Aluminum Camper Forum

Well, last month I sold our 2017 16TBS. Today I tallied up our travel log and here are the stats:
Purchased Dec 5th 2016. Sold Aug 22, 2020
Owned 1356 days
Number of trips: 34
Approximate miles traveled: 16,000
Nights used: 107
States visited: 10
It was a great trip and this has been a great community!
Looking forward to racking up the miles/nights/states in our new Lance. Bon Voyage!

Hi all,
I've always had issues with draining all the water out of my tank due to the placement of the drain valve. I'm wanting to relocate it and in the process it would be great to maybe get a pressure washer hose inside to give it a good (careful) cleaning while it's open. The location of the current drain valve is so inconvenient. I can barely get hold of it to open/close and the access to it is blocked by the two lowpoint drain hoses. I noticed that the tank has several of these ports on it which seem like they were done in the manufacturing process to give the builder options of where to place drains and intakes. From what I can find online (not much) it seems that maybe I can simply twist one of these open to gain access and then install whatever type of plug or valve I want. Thoughts? Appreciate any advice.

I'm thinking of selling our 2017 16 TBS. It has been a great camper for us and has a lot of life left. All systems are in good working condition. Upgraded to an 8" memory foam king size mattress that is very comfortable. Still have the original, unused mattresses to convert back to twin beds. Upgraded one vent fan to a 3 speed reversible fan. Has the tri-fold couch instead of a dinette. . Tows like a dream.
Located in Central Illinois. Still trying to decide how much I want for it. Let me know if interested and I'll pull together the pictures and a price.

Edit: I've settled on $19,900 asking price but I will keep the hitch. I also have newer pictures and video walk around of both interior and exterior of the camper.
I have replaced the tri-fold sofa with a brand new jack knife sofa which is much more useful in this camper.

DM me your email if interested.

Thanks for looking!

Ok, we're tired of the too short, cheapo factory sewer hose and looking for opinions on what to replace it with. Depending on the length of hose we may also have to replace the storage tube. What do you all like?

I'm stumped by the source of a musty/moldy smell emanating from the overhead cabinets in the front of our 16 TBS. It's coming  from the passenger side and front but not from the driver side. I have looked and I don't see any signs of water leakage/damage. There is some sort of cable routed from the roof through the front O/H near the side O/H. I think it might be the TV antenna. If I leave the doors open it dissipates well but close the doors a while and then open them and it's pretty noticeable.

Any thoughts of what to look for and where, to get to the source of this problem? It's bugging me because I'm super sensitive to odors like this and these are the cabinets where I store our blankets and pillows. Not good.   

Thanks!

It's getting hard to focus on work this week. We have been actively prepping for our upcoming trip since last weekend and leave Friday afternoon. I think everything is in order with the camper, the reservations long since made and the plans are being finalized. This will be our longest tow to date but I think we're ready.

We're leaving Illinois on Friday. A short drive to a hotel overnight in Quincy, IL on the banks of the mighty Mississippi. I don't like to set up for one night because it entails unloading all the bikes since we travel with them inside the camper - 3 or 4 on this trip. Then on to Wilson Lake State Park in Kansas for two nights. We will ride the IMBA epic Switchgrass trails and try to see my nephew and his family stationed at Ft. Riley. Then off to Larkspur, CO on the front range to stay at my dad's for a couple nights and get supplied for a week in the mountains. Here we will meet up with our youngest son and his wife too. Then up to Crested Butte, CO to camp in the Taylor Canyon for 6 nights and (try to) ride the epic mountain bike trails in one of the birthplaces of mountain biking. In all we have 3 sites reserved for us, my dad and stepmom, the kids and my stepsister and her family. Two sites with campers and the other with the tenters. Oh, and we'll have our two dogs and my dad will have their two german shepherds.

I can't wait for the cool, dry mountain air and hoping we don't get too much rain while there. It seems they have been in a rain pattern lately. Bonus points - I was able to get an extra night so we can stay and catch a free concert in CB by one of my favorite touring bands - The Band of Heathens. When I saw them on the community event calendar I had to figure out how to stay another night!

The trip home is not so finalized. Likely stopping at my brother's in Greeley, CO for a visit then home probably the same route as we took out so we can see our nephew. If we get to see him on the way out we may come back on I80 instead of I70. We'll probably do another hotel overnight on the way back unless there is time and availability to camp for 2 nights.

Trip report and pictures to be added later. I don't think we'll have cell signal at the campsite but should in CB. I hope I don't need any quick help from this forum like I have before or I'll have to drive into town to post and get replies! Wish us luck!

In a few weeks we're set to camp up around the continental divide at close to 9000' feet. We're flatlanders. Anything we need to know/adjust with our camper systems?

