New Owner! '71 Airstream TradeWind

[Davydd]

Hi all. I have been reading about Airstreams and looking at them at the local RV show for years. Having never owned or used a trailer it seemed to be a major gamble to think of jumping in with a new Airstream.

Anyway, the glamour seemed to be more the lore of the vintage Airstream. Newsweek had a small feature on Vintage Airstreams last month that got me checking ads and monitoring eBay mostly out of curiosity again. Just as I was gearing back up in my browsing activities an ad popped in the local newspaper advertising a vintage 1971 TradeWind. It must have been karma because the owner lived nearby in the same lake community as I. Saw the ad about 8:00 am Sunday morning and was writing a check at 11:00 am for it. All I had to hear was permission from my wife. I picked it up Tuesday night and towed it home.

I tend to move fast like that. Unfortunately the last time I made that fast of a move was when I took my 1999 Chevy Silverado z71 pickup truck in for an oil change and ended up 2-3/4 hours later trading it in and driving off with a new 2002 Chevy Trailblazer SUV. The Trailblazer managed to pull it OK but I was pining for that Silverado again.

Now I have it. So far I have photographed it, browsed around in it, and sat down and had a beer on the front couch. I'm very pleased with it but now have to figure out how to make time for it, our pontoon boat, our kayaks, and the hundreds of home projects on our list.

[Safari Tim]

Congratulations.

It's nice to see another '71'er out there ;-)

One of the most important things is to USE it, while your fixing it up. If you wait until its done it seems hopeless.

Good luck!

[joecj76]

Welcome to the forum! I have a 71 tradewind also. If you need any help with figuring things out, give me a yell.

[71tradewind]

Welcome to the forum and congrats ! I own 2 Tradewinds ,a 1971 and a 1974 ......just got the 74 this week .I have owned the the 71 since 1999 . I have tons of info on both units if you need any assistance plzzzzzzzzz feel free to ask ! You c an see my 71 at this url ...
http://www.vintageairstream.com/arch...Tradewind.html

[Davydd]

I will probably have a million questions. The first thing I have to do is get it connected and checked out. I took it on faith everything worked but at the price I paid for it and the surface condition it is in I did not let that concern deter me. The previous owner claimed they had 25 calls on it by the time I arrived to look at it.

We couldn't come up with the right trailer wire connector so the previous owner followed me home to guard my rear. Getting a connector is the first thing I need to do today.

The previous owner gave me his folder of service receipts. They spent a lot of money on it, including a photovoltaic solar collector, in 1995 and it appeared it was used mostly as a backyard guest cottage since. Tires were new in 1995 and have hardly any tread wear and hopefully no dry rot.

71Tradewind, the plan layout and windows are exactly like yours. My exterior has a wide side trim with blue infill that seems more typical of the Carravaner model of that era.

[thenewkid64]

Tires were new in 1995 and have hardly any tread wear and hopefully no dry rot.

This is a hidden problem that you need to be aware of. Tires tend to rot from the inside out. Nine year old tires will more than likley ruin your first long trip out. I would STRONGLY suggest you replace them before you do too much towing. 5 years is a good time period to change them, 7 is streching it.

Check these out:

Thread 1

Thread 2

Tires, tires, and more tires. More than you might want to know

[Davydd]

Brett,

Now its tires. I'll probably dream of blowouts tonight.

Here is a picture of my 1971 Tradewind.

[71tradewind]

Davydd tires arent too bad to replace if you shop around......somewhere in the neighborhood of $200.Cheap insurance believe me! Just be sure that when you do get them replaced that the dealer or tire store knows the proper jacking locations of your trailer DO NOT jack on the axels.

[Pahaska]

Originally posted by Davydd
Brett,

Now its tires. I'll probably dream of blowouts tonight.

Nice looking trailer. Congratultions.

Please replace those old tires.

I camped at Branson in an adjacent site to a beautiful, almost new looking, 70s model with the trim and side panels all torn up from a blowout. It was a sad sight for sure. The owner had bought it a year earlier and kept the tires that were on it even though he knew how old they were. Crazy thing was that he still had the other 3 old tires on it; just asking for another blowout. To make things worse, he claimed to tow it at 70 and faster.

[Davydd]

The 1972 Airstream Owner's manual suggest making a built up ramp about 4 ft. long with 2 x 6s when you have a two axle trailer. Supposedly you can backup or pull forward with one wheel on the ramp and it will raise the other wheel off the ground. No jacking required. I imagine a 6" square post beveled might work.

I already had to jack the street side to level my trailer with a 2x6 stacked with a 1x6. I figured out the proper way to jack but it is a pain. In the future I am going to have to grade a level parking spot.

[Fun-Lovin]

Tires oh yea.
We picked up my dad's airstream and it had approx 9 year old tires on it as well, needless to say we didnt make it all the way home before one of them blew out and we only had 100 miles to travel. Ok we got real lucky though as his was designed to run on 3, and we fortunatly avoided any damage as that tire disinegrated before I could stop.

Greg

[eikel1we]

You are in the right place to gather information about you newest toy. I have found this to be a friendly and welcoming group of A/S owners ready, willing and able to share their knowledge.

suz