RE: How are Stealth Toyhaulers??
Looking at buying a Stealth 3516 fifth wheel toyhauler.
Anybody own one of these or any Stealth toyhauler?
How is the quality so far?
Do you have any issues with Stealth?
Any info would be appreciated.
I can give my honest opinion. Never in 1 million years would i buy a stealth. Mine was bought new a year or so ago. 2012. Check my water leak issue. None of those issues were related to winter damage. Luckily the insurance still took care of it.
To start. Leak since new. Speakers didnt work. Poor fitment with interior panels. Leak in the shower. Leak from loose fittings on water pump and heater. Refridgerator that works when it wants to and when it does, does not get very cold. Rear gate leaks pretty decently when it rains. OHHH the linoleum counter tops are seperating. The glue is releasing. Easy fix, but still..
After tearing it all apart and fixing everything that went wrong. Its the cheapest and fastest put together box out there.Crap. If i had the money for a lawyer i would of went that route.
RE: 2011 Stealth Toy hauler. Water leak again :(
Hey -your rig is looking good! Lots of hard word there! Glad you are getting to use the rig even if in your friends yard.
Haven't been on the board for last three weeks much due to a 10 day single track trip to the Payette National Forest about 35 miles from McCall Idaho.
Doing stuff like this:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee2/map_guy/IMAG0486.jpg width=640
Jealousy flows through me . lol..
RE: Insulation repair questions.
Have you thought about using SPF (Spray Polyurethane Foam Insulation) on the underside as well? I'm looking at this for the underside of my Class A. For the purpose of insulation, sound deading and waterproofing. I have had some water damage at the rear wheel well and thought this could solve my problem. Anyone have experiance with this?
I want something that wont hold water against the wood if it does leak.. it will literally leak on to the foam and then drip on the ground.. THen i will NO i have a leak somewhere. I dont recommend this for campers used during winter time because its pretty poor insulation. But for me, its perfect.
RE: 2011 Stealth Toy hauler. Water leak again :(
$138k? That's one heck of a policy!
Or maybe one too many zeros.
HAHAHA wow. ya. 13800. Sorry..
That was for all the underneath.. The front stuff i found later while i was doing the underside...
It looks good and we are dying to use it. So we are literaly driving 30 miles to a friends house and camping in their front yard for the weekend.. What bums. lol
RE: 2011 Stealth Toy hauler. Water leak again :(
Congrats on getting it back together. It really looks great. Hope you came out ok on the insurance vrs your cost. This has been quite a project but you took a bad situation "by the horns" and resolved it. Very nice job.
I came out phenomenal. I spent roughly 500 on supplies, they wrote me a check for 138000
And the front pieces were given to me by forest river when i showed them the damage. SO that helped also.
RE: 2011 Stealth Toy hauler. Water leak again :(
Congrats on getting it back together. It really looks great. Hope you came out ok on the insurance vrs your cost. This has been quite a project but you took a bad situation "by the horns" and resolved it. Very nice job.
I came out phenomenal. I spent roughly 500 on supplies, they wrote me a check for 138000
RE: 2011 Stealth Toy hauler. Water leak again :(
As for the water test, ahaha it leaked for a FULL YEAR before i noticed anything, so thats reallly hard to say.
Here are the rest of the pics. The wife washed it today so the sides are all nice and pretty now also. i SUUUUCCCCKK at laying down caulk. I really liked how the pro rv caulk worked though.
As for stickers, i have done a few tint jobs and big stickers before. This is an art form. I love watching people do stuff like this who have never done it.. HUGE learning curve. The factory puts the sticker above the line or below the line. I decided i wanted to cut the sticker in two pieces and do it in the middle.. way harder but looks WAYYY Better.
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/473758_486522394709495_1671133262_o.jpg width=800
Wife warming the sticker back up.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v675/jcemerson/Untitled.jpg width=800
Finished product. NO bubbles. nothing. Wraps around the lip and back under.. Love it. Best part of the whole job was right here.
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/620425_486522524709482_370506161_o.jpg width=800
RE: Tell me about the Dodge Cummins
I have an 05 4x4 2500 CTD. 97,000 miles. Never had an alignment, second set of tires(look like they will last until 120-130 or so). I have replaced every ujoint on the truck in the last 30k miles. The front suspension hasnt been touched. My truck is not a highway queen either. I hunt moose in northern ontario, elk out west. I have driven on gravel washboard roads for 50 mile stretches, dirt trails, anywhere I need to get to. I dont go muddin' though. I will say, I could use shocks all the way around.
Im not saying that Dodge front ends are great, Im just saying, 9 times out of 10 you only here the bad stuff from the internet.
You have heard that saying, it must of been built on a friday. Thats a damn true statement.
