'68 Tradewind - Woohoooo I Got One!

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

First thing is tires and brakes. Can anyone suggest the best tires for this critter? Also, Im told I have a choice between 10 and 12" brakes at a difference of $80 per axle- how much better are the 12"s?


General Disarray

First, tires: You can either use 7.00x15LT tires, load range D, or ST225/75R15 tires, also load range D. Most of us prefer Goodyear Marathons for our coaches. They are slightly lower profile than the 7.00x15's, but they ride better, (usually) wear better, and will give the benefit of an extra .2-.5 MPG when towing.
You can get your new axles "loaded" with brakes when you order them. IIRC, your Tradewind came with 12" brakes, so that would be what you should put back on it.
Group Therapy (read chat night) is Tuesdays at 9:00 PM Eastern time. You can get answers to most of your questions instantly at that time. See you there.

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by overlander63

Most of us prefer Goodyear Marathons for our coaches. They are slightly lower profile than the 7.00x15's, but they ride better, (usually) wear better, and will give the benefit of an extra .2-.5 MPG when towing.

A quick search indicates that that tire goes for about $90 a pop, does that sound about right?


General Disarray

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

A quick search indicates that that tire goes for about $90 a pop, does that sound about right?


General Disarray

Yes. I paid $444 including mounting, balancing, new high-pressure valve stems, and state sales tax for the four I put on our Overlander.

[Boondocker]

Ok, this ones going to be a whopper! I have started listing the potential repairs and upgrades I may be doing this spring to my 1968 Trade Wind. As you can see, the list is not a short one. Any thoughts, words of warning, or what have you will be welcome. Let me know if pictures of any particular part would be a help, I’m hoping to get out and tinker some this weekend.

Trade Wind Repairs List

January 17, 2006

• Bathroom window: repair frame, replace glass if needed.
• Window gaskets: replace all around or let sleeping dogs lie?
• Awning: Open, see what repairs are required, remove if needed.(it looks a little sketchy, never had it out so far….)
• Furnace: install. (the new one doesn’t fit the same space)
• Water heater: install, find/make new access door.
• Refrigerator: bolt in, install front pannel.
• Street side cabinets: reattach.
• Worn wood from screws in street side upper cabinets.
• Missing rivets on upper portion of first bulkhead.
• Bathroom door: rehang ( how do you do that btw??)
• Oven: figure out why pilot lights but oven doesn’t.
• Water filter: clean.
• Battery: upgrade. Move? (Currently located in the ugly box, thinking about moving next to the axles under the midship bunks and increasing to two batteries. Is this a good idea or recipe for disaster?).
• Frame: weld. (Weld at tongue is broken on both sides just forward of frames exit from the trailer, any idea about what causes this? Do I want to know?)
• Replace indoor lights with LEDs?
• Flooring: replace. Linoleum, cork, or laminate?
• Curtains: replace with blinds?
• Skin: polish?
• Wood work: clean and polish. Furniture wax?
• Ugly box: fix hinge, replace lock, repair bend.
• Door handle: add gasket.(replaced handle last fall, I think it ought to have a gasket of some kind between it and the skin)
• Propane system: Replumb? (some bends in the line, currently operable and safe, this one is a low priority)
• Propane tanks: update to current regulators.
• Water: replumb with PEX?
• Add inverter?

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

• Battery: upgrade. Move? (Currently located in the ugly box, thinking about moving next to the axles under the midship bunks and increasing to two batteries. Is this a good idea or recipe for disaster?).

Any thoughts on this rehab gurus? Is venting an issue?

[azflycaster]

Rodney,
Putting the weight closer to the axel makes sense. Putting them inside the trailer creates a safety issue. When the battery(s) charge they put off a toxic explosive gas. That is something I would not want filling up the inside of my TT. It is interesting that my first car (1960 VW Bug) had the battery under the rear seat?? If you wanted to do something like this, the safe thing to do would be to enclose the battery(s) in a sealed box with a vent to the outside. You could fabricate something like this:

[pmclemore]

That box is exactly like the one my battery is in, as original equipment, under my front sofa. I suspect you could get one from Airstream.

Good luck with your project!

Pat

[azflycaster]

You can get them here also: http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/r...xes-vented.htm

[TomW]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

... I have started listing the potential repairs and upgrades I may be doing this spring to my 1968 Trade Wind... Any thoughts, words of warning, or what have you will be welcome. Let me know if pictures of any particular part would be a help ...

Rodney,

You need to decide what level of repair completion you want to attain before camping in your Airstream. Through my time on the forum, I have noticed people who appear to want just enough help to get to a campground, and other people who just enjoy working on their American Classic with no scheduled goal of ever taking it anywhere.

Nothing wrong with either goal as long as you are honest with yourself.

That said, I see about a third of your list as necessary to hit the open road. The remainder can be done between trips. Pictures are great - Your broken welds bother me a lot. Please post pictures of that if possible. Everyone here wants to help.

Tom

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by TomW

Your broken welds bother me a lot. Please post pictures of that if possible. Everyone here wants to help.

Tom

You and me both Tom, however, the cracks do not seem to get any worse from towing so far as I can tell. They are at the top of the list. My plan is to post pics of the problem in the next week in hopes someone can ID what the root cause was. I am waiting on my new camera to arrive (YAY NEW TOY!) hopefully by Monday so I can get good images to post. I think my post makes my trailer sound like a train wreck, its really quite serviceable, it just needs some quality time.

[moogie32]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

• Window gaskets: replace all around or let sleeping dogs lie?
• Bathroom door: rehang ( how do you do that btw??)