I'm sure the first time towing over a mountain pass will be a thrilling experience. Time to adjust the trailer brakes....

We're camping and hooked up to 30 amp service. Every indication is that it is working but the a/c fan isn't pushing cool air. Even seems the fan isn't blowing as hard eifher. Seems the compressor isn't kicking on. Manual says turn it off and wait a few minutes before trying again. Breakers are good. 2017 16TBS. Any thoughts?

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We're packed and ready to head out to a new-to-us campground and mountain bike trail systems in south eastern Illinois near the border with Indiana and Terre Haute. Hope the weather holds out.

Right now I'm just waiting on DH to get out of bed and go....

What about you?

So, I'm finding that if we get a campsite with a slight slope we could use some sort of blocks under the stabilizers but I can't decide what to use. Wondering what others are using. For us space and weight are considerations. It seems there aren't many options for scissor jacks. I did find these caps for leveling blocks but the picture of them under a scissor jack shows that you have to be quite precise in your positioning as there isn't any extra room.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/leveling-block-caps-set-of-4/102209

I really don't want to carry a bunch of wood or cinder blocks. What do you do?

Thanks!

We got lucky and no graduations this weekend so we're heading for one of our perennial favorite parks - Brown County State Park in Indiana. The weather may not cooperate so the alternate plan was Bentonville, AR at Beaver Lake. Then they ended up with a chance of severe weather so we nixed that idea. We'll take our chances at a closer park that we're familiar with. Hope to get some miles in on the primo trails before/between rain events. If not, the little town of Nashville is nearby to take all our beer and food money. And if we end up stuck in the camper, I'm bringing a season of GOT to binge watch.

Where are you all going this weekend?

We're finally doing a short road trip with the new camper to camp and ride this weekend. Destination - the Quad Cities of Davenport, Moline, E. Moline and Rock Island in Illinois/Iowa on the banks of the Mighty Mississippi. We're camping at Illiniwek State Park on the Illinois side with a back up plan for Clark's Ferry on the Iowa side since Illiniwek is a first come, first served site. Fortunately this is located north of where all the flooding is down river. It's about a 2.5 hour drive and I'm looking forward to maybe having the w/d dialed in better on this trip. We'll need the anti-sway component working with the ~25 mph crosswind we're forecasted to have most of the way. 

On the agenda besides camping will be mountain biking at some of the many QC trails built and maintained by our friends at QC Friends of Off Road Cycling. A drinking club with a biking habit. My kind of peeps! So that means we will probably hit a couple of the local breweries on our way back from the trails - Bent River, Front Street and whatever new has popped up since we were last there. One of the trails we'll ride is just across the highway from the campground with gorgeous overlooks of the river.

Additionally friends tell us that there is going to be a bluegrass band performing in the park on Saturday night. Darn! That won't be any fun at all....

Anyone else getting out this weekend? Where are you going? Happy trails to all!

We have a new 2017 16TBS and we hate how bright the porch light is. We are dark loving campers and prefer just enough light to get around. In our 2012 camper we simply replaced the clear white bulb with an amber bulb. Problem solved. However, the new camper has LED bulbs which I don't know much about. Has anyone here replaced the LED white bulb with something else? I'm not finding too many options for amber colored LED bulbs. I do see "warm white" bulbs and wonder if that will cut down the harsh brightness enough. I haven't yet pulled the bulb to see exactly what is in there but thought I'd float the question here first. If I can't find a suitable replacement bulb I guess I'll have to go ghetto and do something to cover the lens and filter the light.

So you might chalk this up as the amateur thinking they know more than the pros with one caveat - I (with assistance of my DH) installed the same hitch on our previous camper so I think I understand how it's supposed to be set up.

I had our dealer install our Andersen Anti-sway w/d hitch while we waited when picking up after a warranty repair. I should have been more patient and asked more questions at the time but sometimes I get too caught up in not being "that" customer. IE I'm too nice.

The first thing I noticed was that the bolts had 8 threads showing. I wondered if the compression nuts were over-tightened. When we got it home I realized that the compression nuts weren't actually that tight. It's actually that the mounting brackets are not mounted far enough back on the trailer frame so to just get the nuts hand tight about 7 threads are showing. I know the manual says to install the brackets where 1 or 2 threads show when hand tightened.

Additionally the rear of the TV is lower than I thought it should be. So that means I need a little more w/d by tightening the compression bolts some more. However, because the brackets aren't far enough back and the bolt is already showing 7 threads, the provided deep well socket bottoms out on the bolt with only 1 additional thread. For reference I did weigh the whole set up with and without w/d and it appears that the additional 1 thread of tension moved 40 lbs off the TV to the trailer axle.

So that leaves two options for the chains/bolts - move the brackets back or shorten the chains. I'm not real happy about relocating the set screws on the frame but I suppose it won't hurt anything, right?

