Broken Rear Axle? Is it easily fixable?

[flygirl617]

Hi!

I live in Boston and am interested in turning a vintage Airstream into a boutique on wheels. I found a 1972 Airstream land yaught for a good price close by BUT it has a broken rear axle! What will it take to fix that? IS it something worth doing? Super expensive?

[r carl]

Go here.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f437...le-100096.html

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by flygirl617

Hi!

I live in Boston and am interested in turning a vintage Airstream into a boutique on wheels. I found a 1972 Airstream land yaught for a good price close by BUT it has a broken rear axle! What will it take to fix that? IS it something worth doing? Super expensive?

Axles are replaceable, but you cannot use a new one with one that is 40 years old.

For that matter, more than likely the rubber rods in the good axle (?) are bad.

Andy

[perryg114]

What does broken mean? These axels wear out and sag but don't usually break. Break to me would mean a control arm came off. Is it single or dual axel?

Perry

[Lothlorian]

It looks like you will have to replace it. You can do it yourself, but if you do not want to do it yourself I would take it to a trailer shop where they sell landscape, horse and enclosed trailers. Usually they are mom and pop places and their prices will be much cheaper then an RV Dealership. If they don't have that brand of Axle for you they will order it. I am sure they would appreciate your business.

I did my axels myself on my 1973. I put Dexter axels on mine, but you can get other brands. Andy who posted above is an expert and I am sure he could help you.

You will need to replace both because the age of the axel is already a red flag. When It is all said and done you probably will pay around $700 up to $1000 dollars.

Brian

[M2HB]

It definitely pays to get new axles at that age. Besides, by the time you rework the brakes, bearings, etc, it will be easier and cheaper in the long run to just change out the axles. It will probably be the last time you will ever have to do it.

[flygirl617]

Thanks for your feedback. So after going to take a look at the actual Airstream it is not the axle that is broken it is the frame and it is broken past the axle. What does that mean?

[flygirl617]

This is a pic of it. What can I do?

[flygirl617]

Hi!

I live in Boston and am interested in turning a vintage Airstream into a boutique on wheels. I found a 1972 Airstream land yaught for a good price close by BUT it has a broken frame! I believe it is broken from behind and it goes beyond the axle. I have NO IDEA what that means! What will it take to fix that? IS it something worth doing? Super expensive? There is a pic also!

[Aage]

If it was free I would still suggest that you find one that is in better shape.

There is much, much, MUCH work to put into a repair like that, and unless you, your dad, or another close family member that is expert in mechanical work and has many months of free time to work on it, it would not be practical.

Even when you find another one that is on relatively good shape, you will want to redecorate it for your store, right? Concentrate on finding THAT trailer; you will be much happier, and still busy getting it in shape!

[perryg114]

Unless you are going to make it stationary, I would stay away from that one. Looks like there are some issues. Your picture only shows the rear end of the trailer. The axel is not even in the image. Based on the photo you could have frame problems or some other suspension issues.

Perry

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by flygirl617

This is a pic of it. What can I do?

As they say in "flying", abort the approach and find another airport with a smoother runway.

This trailer is worth "scrap metal" at best.

Anything can be fixed, but the time and money to fix this one, and the expertise required, is far and excess of what a newbie should ever get involved with.

Andy