**Topic:** aerolite trailer?????  
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would like all opinions on the aerolites,and how well built they are.we are looking at a 24ft rbsl model   
  
if that is the one with the torsion type of springs, that concerned me.   
  
we had one loved it no problems we liked it alot seemed sturdy and solid to us we grew out of it and had to get a bigger trailer   
  
We bought a 21 ft Prism back in '94 which was a cousin to the Aerolite and made by the same company, just different graphics and interior appointments. Had it for three years and we were very happy with it, except the fits and finishes inside were something to be desired. Some of the vinyl plastic door trim began to curl and warp after a few years. Also, we found out the subfloor was made of particle board, which when it gets wet, turns to oatmeal mush. I would check to see if Aerolite has converted to genuine plywood or OSB type of flooring before buying. Other than that, I would rate the Aerolite as a good litewight TT to buy. Shop around for the best price though.   
  
I just bought that model.  
No complaints so far. Had our water heater curcuit board go out on us on our first trip ( both gas & elect model). Dealer replaced, and no more problem.   
  
I had a 2000 RBH, no problems. We out grew it. It was a good lightweight trailer that we used just about every other weekend for 3 years.   
  
I have a 1997 Aerolite 19RB and it has performed great. Everything works after all these years, which says something for the durability of these little trailers. It's light enough that I pull it with a Chevy Blazer.   
  
I had a 96 Aerolite 21RBH that leaked like crazy! Vinyl flooring was  
discolored and water stained. It would leak in by the wheelwell area  
as well as the front window and the rear of the trailer too. I don't think I could ever buy another Aerolite again. I'm not bashing Aerolite as I loved that trailer. However, The problem was pretty widespread through 1996-98 model years. I actually saw alot of units that were water damaged. They all had that same musty, wet smell mine did. Hopefully Aerolite has solved these problems by now. Just be careful of what you buy with any trailer brand.   
  
Hi,  
  
We have an Aerolite 1999 23ft FRB which we bought used in Feb. 2000 and just love! I guessing we've towed that trailer well over 10K since then (including a 19-day, 6000mi honeymoon trip out west) without any serious problems ever.  
  
Things that have worn out/broken include:  
\--Spare tire brackets pulling away from laminated back of trailer. Unable to remount so tire now rides on the tongue.  
\--Discoloring/yellowing of window seals  
\--Breakdown of caulk, particularly in front of trailer. Caused water damage to floor during heavy rain.  
\--Dinette seat where mounted to wall became loose and has ripped through wall material slightly. Had to reinforce with L-brackets.  
\--Plastic hinge on lift-up portion of bed broke. Replaced with metal hinge.  
\--Problems with water heater getting clogged with mineral deposits.  
  
I think these problems are certainly generic though and can happen to every make of trailer.  
  
It pulls great, although we have more truck than we need for the trailer alone. When shopping for a different trailer, my husband really wanted a laminated, ultra-light model. This one fit the bill. The only other line we seriously considered was Trail-Lite, and to a lesser degree, the Starlite by Starcraft.  
  
Our only complaint is that our model doesn't have a slide-out!   
  
thanks for all the imput,also would consider other brands   
  
Well I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone with this problem.  
  
I have an 25 foot Aerolite year 1998 and it's been leaking for the last 4 years (and probably the years before but I didn't see the damages then).  
  
So far, I've:  
-> recaulked one roof dome  
-> recaulked the roof  
-> recaulked all the lights   
-> recaulked where the propane are stored  
-> recaulked the wheels openings  
-> recaulked the bottom of the floor, underneath, in the back  
  
And it's still leaking somewhere.  
  
I'll be looking at the windows soon and also the wheel openings again. Will also be looking at the bolts holding the floor to the frame as the water seems to be coming in the trailer around the bolts...  
  
So much work. Hopefully camping is fun or it wouldn't be worth it.  
  
And repa   
  
Currently have a 1998 25 foot Aerolite and I've been fighting off water infiltration for the last 4 years.  
  
