New owner - 25' 1985 Sovereign

[airdreamers]

Hi,
My husband and I just purchased a 25' 1985 Sovereign. We plan to rip out the 25 year old carpeting and replace it with oak laminate, caulk all the windows and polish her exterior gently. We're determined to keep her as authentic as the day she rolled off the assembly line... well, as best as we can. Luckily she is immaculate inside and out! What are the pros and cons of maintaining an Airstream in its original condition? Janice

[n2916s]

Hi and welcome to the Forums.

You will find that there is always something to do on a 25 year old trailer. But, that being said, don't rip it apart right off. Go camping and see what works, what doesn't, what you like and don't.

New gaskets for the windows is a swell plan. Caulking as necessary involves some specialized products, you definitely don't want to be smearing silicone caulk on your new baby -- search the forums and you will get lots of ideas on what to use and how to use it.

The important thing is to enjoy the trailer between projects. A lot of folks go into "full rehab" mode and get discouraged because the fun quotient is low.

Get the running gear squared away (brakes,tires,bearings, balance) and go play!

mike

[moosetags]

Welcome to the Forums. We're glad to have you with us.

[kds]

Originally Posted by airdreamers

Hi,
My husband and I just purchased a 25' 1985 Sovereign. We plan to rip out the 25 year old carpeting and replace it with oak laminate, caulk all the windows and polish her exterior gently. We're determined to keep her as authentic as the day she rolled off the assembly line... well, as best as we can. Luckily she is immaculate inside and out! What are the pros and cons of maintaining an Airstream in its original condition? Janice

Hey Janice, I am going to look at a 1985, 25ft Sovereign tomorrow. It belongs to a friend of mine who wants to sell it. She tells me it's in great condition but has not been pulled in a while. They bought it and lived it in while building a house. Would you mind giving a ball park figure of what you think I should be looking at spending and any questions you think I might want to ask. Thanks for any help you can give me.

Kelly

[Matthew94]

Hey my grandparents gave me and my brother the 1985 sovereign 25ft airstream they where going to sell it but the lazy days was only going to give them $3500.00 for it so they just kept it in the family. So I think about no more than $7000.00 if its in good condition. The big thing to look for on the out side is the clear cote and if there's white spots on it or spots that look choky then it's not in good enough condition. On the 1985 sovereign airstream to get the clear cote redone is about $4000.00 and u have to tow it to Ohio to get it done. The next thing is how fare are you going to tow it to your house because the bearings need to be repacked and the brakes need to be checked the because the trailer itself weighs 5,000 lb. The last two things I would check is tires make sure they don't have bubbles in them you can google what they look like and feel like. Now the very last thing is make sure that the hitch is very well lubed up as well as the sway bars. Good luck and have fun.