Are there any Aliner owners here?

We just bought a 2003 Aliner XL which is brand new and unused (spent ten years in the owner's garage) in spite of its age. So now we are curious whether there are any owners of Aframe camper here on the RV Forum?

Elly

Elly,

If there is an odor in the Aliner that causes your eyes to burn, be sure to leave it open for as long as you can! That is Formaldehyde and not a good thing. It takes some time to get rid of it.

Jim, There seems to be no issues at all with formaldehyde in the Aliners. Have you heard or read of any?

Elly

It would probably be a good idea to invest in a new set of tires.  10 years is retirement age for the current ones.

Elly,

I worked for an RV dealership for 13 summers. We carried Aliners for several years. I had to do the PDI on them and could not spend any time in one until it had been opened for a few hours. The one you have may not have a problem since it is a 2003. If it were brand new, you would. Just wanted to be sure you were aware if your eyes started to burn and it was hard to breath it might be formaldehyde.

Jim, Thanks for the heads-upon the odor. Both Jack and I have allergies and that would be a bad one for us. We'll make sure we'll have it up andopen on our driveway for a while before actualy sleeping in it!
We'll also look for new tires even though these are brand new but  "2003 brand new" .That was also a good suggestion.

Jim, would you recommend that we put a coating on the floor? We keep this unit in Arizona so it'll be nice and dry but we have read reports of rotten floors in earlier years.

Also Jim, this one never had a battery installed (did I say it is a 10 year old brand new one?). We have bought the battery deep cycle group 24 which fits in the box supplied. But something puzzles us. They have put some kind of compound in the hole in the floor where you have to insert the sleeve on the battery box for draining in case of leakage. Should we open that hole in the floor? Or should we just leave it sealed and remove the sleeve from the bottom of the battery boxand not worry about the remote chance of a spill? There is also a venting hose which we will attach to the top of that box.

Thanks for any advise!

Elly

Elly,

If you didn't detect an odor when looking at the rig then it's quite possible it has all disappeared by now. I just wanted you to be aware that it has been a problem in the past. I checked the Aliner site and they claim they use very little wood, which would eliminate much of the formaldehyde.

New tires are a good idea. They are definitely beyond the age when they should be replaced.

I would be more concerned about the underside of the floor for rot. Water is the culprit and driving in the rain could cause problems if there isn't a good undercoating. Keeping an eye on the water system for leaks will prevent any rot from inside.

I would imagine they might have used a putty tape or some similar flexible caulking to seal the hole. If you remove the sleeve from the battery box, then you would have to seal that hole so any acid could not leak from the box. I would open the hole in the floor and utilize the drain. Seal it from below with a caulk or get some putty tape and put it around the bottom of the box where the sleeve is located. When you place the box in the proper location, the putty tape should seal around the hole. Definitely use the vent hose for the fumes.

I checked the web and found this site: alinerownersclub.org/‎ It might be a source of information for you. Good luck with the new rig!

Yes, we have an Aliner Expedition.  We bought ours new and did not experience any formaldehyde smells. Enjoying ours and best of luck with yours.

Thanks Jim. And Gizmo, great to hear that you are enjoying yours. We look forward to using it next week for the first trip, probably to Catalina State Park, AZ.

Elly

Last year June 2015 I made the acquisition of a trailer Aliner Classic since that time I have only had some problems with this trailer.

1- On my first outing of the weekend, when rain there was water seepage through the water heater panel.
(The dealer has added a joint caulking to seal the gap between the trailer and the water heater.)

2- On my first trip in July 2015, the fridge no longer functioned; I was forced to work with a cooler for 10 days.
I went to my dear dealer returning from travel, it is changing the fridge door and thermostat.
It seemed to work well in September but the temperature was rather cold.

3- This year in the month of June 2016 we are gone of a 5 day period. (The fridge works more or less.)
(Went back to the dealer, they said it is not on warranty anymore (Told them it is the same problem, it is not working properly)

4- The panel for luggage detach from the trailer. There are only small screw 1/2 "set in fiberglass.
On my return so I made a frame from  3/4" veneered plywood to fix them with 2" screws. I did the same for that of forward.

5-  I redone the seals the fridge is inside the frame as these it was not tight enough and put more braquet to secure the panel.

6- All of the microwave bracket to hold the microwave in place failed had to replace with new bolt and nuts, put 1/4" shim under the microwave because the leg did not touche the bottom and all the weight was on the bracket, and cause the cabinet of the microwave to brake a part.

7- And finally I have a leaky roof at the front. And I had good view of all roof seals seemed in order.
For the leaky roof, i am made a call for the company Line-X waiting for a call, if it good it would be a permanent fix (for life).

All that in a year

To bad to have so much problem with this trailer i really like it, it is great for camping.

I remember when I build homes in the 1990.  New carpet was a killer .  But your unit should be fumed out by know only been 10 years