Vinyl floor is discoloring up front and in the back. Water has infiltrated in the floor. Can't seem to stop finding weak spots that I have to add or change caulking.  
  
It has leaked:  
-> by the roof dome  
-> by the back and front lights  
-> by the propane housing  
-> by the wheel plastic protection  
and I still am trying to find where the water is infiltrating in the floor...  
  
Good luck.   
  
It seems to be something thor did ( or didnt do ) on the 98-99 model years. I have heard plenty of complaints for those 2 years. I have spoken to a few 2000 model year onwers who havent had a problem at all. Like wise for a couple 2003 owners.   
  
I have a 98 Aerolite, 830RQS, that I love, BUT I have a water leak that I CANNOT find. To resolve, I have a piece of bottom molding on the front streetside removed so that the water can run out onto the ground. When it rains, I have water between the fiberglass/luan bond and the foam insullation. I have no water on the inside, no water in the storage area, but the floor is purple splotched indicating a lead. The floor IS NOT spongy - than God.  
  
I have checked and re-caulked everthing on the roof and front of the trailer, but I still have the leak.  
  
If anyone can help or advise me, please do so.  
  
Otherwise, the unit is flawless for 6 years and at least 18,000 miles of towing.   
  
We had a 1998 25" aerolite and it also had leak problems, but I was able to fix them before there was any permanent damage. We have since upgraded to a larger 5th wheel, but we loved the aerolite. Our last trip was a 12,000 mile, two month jaunt through Canada and Alaska. I wouldn't worry about the suspension system. We had the wheels aligned in Edmonton Canada and the folks at McCoy's Trailer service said it was a good little trailer. It was very quiet. Most other trailers and 5th wheels creak and groan when they crosss bumps, but the aerolite is dead quiet. The fact that we got 15 mpg with our truck was an added bonus.   
  
I bought a 25 RDB new in 1996, Since then the roof leaked, The floor rotted, the battery converter quit and had to be replaced. The water line to the shower popped off causing a major leak and flooding my floor. My awning will not stay up and I had to fabricate it and use pins to keep it up. Other than that all the appliances worked great! I pulled it with a Ford Aerostar, a Ford Explorer and a F-150 with no problems. I would not recommed this trailer to anyone. I now own a Jayco.  
  
If you have a vynil floor try peeling it up. I pulled mine up and am running a dehumidifier and it seems to be drying well. I don't know if it will dry the bottom layer of wood though.   
  
I bought a new 2003 this year and love it. No water leaks, everything works, pulls like a charm with my half ton and is standing up the wear and tear of my 4 and 5 year old boys.  
  
I would buy an Aerolite again...but a 5th wheel. There's always the next one!!   
  
I have a 2000 Aerolite 26RQS. Had seen posts on the forum about leaking and was reluctant to buy. Wife loved the layout, we bought it. Went over it with fine tooth comb before taking delivery. It has been great for three years. One small leak around one of the rear running lights. Dealer fixed all okay. I feel that Aerolite went through a situation like Ford with the Explorer they had to fix everything if they wanted to sell anymore product. We love it.  
Terry, Phyllis and Ben (Spoilt rotten yellow lab)   
  
Has anyone that you have come in contact with re: leakage ever attempted to make Aerolite own up to the problem? We have a '98 26 foot aerolite that has a MAJOR leak problem! I wrote the company about the problem and health concerns re: mold/mildew found under raised linoleum and they said take it to a dealer and claim it on our insurance! They also told me to see a doctor about my health concerns!!! Our floor has water damage from whole perimeter of trailer...only dry area was the very center of the trailer! Sure would like to know if this should be a recall issue! Please reply.   
  
Please see my added forum from 7/28/04 re: leakage.   
  
I have a 1998. One problem I found was around the gasket on the front window. I reset the gasket and sealed it with silicone because the window cover does not seal. By the window cover not sealing well, this causes water to build up at the bottom of the window and it was leaking past the window seal.  
  
