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Apptiger02 · 05-03-2013, 10:43 PM

Hello everyone.

My wife has caught the camping bug after a few friends went on a weekend camping trip with their pop up trailer. She got to looking around at different pop up style trailers and came across a picture of an Airstream on one of the numerous RV sites. She fell in love with it and here we are.

We are a family of four with two boys, 6 & 3. We live in North Carolina. If we do this it will be something we take to different places, not just park it at a campground for six months out of the year. After my intitial research, and various Google searches, I found this site along with a '65 Tradewind. My first round of newbie questions are for basic knowledge, opinions, preferences, pros-cons of the different models. I will search the forums and be back for more details later.

For any '65 Tradewind owners, what do you like/dislike about them? We're not looking for something completely restored, but not a massive project either. Cosmetic issues are not a real concern as we will be looking to add our own touch to it. Structural integrity would be my biggest concern. I don't want to rebuild it. We're planning to look at one in a couple weeks, what things should we be looking for/at? I read a thread earlier about using inspectors. Distance is not the issue, knowledge is. Is it possible to meet with an inspector, or owner, when looking at a trailer to get a few pointers?

Anyway, thanks for any info. I look forward to many more conversations.

kscherzi · 05-03-2013, 10:59 PM

You already have a project, two young boys. I suggest sticking with a trailer that's less than ten years old. It will have features your family expect and still have enough life with minimal effort by you.

dirigible25 · 05-03-2013, 11:28 PM

AS are great, a lot of fun to work on and better yet to use to get out on the road and do some camping. I don't know how much you are looking to spend, or how much work you want to do. No matter what age AS that you pick for yourselves, do some more research.

Price vs. Condition - Vintage Airstream

the above link has some interesting stuff, purchase price, condition, a price guide, cost of repairs and replacements, etc. It might be worth a read for you.

dirigible25 · 05-03-2013, 11:35 PM

Oh ya, somewhere on the forum there is an inspection check list. Use the search function, it might help you as well.

Foiled Again · 05-03-2013, 11:46 PM

You're not too far from Out of Doors Mart - go visit and look at the new ones. Also they're a good source of parts for repairing a vintage unit.

Floor plans vs. Walking THROUGH can be a totally different experience.

Say Hi to Terry (overlander63) too.

Paula