Hi there General! Most of your list is on my list too but I might be able to help you with these two...I replaced all my window gaskets in a day or so and it was a very simple procedure. I got both the gasketing and the adhesive to attach it from Inland. The same gasketing was used on your door as well, so you might as well do that at the same time. It's important to start with a very clean surface; after I pulled off the old gaskets I used a wire wheel bit on my cordless drill and it did a great job quickly. Applying the gasketing is best done with 2 people because the adhesive directions call for applying it both to the contact surface and the gasketing. Once they come in contact with each other they don't want to come apart - a person feeding you the gasket as you're sticking it in place works well.

As far as the bathroom door goes, I removed it while taking the interior out of my trailer and it fits rather tightly in that space between the bath and outer wooden wall (if your set-up is the same). While I don't know if it's possible to rehang it with both walls in place what I can do is photograph the parts of mine so you know what you're dealing with - it runs on a rail between the walls. Getting that wall out was a real challenge for me because the one large screw that attaches the entire thing together required drilling! But, if someone was able to get it out without removing the walls, you'd think it should be able to go back in, wouldn't you? I haven't been much help here, have I?

In any event, I'd be happy to take some photos for you. Good luck! Diane

[Boondocker]

Tom recently visited my photosite where the pics of my airstream are and observed that the poped rivets on the upper bulk head just between the galley and bedroom resulted from poorly balanced running gear (http://www.pbase.com/professor_chaos...08837/original ) . I did a search on the topic and in addition to the running gear issue I read that placing to much weight on the tounge or in the rear might cause the same problem. Does this sound correct? It turns out that the "ugly box" is over a retrofited grey water tank that I didnt know about and which I towed with a considerable amount of water for 1,200 miles . The damage didnt show up untill that point so I am wondering if that wasnt the cause...... ideas anybody? Oh, and just as an aside, at what length (and years) did the sagging rear ends become an issue?

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by TomW

................Pictures are great - Your broken welds bother me a lot. Please post pictures of that if possible. Everyone here wants to help.

Tom

Here are some shots (out of my spanking new Nikon D50 - airstream was the first thing I shot)

[TomW]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

... airstream was the first thing I shot)

Nothing wrong with that! I did the same thing.

Interesting cracks. Opinions will abound, but drop the front belly skin & take a look. A "rite of passage" with a new, expensive camera is laying on your back with macro focus trying to capture an image when the sun won't cooperate.

Tom

[Boondocker]

I was just out visting my coach at winter quarters taking some pics and I noticed something I hadn't previously. On the front plate there are numbers stamped in. I know the ones below are the VIN, but what are the top ones?

[Boondocker]

Here is a closer look......

[TomW]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

...but what are the top ones?

No one seems to know; the same issue was researched when mine were first noticed. The consensus, at the time, was that "Airstream kept poor records in that era", with side notes which had me believe that the only people who might know retired long ago.

Thank you for bringing the issue back up - perhaps some newer members may be able to share insight.

Tom

[TomW]

Originally Posted by TomW

Interesting cracks. Opinions will abound, but drop the front belly skin & take a look...

On a more serious note, with what little I know about stress fractures, the ugly box you mentioned could have, in a particular scenario I have envisioned, reduced your tongue weight in certain circumstances enough to cause the cracks presented in your pix.

You do need to drop the front belly skin to make sure nothing else is wrong. The front A-frame is connected through box beams to the main frame's C-channels, and you need to make sure nothing else is damaged.

Your repair may simply be to have a competent welder look at your situation.

Tom

[Darol Ingalls]

Gen, Just read your list. Bindardidat! The bathroom door was an engineering "feat" by Airstream. It's hollow core, paper corragated center, with wood frame, formica on the bed side and bathroom vinyl over thin plywood on the bath side. There is a rail similar to a closet door track fastened to a 4'(approx) 2 x 3 that is fastened to the closet on the curb side and to the ceiling on the road side with screws up from the bottom into the interior skin. These are impossible to get at without removing the bedroom side of the wall. The door has two adjustable rollers that fit in the track. Removing the door from the track is nearly impossible with the bedroom wall in place. Installing the door and adjusting it IS impossible with the bedroom wall in place. (Well, maybe it just takes longer.) Problem is that the two rollers in the door are not anchored very well in the top door frame. They work loose after years of bouncing down the road. Best to remove/rebuild the top door frame and roller mounts. There is one large screw that goes through the wall frame on the roadside of the door just above the metal track. It's probably corroded in place and will have to be drilled out unless you're really lucky and it can be removed with a screwdriver. Oh yes, they covered it with a wood plug! All the '68 trailers I've worked on had sprayed on foam insulation under the floor and asbestos tile on top. The poor plywood didn't stand a chance! Any moisture that got into the wood was trapped there, couldn't evaporate, and caused major rot problems. '67 and '69 trailers had fiberglass bat insulation, so the foam must have been another great experiment that did not work. I would be cautions in choosing a floor covering that did not allow the plywood floor to at least breath from the top. (What's wrong with nice carpet? Cut and lay it carefully so you can remove it for cleaning. If you don't like it, use it for a pattern for the next. Carpet is cheap, easy to install, and warm on the bare feet.) I like batteries near the axels. Solve the venting problem by getting gel cell batteries - no fumes. Darol

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by TomW

You do need to drop the front belly skin to make sure nothing else is wrong. The front A-frame is connected through box beams to the main frame's C-channels, and you need to make sure nothing else is damaged.
Tom

Its a 15 minute drive over to the Trade Winds winter quarters so I cant run out and look at it. How is the belly attached? Is this a drill out the rivets proceedure or is the belly attached otherwise.