I've been looking at and learning about this pop-up trailer with solid sides made by Columbia Northwest since early spring. C.J. and I visited three Washington dealers and found out that even the smallest one, the Sport, which is only 12.5 ft long costs more than $12,000 new. That's definitely not in the budget! But we really liked the concept and thought it might be perfect for extending our travel and camping season, and especially for doing a late summer trip up the Alaska Highway.
(photo, above left: Nancy's Sport in Penn.)
Someone suggested a link that showed Craigslist postings for Aliners all across the U.S. (http://www.jaxed.com/cgi-bin/mash.cgi?cat=cprv&itm=a-liner&loc=&fil=&ys=&ye=2009&submit=++++go++++) and I started watching for a not-too-old used Sport. The 2005 seemed about right (it didn't have the flooring problems of the earlier ones, but still has the aluminum shell) however, the ones that were listed were all around $7000 (or more!). That clearly wasn't going to fly. Then, around the beginning of August, someone ran an ad for a 2005 Sport for $4000. Sounded too good to be true, but the good news was that it was located in Indianapolis. My brother Wayne and his wife Betty/Jeannie were good enough to do the inspection and check out the seller. Despite the low price, the trailer seemed to be in good condition and Wayne closed the deal for us.
The seller delivered the Sport to Wayne's house on the 8th and it's waiting there now for us to come pick it up when we get back from this trip to Florida. In preparation, I've installed a hitch and the necessary wiring on the Outback, installed a brake controller (thanks to Bob Hannah), and added a transmission oil cooler. We've been stacking up information about the Alaska Highway, but we'll have to survive the shakedown cruise from Indy to North Bend first.
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See the post about our journey to Indianapolis to pick up the Sportliner and the trip back through Yellowstone.
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Here is a list of additions, mods and work done on the Sportliner since we bought it.
- New deep-cycle 12 V battery, battery vent (Costco)($70)
- Replaced trailer wiring/converter for Outback (Danny's) (The Hitch Store.com sent a replacement)
- Installed propane furnace (Danny's Campers)($500)
- Installed Fantastic Fan vent (Danny's Campers)($400?)
- Folding table leg to support A-wall when folded in (Danny's Campers)($10)
- Replacement weatherstripping package from CNW ($90)
- Reconnected brake wires with butt splices (3x)
- Replaced electric brake magnets (eTrailer.com) ($50)
- Replaced twisted hitch ballmount for Outback (U-Haul) ($20)
- Replaced front-right corner molding and repainted front of trailer ($25)
- Replaced all three tires with TowMax from Les Schwab ($211)
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