Post Season Trailer Review

[canuck]

Hello Everyone!

I thought I would give some feedback on our 21RBS.

Overall we have enjoyed our new trailer immensely! But, with our purchase we have had our issues. Our RV dealer is a three hour drive away so having warranty work done has become a real pain. We had to bring our rig in for a kinked water line from the fresh tank to the water pump, two defective LED lights, delaminating counter top, and a faulty propane regulator. The counter top was also warping and had pulled away from the aluminum frame below. Due to the high quality styrofoam core it was a complete waste of time trying to refasten this piece of junk. On a trip to Waterton National Park (very close to the US border) we ran out of propane on our first tank I switched over to tank number two. Nothing? It was a bit frustrating trying to figure out the issue, we just ended up manually removing the tanks and swapping them over, and of course this had to happen during a spring snow storm. 

The new counter top and LED lights are still on order from LL. It has been three months now and we are still waiting for these items to be shipped from LL. I had asked for the new solid surface counter tops but I think they are sending the same as the original. More than likely this will happen again just as it has happened to fellow owners?

While parked on a busy street near our condo and loading up for the Labour Day long weekend I had locked  our unit using the deadbolt. When I returned a couple hours later the key would not fit into the lock and I could not get into the trailer. Even though we use a bit of graphite and a little silicone spray to keep the lock operation smooth, it would not open. I contemplated grabbing my drill to remove the cylinder but at this point I was a little annoyed. My wife arrived shortly after and shared her frustration as well. Off to the storage yard, dropped the trailer off and went back home. The next day we had a lock smith come to our storage yard and he simply hammered the key into the cylinder and presto we were in. His service charge was a hundred dollars and I replaced the lockset at another fifty. LL would not cover anything.

On our most recent outing my wife woke up annoyed that another camper had pulled up very close to our rig and decided to set up in the middle of the night. Turns out there were no fellow campers beside us but our microwave had decided to turn itself on and run. None of the buttons would work so I had to turn the breaker off. A new microwave is on order and will be changed out with our counter top and lights.

We tend to camp in remote areas referred to as Crown Land. These public wilderness areas are generally close to flat but are little rugged. Removing our rig off the hitch ball was always a struggle. We discovered with lots of frustration that you must be perfectly level in all directions, even our truck, if not, the coupler would not release. You can unlock the lever with ease but the coupler would stick to the ball. I have had to file down our hitch ball and remove some very heavy wear points. Now we are fine, I used a bit of silicone spay on the ball and keep the inside of the coupler as clean as possible. Also we discovered that having our Anderson hitch fully engaged was creating problems as well. So now when we pull off a main gravel road to get into our favorite spots, I simply remove the shackles from the triangular plate and use velcro straps to secure the chains to the trailer frame. Things work perfect now. When hitching up again I will make all the Anderson adjustments when we are back on level roads. 

Funny, I could here my wife one day inside the trailer yelling! The faucet had come off and water was gushing everywhere, same time the kitchen p-trap came off and leaked water inside the storage area below. We now check all the traps and faucets regularly.

Things we have done...

Added rigid insulation and foil backed insulation to storage areas and cabinets.

Foam insulation around most water lines.

Undercoated wheel wells again due to dust and water leaks.

Sealed a leaky roof.

Replaced door lock strike plate screw's as these were completely sheard off.

Foam weather strip around entry door, on the latch side the original rubber door gasket was at least half an inch away from sealing. We would spend an hour cleaning during every trip due to dusty gravel roads. Generally a bad door fit. Added foam rod between door and trailer frame (inside). Then caulked over top to cover foam rod, we could see daylight around the whole door. No wonder we had dust!

Removed original caulking and re caulked around the white trim pieces on the slide out. Puddles of water on the floor when it would rain. Took a while to figure that one out! 

Filed down the razor sharp cabinet door edges.

Removed aluminum fillings from all lights.

New LED fridge light, original failed on day one.

Window valance trim is now falling off.

Added loom to all exposed wires under trailer.

Our radio antenna might have to be replaced?

Things that should have come as standard but we have to install them. A winterization valve at the water pump, a main battery kill switch so we do not have to remove a cable every trip. A tank monitoring system that actually works. I am stunned that they use this junk and then we have to go out and install the correct system that works. All vent fans should be Fantastic fans, not just one! A spray sealer for under the trailer to stop leaking and dust penetration. An oven would have been nice.

But overall we love it! Tows like a dream, looks great and is very comfortable. But, at times is does test our patience.

Happy camping!

[bobbie56]

We just finished our last trip this past weekend. Can't say we had as much trouble with our 21RBS.

As far a warranty, we got ours in Medicine Hat, so we were not about to take it back there for any work. We found the Livin Lite dealer in Calgary and took it there. Worked quite well. They also did the gray tank fix too.

Metal in the lights, check, had to clean those all out. The fold up extension to the counter we had to fix (think that will need a do over, that foam core stuff is light but hard to work with). We too had the roof leak, but fixed that after a bit of trial and error (it was not the roof but where the roof meets the front of the trailer).

Winterization, broke the City water connection while trying to back flush the antifreeze through (so it does not seal anymore, that will need to be replaced. At least I finished the job first, that was the last thing).

Now the scary one, I took the break-away battery out and it was all bulged out, and dead (I mean it actually looked more like a balloon). That will have to be replaced.

I think now we have most of the bugs outta the system. We had similar issues with our previous tent trailer when we got it, but after they were addressed it was rock solid for the next 20 years.

Hang in there!

[ammobob]

"counter top and LED lights are still on order from LL. It has been three months now and we are still waiting for these items to be shipped from LL. I had asked for the new solid surface counter tops but I think they are sending the same as the original. More than likely this will happen again just as it has happened to fellow owners?"

i would see see if they would sell me a solid surface countertop at a discount before I would install the foam one again. 3 months waiting is insane. Get with Christianm and see if she can help you with this issue.

[christianm]

[quote source="/post/15786/thread" timestamp="1444062247" author="@ammobob"]"counter top and LED lights are still on order from LL. It has been three months now and we are still waiting for these items to be shipped from LL. I had asked for the new solid surface counter tops but I think they are sending the same as the original. More than likely this will happen again just as it has happened to fellow owners?"

i would see see if they would sell me a solid surface countertop at a discount before I would install the foam one again. 3 months waiting is insane. Get with Christianm and see if she can help you with this issue.[/quote]Agreed!! Thanks for the heads up, @ammobob! I'll reach out privately and see what the hold up is. 3 months is WAYYYYY too long!