[A/S] First Trip Out

[Jack Canavera <jpcanavera@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everybody.
We just got back from a 4 day trip with the new Safari
and all is well.  We drove about 170 miles to Lake of
the Ozarks and spent a great holiday + a couple of
preholiday days.  

The trailer tows great.  While the Safari weighs in
about 700lbs more than my old square sided TT, the
ride, handling charateristics in wind and with tractor
trailer traffic makes this unit a real pleasure to
drive.  

We got christened early with wind and rain just out of
St. Louis so our clean vehicle arrived a little dirty.
 Not quite the appearance I looked for at the first
campout.  The first burn of the furnace set off the
smoke alarm, much to the concern of one of our
ShitzuPoos who attempted to find a way out of the
trailer via couch and the front window.  

We have the rear twin bed setup with hanging wall
cabinets over the bottom of the beds.  It's going to
take a bit to learn how to easily make the beds with
the curved corners and cabinet obstacles.

As far as problems go I have found three items.  One
is a leaky shower door that probably needs additional
caulk,  and a long gasket (that has fallen) that was
stuck to an aluminum section that is inside the
refrigerator compartment accessed through the outside
access door.  It looks like the gasket is there to
provide a seal between the rear sides of the fridge
and the mounting walls that sit on each side of the
fridge.  Funny thing that even with the gasket in
place, as you look upwards from the rear and bottom of
the fridge, the gasket provides little if any contact
between the wall and unit as you move upwards. 
Something for the dealer to look at.

My third item is a little more concerning.  As I
lowered the trailer onto the ball as we departed from
home, I noticed water leaking from the underbelly on
the sides where the back underbelly panel joins the
panel that is next in line.  Since the trailer has not
been under city water pressure (used fresh water
supply and no evidence of water then) and has had no
water running through it since early May, I wondered
where the water came from.

Since I had washed the trailer early that morning I
figured that the intrusion must have occurred at that
point.  After looking around I found that the
electrical cord storage compartment (which is a tray
located in the area between the trailer bumper and
body, with a hinged cover) is not water tight on the
ends.  Apparently the floor of this compartment is on
the same level as the back underbelly panel and is not
caulked.  Any water getting into this compartment will
move through to the underbelly panel. Even higher in
the tray are some larger holes which apparently
provide some ventilation for the underbelly.  I can't
believe that water should be in there at any time so
this will probably be another dealer item to look at.

A local EV dealer close to my home is having some RV
organization in on Saturday for hitch inspections and
trailer weigh ins.  I think I'll take the Safari in to
see how much we vary from the unloaded weight (5501
lbs.).

Take care all! Hope your holiday was a good one!

Jack