Looking at a 2006 Airstream interstate

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by clinter36

Thanks for all the great info. It turns out the van I was looking at had a tree fall on it at some point and the roof was damaged (I found pics of it at an auction). It looks like it was repaired OK, but it threw a wrench in the whole works.

It's all about the cost/hassle ratio. I can put up with some issues if I the drivetrain is strong and I can get it at the right price. Which is exactly what I've done with my '04. I knew it had issues when I bought it, but the price was MORE than "right." I've put 30k on it now in the three years I've had it and I couldn't be more pleased with it.

[BigJipper]

Hi OP, I am going to look at this rig tomorrow. By any chance do you have the damage photos? Any additional thoughts about the truck you might have would be highly appreciated. Thank you, John

[InterBlog]

I hope one of y’all posts some details about this mystery Interstate (whether or not you buy it). Maybe it’s on one of the auction sites that require sign-in to see inventory? Because I’ve never found it (but I have not done a deep dive looking).

If it’s damaged and is going to be repaired, we could all learn stuff from that.

[BigJipper]

The rig was posted locally on Craigslist by a small town car dealer. It runs well and the interior is in very good shape. BUT a tree did fall on it crushing a section of the roof just behind the driver seat creating a 7” notch. It didn’t do any damage to the windows and the dealer made a repair which doesn’t look great - but it is functional and watertight. I bought it yesterday and will prob have a paintless dent guy have a go at it to see if we can improve the look. The rest of the coach looks good (headlights are fairly dim and there is some spider cracking on the fiberglass body kit at the front.
It is a Gold color with center jackknife couch and dinette - anyone who has a hack to make this a comfortable bed for two is highly welcome to chime in here…
I am thinking of adding a roof tent; but will need to add a roofrack first as it is bare on top - anyone have thoughts?
The heater blower only operates on high - let me know if anyone has experienced this wonder.
Thanks! John

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by BigJipper

The rig was posted locally on Craigslist by a small town car dealer. It runs well and the interior is in very good shape. BUT a tree did fall on it crushing a section of the roof just behind the driver seat creating a 7” notch. It didn’t do any damage to the windows and the dealer made a repair which doesn’t look great - but it is functional and watertight. I bought it yesterday and will prob have a paintless dent guy have a go at it to see if we can improve the look. The rest of the coach looks good (headlights are fairly dim and there is some spider cracking on the fiberglass body kit at the front.
It is a Gold color with center jackknife couch and dinette - anyone who has a hack to make this a comfortable bed for two is highly welcome to chime in here…
I am thinking of adding a roof tent; but will need to add a roofrack first as it is bare on top - anyone have thoughts?
The heater blower only operates on high - let me know if anyone has experienced this wonder.
Thanks! John

Making the bed for two... I have the center sleeper with two couches. I'm not sure how you'd make the big bed with just a dinette on the one side? I've never actually seen that layout in person.

Roof tent? My '04 has the AC unit, a fantastic fan, TV antenna and vents up there. I'm not sure how you'd ever mount a roof rack to accomplish that.

The blower fan resistor is a common failure. They're inexpensive and easy to replace. Mine was bad when I bought my van. I bought a new one three years ago that is still working, but I carry a spare in the glovebox. Here's a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXmYsW4iozc

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by BigJipper

It is a Gold color with center jackknife couch and dinette -
Thanks! John

We'd love to see some photos, John!

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by BigJipper

….will need to add a roofrack first as it is bare on top - anyone have thoughts?
…

Curiouser and curiouser. The 2006 Interstate is supposed to have a roof rack in the rear - I’ve never seen one without it, so perhaps it was removed from this unit? You should see roof scars if so. The Parkway, OTOH, was built without a roofrack. The Parkway was also distinguished by its lack of ultraleather.

Yes, we would love to see pictures.

[Rocinante]

Was this unit totaled by the insurance company after the tree fall, (e.g. it's now a salvage title), did the previous owner simply sell it without really fixing the damage after their insurance company paid out, or was it something else?

And yes, pictures inside and out would be awesome, as it sounds like a pretty cool find.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by BigJipper

……
I am thinking of adding a roof tent; but will need to add a roofrack first as it is bare on top - anyone have thoughts?
……

Aside from the issue of the potentially-missing OEM roof rack, my first thought is to suspect that you are going to need some kind of a gutter-mounted rack, because the T1N Sprinter’s roof is constructed of lap-welded crap.

You can already count on having chronic seam problems with or without such a device potentially causing additional roof flexure, because we all have problems. Or we will have them. I certainly have them.

The Interstate’s OEM roof rack was limited to 100 lbs., per Airstream’s declaration in the paperwork. Functionally, I think that reflected a perception about the roof robusticity rather than the rack itself, which appears to be made of ADA-quality stainless steel of the kind more commonly found surrounding handicapped washroom fixtures. The rack can take weight. The roof, not so much. Not the way Airstream attached it during the upfit, at least.

I, too, am curious as to where a roof tent might be fitted. And whether or not you can actually get an integrated ladder that extends the full 9+ feet needed to reach the Interstate’s roof. Most of those tents are engineered to go on top of Jeeps and similar vehicles, which are much lower to the ground.

