Normally, I am not like this this but ---
Gulfsteam has always bee a trusted name in the industry
I bought my 2014 Ameri-lite 21 MB a year ago. I was told that it was in pretty good shape by someone that I thought was pretty knowledgeable on trailers. Well, he had some of it correct. When I got this home, my wife didn't like the tub so I went to put in a shower. When they built it, they ran the walls to the floor and set the tub inside the walls, sealing the tub to the wall with a cardboard strip. After rebuilding the rotted away floor and walls and cleaning the nut shells out (get to that in a minute), I was able to repipe and put in the shower. The 2 little drawers in the galley were a bit of a joke, as were the benches. So, the entire galley was removed to find that the electric line through the outside wall was an open hole for all kinds of critters to come in and make nests (charming). Cleaned all the mess up and put in a new galley except the fridge, and kept the stove to be reinstalled. Now it has 8 full depth drawers, new cabinets, (furnace was removed), electric plugs into the trailer versus the hole. The table is a drop leaf table with fold up chairs under the table. All of the galley upper cabinets were replaced with new cabinets that have torsion box bottoms (light weight but strong) so no more collasping cabinet bottoms that were 1/8" thick. The noisy A/C was replaced with an ultra quiet heat pump. Then there was the refrigerator. It is a 12v and gas unit. The space above the fridge (that was open to the cabin space from leaks in the sides etc..., was the flue. Now it has a proper insulated flue that is safe - this was actually dangerous the way it was made.
While driving, I noticed the driver's side outside panel was puffing out while driving. I figured the staples holding the panels had gone away, so I put 3 steel roofing screws to secure the side (I'll get back to this in a minute).
Then I noticed the ceiling was drooping a bit over the bed. A couple months prior, I replaced the cracked skylight and recaulked the entire roof and all of the penetrations. Checked again and all looked good. The next thing to do was pull the inside ceiling panel. After removing all of the insulation (about 2 cups full), I looked up and saw daylight coming through the roof. This was through the screw strip that is not supposed to have caulking on the outside. It seems that this had been leaking since it was built - 70% of the beam was completely rotted away and if I pulled down on it - it flexed over an inch before I stopped. Fortunately, there was enough to recreate the angles of the original beam that was 3 - 2x4 thick, now less that 1" thick. The only thing holding this beam together were staples. The new beam is made of Southern Yellow Pine, is glued with epoxy, screwed, and nailed (and there is no flexing now). There was no plywood left between this beam and the second beam except a couple of fragments showing that it was 1/8" or thinner. Now it has 1/2" marine plywood between beams.
Now to get to the buckelling side panels. It seams that Gulfstrem's idea of structure is literally 2 1x1 1/2" pieces suppoting the front corner ridge beam. The buckelling was from the force of the wind pushing against the front of the trailer to the point of blowing out the aluminum panel.
With all of the work I have done, I have increased the weight of the trailer by 250 lbs.
I am seriously disapointed in Gulfstream - it seems that they SPARED every expense (and I do mean every expense) in making this product.
So, if you are experiencing ANY of these things, there are remedies - but they are a lot of work to fix.
Original Side structure
New side structure
First main Beam
New Beam
Gulfsteam has always bee a trusted name in the industry
I bought my 2014 Ameri-lite 21 MB a year ago. I was told that it was in pretty good shape by someone that I thought was pretty knowledgeable on trailers. Well, he had some of it correct. When I got this home, my wife didn't like the tub so I went to put in a shower. When they built it, they ran the walls to the floor and set the tub inside the walls, sealing the tub to the wall with a cardboard strip. After rebuilding the rotted away floor and walls and cleaning the nut shells out (get to that in a minute), I was able to repipe and put in the shower. The 2 little drawers in the galley were a bit of a joke, as were the benches. So, the entire galley was removed to find that the electric line through the outside wall was an open hole for all kinds of critters to come in and make nests (charming). Cleaned all the mess up and put in a new galley except the fridge, and kept the stove to be reinstalled. Now it has 8 full depth drawers, new cabinets, (furnace was removed), electric plugs into the trailer versus the hole. The table is a drop leaf table with fold up chairs under the table. All of the galley upper cabinets were replaced with new cabinets that have torsion box bottoms (light weight but strong) so no more collasping cabinet bottoms that were 1/8" thick. The noisy A/C was replaced with an ultra quiet heat pump. Then there was the refrigerator. It is a 12v and gas unit. The space above the fridge (that was open to the cabin space from leaks in the sides etc..., was the flue. Now it has a proper insulated flue that is safe - this was actually dangerous the way it was made.
While driving, I noticed the driver's side outside panel was puffing out while driving. I figured the staples holding the panels had gone away, so I put 3 steel roofing screws to secure the side (I'll get back to this in a minute).
Then I noticed the ceiling was drooping a bit over the bed. A couple months prior, I replaced the cracked skylight and recaulked the entire roof and all of the penetrations. Checked again and all looked good. The next thing to do was pull the inside ceiling panel. After removing all of the insulation (about 2 cups full), I looked up and saw daylight coming through the roof. This was through the screw strip that is not supposed to have caulking on the outside. It seems that this had been leaking since it was built - 70% of the beam was completely rotted away and if I pulled down on it - it flexed over an inch before I stopped. Fortunately, there was enough to recreate the angles of the original beam that was 3 - 2x4 thick, now less that 1" thick. The only thing holding this beam together were staples. The new beam is made of Southern Yellow Pine, is glued with epoxy, screwed, and nailed (and there is no flexing now). There was no plywood left between this beam and the second beam except a couple of fragments showing that it was 1/8" or thinner. Now it has 1/2" marine plywood between beams.
Now to get to the buckelling side panels. It seams that Gulfstrem's idea of structure is literally 2 1x1 1/2" pieces suppoting the front corner ridge beam. The buckelling was from the force of the wind pushing against the front of the trailer to the point of blowing out the aluminum panel.
With all of the work I have done, I have increased the weight of the trailer by 250 lbs.
I am seriously disapointed in Gulfstream - it seems that they SPARED every expense (and I do mean every expense) in making this product.
So, if you are experiencing ANY of these things, there are remedies - but they are a lot of work to fix.
Original Side structure
New side structure
First main Beam
New Beam
