Forum Discussion

hessp's avatar
hessp
Explorer
May 08, 2013

My Aliner Experience

I have been lurking here since January researching Aliners and other Aframe campers. I know that others lurk here attempting to learn about these unique campers and would like to share our recent experience.

My husband and I purchased a 2013.5 Aliner Expedition Titanium Edition Front Dinette Rear Sofa with toilet and shower in February. We took it on a road trip to Florida spending 5 nights (2 nights going and 3 nights coming back). We never went off road and never intended to - we always planned to camp with water/electricity/sewer (for the grey water). We are retired and travel with our two small terriers.

Upon returning home we both decided that the Aliner was not for us. Problems: lack of storage, lack of a real bathroom, plumbing issues - in particular drainage and water pressure/sink, poor use of space (dinette too large, bathroom takes up too much of the available floor space), lack of good fit and finish, difficulty in setting up the bed and taking it back down, etc. Pluses: easy to tow, easy to hitch, and the cute factor.

While I believe the Aliner is a great idea in theory, it did not work out for us from a liveability/practicality stand point. On other RV forums the advice to buyers is always to buy the floorplan that most closely meets your needs. The Aliner seems to appeal to people that want to change the Aliner to meet their needs, i.e., people that want a project. This is not what my husband I wanted - we just weren't aware of this until we actually tried to use it. We have no tolerance for visual clutter and for trying to adapt ourselves to a camper. We
realized that we want the camper to suit us - not the other way around. We found out the hard way that we were unwilling to spend the kind of money we paid for the Expedition only to immediately have to tear it apart to make it suit us.

We traded in the Aliner yesterday on an Idea I15Q travel trailer with the Genius Package upgrade. We absorbed a significant financial loss but ended up with a 13,500 BTU roof mounted air conditioner, wardrobe closet, a real bathroom with a door, cherry cabinets, electric awning, wall mounted 19 inch television with a digital antenna, 30 gallon fresh, grey, and black water tanks, and the list goes on and on. All of this for less than the Aliner cost and the actual weight was
pretty close to the Expedition.

I still love the idea of the Aliner and am not trying to bash it at all - it just wasn't for us. In all of my research I didn't come across an analysis written by someone who actually experienced living in an Aliner. Most of what I read was either an overly critical commentary complaining about leaks, axles, etc. or a cheerleading one that made it sound like the greatest thing since sliced bread. Again, I'm not trying to be overly critical so no flames please! This is just my experience which I hope will be of some benefit to others down
the line. If you think that you want this type of camper you really need to do some soul-searching regarding what your expectations are and where your interests lie.

Hopefully our Tiny House will find a good home with someone who will love it and appreciate it for what it is and for what it offers. We clearly were not its forever home!
Folding Trailers
  • xteacher's avatar
    xteacher
    Explorer
    May 30, 2013
    I'm sorry you didn't have a good Aliner experience. We bought our Aliner Classic in 2012, and so far, we're enjoying it. We haven't made too many modifications, but we've bought several things to make the experience more enjoyable. At first, we were overwhelmed with the lack of space, but we've become used to it and now enjoy figuring out ways to make the most of the small space.

    *We bought an REI camp kitchen to keep all paper goods, cooking gear, coffee maker, toaster oven etc. in outside (no food though); the 2 burner stove fits on a bracket on the side of the camper (with a propane hookup), or it can be used inside, if necessary.
    * We bought a Trekker porta-potty shelter for our porta-potty is great for those night time emergencies, or when we're too far from a restroom to make it.
    *We've also bought several slide out drawers that stack on a counter (dry foods/towels/foldable clothes/dog stuff) for storage - they work great, and they store under the table and bed during transit.
    *In addition, we have an Easy-Up in the place of an awning, which we love! It's 12x12, so we actually like it better than the awning we used to have on our TT.
    *We use the back of our Pathfinder as our hanging closet (we have a hanging rod across the back end for hanging shirts and pants), to avoid junking up the camper with all of our clothes.
    *We have an x-pen for the dogs to hang out in outside, along with folding dog camp beds - spoiled? Yes!
    *We put a bike carrier on the back of our Pathfinder. We load one bike, then hitch up, then load the second bike - works great!
    *We have an air mattress/memory foam topper for our queen sized bed

    Would we love a bigger camper? You bet! However, we enjoy being able to store the camper in our garage (saves us $50/mo. storage fee), and we enjoy the ability to have a "normal" tow vehicle with decent mileage (21 +/- mpg non-towing; 15-18 mpg towing, depending on speed/grade). This beats the 8-10 mpg (along with a hefty monthly payment!) of our former truck we towed our 31 foot camper with. Insurance, tag fees - everything - is cheaper with our Aliner.

