New Aerolite owners

[feetwet20]

We are currently awaiting for our 2015 Aerolite 315BHSS to be delivered next month! Glad to find a place for all of our newbie questions!

[wildwest450]

Welcome. I think I have the market cornered on silly questions, so ask away!


.

[DesertRat]

Welcome, been RVing many a time at the campgrounds at Laguna Seca Race Track.

[sreuss]

Welcome, we have the 2014 315BHSS and absolutely love it. Only minor warranty work and our dealer took great care of us. Check your AC vents for proper sealing.
Enjoy.

Steve
2014 315BHSS
2012 Ram 1500 CC Hemi.

[feetwet20]

Originally Posted by sreuss

Welcome, we have the 2014 315BHSS and absolutely love it. Only minor warranty work and our dealer took great care of us. Check your AC vents for proper sealing.
Enjoy.

Steve, thanks! Glad to hear you like it. Ours is currently being built at the mfr. We purchased through RVWholesalers since we live in CA and the 315 is not available anywhere close! I am very interested in finding out what minor warranty issues you have discovered. Because we are purchasing from a wholesaler, I won't have a dealer to go to. RVW is offering me a 4-yr elec/mech protection plan for $2k+ with a $200 deductible. Would you recommend that or should I go thru another company? I upgraded the 13.5 AC to the 15 as well as a few other items (slide topper, solid contertops, 3-speed fan, ect). This is our first TT so very excited but nervous as well. Also, what WD hitch do you use? I am purchasing the Propride 3P but would rather save $$ and get an equalizer-4 if it works.

Thanks for the reply! Any upgrades, tips are much appreciated!!

-Eric

[sreuss]

Eric,
The problems we had were the leading edge of the enclosed underbelly came lose and dealer attached some angle trim and sealed it up. The trailer came with Acuret tires=junk. on the PDI I noticed a peach sized bubble on the sidewall. replaced prior to taking it home. Search china bombs and you will see that these tires are junk. The ac airflow was horriable and the dealer fixed the shoddy workmanship no questions asked. When new half of the airflow went to the bathroom and the other half went to the rest of the coach. The dealer blocked 2/3 of the opening to the bathroom with foil tape. The duct work is constructed from rigid foam board. The cut out plug in the bunk house was in place above the vent. The duct work extends to the far ends of the coach and I have installed blocks of foam board just past the vent on both ends so the air wont make it to the dead end.
If you have the outdoor kitchen a heads up, the outdoor sink drains directly into the black tank. This is no big deal until you {me} thinks the p trap is plugged from your 7 year old son only to remove it to accidently spill black water every ware.
We purchased a 7 year bumper to hitch extended warranty, about 1500. I hope to never use it but it is there, $100 deductible.
I use a off brand WD hitch without sway control and have had no issues.
We love the trailer and all the room it has. I am sure you will love yours.


Steve

[sreuss]

If you can get a power jack for the tongue get one. Its a pain with a manual crank.



Steve.

[EricNSTL]

Originally Posted by feetwet20

Steve, thanks! Glad to hear you like it. Ours is currently being built at the mfr. We purchased through RVWholesalers since we live in CA and the 315 is not available anywhere close! I am very interested in finding out what minor warranty issues you have discovered. Because we are purchasing from a wholesaler, I won't have a dealer to go to. RVW is offering me a 4-yr elec/mech protection plan for $2k+ with a $200 deductible. Would you recommend that or should I go thru another company? I upgraded the 13.5 AC to the 15 as well as a few other items (slide topper, solid contertops, 3-speed fan, ect). This is our first TT so very excited but nervous as well. Also, what WD hitch do you use? I am purchasing the Propride 3P but would rather save $$ and get an equalizer-4 if it works.

Thanks for the reply! Any upgrades, tips are much appreciated!!

-Eric

Welcome and congratulations on your new trailer.
A few things for you....
The electrical mechanical extended warrantee seems very high. I think I would pass on that one, but that's me. Remember, you have a full year bumper to bumper, so that really leaves that extended warrantee for 3 years. If I am not mistaken, RV wholesalers has a nation wide service agreement with most dealers. I would look into that before I spent 2K with the 200 deductible. It doesn't sound like a good deal.

