Archive - Aluminium Camper Forum

We use the All Stays app to read user reviews to pick our campsites and yes, walmarts, when we are in travel mode. Good research and arrival recon of the parking lot for entrances/exits/loading docks to avoid has made our stays comfortable to date. We also throw in an ocean sounds sleep CD to help seal the comfort deal!

Quote from: @16dbenny" source="/post/14587/thread" timestamp="1440565179djsamuel, Ammobob, charliem, and Merlin,

We live near San Francisco, so steep hills are unavoidable.  I wonder how a Tacoma would fare pulling a loaded 21BHS into the high Sierra passes?  The Tundra and Sequoia certainly have the muscle (at least on paper), but they're not exactly inexpensive.  I have friends who love their Jeeps, but even they admit that reliability is an issue.

I live in Port Angeles, WA and tow our 2015 21BHS with my wife, two young kids, dog and all the food, diapers, toys, etc imaginable (the list grows after every trip)  with a Silverado 1500 4WD. In the mountains you're going to want the bigger truck as performance declines with altitude and driving around with a red line / overheating engine is no fun. I use the Andersen WDH as well and it does improve the ride. High gusts in mountainous areas with channeled wind could have really ruined my day a couple of times without the Andersen in my opinion. Lots of precious cargo to worry about and good gear sure makes sense for my piece of mind. 

Quote from: @charliem" source="/post/12161/thread" timestamp="1434029633[font size="3"]Boondocker,

The antenna is a Winegard RS-3000. Here's a link to their site.

[a href="http://www.winegard.com/support?support=RoadStar_RS-3000"]http://www.winegard.com/support?support=RoadStar_RS-3000[/a]

Download the .pdf file. It has info on how to identify the connections on the power supply (booster) unit. The FM radio should be connected to the set 2 port.
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Thanks for the explaination and equipment info! I'll be taking a look at my wiring this weekend and report back on what I find!

With the boost OFF i get FM radio reception. With boost ON i only get static on FM radio. However, the TV only picks up signal with boost ON as you'd expect. Standard or "custom" wiring from the factory I'm not sure.

I have the Jensen system described by gdgrimm and was frustrated by the poor radio reception this last weekend. I took the cabinet panel off to check the antenna connection and noticed the coaxial cable ran forward to the TV... Assuming shared antenna with digital TV antenna. I turned the TV antenna signal boost off switch off and the radio stations worked perfectly. The speakers aren't great, but I think great speakers would get me visit from the campground host anyway... :-)

Congrats on ordering a 21BHS. My wife and two young kids LOVE our new 21 BHS we picked up from SUnny Island RV in Rockford, IL two weeks ago and drove it home to Port Angeles, WA. We ordered it in Jan of this year. Well worth the wait! Not without dealer hiccups and required fixes after walk thru, but that is unfortunately expected whether buying an airstream, a pop up or a camp lite. Even with the hiccups, an impressively built machine. This forum has been an invaluable tool, enjoy!

Very cool mod! Thanks for sharing

I was wondering this myself with my 9.2K coleman mach something AC. This manual says you can equip it with a heating element, but that it is for taking some moisture out of the air, not really built to heat the whole camper. A quick google search revealed a coleman mach xxx AC heating element you can install for $55. For that price I 'll stick with a plug in ceramic heater if i don't want to run the propane furnance.

I just picked up my new 21BHS and cool fridge with food running on propane blew out with 30 mph cross wind on I-90. Found after freezer defrosted and contents warm. Hot day outside and it was about 4 hrs between me checking fridge. Moral of the story, strong crosswinds blowing into your fridge vents can knock your propane cooling out on the road. Cycled on/off at rest stop and got it fired back up. The next day i got stuck in Mitchell, SD with 40-50 mph crosswinds. Decided to camp pointed into the wind...

I'm headed out next week from WA state to pickup my new 21BHS at Sunny Island RV in IL! Ordered it in Jan. and livin lite just shipped to dealer two days ago. After speaking with Jeff at Sunny Island about the Andersen WDH, he let me know they keep a pallet of them at the dealer. Seems to be almost standard gear with new 21's he sells. I'll weigh-in with pictures and my towing experience on my trip back to WA! Thanks for posting everyone! I'm looking forward to finally sharing on this forum vice just reading. Have learned a lot hawking everyone's posts!

Quote from: @grantnpeg" source="/post/8394/thread" timestamp="1427239772We too just went from aliner to 21 ft livin lite.  in 60's, time to potty train!
Aline is 05, and going to kids n grandkids in Colorado.  Change diapers on aliner bed!

We've got a 2.5 year old, a newborn and a loud snoring dog... Definitely time to upgrade to the 21bhs for space and amenities!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CdnVZkCKXU

Good video discussing composting toilets for RV's. If you make it work in a camplite, I would love to hear about it. Proper toilet sizing will be the biggest challenge I would imagine. Composting toilets are fairly big.

Thanks for the replies and welcomes! Already gleening fantastic ideas from this forum!

Great disussion by all on the WDH, coupler and frame considerations for 21ers. As a trailer manufactuer, I'd imagine it would be difficult to committ to a one size fits all response to the topic given the variables involved with road/weather conditions, driving techiques/choices, TV variations in weight/wheel base/tire qualities/inflation, TT loading etc and how those variables directly relate to the myriad of driver performance expectations of their entire rig.

I tend to agree with a comment posted that there is no substitute for personal experience towing and figuring out, incrementally and conservatively, what you and your rig are capable of and comfortable with in various conditions. Again, great ideas and experiences shared that offer new 21ers like me informed opinions to compare my observations to. Keep sharing!

Thanks for the welcome and looking forward to the elbow room for dogs and children, both of which will totally respect mom and dads bed I'm sure! Btw, Is anyone not using a WDH when towing? I've read a lot of threads about the anderson WDH and some folks who have towed without them fine, but appear to always end up installing one anyway. Any experienes with the 21-BHS scaring anyone into buying a WDH? My TV is a 1500 silverado with an airlift system installed.