RE: Tell me about the Dodge Cummins
Sounds to me you just bought a POS. 107k on mine and the suspension is solid. One front ujoint. Thats it. All stock components. Lucky for me i work at an automotive repair shop so when it does come time i can take care of all that with just cost of parts.
As for front end work, dont get me started on all the fords we do. Holy carp. ahaha.
Please explain. Built as a POS at the factory? Yes, I purchased it used, but it had only 20457 miles on it when I got it. Paid a mechanic to go over it, looked for evidence of repaired collision damage (including frame) and found nothing. They put it on the alignment rack and checked that as well; it was out of spec but not badly. Returned to same shop after buying the truck for fluid, belt, and filter changes, as well as tire rotation, balance and alignment. What is or could be wrong with the front end? Upper control arm bushings are dried out and cracking, as are the rubber covers on other steering parts, but figure that's Florida's climate.
Im not really sure. It could of had a HARD 20k before you bought it, or the 05's were built cheaply. Im not sure. My 08 has 107 and is solid except that ujoint i mentioned. Im sure it was all highway mileage though.
RE: 2011 Stealth Toy hauler. Water leak again :(
anxious to see the pics and the results of the first water test!
Well, here is a picture. Still have to install the sticker, install some caulking and shes ready to go...
They updated from the filon front to aluminum two piece. I dont care, as long as it works.
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/375627_485501648144903_773341753_n.jpg
RE: Tell me about the Dodge Cummins
Forgot about the ball joint issue. Never could figure out if the 2wd 3500 duallies had a problem or was it just the 4x4's?
No, 2wd and 4wd steering and suspension parts are all susceptible for early replacement on the Ram. Everything's "permanently" lubed with no zerk fittings. At present I need both upper control arms (bushings shot). The fix is replacement of the upper control arms not the bushings themselves. Front sway bar bushings are also on the way out, and the truck can't seem to hold a front end alignment for more than a couple months, despite the fact the roads around home are not bad. Truck constantly drifts right at neutral steering wheel, whether the road is crowned or not(tires have less than 10K on them) . Mine is an '05 Ram 3500 2WD/SRW. Experience of others may vary.
Sounds to me you just bought a POS. 107k on mine and the suspension is solid. One front ujoint. Thats it. All stock components. Lucky for me i work at an automotive repair shop so when it does come time i can take care of all that with just cost of parts.
As for front end work, dont get me started on all the fords we do. Holy carp. ahaha.
RE: Tell me about the Dodge Cummins
I drove an '04 Dodge 2500 with the 5.9 engine today.........I have never been more astonished in 60 years of driving at the power of that unit.......I had never before driven a diesel, or a turbo engine...when I punched the throttle on a steep hill (not towing), the truck threw me back in the seat in a way I have never experienced.
It made my mind up....I will have an '03-06 Cummins truck..I just need to find the right combination of mileage, and features, and price.
Glad you had fun. If you want to feel some real power, give the LBZ Duramax ('06-07) a spin. More HP, more torque, and more gears!
Just playing, just playing, no one get mad or accuse me of starting a spitting match! :W The Cummins is/was a great engine, and I liked the truck, too. The Cummins is a little more 'punchy' as the torque curve kicks in. It was a tough decision for me between the Cummins and Duramax.
But seriously, unless you bleed Mopar/Cummins or have to have a straight 6 under the hood (which, if you do, that's fine), why not drive all three and decide which one you like best before making up your mind?
Have fun on those test drives!
I don't want to send the thread off on a tangent, either.....
I have a BIL who is the most knowledgeable person I know about trucks..he does have a great impact on my decisions because of that in-depth knowledge..he has no prejudices on makes that I can determine..he has had trucks of each of the big 3...I had bought into the Duramax/Allison kool-aid, but he was strong in correcting me.....he said the heavier Allison in big, big units were good, but not those in the 2500/3500 trucks.....I have read enough here to know there are many who feel the DuraMax/Allison team is the best there is.......anyway, that's why I am not interested in Chevy or GMC.
The best truck out there imo, (except for the Ford diesel engines) is Ford...but, since I am 74 already, I don't want to buy a new truck, and die with only 17,000 miles on it, as I have seen too many times.
That leaves a "good" diesel engine, the Cummins 5.9L, that will fit my needs...again, it was amazing for an engine with any mileage..let alone 73K miles........(grin)
I have no idea how you can classify the 5.9 as simply good...
RE: Tell me about the Dodge Cummins
The '03-early '07 5.9 in my opinion is the best motor that Cummins made. Strong and very reliable.