I use a equalizer hitch on a similar sized trailer. I have no complaints at all on the performance of the hitch and sway control. It does make some noise while turning, but I got used to it. I thought about spending big bucks on a Hensley or Propride, but I am glad I didn't. (I am sure there performance far exceeds the equalizer, but so does the price.) I can't comment on any other hitch, since the equalizer is the only one I have used. Just make sure you get something with sway control.

With a WD hitch, as mentioned earlier, you definitely want the power jack.. That is for sure!!

You found a good place with a wealth of information and a lot of good people.

[wildwest450]

Yikes, no dealer? I wish you well.


.

[feetwet20]

Originally Posted by EricNSTL

Welcome and congratulations on your new trailer.
A few things for you....
The electrical mechanical extended warrantee seems very high. I think I would pass on that one, but that's me. Remember, you have a full year bumper to bumper, so that really leaves that extended warrantee for 3 years. If I am not mistaken, RV wholesalers has a nation wide service agreement with most dealers. I would look into that before I spent 2K with the 200 deductible. It doesn't sound like a good deal.

I use a equalizer hitch on a similar sized trailer. I have no complaints at all on the performance of the hitch and sway control. It does make some noise while turning, but I got used to it. I thought about spending big bucks on a Hensley or Propride, but I am glad I didn't. (I am sure there performance far exceeds the equalizer, but so does the price.) I can't comment on any other hitch, since the equalizer is the only one I have used. Just make sure you get something with sway control.

With a WD hitch, as mentioned earlier, you definitely want the power jack.. That is for sure!!

You found a good place with a wealth of information and a lot of good people.

Eric, thanks! Yes it comes with the power jack! I appreciate the reply and advice. I will definetly be watching/posting on this forum frequently!

[feetwet20]

Originally Posted by dawniewest

Yikes, no dealer? I wish you well.


.

Dawniewest, having a local dealer really does me no good anyway since we are military and move about every two years or so. Going thru a wholesaler was really the best option for us.

[prm99v6]

Welcome!

[SBBFamily]

Hello! We are picking up our 315BHSS in 5 days! How has yours been so for? Any advice?

[feetwet20]

Originally Posted by SBBFamily

Hello! We are picking up our 315BHSS in 5 days! How has yours been so for? Any advice?

This is our first TT and we love it! We had it shipped from the manufacturer to a wholesaler and then shipped to us (east coast to west coast). So we were unable to verify the PDI and have found a few issues here and there. What you will find is that these TTs are slapped together pretty fast so the quality is to be expected as such. Most small issues we have fixed ourselves. Other issues, such as screen door rips and small tears in upholstery have been fixed by the wholesaler pretty fast. In fact, instead of just sending me the screen mesh to repair myself, they sent me the whole screen door attached to the whole main outer door! So I just stored it for later. Our super slide doesn't appear to come out all the way (stops about 2" shy) but that can be adjusted. We added the extra "fan-tastic fan" in the bathroom, upgraded the battery, went with the 15,000 BTU AC, solid counter tops (and those are worth it) and the 30lb propane bottles. I wanted the slide-out topper but figured I install that later myself. I also added the max air covers for all the vents - glad we did that! One note of caution, if this is your first TT, the heat is powered by gas ONLY, it does not kick over to electric once it gets started (like the dealer told us it did). We ended up buying a real cheap $29 space heater from Homedepot and it heats up the entire TT in no time!