I have gone over the trailer and recaulked about everything I could find to recaulk. I had a rot problem around where the propane line for the water heater went in. The caulk around that was completely missing...  
  
Other than that, I really do like the trailer.   
  
Click on the link below to view pics of the water damaged floor in our old 1996 Aerolite 21RBH. I did contact Thor and sent them a few of these pictures of our old TT. They basically told me that the trailer was not under warranty anymore, so there was nothing that they could do, Or would do! They estimated it would cost me 2-$3000 to fix the water damaged floor. We ended up selling it a few months later. I really don't know if I could ever buy another Aerolite again!   
I purchased a used 1996 21' RBH just 3 monts ago. I had read allot on this forum about water problems with the early model Aerolites & was very concerned. After going through the trailer & looking EVERYWHERE for water damage or discoloration I found none. I took it to the car wash & sprayed it up & down with pressurized water & still found no water leaks. I have now been through 2 heavy rain events while camping & still no problem. I hope my luck keeps up, has been a very good TT to this point & I really enjoy it.   
  
Yep! That is exactly what ours looked like before we pulled up the linoleum. What was underneath was even more disgusting! Obviously Thor does not care about return customers! I would never buy them again, and I tell as many people as I can not to buy them either! Not sure what we are going to do yet. Thanks for your info though.  
  
  
I understand your frustration, but you need to face the facts. You have a trailer thats 6+ years old, no way ANY TRAILER MANUFACTURE would warranty a water leak on a 6+year old trailer. Thor ONLY warranties the caulking ( and any water damage from a caulking leak ) for 90 days. It is up to the consumer to keep up on it after that. So far there have been 4 complaints here about 1998 models and 3 about 96 models. I have yet to hear a leak problem from any Aerolite owner who owns a trailer less than a year old, or 3 years old for that matter.  
How long do you expect a manufacture to honor a warranty? Your problem isnt due to the manufacture, but from the poor maintenance performed by the previous owners, simple as that.  
  
JIMROSS, just fir the record, when I bought my Aerolite in 1998, I asked for a manual so that I could keep up with required maintenance. I have manuals on every appliance, electricals, pumps, and the awning and all other add-ons I bought. No manual on the trailer. The trailer had a 5 year structural warranty that I assume should have covered leaks.  
  
As far as Thor warrantying the caulking for only 90 days, where did you get this information? If so, no such warranty exclusion was ever given to me!  
  
In addition, my dealer no longer carries the brand due to leaks that cannot be located and do damage before the leak is even discovered. I have been all over my unit and cannot find the leak. I have called Aerolite, but they cannot help other than to admit that leaking was an issue on my model year.   
  
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JIMROSS, just fir the record, when I bought my Aerolite in 1998, I asked for a manual so that I could keep up with required maintenance. I have manuals on every appliance, electricals, pumps, and the awning and all other add-ons I bought. No manual on the trailer. The trailer had a 5 year structural warranty that I assume should have covered leaks.  
  
As far as Thor warrantying the caulking for only 90 days, where did you get this information? If so, no such warranty exclusion was ever given to me!  
  
And I agree with you, I also "assumed" caulking/sealants would be a part of that warranty. But, fact is the warranty plainly states that sealants are only covered first 90 days.   
Read this thread. I typed in a good portion of what the warranty states:  
  
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In addition, my dealer no longer carries the brand due to leaks that cannot be located and do damage before the leak is even discovered. I have been all over my unit and cannot find the leak. I have called Aerolite, but they cannot help other than to admit that leaking was an issue on my model year.  
  
Just the opposite with my dealer. Very little warranty service work returns after the initial walk though work done.  
  
As for the manual you didnt get, sound like a dealer issue. Why wouldnt they get on the ball and make sure you got one? I got a manual the size of a large phone book.  
  
