Potential Project

[Teresa S]

Good morning! I have always dreamed of owning an Airstream and have found myself in a good position to begin a project. There is the fact that I will be traveling alone quite often as my husband hasn't been bitten by the travel bug (yet). I do not know how to drive a diesel or manual and have no experience driving a trailer. Therefore, my plan was to find a 16 ft trailer to make things easy as can be. However, I stumbled across a posting for a '61 Safari Land Yacht, that is already gutted, asking $5K even. We are looking to buy a Tahoe soon, would this vehicle be able to pull a 22 ft trailer? Or should I stick with my 16 ft plans?
Thank you!!

[Belegedhel]

Welcome to the Forums!

That '61 Safari probably weighs less than 3500 lbs. As long as you don't load it up with granite and wrought-iron during your rebuild, a Tahoe should be way more than enough to pull it. The older trailers were built a lot lighter than they are today. The modern lightest (shortest) trailers typically weight as much as the longest trailers in the early 60's.

Rebuilding a trailer is definitely a project. Now, having a vintage trailer being already gutted is no benefit. You are buying someone else's aborted project. When they got the interior removed and saw that they had a shell-off floor replacement staring them in the face, they threw in the towel. If your husband is not interested in traveling in the trailer, is he going to be interested in dedicating months or years of his spare time rebuilding this trailer? I'm not trying to crush your dream, but calibrate your expecations. If your goal is to have a trailer to travel in, then I recommend buying one that is ready to go.

good luck!

[markdoane]

Not a problem towing with a Tahoe. My rebuilt '59 Tradewind (4800 lbs) tows nicely behind my Tahoe.

I wouldn't pay $5k for a gutted trailer unless the body was nearly perfect and the frame and floor were in really good shape.

[Bubba L]

Teresa, I met a streamer at the Pismo Beach TCT Rally a month ago with a vintage AS. He emailed me and said he also has a 1955 vintage AS 18 footer. He said "excellent skin and frame-otherwise needs restoration". The unit is in Arizona. I contacted Mike needing a 1955 grab handle for my Flying Cloud. He sold me one at a very fair price so I trust him. If you want to contact him, PM me and I'll send you his contact info. Bubba

[Teresa S]

Originally Posted by markdoane

Not a problem towing with a Tahoe. My rebuilt '59 Tradewind (4800 lbs) tows nicely behind my Tahoe.

I wouldn't pay $5k for a gutted trailer unless the body was nearly perfect and the frame and floor were in really good shape.

Thank you! I didn't intend to pay full asking price either. I appreciate your help

[Teresa S]

Originally Posted by Belegedhel

Welcome to the Forums!

That '61 Safari probably weighs less than 3500 lbs. As long as you don't load it up with granite and wrought-iron during your rebuild, a Tahoe should be way more than enough to pull it. The older trailers were built a lot lighter than they are today. The modern lightest (shortest) trailers typically weight as much as the longest trailers in the early 60's.

Rebuilding a trailer is definitely a project. Now, having a vintage trailer being already gutted is no benefit. You are buying someone else's aborted project. When they got the interior removed and saw that they had a shell-off floor replacement staring them in the face, they threw in the towel. If your husband is not interested in traveling in the trailer, is he going to be interested in dedicating months or years of his spare time rebuilding this trailer? I'm not trying to crush your dream, but calibrate your expecations. If your goal is to have a trailer to travel in, then I recommend buying one that is ready to go.

good luck!

Thank you for your helpful advice. A good discussion to have with him too. (And, I would love to purchase complete, but, I do not want to take out a loan - I'd rather pay cash and renovate a little every month. Plus, that's half the fun!)