Aluminum Camper Forum

Slow reply here.. Thanks Merlin, I will tear into the rear axle on the rig this winter (FL) when its tolerable to work outside, haha. I have been consistent about greasing them every 5 to 10k miles through the zerk fitting and not a full disassembly/repack. Have not blown a seal out yet- but as its a 2017 I probably need to replace the grease seals and do a full clean and repack. I'd estimate the trailer has 35k miles on it.

I need to dig into my 2017 16TBS trailer's brakes at 30k miles driven (that I know of) as I noticed a loss of trailer braking performance the tail end of this last trip. Not urgent as I am taking a 'camping break' after the summer's travels ! They may just need manual adjusting due to pad wear, I just don't know yet. If the pads are trashed, anybody done this 'conversion' and have advice for or against ?
https://www.etrailer.com/p-AKEBRK-35-SA.html

Our awning is electric, but in the last year or so the exposed portion on the rolled up awning is shredding from trailering wind and sun......

Our 16TBS awning is also shot, do any of you happen to have the dimensions of the original one for pricing the replacement ? I will definitely try out the source listed above.....

Thank you, looks like this is the simplest solution !

I'm assuming from my searching what my 2017 has is a 2 pin SAE connector located on the passenger side and is for what its worth 'prepped' for solar charging, however the decal/label resident next to said connector has been obliterated by weather..... Nothing I can find in the manual on this...Whats this connector connect to internally, voltage its expecting to see, and is there a charging controller someplace downstream or is that item needed as well. I'm only looking to keep the house battery topped off with a portable solar panel set while camping off grid without deploying the genny, which is not always an option.

Thanks All....... Actual numbers are a big help. From an image I grabbed of the frame of the trailer, it does indeed look like 1" square crossmembers, and the back wall has two 3.38" wide vertical members (thickness unknown) spaced  in from the edge of the trailer 26.3" to the centerline of that beam. IDK how to post that image here as its not an online url, but a screen capture downloaded to my PC......

Anybody done work/repairs on the travel trailer and know how thick the exterior walls are ? I intend to install a mounting bracket on the back wall/exterior, intending to go through that wall and into the aluminum frame member behind it....

dlb53151 which Reese WDH do you have ?

I tow the same 16 foot TT with a 2020 Ridgeline RTLE which has a 9 speed tranny and paddle shifters and an 'S' mode for manually shifting it. I found this terrific for towing, 7th gear being a happy 65mph highway medium between RPM and speed..... Did many Eastern mountain range crossing this way also, for 12k miles last summer. I can imagine this would have been awful with a 6speed, non manually actuated tranny..... I do think the tongue weight on the rig is excessive, what with all our storage way up fwd in the pass thru. I'm designing a rear bumper 'box' for some of the heavy stuff.

Hey GoElectric I am curious how you attached all that to the back bumper of the aluminum framed trailer without it ripping off on you ! Not kidding- I am adding something similar and considering my options for reinforcing that back bumper for this purpose. My unloaded TW of the same (single axle in my case) trailer is 560 lbs ! (With two LP tanks up there, 1 battery)This prior to any of our 'stuff' - and with all liquid tanks empty. The FW tank is the only one fwd of the axle and would add- and add a lot- of TW if its got water in it. I personally think this is unacceptably heavy for a 3300 lb trailer... We put 12k miles on it last summer configured exactly this way- heck I was probably running 700 lbs TW on my Honda Ridgeline ! It squatted the truck back end down a bit from level but the suspension handled it great in all conditions and a bunch of Eastern mountain range crossings from FL to KY, to PEI. Never any sway. Now IDK why your Tahoe sways as I would say it has 'more' suspension than I do by a long shot- could be because mine has independent rear suspension. I am moving the backup LP tank to the rear bumper box, along with the portable genny and a few other 'dense' items like the tool box. Nothing but light, bulky stuff is going into the pass thru from now on. This setup looks to have me at about 460 lbs TW , without our personal gear. Oh and I do not currently have a WDH as of now, anyway....

I replaced my two ceiling speakers with some Polk coaxials which were a perfect fit for the aluminum ceiling cutouts, though the mounting holes needed to be redrilled. I tapped the mounting holes in the aluminum ceiling and mounted them from underneath with #6-32 machine screws,  since there is obviously no access to the back of the speaker. Had to use the Polk speaker grills, not the factory ones (didn't fit). Of course it sounds better, but the head unit really needs upgrading- and the DVD has stopped working, so that may be sooner than later..... I dont have the speaker PNs on hand, if anyone is still following this thread and needs it- I'll dig it up.....

Hey All, 2017 LL 16TBS is the subject trailer. Photo of area of concern attached. FYI The fridge is on the left of the rear wall, as viewed from the interior facing aft. The is no evidence of a roof leak, no evidence of water intrusion up high, nor any evidence of additional damage from the time the trailer spends parked in storage (the frig is of course, off). The commode water supply line also feeds through this wall about 16" back, and shows no sign of leaking, nor the commode. The issue seems to be underneath the bottom right corner of the fridge, if there is any water condensate/trap there ?! IDK. Perhaps the commode sloshed out when we were trailering it, although I do not travel with it full of water as a rule.

I also needta locate a source for more of this interior vinyl wall cladding stuff for the repairs.

Hey Merlin, I will say the staic fatiguing of tires 'just sitting' is what I suspect killed mine. The storage arrangement for my RV is such that the tire on the opposite side is unloaded some due to the leveling jacks. This tire was not, its always under a full static load. And Its the one that failed- cause ? Not sure. I did replace the other OEM one at the tire shop as well- although it looked great. Also bears noting the spare tire stored under the RV with no load on it (same age) provided 900 miles of trouble free service to get us home. Again points to static load fatiguing is my guess. I gotta figure a way to unload the tires in storedif  more than a month (tire shop recommendation, also).
The tire that  failed did so after 300 miles on the road, BTW. Lastly, its of course possible it picked up a nail/screw and slowly leaked down to where it failed- I didn't have my aftermarket TPMS sensors on it at the time (I think they are too prone to leaking).

Anyone have experience with these tires ? I have two new ones now so I am hoping they are decent. Had to make a decision on tires on the side of the highway, so not a lot of research done.
Power King TOWMAX VANGUARD - SIZE: ST225/75R15 , LR E (not 'D' as originally equipped).
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Power+King&tireModel=Towmax+Vanguard&partnum=275NR5TMVG

Relating to tire replacements (certainly when one blows up on you....) how about a source for replacement plastic fender wells and the black plastic fender trim piece that mounts to the side of the trailer ? Both of mine were beat up pretty badly by a shredded (right side) tire. Trailer is a 2017 LivinLite 16TBS.

BTW in researching a new wheel for mine which is bent as well, it appears we have these (correct me if I am wrong) 15" Bobcat Aluminum trailer Wheel - 6 on 5-1/2 similar to
https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Tires-and-Wheels/Lionshead/LHSO311G.html

BTW on those who post about 'treadwear' on TT tires. My OEM ones while 5 years old per date code, had zero sidewall cracks, looked perfect, and tons of tread left. One just disintegrated on us on the highway.  Pressure was perfect, rig was not overloaded, and speed was 65mph. They are both now gone (as in replaced).