Charlie the Airstream

[Magnet18]

Woot!!

And hilarious, same problem and same city, seems everybody stops in effingham eventually

[ontheroadagn]

I wish we would have been home in Tulsa when you went thru-we’re only a mile off I44. Sounds like you’re making great gas mileage. With the GV overdrive, we run faster but seems like mileage is about the same. Run 68-70 mph and we’ve been 7 to 7.5 mpg the last 1300 miles.
Safe travels. Hope to meet ya’s somewhere down the road.

[Kvsterling]

I’m looking forward to meeting you and others in this forum. We have traveled from Ohio now to New Mexico and have yet to see a vintage argosy or airstream motorhome. Makes me really appreciate how unique our machines really are!

We had a great time in Palo Duro state park, spent 2 nights and lots of hiking miles. Gaining respect fir the low humidity and hydration

Traveled about 1800 miles so far, only a quart of oil added and likely related to the main seal leak I have been monitoring.

Little stop in White Sands nat pk, what a strange sand dune scenery in the middle of NM. Had a few fighter jets fly overhead doing maneuvers

Then a drive to a cooler climate, a drive to Lincoln Nat forest and grabbed a forest road spot for the night. It was a about 3500 feet climb in 12 miles. I think it’s the only time I’ve noticed the fan clutch engage! Second gear and let’er rip. Gaining confidence in this machine, although I am making a mental chassis to-do list including those rear springs/bushings! Maybe a GV as well...

[Kvsterling]

We’ve been boondocking for the last couple nights. The hot water heater won’t ignite which seems to be an issue with Atwood control boards failing. Looking at dinasaur replacement boards which have a great made in USA reputation

Also, the furnace keeps going out at night with cold temps. It’s working pretty hard, and enclosed under a cabinet. If there is a high temp safety switch, it may be activating. I’m going to leave the access panel open tonight and see if it happens again

Alternator update, I disconnected the coach batteries from the battery isolator. It was still making the alternator belt squeak with low coach battery in the morning. Now I’m relying on solar to re charge the coach batteries during the day which has worked great so far (in NM and TX). Total system capacity is 460w with flexible panels which seem to be little less efficient but totally low profile[ATTACH]393901

It’s not my ultimate charging while driving solution, really want the dc/dc charger, but I installed that before leaving last week and the unit was DOA! No time to change out or fix, so solar it is

[ATTACH]393902
Camping BLM outside Guadalupe NP. That hike to the peak was no joke, enjoying happy hour and recovery

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Kvsterling

We’ve been boondocking for the last couple nights. The hot water heater won’t ignite which seems to be an issue with Atwood control boards failing. Looking at dinasaur replacement boards which have a great made in USA reputation
...

wiggle the thermostat, its a single wire going to going to a round disk with a connection. Sometimes unplugging/plugging in the control board plug does the trick.

[Kvsterling]

I went back and checked all the hot water heater connections and fuse. Everything looks right, 12v at each connection when switched on and propane flowing, fuse tests ok, still no joy. I even manually lit the propane in the burner and the flame turns off within a couple seconds. It doesn’t seem to recognize it needs to ignite and when lit, still turns itself off

Thank god the roof AC works, it’s 92F here at a little rv park outside Big Bend NP. Had an amazing drive down TX rt 170 along the Rio Grand. It was probably the most difficult road I’ve been on with the old girl (outside that dirt road HipCamp last night). Rt170 would be a blast in a sports car or motorcycle! It included a couple 15% grade climbs, all systems seemed to handle it fine with downshifts [ATTACH]394028

Saw my first airstream MH just east of Terlingua TX, a 280 parked on the south side of the road

We are stocked up on food, water, gas, and ETOH. Looking forward to a couple days exploring Big Bend!

[Kvsterling]

Small victories, checked the forecast and about 100F here in south Texas desert. My air conditioner belt started slipping and I was afraid I over charged the R134 before the trip. Turned out to be an old slipping belt. Replaced this AM and had dash air conditioning for the trip back to camp![ATTACH]394125 here are the part numbers for the belts. Belt go les around primary drive pulley, power steering pulley, and compressor at the upper driver side of the engine.

When replacing all the heater hoses, I added a shut off valve before the heater core to completely shut off flow. May give me a few degrees colder dash air

[Kvsterling]

So glad we had the dash ac working. In OH one can get away with the windows open, but in Big Bend, TX this really seems like a safety thing (for those not acclimated)[ATTACH]394225

Was able to get the interior temp down to about 85F after an hour driving.