    We're becoming very resourceful in making our Aliner work for us. We even take our dogs with us - our 60 lb. boxer sleeps under our slide out queen couch/bed (which we leave in a permanent bed configuration) - yes, he crawls under there on his elbows - LOL,and the little dogs sleep on one of the dinette cushions on their beds(sorry, no dogs in bed with us...).

    Yes, it takes more effort in planning to camp in an Aliner, but the ease/cost of travel and set up is worth it to us.

    OP, I'm glad that you found a camper that fits your needs better.


  • sushidog's avatar
    sushidog
    Explorer
    May 24, 2013
    BTW, the awning is a home made design. I wanted a small awning for my Aliner, but couldn't find any design I liked, so I went to the drawing board and designed my own.

    This was my design criteria:

    1. It must be quick and easy to set-up (like the Aliner) with only 1 person.
    2. It must be simple, with few parts, lightweight, yet durable (no rust or corrosion).
    3. It must be easy to build and inexpensive, no rope, cables or turnbuckles, and it must take up very little space when stored.
    4. Though built primarily for shade, it must be waterproof and sturdy enough to take mild weather. If hit by a heavy gust of wind it should give way rather than act as a sail and tip the camper.

    Let's see how I did:

    1. Moving at a normal pace, I can erect the Aliner with my new awning (from its normal travel configuration with awning disassembled and stored under the sofa area) in less than 3 minutes (timed by DW to keep me honest).
    2. There are only 6 pieces to assemble the frame and attach the awning (not counting the 3 threaded sockets permanently attached to the camper). My goal was to keep it under 10lbs. It actually weighs less than 5 lbs!
    3. The frame is made of three pieces 1/2" schedule 40 PVC pipe with both screw and push fittings. The awning is made from a 10mil woven plastic tarp (twice the weight of the typical 5mil blue tarps) for durability. I chose this material as it is lightweight, waterproof and extremely durable. When cut, the ends don't fray and unravel (so no stitching around the edges is needed.) It's also easy to repair and cheap to replace if it gets damaged. Not counting the Velcro and the plastic pipe glue, which I already had, I built it for under $20 thanks to Lowes!
    4. I used Velcro to attach it to the frame and camper - no ropes or clamps. Not only is this simple, fast and easy, but if the wind load exceeds the strength of the Velcro, the awning will come loose and spill the wind before it rips or overturns the camper.

    Here's some pics:

    Awning Album

    Chip
  • sushidog's avatar
    sushidog
    Explorer
    May 24, 2013
    bondebond wrote:
    sushidog, you bring your pet bird along?? At least where I live and have lived, I would keep a close eye on the sky for anything looking to make a meal of your friend. Too many raptors cruising.

    Otherwise, quite the set up you've got there. Is the awning from the factory, 3rd party or personally made?


    Yes, I've had my sun conure for 27 years. We always take her camping with us. She's fully fledged and can fly back to the camper or more often, fly under my shirt if she feels threatened. She always comes when called. Raptors are my biggest fear, so we both keep a sharp eye out. She likes to hike the trails too, sometimes visiting nearby trees. Occasionally visitors will ask: Aren't youn afraid she will fly off? I always reply, if you had a dog for 27 years would you be afraid that it would run off some day? Of course not, we couldn't get rid of her if we wanted to.


    This is what we look out for. This eagle was at land between the lakes on the Ky/Tn border.


    Sunny at Horsetrough Falls Near Helen Georgia.


    For some reason she liked this tree, making for a beautiful shot.


    A close-up of her enjoying a mountain stream in the smokies. She actually wanted to get down in it and take a bath in the babbling brook! Ihen I brought her to the edge at a safe spot, she touched the ice cold water and would have none of it, running back up my arm to snuggle next to my neck.

    Sorry for the hijack. ;)

    Chip
  • bondebond's avatar
    bondebond
    Explorer
    May 24, 2013
    sushidog, you bring your pet bird along?? At least where I live and have lived, I would keep a close eye on the sky for anything looking to make a meal of your friend. Too many raptors cruising.

    Otherwise, quite the set up you've got there. Is the awning from the factory, 3rd party or personally made?
  • gheicher's avatar
    gheicher
    Explorer
    May 24, 2013
    hessp wrote:
    We are very happy with our Idea i15Q and only wish that we purchased it first.


    Very similar to Starcraft AR-One 14RB except instead of the sofa the Idea i15Q has a dining area. Having the always down bed and a separate dining area is a nice feature. I have a Starcraft AR-One 15RB (hybrid) which is similar to the Idea i16. I needed the extra sleeping space for when my daughter goes along.