[BigJipper]

Hi Folks,
Thanks for your comments and interest in the AI. It rained here overnight and I see that there is some leakage which I guess is related to the fix - I will try to find the source and silkaflex it for now.
I do not believe this model came with the roof rack - I’ve seen some photos of other Goldies with no rack. I have been thinking of a gutter mount rack (pretty ugly) for the front section of the rig with a hard shell tent mounted. Access would be via a side mounted ladder also on the gutter. I will post a photo of what I am thinking…

[BigJipper]

Photo example of roof tent on AI (newer version)

[BigJipper]

@ 85MH325; Thanks, I ordered this part for the blower and should have it in tomorrow - much appreciated!

[Rocinante]

Cool, a RTT on top of a high-roof Sprinter...it's a Penthouse Suite!

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by BigJipper

@ 85MH325; Thanks, I ordered this part for the blower and should have it in tomorrow - much appreciated!

My pleasure. Good looking coach. Good luck with it! That was a pretty nasty hit on that roof. I hope it all comes together for you the way you have it envisioned.

And that bed layout is exactly what I thought it was. I have no words of wisdom for you on making that into a single large bed. If you come up with a solution, be sure to share it with us please.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by BigJipper

….
I do not believe this model came with the roof rack - I’ve seen some photos of other Goldies with no rack. I have been thinking of a gutter mount rack (pretty ugly) for the front section of the rig with a hard shell tent mounted. Access would be via a side mounted ladder also on the gutter. I will post a photo of what I am thinking…

Huh - that’s definitely an Interstate, not a Parkway. I have never seen one of that vintage with no OEM roof rack, but there was a surprising amount of variability in the early Interstate lineage, so who knows.


EDIT: Please keep in mind that what I call the LH-50 - the lethal height from which 50% of all falling people will be killed - has been published as 11 feet. IIRC, that is OSHA’s figure, although there is no formal definition of the term, which I derived from the toxicological standard known as LD-50 - the lethal dose of a substance that will kill 50% of the organisms that ingest it.

Most people intuitively assume that the human LH-50 is much higher, like 20 or 30 feet or something. For practical purposes, what it means is that anyone who accidentally rolls through the side of a soft tent and off the roof of an Interstate has close to an even chance of dying.

[Rocinante]

On the other hand, a RTT on top of an AI with the ladder pulled up may be far enough off the ground to be safe in grizzly bear country. [emoji57]

[InterBlog]

OK; y’all are causing me to do real work now.

I just measured my T1N Interstate’s roof. Remember that the Interstate’s body tapers upward. Even with a gutter-mounted roof rack, I don’t think the width to be captured would attain six feet.

Also remember that the only way to mount a gutter rack is to remove the OEM awning, which is actually of very good quality. And I realize that many owners do not care about their awning, but any owner who is going to the CONSIDERABLE trouble to contemplate a roof tent… that person sounds like a potential off-gridder. In which case, believe me, the awning would be a valuable asset. Because when we are out in the bush and we get 5 straight days of rain, any covered dry area transforms into pure gold. And the awning provides that.

OK; now let’s contemplate the length to potentially be captured by said option.

The secondary OP to whom this thread has essentially been bequeathed by virtue of rig purchase… that OP has a rear kitchen. That means the Fantastic fan has not been plopped in the center of the vehicle. But there still IS a Fantastic fan, and it’s behind the roof a/c, which means that the length to be potentially captured is probably not more than 6 feet. (My rig is configured differently, so I cannot measure it exactly.)

In sum, even with considerable investment and forfeiture of a very good awning, it’s only a small tent that could ever be made to fit up there. It would probably be limited to a 1-person tent. And the owner of this set-up better not be a taller person or they simply won’t fit. My own husband would never be able to fit into such a device.

Don’t get me wrong - I am not trying to be discouraging. I’m the queen of Interstate modifications and I would be fascinated to see this transformation done. But if it were me, I would consider all options carefully before making an investment decision. There are multiple new tent techs coming onto the market right now. For instance, what if someone were to either use the rear hitch or install a front hitch with spreader arms, and hang a Haven tent off that hitch instead of a hammock? Would that be viable for the OP’s usage scenarios? Bear proof, hell no. But if the goal is simply to create an extra sleeping space on the rig, it might be just as viable at much less expense.

[Rocinante]

How about just cutting out the roof and adding a pop-top? Way more expensive, but at least one can't roll out of it because the only way out is down a ladder and into the van.

[BigJipper]

Thank you for your thoughts InterBlog. The rooftop tent was conceived as the snoring penthouse, but it seems expensive, difficult to achieve and potentially life threatening. I plan to add a box and bike rack to the rear, so a front hitch with a tent on it might be a good solution (a ground tent which I already have is probably the right solution).

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by BigJipper

Thank you for your thoughts InterBlog. The rooftop tent was conceived as the snoring penthouse, but it seems expensive, difficult to achieve and potentially life threatening. I plan to add a box and bike rack to the rear, so a front hitch with a tent on it might be a good solution (a ground tent which I already have is probably the right solution).

There’s another option that comes to my mind - a Clam Venture with side panels is about $300. You could put a folding cot in there to serve as a bed, but the real value of a Clam over a tent is its ability to serve as a protected expansion space, and in particular a cooking tent. Furthermore, it can be used either off-grid or potentially in conventional campgrounds. Prior to getting a utility trailer, we carried ours on our Interstate’s roof. It’s probably THE biggest piece of equipment that I regret not buying years earlier, but I didn’t know about it.

At our off-grid property in Canada, all we have is a cheap wooden picnic table. The rest we pack in. But we also have a portable roll-up table and camping chairs that we can use in other locations that have no assets at all.

The quarantine pic is incidental to this discussion, just to show another view of the Clam: