After storing it in my driveway for a couple months, the new place "up north" allowed us to store it inside. Here she is in her new digs looking dwarfed by the previous owner's gigantic RV. No it's not a Bounder and it's not mine. Mine's the "little" 30 footer on the right.
Second foolish move: bought new rims & tires. That way it can sit in one place, waiting to be restored on fresh tires I didn't really need to purchase until much later. I must remember, hind-sight is always 20/20. Cut yourself some slack or the hobby will turn into a J.O.B.
Don't believe the tires and rims are "ready to travel" unless you have confirmed it with someone you trust. I should have had a new set with me or at least a spare, a jack, a lug wrench, penetrating oil and some plywood for under the jack. Luckily, I didn't need them.
Helpful hint about rims. Throw out the old split rims. Few will work on them and most consider them unsafe. Balance your rims and tires. Check rims for run-out. This means check them to make sure they are "true" and don't wobble when spun. I tried 14 rims from a major manufacturer before I found 5 that were "true." Make sure they are designed for the weight of the load to be carried. All the aftermarket custom manufacturers I contacted that make chromed and painted rims designed to accept baby moon style hubcaps had rims that were not rated to carry the weight of my trailer. Check also to make sure your axles grease hub doesn't protrude so far out to prevent the use of moon hubcaps or center caps on your rims.
Helpful hints on tires: I found an off brand that was supposedly rated the same as a major brand like Goodyear Marathons at 1/2 to 2/3rds the price. After balancing the wheel/tire assemblies I found them more "out of balance" than I would have liked. They required heavier wheel weights. This may have been due to the manufacturing process. You get what you pay for. After hauling heavy equipment trailers: 12,000-20,000 lb capacity and never having balanced a rim or felt a bad tire bounce or vibrate I was surprised to find blogs mentioning the importance of balancing wheels. Some even specify balancing them on the trailer. Bottom line, do the best you can to save unnecessary vibration from affecting your trailer.
My new wheels and tires have looked great sitting on my trailer the last 2 years. Again, what a waste. I have taken the trailer out on the road enough to keep them from flat spotting. I've also been told by tire manufacturers that running a tire keeps them more pliable and flexes the sidewalls to keep the chemicals active, thereby reducing the aging process, including checking. They've also been indoors which has kept UV degradation to a minimum. The bottom line is, most people will never wear out a tire before it should be replaced due to age, which depending on who you believe, could be around 5 years.
If I did it again, I'd probably skip directly to a supplier of wheels and tires and skip the nostalgic look. Companies like: http://www.trailertiresandwheels.com/ send you the balanced wheel assemblies ready to bolt to your trailer.
Checked bearings, they'd just been repacked. Brakes work great. While towing the axle hubs, rims and tires remained cool to the touch. This is a sign they were in good shape with no unwanted friction adding heat to the parts.
The axles are not drooped but given the age, they'll be replaced during the restoration. All independent torsion rubber or "Dexter" type axles have an arm that holds the hub assembly and rotates as the inner rubber cords, inside the actual axle compress or flex. This arm is normally horizontal or pointing down at an angle away from the axle. They have different angles depending on trailer ground clearance requirements, trailer weights or in my case age. The older axles have a tendency to "sag" just like we do.
Whether from use or just sitting with weight on them, they all begin to deteriorate and sag. The rubber cords lose their flexibility and result in increased bounce and worse control going down the road. Folks have said replacing their worn axles resulted in a much smoother ride with less of their trailer's interior contents getting bounced around or bounce out of cabinets as a result. Airstream also uses a shock setup on the axles to further smooth the ride, saving wear and tear on the trailer, fewer loosened rivets and less damage to the trailer's cargo.
Going back to my days with a trailer manufacturer I found these axles were an interesting alternative to the old leaf spring design. It really does provide independent suspension to each axle. Over rough roads or job-sites this meant the tire could move more easily without affecting the tire on the other end of the axle. Keeping the tires in contact with the road and not bouncing is especially beneficial during handling or braking. I also appreciated the lower deck height especially when loading slippery asphalt rollers. Check out the step-in height of trailers equipped with these axles vs leaf springs. Fewer steps equals less climbing and safer entry & exit.
In addition to lowering the deck height of the trailer I was interested to learn how torsion axles were built. In order to shove a square axle with four rubber cords into a square tube the various assemblies are frozen in sub-zero temperatures. Once they shrink due to cold they slide right in and expand once returned to ambient temperatures. There is no adhesive or mechanical fastener used. Just good old tension. And my 44 year old trailer is proof these axles work...and last.
Here's a link for a better understanding of rubber torsion axle construction: http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/1080235/f/product_flyers/Torflex_11-06.pdf
Cleaned exterior of all salt and road grime immediately after trip. Neighbors probably got a good laugh about this as it was December in Wisconsin!
Cleaned interior with Greased Lightning. Careful with this. You need ventilation. This is nasty stuff! It isn't for use on bare aluminum as it contains acid. Try to keep it off the wood too as it may discolor the finish. But boy did it get years of accumulated cooking grease and general brown gunk off the painted interior. Prepare to get dirty! Save your rags and drop cloths, you'll need lots of them.
Replaced Solar Dome. After comparing what's available, I chose Vintage Trailer Supply. It's worth noting that many who have succumb to the Aluminitus bug have willingly let it take over their lives and livelihoods. Thank goodness for the rest of us as this is a great side-effect.
Steve Hingtgen is one of those people. From what I've learned, Steve is an exceptionally creative guy. When he doesn't find something available on the market or what he finds isn't the quality he wants, he finds a way to produce it. Over the past few years his list of items grew into the company he has now. Many of the items Steve has on his Vintage Trailer Supply website are unique and cannot be found elsewhere. Other sites may list similar products which may not equal the quality or "fit" needed for easy installation. Items that can be found elsewhere are often not as competitively priced. Steve also is a wealth of knowledge, willing to share his time and experience with those of us just getting started. If you're into old trailers, give Vintage Trailer Supply a look.
Click here to visit Vintage Trailer Supply
I'm not sure how I made it home with it still on the roof. When I took it off the trailer it crumbled in my hands. Lucky for me, it held out the water. The VAP (Vintage Airstream Podcast site-see links at right) has a nice pictorial with instructions for this. Vintage Trailer Supply has instructions also.
One thing I noticed was my vent jacks loosened during the trip. I made safety wires out of heavy coat hangers which prevents the lid cranks from turning and allowing lid to raise, preventing the lid from raising and blowing off while traveling. I'd be interested to know if others have had this problem and how they solved it.
I ordered additional parts from Vintage Trailer Supply: wiring harness to tow vehicle, exterior marker and back-up lights, door latch, Worthington aluminum propane tanks.
Chose to replace old steel tanks due to needed upgrade to ODP valves and God help me...they're aluminum that can be polished!
I know I'm repeating myself BUT I highly recommend Vintage Trailer Supply. They carry parts you can't find elsewhere as well as those you will. Nice thing is they are they have the best prices, on the web or in-store, on many of the items I've compared.
Click here to visit Vintage Trailer Supply
Aluminitus Symptom #5: Specific to Airstream "Users." Needing to always be ready to travel...no matter how much work you've got in front of you.
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