Taking over the family Sovereign!

[markl]

My oldest daughter and I are heading to Colorado in 2 weeks to bring home my grandfather's 69 Sovereign! Lots of great childhood memories camping with the grandparents all of the Colorado mountains! Now that he has passed away I figure its time to start building memories with my own wife and children!

The last time it was towed was in 2005 when my brother and I used it on a brief mountain trip. Replacing the tires and packing the bearings before we tow it back to Texas, but any other advice? It has always been kept in great condition until around 2006 when my grandparents health declined, but has been sitting idle for 6 years now.

Mark Lunsford

[Minno]

Congratulations on your new trailer! Replacing tires is a good idea, even if they were new in 2005, they'd be getting to the end of their life. Check towing lights for any that have burned out. Check the brakes! Otherwise, it's probably still in good towing condition with new tires. Good luck!

Kay

[Kevin245]

Welcome Mark and congratulations on the Airstream. Good to hear that you're planning to continue the tradition.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Kevin

[markl]

thanks for the welcome! Leaving this Friday for Colorado to pick her up. I have an appointment with a local mechanic to check out the axles, pack the bearings, etc.

Any advice on a AAA type membership that would be good in case of trouble on the road? Traveling with a 6 year old probably wouldn't be a ton a fun if we wind up stranded for some reason....

[overlander64]

Greetings markl!

Originally Posted by markl

Any advice on a AAA type membership that would be good in case of trouble on the road? Traveling with a 6 year old probably wouldn't be a ton a fun if we wind up stranded for some reason....

Prior to my departure for a six week trip that included Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park, and I was carrying both AAA RV-Plus and Good Sam's RV towing policy. At only 250 miles into the trip, the newly remanufactured GoodWrench alternator on my Cadillac failed necessitating a tow on Sunday afternoon. I had an opportunity to compare the two plans side-by-side as the seemingly simple need for a tow turned into a massive problem that took well over three hours to resolve.

My first reaction was to call AAA as I had been a member for nearly 30 years so thought that might be a factor that would speed things along a little bit. After waiting for nearly an hour, the flatbed arrived to tow in my Cadillac -- the tow driver took one look at my Cadillac and told me that his truck was too light to carry the Cadillac as its maximum capacity was 4,500 pounds and my Cadillac's shipping weight was just short of 3 tons. He left with no indication that he would return with the correct truck so I called Good Sam.

It took 45 minutes for the Good Sam dispatched flatbed to arrive - - but to my horror, it was the same truck and driver. At this point the driver called the owner of the company who arrived a short time later with their largest flatbed - - and after spending 45 minutes building up ramps with 2 x 6 lumber they were finally able to get the slope gradual enough to coax the Cadillac onto the truck. We were at three hours and counting at this point.

The owner of the tow service informed me that his trucks were not equipped to tow a trailer and intially he was going to leave my trailer stranded behind the truck stop where the Cadillac's battery went dead. Had to call Good Sam to register a complaint . . . . 45 minutes later, the tow truck driver arrived with the company owner's van to tow my coach to the nearest campground (20 miles away).

I honestly don't know whether I would recommend either service, but I continued with Good Sam and cancelled my AAA.

Good luck with your investigation!

Kevin

[markl]

Well I did purchase the Good Sam Club membership, but fortunately had no issues on the tow home!

I found her in pretty good shape, replaced the tires, had the bearings greased, and put a new rock guard on her.

Some pics of the original shape are here, I think.

Cleaned her up, and in figuring out the plumbing system, discovered a leak when hooked up to city water, but the "tank system" works great.

The refridgerator and freezer work great (hooked up to electric), and everything else seem to be in solid condition, minus plumbing.

When hooked up to hose, it constantly leaks most of the water out of the first valve (?) after the hose connection. Haven't removed any rivets to see the water line but will do that in the next week or two. Any advice on this would be appreciated.

It's a bit hot in Texas right now if anyone hasn't heard, so the first order of business was to order a new a/c unit. I bought the Coleman Mach 3 plus, seemed to be a well reviewed unit, and budget friendly, so will be installing that in the next couple of weeks.

Also attaching a pic of the rock guard attached, and a "finally home" picture.


Attachment 137393



Attachment 137395
hoping to be able to use her by early September.

sorry, not sure how to rotate pics!

