New Skylark Owner

[Trailer for Two]

Hi. I am a new member and fairly new Skylark owner. It doesn't seem like there are many of us out there. I wasn't able to find an active thread. Am I missing it? I would love to connect with any other Skylarkers if you're out there and hear about your mods and any advice you have to share. This is our first TT.

[Jagiven]

Welcome aboard.

I don't think there are many skylark owners out there. I believe, and do not quote me, hey were only made for one year (2012).

I really like the concept.

Luckily all tts are about the same, so feel free to ask any questions might have.

[robkelly]

Congratulations and welcome!

[Trailer for Two]

Thanks! I think they may have been made for two years but there aren't too many for sure. I fell in love with the styling of the cabinetry. It's a great trailer so far. I'm starting on reupholstering everything this weekend. The fabrics weren't my favorite. I'm excited to be on the forum.

[RogerR]

I put is Skylark in the search function and got 9 pages of threads. Not sure they all apply but looks like a good place to start.

I looked at the skylark and thought it would be a great idea for towing efficiency but could never find one at a local dealer to walk through or price.

[Rainbowroam]

hello! I am new to the forum and my Husband and I just bought a 2011 Skylark today!!! I don't have anything in the way of tips yet, but I am excited to see other skylark owners out there!

[Trailer for Two]

Wow! Congratulations. That's the same year I have. There don't seem to be too many of us out there. Isn't it a great trailer? So bright inside and a fantastic floor plan. I just looked at three different dealerships this weekend for fun and can't find any others that I like as well as my Skykark.

[oldmanAZ]

Hello to you! And welcome to the forum.

[Rainbowroam]

Originally Posted by Trailer for Two

Wow! Congratulations. That's the same year I have. There don't seem to be too many of us out there. Isn't it a great trailer? So bright inside and a fantastic floor plan. I just looked at three different dealerships this weekend for fun and can't find any others that I like as well as my Skykark.

Absolutely! This floor plan kicks the crap out of the other ones I was looking at! I love the two seating areas and tons of kitchen storage! We are dry camping in our driveway tonight to see how it is 😂😁

[us71na]

We own a 2011 Skylark. We've owned ours since new and love it. We've towed it over 6,000 miles on one trip alone with our Honda Pilot. We averaged around 14 mpg for the trip. We've also taken it to Texas, Maryland, Connecticut, Canada, etc from NW PA.

I've done several mods. The first was to add an LED light in the storage area. There are extra fuse slots in the panel and I ran the wire down through the floor through and existing hole, across the underside and up through an exiting hole on the other side. I have a push button LED light mounted inside the door to the right.

The second mod was to remove the plywood top of the bench seat, cut the lid in half, add a finger hole and a piano hinge to gain additional storage under the bench seat. Here is a link.

Our outside door light burned out, it was an incandescent bulb for some reason. I replaced it with an LED panel with the same type of wedge base and got a useful amount of light.

On our most recent trip we noted that the fold down sink faucet was leaking. It turns out it is plastic and cracks relatively easily, which research shows is a common problem. A new one costs $160. I am trying some superglue and a small worm type hose clamp to see if we can get more life out of ours.

I find that ours tows well as long as you stay between 55 -62 mph. The trailer develops a bit of oscillation at around 65, particularly if there is any cross breeze. Yes I have a sway bar and it does help.

We use white storage bins to keep supplies from wandering around in the cabinets in the kitchen. I also made some racks for the glasses and cups so they stay put. I made a divider for silverware in one of the kitchen drawers.

We bought some plastic tubs (Omni Box 15L 17 x 11x 6.6")that stack two high for our clothes so we can use the upper cabinets more efficiently.

We use a rubber maid tub to store our Rhino Flex sewer hose in the storage compartment since it won't fit in the factory storage tube.

I added a towel hook on the back of the bathroom door and another on the side of the kitchen cabinet for dish towels.

I added a roller catch to the medicine cabinet since it didn't have one and stuff came out on every trip. We use plastic sandwich containers to keep things organized in that cabinet, other wise stuff falls out when you open the door.

And last, but not least, we purchased some hot air balloon spinners to alert you when you are about to bash your head on the awning support arms. I made some hooks from stainless steel wire to hang them from arms.

The microwave convection oven is really nice, but takes some getting used to. We have a manual for it.

[us71na]

One more thing I just did to our Skylark. Jayco apparently doesn't understand that ordinary steel screws should not be used in contact with aluminum. Most of the screws at each end of the trim strip above the windows were rusting and running rust down the side of the trailer. I removed one and went to the hardware store and purchased enough stainless steel screws to replace them all the way around the trailer. The screws are a #6 x 1" sheet metal screw and there are two above each window. I also replaced the screws holding down the vent cover on the roof for the refrigerator because they were rusting. I don't recall what size they were. Note that you need a square drive screw driver to remove the existing screws. The stainless ones I replaced them with have a philips head.

[starhopper]

Hello! We just bought our very first TT yesterday - a 2011 Skylark FBV (bathroom in front). So far, we love it.

[starhopper]

We just purchased a 2011 Skylark FBV yesterday. Drove 200 miles to bring it home - and the very first time I have ever towed ANYTHING! Needless to say, I was quite apprehensive, but once I had made one or two turns, it was fairly easy to navigate.

I was concerned about not having any type of anti-sway device on my hitch, but I had absolutely no sway problems. Is a sway bar necessary?

[Marklashway]

im picking up a 2011 skylark tomorrow. Like the mods

[starhopper]

How far are you driving to get it? Which model (is the bathroom in the front "V" section, or is the kitchen in the front?)

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by Marklashway

im picking up a 2011 skylark tomorrow. Like the mods

Welcome to the forum.

[Marklashway]

Kitchens in the front. Right off the bat I have a question ...the red led indicator lights inside the trailer above the dinette area are on and I don’t know how to turn them off. ???

[Marklashway]

Any pics of your reupholstered work. We just bought a 2011 with front kitchen.
Also have a question....the red LED marker lights under the dinette cabinets? How are they turned off? I can push them to turn on the normal white lights and then push to turn off, but they stay red and lit up????

[starhopper]

The red lights stay on all the time - kind of like a night light, and also makes it easy to find the buttons to turn on the brighter lights at night. I kinda like them, and since they’re red, they don’t cause your pupils to dilate at night.

We didn’t reupholster ours. I really like your floor plan better than ours (with bathroom up front) but it seems the Skylarks rarely come on the market and we were just glad to find one.

Only thing I don’t like is how low it rides - and simply not easy to get it raised up.

[us71na]

Originally Posted by Marklashway

Kitchens in the front. Right off the bat I have a question ...the red led indicator lights inside the trailer above the dinette area are on and I don’t know how to turn them off. ???

We like ours because it make it easy to find a light in the dark. I understand you can disassemble the fixture and cut the lead to the LED, but it is a one way street.. There was another Skylark owner here that reportedly was able to turn them off, but it wasn't exactly simple like pulling a fuse.