This is our first road trip after the major renovation/fix phase, so it is a relief to get through each day depending on a MH we have touched every system but not fully vetted

To San Antonio tomorrow for the first hotel in 12 days. It’s been a great couple weeks!

Will then be on the way to a vintage RV camp where only airstreams and select vintage campers are permitted! Stand by for the sideshow

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Kvsterling

....

To San Antonio tomorrow for the first hotel in 12 days. It’s been a great couple weeks!

Will then be on the way to a vintage RV camp where only airstreams and select vintage campers are permitted! Stand by for the sideshow

So close to the Airstream Stage coach Stop in North Austin, come on over and take advantage of all the tools and stuff before your ride back home.

[Kvsterling]

It would have been a great chance to meet a member! We found a shop to do a quick oil change but it was a real challenge to find someone to do it. I couldn’t even connect with 2 Chevy dealerships in town

Anyway, we pushed forward to an RV campground just SE of Dallas called The Range vintage trailer resort. A very cool spot that allows vintage campers, all airstreams, and has 6 completely restored RVs to rent like this one[ATTACH]394618

I’ve never heard of some of the brands, great restorations, awesome customer experience. It was an amazing way to finish our 2 week trip

No major mechanical issues, at least nothing new I didn’t leave home with. I. Fact fixed a few things on the road. Air conditioning belt replaced and worked admirably. The power steering pump whine seemed to go away with a steep decent down a gravel road. Maybe purged the last of the air with a little vibration! Also, the oil pressure gauge light bulb came back on.

It’s a special experience when she seems to heal herself

It was great sleeping in our own beds last night, what a great first trip!

[PeterH-350LE]

congratulations on your successful trip. Next time down this way, please plan a stop at our humble abode.

[Magnet18]

Sounds like a great first trip, glad it went well for you!

And yea, I used to think chevy service centers were at least one safe bet for working on these, but the one in Reno told me they don't work on anything more than 20 years old, so apparently that's not a guarantee

[Kvsterling]

The hot water heater control board was the trick. I did go with the dinosaur electronics replacement. Pretty cool solution, good to find an American electronics company, and a 3 year warranty to boot! Worked on the first flip of the switch

Getting some other small fixes done from the road, and getting those worn out shocks replaced. I’m looking at Koni FSD. Will do a review once they are done. I’m replacing Bilstines, but they are so far gone not sure it will be fair to compare new Koni to those

[Kvsterling]

Thank you all for continuing to support the rostra cruise control! Finally got it working with the DIP switch changing the wave form and installed the correct cable terminal. I had one installed that kept slipping when it would pull the throttle, and I found the one in the kit that screws onto the cable sheath...

[Kvsterling]

[ATTACH]395637
Took care of shocks replacement last weekend. Decided not to use Bilstine, and now that I see these 2 side by side glad I did. The Koni FDS is all metal construction, and you can see the bushings and sleeves are bigger and looks much stronger.

Problem I found is the rear passenger side (my spring sagging side) also had loose and rattling shock mounting bolts. Looks like the upper bolt mount was replaced (welded on) at some point and the lower bolt was worn down by vibration and pressure. The new shock fits without any play and reinstalled with lock washers to hold those nuts on tight!

Turned the front rotors and re packed the front wheel bearings. No idea when this was last done, but likely more than the 12k recommended per the manua[ATTACH]395638

[bobmiller1]

Gotta love the 6 x 6 pressure treated wood.......I have lots ! Regards, Bob

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by Kvsterling

Turned the front rotors and re packed the front wheel bearings. No idea when this was last done, but likely more than the 12k recommended per the manual

I think you've got a typo. Should be if it was last done, not when

[Kvsterling]

It’s my “Jack stand” of choice

I was relieved to see some bearing grease, but not nearly as much as I would expect and the nut was too tight. Definitely increased some drag and noise level. The bearings looked ok, so I cleaned, re-packed, and assembled by-the-book torque to 12 ft lb and loosen process

Taking a little break from the work this weekend. Upgraded the scooter as our older carbureted one had issues running with elevation >3000 ft above sea level. I’m not going to re-jet at the destination, so the option was fuel injection. Also, ABS![ATTACH]396034

[Kvsterling]

The couch upholstery didn’t get finished before our trip. Needed to make the wall pad and lower frame covers, so that’s done
[ATTACH]396135

[Kvsterling]

The next chassis project is to replace the rubber fuel lines from the tank. They look original from what I can tell, including the run to the genset without a filter:-(

How much time should I commit to dropping the tank? Other than managing the hulking tank, is there anything especially difficult or technical I should be aware of?