Wondering if anyone can give me feedback on a Thor Aerolite Cub 2003

[Jen528]

Anyone have experience? This will be our first travel trailer and it looks pristine in the ads. Thanks in advance!

[Superslif]

We have a 05' Cub we bought new in Jan. 05' 05' Cub model #236 We have camped 300+ nights in it over 6 seasons.

The 05's went to 8' wide. I believe the 03's are 7-1/2' wide. If I remember right there were problems with the bunk doors on the years before 05' There were gasket seal problems and bunk doors having to be replaced under warranty. One other area I would look at is the material (bunk ends) where it meets along the top of the trailer. It starts to tare with age......We are very happy with ours. We love our floorplan....

Any used trailer, water leaks are a killer...look in every storage cabinet

[jbgeddes]

Hi, just brought home a 2008, 16' Thor Cub. We previously had a popup, but my husband got tired of cranking it. We are looking forward to a hard-sided trailer, but we are having difficulty putting out the beds. We didn't get any instructions. We thought it would be easier...but they are a bit of a hassel. The rest of it is pretty amazing. Does anyone know if you can get some kind of owner's manuel someplace? Looking forward to being part of the Thor Club.

[shipwreck1]

they had issues in 03, 2006 was a better year but if the price is right and it checks out then go for it

[Superslif]

Hi, just brought home a 2008, 16' Thor Cub.

What model do you have?

As far as the bunk ends. My wife and me have a system for braking camp. We each have our jobs to do. Setting up, it takes us 20 minutes to fully set up camp. For the bunk ends, when closing them up. She will dis-connect the Shepherd poles while I hold the bar from the outside. Then she will come out side to tuck the material in and we will stand on each side to lift the door up and latch it. Now that my son is older, he is now the outside helper. This past weekend I was the only person to set up and close it down. Just takes a little longer. And I have to double check everything, because I'm used to doing only my breakdown chores.

[jbgeddes]

Thanks for the info on setting up bunk ends. We have found that taking out the mattress makes it easier, so we just leave them on the floor. Folds up pretty quick this way. I'm almost afraid to ask my next question...what about leaks when it rains? No rain yet, but it's coming. When beds are folded out it looks like the perfect setup for rain to be trapped back against the rig, and perhaps leak down onto the beds. I sure hope this doesn't happen. Everything else is perfect. We love it so far, and it's so much easier than our previous popup. Sure like having people to bounce these questions to. Thanks.

[Superslif]

Do you have bunk ends that look like this (Therm-a-Rest) or like the normal ones
For 2011'S they (Thor) went back to the normal bunk ends. With the Therm-a-Rest ones the water from rain was flowing back towards the trailer. They had problems....

[jbgeddes]

Yep...unfortunately we have the therma-rest style...with the little hump in the middle. Sure hope this doesn't become a problem or we will have to be dry weather campers. I don't suppose there are any solutions to this problem? I sure do appreciate all this help we're getting.

[Superslif]

With the Therm-a-Rest ones the water from rain was flowing back towards the trailer. They had problems....

At last years Cleveland RV show the Dutchman rep said they were having problems with the Therm-a-Rest bunk ends, hence...they went back to the simple / well tested bunk design.

Our Cub is a 05' and the Therm-a-Rest bunk ends became a option I believe for 06' and 07' and standard equipment for 08' thru 09'. With that Therm-a-Rest I thought the mattress were way to thin / or should I say there wasn't much filling. What is your opinion? In our Cub which we have over 300 nights over 6 seasons, the regular mattress are holding up fairly well.

I would watch very carefully the upper seam for the material. Here is a picture of mine about 2-3 years ago. Upper seam I believe what happens is over time the material shrinks, thus it pulls a little more at the top / corners. The bunk end support cable has 3 adjustment holes, I un-bolted each one (one on each side of the each bunk) and moved it up to the higher hole, thus the bunk sits about 1/2" higher when opened, and doesn't pull the material down as tight from that upper seam where the material meets the trailer. I'm going to assume the Therm-a-Rest bunk ends are built about the same at that top seam area. Some people who never caught the seam starting to rip, ended up having it rip all the way across that top seam. I put some flex-able glue on the small split I had. It has not gotten any worse.

[jbgeddes]

It's hard to tell, but we think the mattresses have been replaced in ours. They certainly aren't thin...and in fact they are a little bulky and we find it hard to put up beds, so we've removed mattresses when folding up. We put them on the floor for travel. Not real great but beds go up easier. We'd actually prefer a thinner mattress.

As for leaks...we're having rain next week. Guess we'll see how it goes. Not wild about this, but we got such a good price on this rig I guess we shouldn't complain. Everything in it looks brand new...hardly used at all. We are already discussing options of what we'll do if it does leak. Everything from tarps to leaving it folded and sleeping on the dinette bed. Guess you gotta do what you gotta do. You guys are great. Wish I'd talked to you before we bought it...but we are going from a leaky popup to this...so at least we are used to leaks!

[Superslif]

Yes, that explains why you said you took the mattress off to close the bunk ends. So the last owner bought the thicker ones. The Ther-a-Rest mattress are super fluffy with no substance.....

Well, at least you know to watch the area above the bunk ends for any future water leaks.