A '63 for me! (many good ideas for your new to you Trailer)

[uwe]

Just got back from picking up our "new to us" 1963 Overlander International Land Yacht. We drove over 2000miles round trip to get it, from Southern California all the way to Washington State. My wife and I left on Friday night, got to a place called Port Orchard on Saturday late afternoon. Sunday morning was spent getting the heap ready to travel, with checking lights and greasing the bearings, and installing my 4 new wheels/tires. Turned out that there were no useable brakes, and no lights either.
Speaking of brakes, this traiiler has hydraulic brakes on one axle, and electric ones on the other. Both installation look like they're original, with cloth covered wiring and hydraulic brake lines inside the frame. There is some sort of cylinder on the tongue, where teh hydro lines terminate.
I rigged up temporary lights, which I had prepared before I left. U-Haul makes a 7-round to 4-flat adapter, which came in very handy.
I was worried about not having brakes at first, but after a few miles it became clear that it was not a problem whatsoever, with the trailer being nearly empty.

[markdoane]

Looks like the outside is unblemished! Great aquisition.

[uwe]

I thought it to be a good idea to bring along my 4 near new wheels and tires, as the old split rim wheels and truck tires were definitely not up to a 1000mile trip.
The first picture shows the old wheels, the second teh new wheels.
I noticed a difference in offset from the old split rims to the new wheels ( newly restored take-off's from a 1971 Tradewind)
The split rims are much closer to the outside skin thatn the other wheels. Must be a positive +1.5in offset, where the other rims are a zero offset.

[tin can luv]

Hope you enjoyed your adventure!!! It's exciting isn't it! Looks great, Congrats!!!

[uwe]

Here a shot or two of the temporary light bar I made for this little adventure.
I still have this bar, if anyone wants to borrow it for their trek home.
It has enough wire for a 26 or 28ft. trailer, with the wiring going through the dront window, and out the back window. Works great!

[uwe]

Ron, i wish I had not already committed to this one, i would have purchased yours instead. But I do like this one a lot. No regrets so far, just would have prefered to do biz with you.

[uwe]

Don,
I will be one of the guys doing a frame off on a big boy like this. The floor is GONE!
I am amidst removing what's left of the interior.

[uwe]

I just love the late 50's/early 60's big Airstreams. No roof air to disturb the lines, great windows, and so cool, I have to wear mittens to work on it!

[uwe]

Got all the registration work done yesterday, might get a plate for it that reads "Luftzug" ( Airstream in German)
The CA DMV charges hefty, btw. I paid $ 197.00 to get this registered. It was $ 140.00 for use tax, because i did not lie on the bill of sale. Had to take it down to DMV for a VIN verification. You shoul dhave seen the commotion it caused. Clerks would sneak outside and look at it while I was waiting in line, coming back all smiles.
Did you know it takes 8 parking spaces to park a Suburban/Overlander combo?

[uwe]

All the windows are intact, glass, and operate. All the screens are intact, also. The bathroom window screen is corrodet, bit hte others are in good condition. The inner and outer skin are in great shape, other than a tear at the curbside front, and an ugly side panel, that was replaced a while back. You can see the rivet line above the wheel well on the curb side. It is very likely that both lower skin sections on both sides will be replaced, because the street side has huge cutouts for teh Bowen water heater, and the old furnace. I will be removing both items, and replacing them with new ones.
I am considering a basement type ducted A/C with heat pump. Any thoughts?

[Chuck]

hey, if you get the right hat, you and the Mrs. will look just like this couple!!

[BobbyW]

It is so nice to see someone prepared for problems and ready for the worst like you were instead of trying to figure it out when you get there. Good job!!

[uwe]

Chuck,
that's a great picture of us. Where did you get that?
BobbyW,
yes, I browsed through all the old trailer posts on this forum, and brought the most likely needed items.

A few observations I found interesting:
tongue weight - so light I can lift the tongue by myself, up asnd down a few inches. I noticed this when I cranked the jack up, and the trailer did not dive down to the ground. It slightly dips, and then just stays there, in mid air.
Axles can be bad even if they are not collapsed. These are marginal when looking at the angle of the torsion arm, but so stiff that they only move 1/2 in or so.
Drive train balance is now a must, after towing a light unbalanced trailer home for 1000 miles. i had to avoid certain speeds, as the vibration got scary. This can't be noticed as much in a heavier trailer, but it's still there. This trailer would be a perfect test bed for the centra-matic balancers.
There is a brake cylinder mounted on the tongue. It looks like it's a wheel brake, like a parking brake. No provisions for braking input from the trailer, just a handle on the thing. You can see it in one of the photos above.
More to come.

[markdoane]

Uwe,
I think you're missing a critical brake part. There's supposed to be a long broomstick that goes from the driver's right shoulder, over the passenger seats, through the back window of the Suburban, and attaches to the brake lever.