Airstream/Argosy Floorplans? Questions from a newbie
Hello,
My name is Erich and I may be an Airstreamaholic.
I am just beginning my data gathering on Airstream motorhomes.
I love the look of the Silver bullet, and in general I prefer older motorvehicles to newer. The problem is a lot of the floorplans I have seen don't seem quite right for my family.
Ours is a family of four, including two boys ages 5 and 7.
I would prefer a double or queen bed for us and a pair of twin beds for the boys.
In an ideal world the boys would have separate berths and we could leave the dinette set up for eating.
Oh yeah, I want to keep the rig length to 31 feet or less, most of our camping is in smaller Forest Service campgrounds and the like.
Can anyone point me toward pictures of floorplans in the various years, or make a recommendation for which floor plan might be most suitable for us?
I am quite handy so I could make modifications to the interior to make a coach suit our needs better, but I want to save that as a last resort
the under 31 foot models have floor plans with either no bedroom in the rear at all, or a rear bath with twin beds in the room just before it. The 310 and up have rear bedrooms and a split bath. There is some variation in this, with a few smaller ear bedrooms out there, but I have yet to see one. The 345 is Tandem axle, and anything shorter is dual rear tire, but single rear axle. Motorhomes in the classic 79-89 vintage range from 24'
to 34.5', although there were some shorter Argosy's prior to 79.
Check Fred Hind's airstream motorhome classic web site for great photos in and out. See the links for reference to this site.
Since you will keep it at least 10 years, you'll have 15 and 17 year old young men with you. You might consider the rear twins for the boys and you and the wife share the fold out couch (325 and others). Just my two cents, the couch ain't that comfy but I'm 6'1" and 220 lbs.
Right now (in my 345), My wife and I have the rear bed room and one boy breaks down the dinette and the other takes the couch. Our dog has found several places. In the winter, she hunkers down near the rear heater vent! You loose the dinette in the 325.
A 270 gives you two fold out couches and a dinette. Lots of sleeping for the space. 270's are pretty hard to find.
Some rare 310's have a rear dinette that breaks out to a king bed.
There are lots of options. Lifestyle seems to play a major role. Just imagine yourself in the unit.
Scour the classifieds, web sites, etc. Compare that to my website. If you find a coach I don't have listed, send me the site URL.
Fred, I have found your website to be a big help, I just wish people took better interior pix.
I tried to look at the floorplan link but it appears the file is missing or corrupt. The moderator left a reply saying he messed it up during a server upgrade.
From Alans reply, the 310 model sounds like it would meet our needs. I don't want a 34 foot long motorhome, if it is going to be that big, I'll convert a bus! I am also very leery of tag axle rigs.
I figure that the original chassis maker knew how much his chassis could carry and provided enough axle to do the job. Adding an axle to carry more weight without making the chassis stronger strikes me as an iffy proposition.
How do the different floorplans use the space in front of the side door and behind the front seats?
I have seen fold down couches, barrel chairs, and dinnettes, but I still haven't got a clear picture of what goes with which model.
I too was very leary of tag axles. I read a lot against them. I also heard many positive comments. There are lots of 325's and 345's raoming the road with no issues. I have not had any issues. When you look at the weight of the 345 and compare it to new single axle units, it's almost the same (12,000-14,000 lbs.). It's barely needed at all. It may be needed if I filled up all my tanks (which I try not to) and loaded it down with gear.
You are correct in that interior photos tend to be poor. The photos of my own unit or kinda poor. It's tough to get good interior photos.
You are also correct in the couch, barrel chairs, and dinettes being behind the front seats. The combinations vary. The barrel chairs vary from none, one, and two. In some, the barrel chairs form the dinette. Many of the units were really design for a retired COUPLE and not a family.
Sorry we don't have a better year by year, model by model floorplan for you. Use the website and call the seller to get the exact layout before you travel. You should have a 90% idea of the unit at that point.
hi , just wanted to say some of the classic excellas with the rap around rear windows(Like our 79,28) have twin beds in the back and a flex steel couch that makes a twin bed and a dinette that would make an ok bed for a small person.But it would be a tight fit I thinkfor Four people.
Larry,
I wonder if your dinette was a modification.
Originally the 79's had a chair and the TV Credenca behind the passenger seat.
Floorplans of the 1979 28' rear bath and center bath models: http://www.airstreamphotos.com/photo...o.php?photo=95
Peter you my be right.But My coach was custom built for the original owner and the dinette has the same upholstery as the rest of the rig . it also has the same type of sliding acordian doors(storage under cushions)so if it is not original who ever did the job if it was not the factory sure made it look as if it was.there is also a palque on the dash stating custom built for the original owners name.We believe the only modifacation would be the flex steel couch as it might have been replaced with a more modern unit.
Maybe they all come with that plaque but I still believe that the dinette was a special odrer item.It also has hydraulic levelers that also look like factory installed.
The dinette that Larry describes sounds like the kind that was in Winners 270 that was at Mystic Springs. I believe theirs was a stock installation. It seems that year/models changes are fuzzy. I have noticed '78 dinettes in '79 coaches etc.
In some cases it seems that they continued to use things until they ran out. Or started using next year's designs because they ran out of this years parts. Also I am aware that Airstream would do custom work for a very low price when that mod was just including a design already in production.
__________________
Brett G
WBCCI #5501 AIR # 49
"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey." -- Fitzhugh Mullan
Wise men talk because they have someting to say; fools, because they have to say something. -- Plato
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