help!!! A million questions.

[chuckmac]

I am the proud new owner of an Argosy trailer at last!!!! 1976 24 ft and its in decent shape. Kind of got it by surprise from the origanal owner and have been out several times already and it is awesome. looks real good in the Canadian rockies!!! If you ever come this way (Japer National Park) - call me.
But I have some questions that I am sure there are folks here that can answer
- there does not seem to be a city water direct hook up so is there a conversion kit available anywhere?
- the rounded glass windows are gorgeous but is there a rock guard available to protect them?
- my main door has a bit of a space - less than a 1/4 inch top and bottom - is there an easy fix or is replacement the answer - if so where can parts be obtained? I thought of installing latches but again these would not look origanal so hope there is a better solution
- my propane line to the fridge runs outside the belly pan and is quite dented so am replacing it but wonder if there is an alternative route that protects better?
- the exterior cover for my fridge compartment is screwed up in the top aluminum edge will not fit into the slot which suspends the door. I am considering putting hinges on the door but would rather keep the origanal look as hinges will be less than origanal looking. Any suggestions from experiance?
- I do not have a front table as my unit has the gaucho. Is there a kit available that gets some sort of table there. I presently use Tv tables and they are Ok but would like a larger surface if possible.
- my truck battery was discharged from being hooked up to my trailer and my trailer battery will not take a charge - I assume it was frozen so a new one is the answer but I was wondering if there is an upgrade to the charging system I should consider?
- what maintanace beyond good hand washing does the exterior require and should I just use a regular turtle wax type polish to keep it clean?

My old Argosy is in decent shape and I sure look forward to years of fun and miles of adventure. The first trip this fall once the wrinkels are ironed out in up to Yukon. Should be a blast!!!!
Thanks in advance for any assistance folks

Chuck

[biggoofball]

"Getting it by surprise" I understand completely. as it just happened to me with my new vintage Overlander.
(my answers in order)
My 72 Argy was replumbed by the previous owner and the inlet is very different than any other I've seen. I thought the newer Argys's inlet was on the street side bumper support.

yes you can get rock guards. I have brand new ones on my Argy. I think they look great.

not sure what you mean here

my propane line is also outside the belly pan. I do not know if that was the stock location though. I'm sure, if properly motivated one could definitly put in above the belly pan.

I have front and street side gauchos with a drop table in between. Keep searching ebay, etc. to see if someone is selling one. browse this and all the other sections for photos. they are very similar to the Airstream tables in the same position.

Get a new battery. Make sure it's a deep cycle. Check the "Generators/inverters" threads for info on new inverter ideas. many people hate the Uni-volt (not sure that's what you have, but might be) Mine is fine.

I just wash really well. I do not have the time to wax, but I could wax mine since it has auto paint on it. Not sure about the original paint.

Good luck and Welcome to the forums!!!

[HankandLois]

Welcome to the world of Airstream! Have tons of fun with your new baby!!!

/Lois

[Argonaut20]

Running the propane line under the belly pan is a safety measure to minimize the propane exposure to the interior. Leaks between the belly pan and floor could be an uplifting experience.
Do a little forming work on the aluminum that is supposed to engage the slot in the trailer. It gets bent by anxious owners and doesn't engage easily or at all. Bending back to near original shape usually gets it functional. Don't expect miracles as I have never had one that didn't require some fiddling to get it to engage.
By all means get a rock guard. Colaws has had them, or you can buy new. Replacing a wrap window is not fun and it is expensive.

[moosetags]

Welcome to the Forums. We're glad to ahve you with us. Congratulations on your new baby.

[cameront120]

Welcome from the other side of the Rockies. Congrats to you on your new trailer. I'd keep the propane lines on the exterior. You can get foam pipe insulators from any plumbing store to cover the length of exposed propane piping. Attach every 12" with plastic cable ties (zip ties). The aluminum extrusion on your fridge may be able to be gently coerced back into shape to work properly. Aluminum is quite resilient. There are many suppliers of extruded aluminum on line, so if you do a search, you may find a match. It sounds like your door may be sprung and there are several threads on the forums documenting fixes. You may get by with new gasket material though and not have to do too much. Half the fun is experimenting.

[Isadora]

Welcome to the world of Argosy Airstreams! We have had ours since April and love it, it has been camping a number of times. We have the 24 dbl bed model, with the dinette in front and it works out well for us.

The water inlet is on the streetside, on ours, next to the bumper.

Coloaw's may have another set of rock guards by now, but we bought a salvage set from them a month ago and it was the last one they had at that time. They seem to be pretty much universal, two of the guards were from an Land Yacht, I believe, and the other piece from a newer Bambi and they are the same.

