There's was a guy at the campground last time we went who had removed the skylight on his. He installed a very large solar panel over the patch... looked good and seemed to be fairly practical.

Every camper has its tradeoff for sure. I save a lot of money being able to park my aframe in the garage.

We added a 14gal grey water tank to our Aliner. Sits in a stainless steel frame between the steel beams of the undercarriage. Added a vent valve and standard rv waste valve to finish it off. The pipe from the tank to the waste valve holds another gallon or two of capacity. We can now go days without dumping if we choose. We can still attach a garden hose to the cap on the rv valve and drain into a blue tank to empty at a vault toilet. When at full hookup site we can run water endlessly without worry with a standard rv sewer hose. Tank was from Amazon and all the stainless steel hardware from McMaster Carr. Total cost when we did this in 2020 was about $450. Adding about 20lbs empty to our 2000 lb Aframe wasn’t an issue. We tow with a 5000lb towing capacity vehicle. Still, we try empty the tank as soon as possible to not haul the weight of 15 gal of water impact our gas mileage.

Our 2003 Aliner has two 24x24 skylights over the bed area. We swapped one out for a clear skylight so that we can watch part of the night sky (and meteors) from bed. The old skylight is now its protective cover when not being used for viewing.

Appreciate the video. Warmed up to the a frame after looking at a bunch of pop ups. Coming from tenting I want the rv systems to be as simple as possible so I am looking for less tanks, residential style ac, but enough space inside for two small kids and two adults.

Nice work. I want to buy one but I may look a little more into it. Thanks!

Haha! Oh yes! We will be removing the back bed baking skylight too!!!! Have yet to figure out what kind of panel for the outside… but inevitably we will cover it with flat solar panels. I’m the opposite on the grey tank. I appreciate it not having one so I don’t have to stop anywhere special to empty it. Or move the trailer to empty it on a longer camp. Walking out a bucket is much easier. Actually! Ours/yours is quite better than the ALiner which has the exit pipe down at the bottom off the floor!!! Our friends are basically stuck using an oil pan for grey. I’m thankful ours is higher. Agree on the locks. Totally. A change we have to make too. Especially since one broke recently. Insulation is needed for the bottom. I noticed the same thing you did and in the meantime, rolled some flex seal all over the bottom. Easy fixes over all! I will be interested to see what you do with the vent pipe area!

The bubble skylights aren't worth much as windows but they do serve another purpose that you may not have thought of, especially if you are a taller person. The actual function of the bubble is to give headroom to the person seated at the table next to the front or back of the trailer. I'm 6 ft. tall and if the bubble weren't there, I would have to sit with my head tilted toward the middle of the camper to sit upright at the table. The same is true if I'm sitting at the couch/bench at the back, my head would have to dip forward to avoid hitting the ceiling. Just food for thought.

Thanks for this video! I’m in the process of buying an A frame type camper; this helps narrow my search down…. I won’t be buying a Flagstaff. Particle board floor? And it appears the structural steel members are rusting pretty bad..

I did consider adding that big slideout storage box (a copy thereof) to our 2003 Aliner. But 3+years later, I am glad that I did not. We have two side cargo bays (which I added doors for), and the center bay, accessed from the inside, is for the Lithium battery in its battery box.

As for the grey water tank: Aliners are pretty small, and a lot of people that choose one instead of something larger, do so because their tow vehicle can't handle anything heavier or larger than an Aliner. A grey water tank would add weight, probably at least 50 pounds when you sum up the weight of a polypropylene tank and all the brackets and mounting hardware. A 7-gallon portable jug weighs only 3 pounds (empty) and it can be easily dumped in any restroom toilet; there are thousands of National Forest and BLM campgrounds that do not have an RV dump station, but that always have at least a vault toilet; if you camp in these places frequently, you want a portable greywater jug. When I owned a Palomino cab-over truck camper, that's how I handled grey water, with a 7 gallon jug.

good info. thanks.

Very good show

I 100% agree that the skylights on Aframe campers are awful. If you aren't going to pay the extra for dormers, you would be better off to just have a solid roof panel where the skylight is.

Good info 👍

Wow! OSB board on the floor, really! Not pressure treated 3/4"-1"plywood ?

In this video or your last one you bring the subject of painting the floor for some protection. The good news is that the material used as flooring is made to resist water and other road minor damage. Somewhere in your owner manual there is a note to that effect. This product was made in Canada (In Quebec) but the company was bought a few years back so i cannot give you more info. As to insulate i am curious as to what you plan to use I am thinking of spray foam that sticks to pretty well anything instead of solid foam. Your Thoughts?? Pierre

Question... is the purpose, in part, to give more head space while sitting in that place? I have never been in an A-liner that I can recall. I have watched Slim Potato Head's video over the last few years and he has done a zillion mods to his, BUT I can't recall if he ever talked about this reason/problem. (I'm getting old and forgetful... that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!) I enjoyed your video and getting to the points quickly. Too many vid's drag on and on (sort of like me).

Great vid!

So should I buy a tent trailer or an A Frame???

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The skylight on these is actually ABS and they degrade badly over a few short years even if you take good care of them. LEXAN is what they should have used and what is being sold as a replacement.

Yes no reason for that rear skylight. I find it noisy when trees drip and hard rain is hitting it while Im trying to sleep.

Cover that skylight with a solar planet

We have a 2017 a213hw (no dormer) I agree about ALL the bubble windows. There is no need for them and they cause more problems than they are worth. The side windows and ceiling lights are plenty. If I knew I could custom order roof panels I would have with NO roof windows.

legitimate issues

I have a 20 year old aliner expedition it is still like new. The build quality is amazing. It seems like the flagstaff is a poor imitation in the videos ive seen

Rip the skylights out snd replace with 4.5 mm smoke gray acrylic flat sheet and its a whole different van you will love it

It’s more like Mr wah wah waaaah Eeyore

Our 2003 Aliner has a better floor than that OSB junk.

We hate the large skylight too.why doesn't forest river ask owners what to change..

Rockwood please removed the skylight! It's too much heat in the camper.

WQW, crappy waffer board for floor

You picked the wrong TT, formr A frame owner. #PersonalResponsibility Signed, Very happy Forest River Flagstaff T12RBST owners (former 4x TT owners that chose this A frame as the perfect amalgamation)