Greetings y'all! My name's Peter Scherer, grew up in ND and moved here to Texas in 2014, bringing with the family teardrop. My dad bought this Model 550 in 2003 after seeing CampInn's booth at the Back to the 50's car show in Minneapolis, MN in June of 2003. Due to the classical styling and having previously owned Airstreams, the stars aligned and an order was placed. It was completed on Sept 27th, 2003 and is an Ultra Model with almost every option including AC and Furnace. Total price was $13,741.38 (those were the days eh?). Used often as a camper for my dad, brother, and myself on guy's trips, it is still in factory-fresh condition and ready to hit the road some more. I figured I'd introduce myself since I plan to create a separate thread here for documenting my travels over the coming years. I'm leaving next week for the Labor Day holiday, going up to Mt Pleasant Steam Threshers Reunion in Iowa, making a lot of stops along the way at museums and campgrounds. ~Peter
Thanks for the update, Peter and looking forward to more! Sweet GTI tow vehicle, classy combo in silver! -Fellow NDak boy and VW owner (2017 Alltrack S with a couple mods for towing).
If I had to guess, a little over 4,000mi . Mostly from 2003-2009. Once us kids got into college it wasn't a practical for more than 2 people, so we namely used larger RVs for vacations since then.
No, they're off because I'm replacing the factory (21yr old) tires with new ones this week. Just had the wheels off the other day checking bearings and figured no sense in re-installing for just a few days.
Its great to know you're taking good care of her I'm due to do my bearings, maybe next weekend. This one is is a gathering near Terra Haute Indiana...y'all are welcome here
Here's a quick link to my album from the Labor Day Trip, 2400+ miles over 7 nights, definitely will be doing more! https://photos.app.goo.gl/QCBg5cFdsXzRSMkT9
Check the date on the tire(s) --- especially spares. On campers especially --- we don't generally put that many miles on them. But they sit, and dry rot. You risk separation of the tread and catastrophic damage far more than you do ever burning through the tread. 5 years is my limit. Which reminds me I need to check mine when I leave for work today. I've got a long trip to Wisconsin coming up A Guide to Tire Date Codes | Firestone Complete Auto Care
I'll preface this by saying everyone needs to do what they are most comfortable with, so I'm not faulting Sweeney, if that is what meets his comfort level. However, I feel a 5 year replacement schedule is rather conservative unless the tire is showing signs of tread wear down to safe minimums, or signs of dry rot on the sidewall, neither of which most of us will see in a 5 yr old tire on our TD's with normal usage, and inside storage. If you are a full timer, and / or leave your TD exposed to the elements continuously, either of those issues may be likely. Many tire manufacturers suggest a tires service life as being around 10 years. Here is a link to an article that I think lays out more realistic parameters for tire replacement: https://tiregrades.com/tire-anatomy/tire-age-limit-law/ YMMV
