completely to get a better look and low and behold the wall was separating from the frame. From the inside of the camper you could see light between the wall and the floor where it comes together. Just a few sheet metal screws hold the wall to the frame and they all came loose or were pulled out from sitting on the sofa that's on the slide.

It had gotten so bad that the shower wall had a gap big enough you could see light from the bathroom while sitting on the sofa. I pulled the wall back in and then screwed it like the factory, then added a 1/8"x4" flat aluminum from the front to the back of the camper to reinforce the whole wall. The wall will not separate from the frame again. I then reattached the original diamond plate and all is good.

Point is, look very closely to that separation and make sure the wall is not starting to separate from the frame like mine did. Mine started out just like yours with the diamond trim separating just a little. Hopefully this is not the case for you and it was just me having this issue. It was an easy fix being how serious this could have been.

Good reminder. Thanks for updating the issue.

So when you replace the axles, are you going with leaf springs?