New member in Alberta

[tskyyc]

Grateful to have found this forum. I've gone down the LL rabbit hole and I've just about talked myself into a 2014 21BHS. Build date appears to be 6/2013. Confident my LX470 will tow it with ease. It has the aluminum roof and floor.
The unit is a 10 hour drive from me so I want to do my due diligence. The seller has provided lots of pics and videos but today thanks to this forum I've become aware of the potential for cracks in the frame welds.
Anything else I should be on the lookout for?

What are some popular upgrades or mods?

Most of my camping will probably be boondocking so I plan on picking up a generator and maybe a solar setup.

[Merlin]

Welcome! Your LX will work fine. You may want to add sway control like an Andersen hitch, but so long as the AHC on your LX is working well, you'll tow great. You'll need to add a trailer brake controller to your LX, but the connector for it is already under the dash. I added a Tekonsha P3 to my 2004 LC.

The welds are ok on most Camplites, but it's for sure worth a careful inspection to make sure. On a 10 year old, you'll want to inspect the roof edge caulk and rubber seals in the slide, door, and window. On my 2015 Camplite, the compartment doors and main doors were made by another company, Challenger, and the compartment doors eventually had to be replaced because they had wood in them that got wet and swelled.

I'm about to replace the toilet in mine because of cracks along the top back. I think I didn't get all the water out in the winter.

Do a complete interior and exterior light check and make sure the main power connector at the hitch is in good shape. Corrosion can be a problem sometimes.

That's about it for issues I know about. Just check all appliances and look for the date code on the tires. If the tires are over 6 years old, I'd replace them right away. Probably do the wheel bearings along with a brake check if you buy it.

And don't let any of this scare you off. These campers are amazing!  Almost any other brand would be ready to be recycled due to rust and rot and mold at 10 years of age.

[tskyyc]

That's great advice thank you. I've ordered up a brake controller. AHC works great. I towed a rental trailer last month and I think the pin weight was too heavy because the AHC went into failsafe and defaulted to low mode. But to be fair I had the car full of teenagers and a dog so I was definitely pushing the payload limits. Also made some rookie mistakes like filling the 60 gallon fresh tank all the way full for a 2 night trip.
That's why I wanted a double axle trailer for more stable towing.
This unit comes with a WD hitch so I'm hoping the AHC doesn't get squished under it but I'll probably look for a pin scale and I'll be smarter about my loading.

The rental unit was a brand new jayco. Big piece of junk. Stick and staple construction. That's why I decided to look for something else, either fiberglass or aluminum. The only fiberglass ones that made sense were the Escapes but they're twice the money so I went on the hunt for LL. 

I asked the seller to send close ups of all the frame welds and I don't see any issues so that's one concern out of the way.

[Chappy133]

Welcome. Recommend a WDH. For me it's a great improvement in ride and control. Good luck with your purchase. I drove 14 hours to get our 21 RBS.

[gibby]

Grateful to have found this forum. I've gone down the LL rabbit hole and I've just about talked myself into a 2014 21BHS. Build date appears to be 6/2013. Confident my LX470 will tow it with ease. It has the aluminum roof and floor.
The unit is a 10 hour drive from me so I want to do my due diligence. The seller has provided lots of pics and videos but today thanks to this forum I've become aware of the potential for cracks in the frame welds.
Anything else I should be on the lookout for?

What are some popular upgrades or mods?

Most of my camping will probably be boondocking so I plan on picking up a generator and maybe a solar setup.

Check that the Slide Out is aligned and closes up square. Mine had a broken bushing in the track, didn't notice it at first, and was a major affair to fix.

You are already aware of the frame welds, so that is good.

Also, hello from a fellow Calgarian who has a 2014 21RBS (purchased new back then). Upgrades include a new fresh tank (old one split), and a Electricity Management System to monitor the shore power and shut down if something is not up to snuff. I am also making plans for a full Solar / Lithium / 3KW Power systems in the future, currently I have a 2KW power system with RV plug power box I built for experimentation, used it for a couple of dry weekends and it works well to run everything except the AC and fully recharges each day from the panels.

We may have to get together and swap notes, the solar power is one of my next upgrade, the power box was a good first project.

[charliem]

For a 2014 21RBS you will want to check the hitch coupler. If not already replaced by a previous owner you should add side bolts or replace the coupler and add side bolts, especially if you plan to use a WDH. This was an identified problem on early 21s. Here's a starting point:

https://aluminumcamperforum.com/index.php?topic=1743.msg11987#msg11987

[tskyyc]

Interesting! I will definitely look into that. This is a known weak point?

[Merlin]

LL used only vertical bolts on their coupler installation. Under many circumstances that places odd stress on the coupler and causes bending. An easy solution as posted by Charlie is to install 2 horizontal grade 8 bolts per his post. I did that on mine and it took only a few minutes. I use a weight distribution hitch which does add stress at the coupler.

[Powder Hounds]

In Calgary I recommend a service visit to Standens. They have been maintaining our axles for the past 9 years. They identified all the areas on the aluminum frame that had compromised welds as well. They also realigned our dual
axles due to some abnormal tire wear. The booking availability can take some time, but, it is worth the wait. They are very thorough and reasonably priced.


Welcome, and enjoy your new trailer!

Derek