Rick March, General Manager
Customer Relations Group

Greetings! Well Spring will finally be here by the time you get to read this article. I will say I was completely
wrong about the early Spring I mentioned last month. You just cannot count on that groundhog and his
shadow. As I write this article in late February we just received 3 inches of snow I have to clear out of my
driveway. I know it will improve soon and we will be getting our RV’s out of storage. When doing so it is a
great time to wash and put on a coat of fresh wax. It is also a good time to inspect the exterior sealants and
scrape and replace them if needed. These are the two areas I will discuss this month. I wrote about these topics a
few years ago and always mention them when giving a seminar at the rallies I attend. No better time than Spring
to review.

What wax is safe to use on the clear coat of my trailer?

There are many different products on the market that you can use to help protect the clear coat finish on your
trailer. The thing you want to remember when deciding what to use is that the product is formulated for a clear
coat finish. This means that it will be a smooth wax and not gritty with a chance to scratch the coating.
Of course we have a few products that we use and would always recommend to our owners. Walbernize is a
cleaner and glaze and is tried and true. We have used this product on the trailers for many years and it does a
great job at protecting the finish. Remember that this is a Carnauba wax though and will wear off in time. That
is the reason we recommend that you wax your trailer at least twice a year.
The other product we use a lot is Glare Professional Polish. This not a wax. It is a polish that contains
Glasplexin which chemically bonds to the clear coat of your trailer and last longer than a wax. If this product is
used than you should only have to wax the trailer once per year. Either of these products can be purchased on
our web-site at www.airstream.com.
Remember to always wash and apply the wax in a side to side motion. The grain of the aluminum runs side to
side on the trailers. If small particles of dust or debris get on the rags you are using to clean it can cause light
scratches to occur. If the scratches run with the grain of the aluminum they are not as noticeable. If the scratches
run up and down they become very noticeable.

Part Number 28437W

Part Number 28433W

Inspecting and Sealing Vents and Windows
Below are some step by step instructions on inspecting you sealers and how to replace them if needed.

Here are a few photos of the sealer around a fantastic Vent on the roof of the trailer. As you can see it is starting
to flake away and develop cracking in the sealant. This needs to be replaced.

As you can see from the pictures above a plastic style scraper is best to use as have less chance of scratching or gouging
your painted roof surface. After you have all the old sealant removed you can follow that up with a good wiping with
Denatured Alcohol so the new sealer can be applied to as clean a surface as possible.

Once the surface has been cleaned I like to use masking tape to form a bead line for the new sealant to be applied. This
should be placed at the outer most area you want the edge of the sealant to be placed. Then apply the sealant to the
perimiter of the fan and smooth the sealant with a putty knife. The sealant we use on the roofs currently is Adseal white
part number 365330-01. Then pull the tape and you will be left with nice straight edges of sealant around the fan.

The same steps can be taken to clean and reseal around the tops of the windows and the main doors. The sealant used on
the windows and doors is Adseal grey part number 365330-02. Below are pictures detailing this. Remember to always use
plastic putty knives to scrape and clean off the old sealant. Also use your finger to spread the sealant out around doors and
windows rather than a putty knife. You will get a better finish.

I would love to hear from you and if you have a suggestion or topic you would like to see covered in a future article, or
have a question just drop me a line at rmarch@airstream.com .

Have a great month!

Rick March