We are temp living in our TT for a few more months (it's been about two months already) with four kids... Yes, four kids! It's a tad tight but downsizing has been great and we spend more time outdoors doing things together. We can't wait to actually go camping in it. The only complaint I had is that when we ordered it, the 20th anniversary edition was not shown and that is what arrived. The outside color isn't all gray, but rather khaki-tan with gray and black design stripes all down the sides. It actually looks a bit upgraded but Aerolite stopped making this unit with frameless windows and outdoor showers. I'm still fighting them on that one. They will give you a quick disconnect spray port and tell you that that's the outdoor shower- clearly it's not. And the frameless windows, well they can't go back and fix that so not sure what they are going to do for us. Probably nothing. But honestly, it's really nice inside, with an upgraded fold out (probably fake leather) sofa, and the trim inside is really nice. Your lights above the U-shaped dinette will go out within a week so just start replacing al of your lights with LEDs (they're really cheap on Amazon). Also, underneath the kitchen sink leaked a little at the connections, a little plumbers tape worked nice. I ended up fixing all connections with the tape as the manufacture did not. Also, under your two drawers in the kitchen there is a void - just pop that cover out and you've got another space for storing things. We use it for our dog dishes. The kids bunk room is a lot smaller than it looks online but there is plenty of hidden space there as well. Under the mini dinette, they have the seat covers screwed in with one screw. Take it out and you will find a lot more space under both. There are a few wires and pipes being routed thru there but you can make little wooden covers over them and have a ton more storage space. Durchmen also decided to leave out drawers under the U-showed dinnerte, which is a waste I think. We are in the process of cutting those out and making drawers for both sides. The shower tub is really small, only our 6yr old can use it, although I've tried the shower part and its a pretty tight fit.

What else? Hmm... Oh yes. So the curtain that seperates the master room and the main room... That will come right out of the ceiling at some point. The screws are just screwed right into the false ceiling. I found that using longer screws reaches the hidden stud that sits about 2 more inches above the false overhead. I tried using anchors when I found the stud. The bunkhouse has the same issue. Also, on the side of the bunkhouse closet that sits between the two bunks has an outlet. It's bit attached to any stud, just that fake wooden panel. So when the kids go to yank their iPad charges out of it, the whole panel come with it. I am in the process of taking the whole thing out and adding a stud next to it so that won't happen anymore. Oh yea, if you don't plan on making th bunkhouse into a 64 sq ft bed on top, then you can put a 2x6 up against the wall on the larger bunk on the left (looking aft). I know it doesnt make sense now but you will see when you get inside and start figuring things out. The bunk on the left is reall two with a hinge that folds over the middle and rests on a metal ledge attached to the right bunk. Send me your email and I'll send you some pics if you want.

Oh, another weird thing. We have dish and for some reason, the receiver has to be directly connected to the dish with no splits. So when the dish guy came out, he couldn't connect the the cable outlet outside because the manufacturer split the cable line like 10 times once it comes inside the TT. If you use cable, your golden... If you use direct tv or dish, you have to bring the cable thru one of the windows. But if your camping, I suppose it really matters not.

I hope this helps! Again, we are still finding things out so I'll keep you posted!

[sreuss]

Feetwet20 great write up. As I write this ours is out back covered in snow and its 9f out. I cant wait till spring.

[EricNSTL]

Originally Posted by sreuss

Feetwet20 great write up. As I write this ours is out back covered in snow and its 9f out. I cant wait till spring.

X2!

[donzinger]

feetwet20 - my last camper had same issue with direct tv and I had to get splitters that were rated for a higher data transfer rate. Thankfully, our current rig already had them in it.

[SBBFamily]

Originally Posted by feetwet20

This is our first TT and we love it! We had it shipped from the manufacturer to a wholesaler and then shipped to us (east coast to west coast). So we were unable to verify the PDI and have found a few issues here and there. What you will find is that these TTs are slapped together pretty fast so the quality is to be expected as such. Most small issues we have fixed ourselves. Other issues, such as screen door rips and small tears in upholstery have been fixed by the wholesaler pretty fast. In fact, instead of just sending me the screen mesh to repair myself, they sent me the whole screen door attached to the whole main outer door! So I just stored it for later. Our super slide doesn't appear to come out all the way (stops about 2" shy) but that can be adjusted. We added the extra "fan-tastic fan" in the bathroom, upgraded the battery, went with the 15,000 BTU AC, solid counter tops (and those are worth it) and the 30lb propane bottles. I wanted the slide-out topper but figured I install that later myself. I also added the max air covers for all the vents - glad we did that! One note of caution, if this is your first TT, the heat is powered by gas ONLY, it does not kick over to electric once it gets started (like the dealer told us it did). We ended up buying a real cheap $29 space heater from Homedepot and it heats up the entire TT in no time!