[Aage]

Congratulations on carrying on the family tradition of camping, markl! Please be sure to ask here if you need help with any questions on your Sovereign.

Yours is one of the last years that used real wood on the interior, so keep that in mind if you do any work on the interior. Actually, the interior looks pretty good.

ps: I rotated your images for you

[oh2bcarefree]

What a great trailer! That looks fabulous and it's really neat that you can carry on the family tradition with the same airstream that you have so many great memories of!

I love the wood trim on your cabinets - very fun!!! Enjoy and ask lots of questions, everyone is great here and loves to help out!

Happy camping!

Tina

[Alumaholic]

Hi Mark, and thanks for sharing. Congratulations on your wonderful "inheritance" and kudos for keeping it in your family and our Airstream family. It will have so much more meaning to you and your kids knowing that it belonged to your grandparents.

That said you will proabably need new axles. You want to get a nice, new suspension system under it right away, or you will shake and jar it apart when you travel at highway speeds. There are several threads and many, many comments on this topic on this forum. Your Sovereign deserves new running gear to protect it and give your family another 42 years of enjoyment.

[eubank]

I just took a exploded-view look at that pic with the propane tanks. It's kind of hard to tell their condition, but it is clear that they've got the older-style valves, which will have to be replaced with valves that have the overfill prevention device, so-called "OPD" valves. (Older valves can be identified by their star-shaped handles; OPDs have non-removable, triangle-shaped handles.)

Even without looking, but reading your description, I'd conclude that they'll also need recertification. However, the amount of visible rust on the tanks is a concern. If it's just superficial, then you could remove the rust and repaint before you take them in for recertification. Check those collars at the tops and bottoms. If they're bent so that there is any cracking along the welds, then your propane service outfit may not recertify.

If you do decide to replace them outright, do a lot of shopping around. My experience has been that prices on propane cylinders vary widely for exactly the same tanks.

While you're at it, replace the pigtail connectors to the two cylinders. The modern pigtails use the large external (and right-hand) threads available on most newer OPD valves and are much easier to use. You can also have the propane folks do a pressure test on the system to check for leaks.


Lynn

[GREENovaters]

Ah, such a nice Sovereign! Sorry for your loss and I hope that your family appreciates the history of the Airstream! You might tell them some stories about your Grandparents and some of the trips with them....

[Aage]

Lynn is right, your tanks need replacing. It also might be an interesting idea to change over to aluminum tanks.

They will be the last pair you or your family will ever have to buy, and they look great, too.

Of course, they are NOT cheap, but with the way your family takes care of Airstreams, look at it as an investment!

[markl]

Originally Posted by klevan

Hi Mark, and thanks for sharing. Congratulations on your wonderful "inheritance" and kudos for keeping it in your family and our Airstream family. It will have so much more meaning to you and your kids knowing that it belonged to your grandparents.

That said you will proabably need new axles. You want to get a nice, new suspension system under it right away, or you will shake and jar it apart when you travel at highway speeds. There are several threads and many, many comments on this topic on this forum. Your Sovereign deserves new running gear to protect it and give your family another 42 years of enjoyment.

Thanks for the information on the suspension and axles. I'll start researching this.

[markl]

Originally Posted by eubank

I just took a exploded-view look at that pic with the propane tanks. It's kind of hard to tell their condition, but it is clear that they've got the older-style valves, which will have to be replaced with valves that have the overfill prevention device, so-called "OPD" valves. (Older valves can be identified by their star-shaped handles; OPDs have non-removable, triangle-shaped handles.)

Even without looking, but reading your description, I'd conclude that they'll also need recertification. However, the amount of visible rust on the tanks is a concern. If it's just superficial, then you could remove the rust and repaint before you take them in for recertification. Check those collars at the tops and bottoms. If they're bent so that there is any cracking along the welds, then your propane service outfit may not recertify.

If you do decide to replace them outright, do a lot of shopping around. My experience has been that prices on propane cylinders vary widely for exactly the same tanks.

While you're at it, replace the pigtail connectors to the two cylinders. The modern pigtails use the large external (and right-hand) threads available on most newer OPD valves and are much easier to use. You can also have the propane folks do a pressure test on the system to check for leaks.


Lynn

Thanks Lynn! Yes I know that the propane tanks must be replaced, that is on the short list for me. I'm not even going to attempt to use any of the gas system until this is done. I appreciate this information, it will help me in shopping for this.