From what I have read in the forums about rear end sag the fix is: remove bathroom and lower inner skin. Pick up the rear end while pushing down the rear of the frame. Slide in a couple of pre cut pieces of flooring. Reverse the process to put Humpty bac together again.
I don't want to discourage you but personally I would not have touched it at any price if it has a rear end separation problem. But that's only me. If the rest of the trailer is good I think you paid top dollar, maybe a bit more. But, $3000 is just a part of what you will probably end up spending if you do a restoration. So it kind of washes out. Are you going to restore her, or just fix what needs to be done to be funcitional. Are you doing the work yourself? If you have the AS fixed by someone make sure you get someone who knows 70s Airstreams, or they could make it worse. Having the rear end sag fiixed by a pro will be expensive. I am guessing at least what you paid for the AS. Anyone else out there have any figures on having a rear end sag done? Andy? Also, if the trailer truly has rear end sag towing it around very much can only make the problem worse. Sorry if I am the bearer of bad news.
The very best thing I did after my purchase was to get an owners manual. It is amazing how much more understandable the systems will be after a quick read through.
The second most important thing, IMHO is to purchase a service manual. I was lucky, mine came with one.
Both of these are available from Airstream.
Value is subjective. I think your trailer could be quite wonderful, and there is a tremendous amount of help available here.
__________________
Cameron Bailey
1973 Overlander WBCCI Marketing Committee
Washington Unit, VAC www.cameron-bailey.com
More pics.
I concur with you folks in the fact that the rear end does indeed sag.
It was towed less that 10 miles in the last 3 years. The seller just delivered it to me, from his home in the next town over.
Not sure if I want to tackle this end sag issue alone.
Im mechanically proficient, however, my carpentry skills are lacking. I do own a welder, elec arc. It appears that a cross member piece below the bathroom is in bad shape.
Ive attached some pics more than once, uhm, Im new at this...
Thanks for the great advice.
Oh, and it came with a brand new HW heater in the box, and a new gas cook stove that doesnt fit, it appears to be the wrong size.
There is also a new electrical box, I believe it is 110 inc and is a battery charger..?
It did come with the service manual and an operators manual. Fascinating reading!
new electrical device found in a box inside trailor.
Some type of charger that I have never seen.
I would suggest that you pull the entire underbelly panels.
Your axles look like they are on their last leg.
The trailer does have rear end separation.
The drip cap over the rear access door is a good sign that the rear end had water leaks and the previous owner (owners) didn't know how to fix it. That drip cap was "not" installed by Airstream.
I would suggest also that you get a "service manual" so that you can see how many other things have been altered from the original construction.
Drip cap? Do you mean the metal plate that is right below the word "airstream" on the back end? That is not original?
No, I agree with Andy that it is a definite later addition. The only conclusion is this Sovereign had chronic water problems in the rear, someone was aware of it, and someone tried to repair it. Did someone tell you?
Looks like fun and alot of work. I have a 72 Ambassador that started out looking about the same as your does, and I have worked on every part of it so far. Good luck.
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