My husband and I just purchased a 1969 Tradewind last Thursday!!! The woman we purchased it from bought it with the intention of converting it to a mobile "restaurant" for her cooking business...luckily when she found out the amount of cutting involved to provide proper ventilation she refused to inflict such damage to an iconic piece of Americana....thank goodness. The exterior is in pretty good shape, and the interior is pretty much a blank slate which will be fun for us to customize. We're looking for a copy of the Owner's Manual...if anyone out there can help us find a hard copy or electronic copy we would appreciate it!!
You can get a reproduction copy of your Owner's Manual by contacting Airstream in Ohio. I got mine that way - it's not cheap but well worth it.
Good Luck with your new baby - send us some pix.
Great find. I've been looking for vintage Tradewind for a while now.
I brought my Globtrotter back to the original configuration after she had been turned into a mobile office.
Good luck. Enjoy the project and post pictures. We all feed off of each others inspiration.
I love this website....thank you for sending me the pics of what our trailer looked like in the beginning...funny, we talked last night over beer and wine about how to restructure the interior and, amazingly, our brilliant ideas seem to closely resemble the original floorplan, so much for creativity!!! I'll definitely contact the dealer in OH for the owners manual...will send pics when I download them
Congrats and welcome, glad to see another 69 tradewind on here. Ours spent a few years in Eugene before being sold to a guy in Battle Ground that partially gutted it (bathroom wall forward) to make a mobile recording studio, after which he figured out an aluminum tube wasn't so good acoustically (thankfully) before we moved it up here. Here are a few links to some of our projects and a few of the other 69 owners on here. Post some pictures of your new baby!
Yakima....your AS is beautiful, can't wait for the day we get to enter the Rookie Polisher Team....how much does your Tradewind weigh? We're having a hard time finding this info - it's not on the title, the owners manual is damaged beyond repair....and we're worried that our '07 FJ Cruiser, which only tows 5500 lbs, doesn't have enough towing capacity.
Well, get it sealed up and dry first before you worry about polishing. We're still not done, but likely done for this year on the polishing. Its the little details now. Our airstream was downright nasty when we got it. Smelled, OMG smelled, and looked like a junkyard find. Our nieghbors absolutely thought we were crazy (and annoyed by the beast in the driveway). Anyway, 11 months of hard work and we're almost ready for our first trip in a few weeks. Yours will look as good if not better when done I'm sure.
I'm sure there is someone on the forums that could tell you the dry weight. Of course a lot will depend on what materials you rebuild inside with. I do know that our original axles were each rated at 2600 lbs each and we upgraded to 3000 lb axles. Most of our new interior parts like the original were built to be as light as possible (mostly 1/4 ply and 1x2 and 2x2 lumber. No particle boards or thick plywoods (except some plywood for countertops).
I would guess your getting close to maxing out your TV but that is only a guess. I'd call Andy at Inland RV and run it by him. It might be close but with correct hitch set up, properly set up trailer brakes (that are adjusted too) and smart building of your new interior/packing of equipment. the phone number etc for Inland is on their website, Airstream Innovations at Inland RV Center, Inc. (951) 734-8130
If you look on ebay for airstream manuals, there are copies available for sale.
Airstream.com, in the store, under gifts/gadgets, then books has the owners manuals (reprints) for $30.00, Airstream didn't start publishing service manuals until 1972, but people say they are simliar. I don't own either book yet.
Hi Monah and Welcome to the forums. Our Tradewind was a mess also when we got it. The PO had let it sit for 12 yrs with leaks and all. It is still a work in progres but we LOVE it!
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John and Tammy Adams
AIR # 15902
Welcome to the Airforums and congratulations of your new Airstream! Glad the previous owner decided not to cut it up... Send pics and keep us posted on what you do with the interior...
See you down the road...
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TB & Greg...and The Girls—Annie & Sadie
Thank you Goransons for directing us to Andy....we'll give him a call. Just ordered a reprint of the owner's manual, your guidance was perfect!! Photos coming soon...
I'm sure you're all used to this but honestly...I was a little hesitant to walk in the trailer the first time we went to look at it. As I quickly learned most of the mess was cosmetic, it was so much fun to start planning how we would change the interior space to reflect our personalities. The pics from day one of ownership are now loaded...since then we've almost entirely gutted the trailer and are really excited about our plans for the remodel....
stay tuned!
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