Our door is sprung a little bit at the bottom but it doesn't seem to be a problem, it doesn't leak so we aren't going to deal with it unless it does.

We wash and wax ours, just like we do our car, and it looks pretty good. I figure the wax will protect the paint as long as possible and it does keep it from streaking and staining with the dust and dirt and makes it easier to wash the next time.

Congratulations on your find! And many happy experiences with it! There is everything you ever wanted to know about fixing any problems you will encounter, on here, and a great bunch of wonderful, helpful , knowledgeable people to help you with them.

[chuckmac]

Thsnks for all the quick replies and a lot of help is easily available here. Great site. Have already found a new propane line with some outside protection should be good. My only concern was I do a fair amount of back country camping so gravel roads will throw the odd surprise. Good thought to keep the line outside the belly pan. I talked with one of our tech guys and he said he has a compound we use on pipelines that should give lots of protection.
I star days off in eight days and am taking my little guy camping so will get lots of minor work done but mainly jusdt enjoy the old trailer. will get pics in soon.

[Janet H]

We have used a slit garden hose around exposed propane lines. It's a good use for old hose .

[TBRich]

Welcome to the Airforums..I like your enthusiasm for Airstreams and getting yours fixed up...you are going to have a blast with it! (In fact, you already are!)

Ease on down the road...

[chuckmac]

Out over the hills and back to the sunny Okanagen then back over the hills to Hinton and all went extremely well!!! Two weeks plus and 1800 miles in total . One of the highlights was running into a gang of Airstreams in Jasper over the long weekend and that sure was interesting. Talked to a lot of folks and saw some very neat units. Was especially impressed by a 31 ft 85 Airstream which the owner had since new.
The old Argosy was fine and am slowly getting all the wrinkles ironed out. Electrical is 100% as a new battery and some cleaning is all that was required.
Discovered that a Ranger pick up with a six and the five speed actually pulls the trailer well - set the weight up at 1000 kg on each truck axel and 2000 on the trailer and it pulled well. A tad slow on the hills especially the Coq but better than expected.Cruised at 55 mph all day long - 22 mpg which was a shock.Did find out there are some back country hills the Ranger just will not pull up especially when there is some mud but that was another story.Will definately upsize my truck but was pleased the Ranger did as well as it did.
The only concern I had was since we have the twin beds at the back model with a front gaucho its just not quite right for us. We are considering either putting a bed in the bunk area and adding a table up front or maybe just selling this one and getting another model. My question is has anyone done this type of conversion and also is there an Argosy/Airstream model around 24ft that has a rear bed and a front dinette set up.
Its been a blast so far!!!
Chuck

[Mike S]

I bought a, Argosy 24 twin with dinette in May. I have been making some repairs and upgrades, but it is basically a solid trailer. I find the twin beds and front dinette works well for my purposes.

I fixed a lot of hinges and cupboard catches just to get everything secure. Storage is less that needed and not efficiently organized. I am sorely tempted to gut the trailer and rebuild the interior myself, but that will have to wait until next year to be done.

I just added a new rock guard a week or so ago. About $600 installed

I bought an Airstream spare tire carrier, wheel and tire. This will be welded in place next week. $150 for the carrier and about $125 for a new wheel and tire.

I plan on putting split rubber fuel hose over the propane lines, and securing with zip ties. I am also considering a cover for the propane tanks as they make me a bit nervous - afraid that they might vibrate loose one day.

I am going to use my trailer as a hunting/fishing 'lodge' and spend quite a lot of time off-grid. My Argosy had a converter from a manufacturer that I had never heard of, and it is coming out - I have a Xantrex 60 Amp converter charger in hand, and a set of 6V 187 AH AGM batteries with Trimetrics monitors. Here is a diagram of the basic layout that I am planning...

[chuckmac]

Back Again. well the old argosy was a blast many hours and miles of fun but had to let her go. Had to do a couple rounds with the cancer gods but have that all wrapped up so have found a mint 1993 34 ft Airstream that I bought from the original owner. has been stored inside all its life and looks like new. Its going to be a great trailer and can hardly wait to get rolling again albeit in a bit more luxury this time. Are there any western Canada airstream organizations out there?

[CBWELL]

There is a WBCCI unit in Alta/Sask. Have a buddy from Calgary in it. Chris

[chuckmac]

can someone advise where I can get a good all season cover for my 34 ft excella. Need to protect from sun and winter. Canadian supplier preferred but not essential

[Hittenstiehl]

Sorry to answer but not be helpful to your actual question.

Most opinions here will say no cover. Covers scratch in the breeze, allow condensation to build up underneath and do more damage than good. However a nice pole barn would work.