We are temp living in our TT for a few more months (it's been about two months already) with four kids... Yes, four kids! It's a tad tight but downsizing has been great and we spend more time outdoors doing things together. We can't wait to actually go camping in it. The only complaint I had is that when we ordered it, the 20th anniversary edition was not shown and that is what arrived. The outside color isn't all gray, but rather khaki-tan with gray and black design stripes all down the sides. It actually looks a bit upgraded but Aerolite stopped making this unit with frameless windows and outdoor showers. I'm still fighting them on that one. They will give you a quick disconnect spray port and tell you that that's the outdoor shower- clearly it's not. And the frameless windows, well they can't go back and fix that so not sure what they are going to do for us. Probably nothing. But honestly, it's really nice inside, with an upgraded fold out (probably fake leather) sofa, and the trim inside is really nice. Your lights above the U-shaped dinette will go out within a week so just start replacing al of your lights with LEDs (they're really cheap on Amazon). Also, underneath the kitchen sink leaked a little at the connections, a little plumbers tape worked nice. I ended up fixing all connections with the tape as the manufacture did not. Also, under your two drawers in the kitchen there is a void - just pop that cover out and you've got another space for storing things. We use it for our dog dishes. The kids bunk room is a lot smaller than it looks online but there is plenty of hidden space there as well. Under the mini dinette, they have the seat covers screwed in with one screw. Take it out and you will find a lot more space under both. There are a few wires and pipes being routed thru there but you can make little wooden covers over them and have a ton more storage space. Durchmen also decided to leave out drawers under the U-showed dinnerte, which is a waste I think. We are in the process of cutting those out and making drawers for both sides. The shower tub is really small, only our 6yr old can use it, although I've tried the shower part and its a pretty tight fit.

What else? Hmm... Oh yes. So the curtain that seperates the master room and the main room... That will come right out of the ceiling at some point. The screws are just screwed right into the false ceiling. I found that using longer screws reaches the hidden stud that sits about 2 more inches above the false overhead. I tried using anchors when I found the stud. The bunkhouse has the same issue. Also, on the side of the bunkhouse closet that sits between the two bunks has an outlet. It's bit attached to any stud, just that fake wooden panel. So when the kids go to yank their iPad charges out of it, the whole panel come with it. I am in the process of taking the whole thing out and adding a stud next to it so that won't happen anymore. Oh yea, if you don't plan on making th bunkhouse into a 64 sq ft bed on top, then you can put a 2x6 up against the wall on the larger bunk on the left (looking aft). I know it doesnt make sense now but you will see when you get inside and start figuring things out. The bunk on the left is reall two with a hinge that folds over the middle and rests on a metal ledge attached to the right bunk. Send me your email and I'll send you some pics if you want.

Oh, another weird thing. We have dish and for some reason, the receiver has to be directly connected to the dish with no splits. So when the dish guy came out, he couldn't connect the the cable outlet outside because the manufacturer split the cable line like 10 times once it comes inside the TT. If you use cable, your golden... If you use direct tv or dish, you have to bring the cable thru one of the windows. But if your camping, I suppose it really matters not.

I hope this helps! Again, we are still finding things out so I'll keep you posted!

Thanks Feetwet20! I can see this forum will be a huge help! I would appreciate the pictures as that is a modification I am already wanting to do. My email is Shaneswope@hotmail.com

Shane

[randallfoster]

Hi All,

We just bought a 2012 315BHSS and are so excited to get it and start camping... this is our second travel trailer and addresses pretty much all the things we didnt like about the first...

I know I am going to want to install a slide-out cover... has anyone done that themselves? is it easy? Any other tips and tricks are most welcome as well!

Thanks for being such a great resource for us new owners.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by randallfoster

Hi All,

We just bought a 2012 315BHSS and are so excited to get it and start camping... this is our second travel trailer and addresses pretty much all the things we didnt like about the first...

I know I am going to want to install a slide-out cover... has anyone done that themselves? is it easy? Any other tips and tricks are most welcome as well!

Thanks for being such a great resource for us new owners.

Hi and welcome to the forums!

Slide toppers aren't too hard to install as long as you follow the directions! What brand of awning do you have on the trailer? I would buy the matching brand of slide topper.

Aaron