So, I guess I know what needs done and I'm really just venting and also a word of caution to others to A) if you know how, do it yourself. Even if you don't know how to do it, do it yourself and get the intimate knowledge from having done it yourself. That way you'll know when something is off. B) if you have someone else do it, be "that" customer who asks the zillion questions and makes them answer to your satisfaction or re-do the job.

If you read this far, thanks. If you have any pointers/corrections and reply, many thanks!

I don't recall seeing any discussion on this topic before and I'm wondering what others prefer. When I'm not towing I'm a pedal-to-the-metal, radar detector sort of driver. So, interstates unless I have time to kill and then I'll meander at sensible speeds on side roads.

As you can imagine, towing presents a challenge to a speed demon like me but surprisingly I have found a sort of zen in picking a speed and sticking in the right lane and being passed. Which brings me to my question:

If you're towing under the interstate speed limits do you prefer to take the side roads where you're speed is closer to the posted limit but it is harder for others to pass you, or do you just drive the speed you're comfortable at on the interstate? 

Spotted a light blue Camplite rolling north on I55 to I39 north in Central Illinois (Bloomington/Normal) on Monday this week. Appeared to be a 13 BHB or similar towed by a black Dodge Ram. Anyone from this forum?

It worked on our last outing but now no ignition. Actually it has randomly lit a couple times but doesn't stay lit and can't get it to start. It's really weird. Checked gas, flipped the breaker switch, unplugged ans plugged back in at the unit (under a rubber boot) to no avail. Thoughts?

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We are! We are!
Albeit just another local trip but I'm excited nonetheless. Will have close to a full load this time and going to roll across the scales at our local grain elevator on the way out of town. Crossing my fingers that I did a good job loading but doubt it since I'm carrying a full tank of water this time. The campground hasn't turned water on yet. Oh well, it's only an 8 mile, flat pull from here so I think we'll be ok. And I'll get valuable data. It's all about the data for me lately. Oh, and CAMPING!!!

Anyone else getting out this weekend?

I know most of you are probably trying to disconnect but I find myself wishing for better wifi when we're on extended trips (more than a weekend). Most of the time we're too far from the campground wifi to get a strong enough signal. I'm wondering if anyone here has experience with booster/repeater/extenders? I don't want the kind that you have to plug into your device. I'm thinking a repeater is what I need but looking for advice.Thanks!

Well we took the new 2017 16 TBS out for a shakedown cruise last weekend.  I wanted to run through all the systems to make sure everything works as expected. During our dealer walk through we were unable test the water systems because it was December in Illinois and the unit was already winterized. So, since we are having unseasonably warm weather I de-winterized (thanks for the support!) so we could test these systems.

Findings in order of importance:
The shower drain appeared to be leaking leaving a little trail of water coming out from under the bathroom wall and on the floor. Not much but tonight we tested it in the driveway. Tonight's test was two-fold. Check if just dumping water down the drain produced the leak (not coming from shower head plumbing) and test the grey tank capacity.
It didn't leak into the interior like before but when I went outside, voila! Leaking through the floor and down the wheel well. Too bad I didn't notice that before we dumped 20 gallons of water in there!

Which brings me to the next point. We were only able to get 25 gallons of water into the grey tank before it was full. Specs say it should hold 32 gallons. Does this sound like the vent issue?  I did have the trailer tilted slightly forward hoping that the leak would show up in the same spot (that didn't work) but maybe that affected the capacity by blocking the vent before it was full?

I didn't have time tonight but I was also planning to hook up fresh water and test if there is a leak coming from the shower water supply. I guess if I do this I should plan to discharge the shower water into a bucket in order to not put more water into what I hope is not a water logged floor under my shower!

When I was done tonight I raised the front of the camper well above level hoping to get any remaining leaked water to a the back of the camper where I hope it can drain/leak out. Thoughts on if this was a good idea or not? How to make sure it is as dry as possible before we get more freezing weather? We're not supposed to get a really long or hard freeze just down into the upper 20's overnight this weekend and then back above freezing. What could be damaged if there is water on the floor during that freeze cycle?  I do plan to re-winterize before then. Maybe let some RV antifreeze leak in there? J/K lol

Another thing I noticed with the plumbing - under the sink there are 3 twist on pipe couplers that were loose and one dripped a couple drops of sink water. I was able to tighten them about a 1/4 turn by hand. I'm guessing maybe these work loose during transportation? Should they have some sort of pipe seal on those threads?

Otherwise everything seems to be in working order. This is a really spoiling experience. A radio? A TV? Power everything? I was like a kid on Christmas morning all weekend!

Sorry for such a long post. Probably some thought "TLDR!". But if you did and have advice, I'd love to hear it!
Lori