I agree, there are going to be the bad lemons, but this is true for everything that is made today. I read way more problems with other brands here on the forums, than I actually do about Aerolites. And in 99% of the Aerolite problems posted here, its a 5+ year old trailer having the problem.  
  
Just looked at an Aerolite 24RB-SL, and liked it for several reasons. It's good to hear that many on here like this brand, as I had heard things about (just like one hears things about most every brand).  
  
I did notice that the height of the trailer is substantially more than other brand's ultralights, and wonder why this is. I did have decent room for my 6'4" stature, as the A/C is ducted & doesn't hang down. Maybe this is why they are taller, but Rockwoods have ducted A/C and are over a foot lower.  
  
Maybe the road clearance is more - can someone address this?   
  
It must be more ground clearance? Look at the pic in my sig, you can see there is quite a bit.  
  
I just looked at Rockwoods web site. Thier 7 1/2ft wide trailers are 8.5 ft tall and thier 8ft wide models are same as Aerolite, 9.8ft tall.  
  
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I just looked at Rockwoods web site. Thier 7 1/2ft wide trailers are 8.5 ft tall and thier 8ft wide models are same as Aerolite, 9.8ft tall.  
Oh yeah - I was looking at the RW 7.5' wide ones. However, looking at brochures, it is taller than the Trail Lite & Surveyors by over a foot too.   
  
I was curious about the holes in the frame - did a big metal eating mouse get to those!? LOL The salesman claimed that those were for weight reduction, and that the frame was some sort of aircraft like design that was super strong, etc. However, my thinking is that fully boxed frames would be stronger. Wonder if any one can speak to that.   
  
My salesman said the exact same thing.   
  
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My salesman said the exact same thing.   
Must be Aerolite "talking points." Have you noticed any undo flex in the frame - sounds like a silly question, eh? LOL Are there any other manufacturers doing this?   
  
no, its acually more rigid than the other TT I had. I have no complaints what so ever about this unit so far. Only problem I have had was on our maiden voyage the water heater's curcuit board took a dump. It was so new, the dealer didnt have one in stock and had to order one. Had it fixed in 4 days.  
  
Jim, I can tell you that I have kept up on my maintenance, but lets face it Aerolite sucks!!, They use the cheapest material they can to keep the trailer light. I got what I paid for. As for caulking, I can tell you I did every year and even covered my TT in the winter. Not to bash the company cause I'm sure their products are much better than the 1996 TT I had. Once I bought my Jayco my wife and I noticed how much better the craftsmanship was and how much sturdier it is.   
  
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Jim, I can tell you that I have kept up on my maintenance, but lets face it Aerolite sucks!!, They use the cheapest material they can to keep the trailer light. I got what I paid for. As for caulking, I can tell you I did every year and even covered my TT in the winter. Not to bash the company cause I'm sure their products are much better than the 1996 TT I had. Once I bought my Jayco my wife and I noticed how much better the craftsmanship was and how much sturdier it is.Unfortunately, Jayco doesn't seem to offer a true ultralight! All their trailers are approx. 500 lbs more than comperable in Aerolite, Trail Light or Rockwood.  
  
Also, as many have said, Aerolite even admits to having roof problems in those years.   
  
I purchased a 30' Bunkhouse with a slide out in Feb. I took a trip last month and the frame bent and the floor is all broken out. I didn't hit anything noticeable on the trip. The way we new there was a problem is the cabinets were all broken out. When I called for warranty repair. The company just blew me off. My insurance company is unwilling to pay as the dealer claims the vehicle is totaled. Aerolite doesn't really speak to me. Both the dealer and the insurance company believe this is the manfufactures problem. The frame is bent due to loose bolts on the axle. The quality of the trailer is not very good and when you look at how the frame is built you will find it is done in many pieces. It is not very strong. The cabinets are paper thin and it doesn't take much to peal the paper layed on them. Also, the joints on the cabinet doors are stapled and allow them to flex when they're opened. I knew most of this when I purchased the trailer but the weight was exactly what I was looking for in towing. I never thought the manufacture would not stand behind their product and I would be in the situation I'm in now. There is nothing I did to abuse the trailer! If you are seriously thinking about purchasing this product, I would recommend against it.   
  
