I have had the Penguin a/c on my trailer since 1993 and have towed
almost 65,000 miles without any dents or movement from the a/c. I have
found that the aluminum on the early to mid 50's trailers is rather
robust such that I have walked across the roof while cleaning, polishing
or doing some other work while not causing any dents or "oil canning" in
my roof.
One month after I purchased my trailer in 1993, I had my air conditioner
installed at Camping World in Kissimmee, FL without using additional
roof supports. I chose the Penguin because it was the lowest profile
(9" height) roof air conditioner that I found available. It was also
the only model that had a pan to collect the condensation so that water
doesn't just run over the sides of the trailer. I chose CW for
installation because at that time I lived in FL (in fact that is where I
also purchased my trailer) and FL was the state that I did the majority
of my early RVing. I also had Camping World install the condensation
drip tube and new 120 VAC wiring although now I would feel confident in
doing this job myself but at that time the air conditioner was the first
thing that I added (it is essential to RVing in and around FL).
Although the air conditioner does take away from the original look, as
do each of the two Fantastic fans that I have installed, I consider the
air conditioner an essential appliance for any travel in the southeast
or summer. A view of the trailer with the air conditioner and the fans
can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/~tctour/images/00/AUT_0671.JPG.
Tom Howarth
'53 21' Flying Cloud
WDCU