I LOVE the 5.9. But my 6.7 completely deleted from all the emission junk is quieter and zero black smoke at all. I have a 2008 3500. I installed the egr delete, o2 delete, cat delete, 5 inch exhaust turbo back.. Not ONE puff of black ever and its not DEAFENINGLY loud, even with the straight exhaust its quieter then most 5.9's. But between me and you, i like the loud deisels. lol
RE: 2011 Stealth Toy hauler. Water leak again :(
i feel like im updating this just for myself. lol.
Underside is painted, insulation installed, everything back in and in working condition. Today i FINALLY got my new front piece. What they did was they upgraded it from filon to metal. They made it two pieces.. That will be kinda nice...
Installing it today. So pics to come.
RE: You Can't Fix Stupid
I've been camping at the beach the last few days. It's not on the beach, it's a campground directly behind the dunes. It's summer, it's been hot and humid, so there's always a risk of thunderstorms. No surprise there.
I was looking at my phone yesterday afternoon and noticed we were under a storm warning until about 8pm. Around 5pm you could start to see some clouds moving in. This particular campground is on a very narrow strip off of long island. It's only a few hundred feet wide and has the ocean on the south side and a bay on the north side. This means you have a great view of weather approaching from the north.
Anyway, at around 5pm I fired up the grill and began putting some stuff away that I didn't want to get wet, especially since I was leaving the next day. By the time my burgers were done the only thing left outside was my grill and poopie trailer. I had dinner and my view on the picnic table was of the approaching storm. I then cleaned up and felt a drop or two and heard a rumble or two. I looked at my phone and saw a nasty cell moving towards us so I took the pup for one last walk. A few more drops while out for a walk, but then we made it back inside the trailer.
From the couch I had a great view of the approaching storm. More thunder. A lot of people were still sitting outside, playing in the road, awnings down, etc. I was safely inside reading a book watching it approach as it got darker and louder outside. People still outside, and now lightning bolts were visible. Still kids riding bikes too.
Eventually the wind and rain picked up and only then did some folks decide go inside. I watched a few people try to put their awnings up during the high winds. Not an easy process and I had absolutely no desire to help them because I had already taken care of my stuff and wasn't about to get soaked. This wasn't a surprise storm because you knew it was coming for at least an hour, even if you didn't have access to the news.
Lightning bolts all around and still folks walking around. I looked at my phone and it was recording lightning strikes less then .2 miles away. Then the rain picked up and that is what really sent everyone inside.
At the height of the storm I heard a chopper coming. It was flying very low over the beach. As it finally came into view I could see bolts striking down all around it. Scary stuff.
About an hour later the rain turned to drizzle. It there was still a bunch of thunder and lightning. Some folks decided it was time to go back outside.
What is wrong with people?
You are right. What is wrong with people? What kind of person wouldnt go help someone they see in need.
Maybe a quick "hey, i have this super phone that tells me a crazy storm is coming, you should buckle down"
Nope, you didnt even offer that.
What is wrong with people is right.
RE: 2011 Stealth Toy hauler. Water leak again :(
Glad to hear you're feeling well enough to work on it again. Did the wood dry out enough?
I hope so. ahaha. I would say ya. Testing it, its still a bit high, but i havent installed the front piece yet. So we still are supposed to have warm weather up to the 18th so we will see.
Wooohoo. Tanks all in. System all bled. All pipes are dry. Everythings functioning.. WOOOOT. that was fun.
Should finish the rest of the black corrugated plastic in the next day or two adn just wait on my front piece.
RE: clearance light leak
a 2012 with an issue??? thats not good....?
Yes sir. It leaked from day one. I luckily found it. Leaked in the same spot. If you check my thread you will see i had to remove the whole front piece and the under insulation and redo it all.insurance covered part of it, and forest river is giving me a new front filon piece and i will fix it myself.
RE: 2011 Stealth Toy hauler. Water leak again :(
Glad to hear you're feeling well enough to work on it again. Did the wood dry out enough?
I hope so. ahaha. I would say ya. Testing it, its still a bit high, but i havent installed the front piece yet. So we still are supposed to have warm weather up to the 18th so we will see.
RE: 2011 Stealth Toy hauler. Water leak again :(
Appears everyone gave up on me. lol.
So, i installed all the tanks and ran all new piping. Just need to install a few lines and i should have water and an operating trailer again. Still waiting on the front filon piece to arrive from the dealer.
RE: clearance light leak
I had a leak at the middle clearance light on the front of my 2003 Lance 1121. The filon has bubbled up over an area of about three square feet. Any suggestions on repair other than replacing the whole nose cap?
Sir, whats under that is even worse.
Mine is a 2012 with that same issue. If you go to my stealth waterleak post you will see. If the filons bubbling you will need to replace the whole sheet. Its not very hard, but the sheet will cost you about 400 bucks or so. then just apply your own backing, dry it all out and reinstall.