    Your 3.7L Jeep should have no problem towing. I have a 4.2 Ford Explorer and it does well with the 15RB. I also have an Aliner Classic and the V8 Ford hardly knows it is back there.
  • sushidog's avatar
    sushidog
    Explorer
    May 24, 2013
    Congrats on your new camper! BTW, what do you pull your Travellite with and what kind of MPG do you get? Yes, an Aliner is a specialty camper that is not right for most people. On the bright side, I'm sure someone will now get a good deal on a slightly used Aliner - like we did.:)

    We customized ours extensively to make it suit our needs. Most Aliner owners do. We rarely use our dinette, and couch. Instead, we leave it made into a king bed which gives us very little room to move around inside, but with just the 2 of us camping we're fine with the intimacy. But frankly, what other full-featured (king bed, shower/cassette toilet, fridge/freezer, microware stove, air conditioner, etc.) hard sided camper can you pull with a 4 cyl car and get 22-25mpg towing, and still have a 30+ mpg vehicle to tour the area when unhooked? Of course if you don't travel much and can afford a big dedicated fuel hungry TV then this may not be important. For us, the great gas mileage is less important than the expense of buying, insuring, maintaining, etc. a dedicated TV. We now have over 230,000 miles on our little Chevy Cobalt (about 30k miles towing) and it still runs great, towing our 1,700lb (loaded) Aliner up and down the steepest grades at the legal speed limit (up to 75mph across Texas 2 weeks ago).

    We easily live with the cramped space inside. This forces us to spend more time outside when we camp. If you like to stay inside a lot, then you would probably go stir crazy in one. If we're just over-nighting, we often don't unhook, (perfect for those 700+ mile days) like we did a couple week ago at a visitor's center, like this.


    If we plan on staying a while then out comes the screen room, awning and all the goodies, like this:


    Different strokes for different folks. I hope your new camper suits your needs as well as our Aliner suits ours.

    Chip
  • gerrym51's avatar
    gerrym51
    Explorer II
    May 23, 2013
    hessp wrote:
    gerrym51 wrote:
    sounds to me that a trailmanor would have been a better choice.


    We looked at Trailmanors but did not like the floorplans (too much unneeded sleeping area, lack of a dedicated eating space in the smaller floorplans, time to setup, and the somewhat primitive nature of the bathroom). Their availability was also very limited in Virginia (only one dealer) and we did not want to have to drive hundreds of miles for warranty or dealer repair work.

    We are very happy with our Idea i15Q and only wish that we purchased it first.


    and the aliner had a non-primitive bathroom. i will agree that trailmanors are expensive and don't have a lot of dealers. i looked at them and set one up at a dealer- really not a long time however i ended not buying any rv
  • hessp's avatar
    hessp
    Explorer
    May 22, 2013
    gerrym51 wrote:
    sounds to me that a trailmanor would have been a better choice.


    We looked at Trailmanors but did not like the floorplans (too much unneeded sleeping area, lack of a dedicated eating space in the smaller floorplans, time to setup, and the somewhat primitive nature of the bathroom). Their availability was also very limited in Virginia (only one dealer) and we did not want to have to drive hundreds of miles for warranty or dealer repair work.

    We are very happy with our Idea i15Q and only wish that we purchased it first.
  • hessp's avatar
    hessp
    Explorer
    May 22, 2013
    Lowsuv wrote:
    to the OP , thank you for your experiences .
    i had no idea that the aliner was so confining.
    the obvious advantage of the aliner to me is that you can get buy with a minimal tow rig .
    what is your tow vehicle, please ?
    is that same tv adequate for your new trailer ?


    Our tow vehicle is a Jeep Grand Cherokee 6 cylinder 3.7L engine with the factory tow package (includes a transmission fluid cooler). The Aliner had a dry weight of 2020 lbs and our new Idea i15Q's dry weight is 2585. We do not carry any water and only a few lawn chairs, hoses, food for 2-3 days, minimal clothes so I estimate that we carry a few hundred pounds extra. The tow capacity rating for the Jeep is 3500 lbs and we have had no trouble pulling both the Aliner and the Idea.

    Our reasons for initially selecting the Aliner were ease of towing (low wind resistance and good visibility), simplicity of systems (easy to fix ourselves and lack of complexity/things to go wrong), and ease of storage. We discovered that sometimes simplicity just makes things more complicated!
  • gerrym51's avatar
    gerrym51
    Explorer II
    May 21, 2013
    sounds to me that a trailmanor would have been a better choice.

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