Hello Disco bay   
does this story sound familiar read on and please contact us thank you  
we have an aerolite 30bhss that is currently at Dutchman in Indiana. We had to cut our vacation short because the frame bent while we were traveling between Ohio & west Virginia. We have had problems with our TT before we even took delivery. The kitchen cabinets were pulling apart from the wall and the stove was separated from the counter. Every time we took out our camper the same problem happened. We had the counter top reattached once and the second time they replaced the whole cabinet and counter top. Keep in mind that this sounds like minor typical problems with a camper but the counter is above the axles and I feel that the frame was flexing every time we used the camper therefore loosening the counter. We have pictures of the interior that I am going post on our own thread (bent frame aerolite 30bhss) where I have already posted the pictures of the bent frame. Dutchman won’t cover the damage under warranty. Their stand is that the frame was impacted somehow therefore voiding the warranty. We have never hit anything ran over anything or jacked it up. We were told to contact our ins. co. to pay for the damage.   
I figure that if they have my ins. co. cover the damage they don’t have to acknowledge that there is a problem with the BAL Norco frame. I am contacting a lawyer and I already sent my info to state of CT attorney general. I am hoping that I can get as much info as I can on this matter.   
Anyone with any frame problems on their 30-foot Aerolite or Kodiak trailers please contact us ASAP. WE have a meeting with our dealer on 8/30/05 and any information to help our cause would be appriciated. The dealer is in a bad spot they dident build it and they believe that it is a defect. Maybe we can get all the dealers who sold these trailers to band together and put pressure on Dutchman to do the right thing.We would also like to thank Jim Ross for his help and quick responce in this matter. I wish he worked for my dealership or Dutchman maybe then the right thing would get done  
Thank you   
  
We have a Kodiak 24RBSL which is the same as the Aerolite. We have had it since January and love it. Our dealer in Orlando is great and we have had not major problems with it. It's a great trailer for the price.   
  
2004 QS and lovin it. No leaks, no worries, no problems.   
  
My husband and I bought a 2004 30ft Bunkhouse and went camping 3 times with our 2 kids and the 4th time we were getting ready to leave my husband noticed the floor infront of th fridg was down, so we took it to Setzers( where we bought it) and the contacted Dutchmen and Dutchmen wanted Setzers to go inside the bottom cabinet and screw a piece of plywood to the floor to pull up the floor on the outside of the cabinet and they did. We went to pick up the camper and my husand said it is stll waving and we would not accept. It had fell 8 inches. Then Dutchmen wanted to take it and lift off the shell and replace he floor and we said no, because it would not be the same. So after fighting for several months, they decided to trade us another aerolite for that one. We got a 26QS and the back slide broke 4 times and they took it to the facorty finally and reconstructed the back wall and slide. It is a 2005, so far we have not had any problems out of it (knock on wood!!!). We have camped in it about 10 times and in cold weather. We trout fish in Pocohontas County (West Virginia) and in March we have encountered 18 inches of snow in the 26QS. It really tows great on level and up in the mountains. We pull with a Tohoe (V8) adn you can't even tell the camper is behind us. SO FAR SO GOOD!!!!!!!!  
  
We also have a 2005 26QS. We took it on a 1500 mile trip in August and when I was cleaning it, I noticed the rear slide bottom had a crack and hole in it. After much debate and the support of my dealer, Dutchmen agreed to my fix. The slide was removed, the external bottom removed, new supports added, 5 rollers installed (instead of 3). What happened was the left roller was installed so that the internal support in the floor did not sit on it (bad installation). I haven't yet camped with it, but hope the fix holds up. My dealer was the saving grace here as Dutchmen was difficult to speak to.