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Airstreams?


Dantankerous

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Anyone here have any experience with Airstream campers?

 

Quality? Longevity? Routine maintenance? Other mechanical or other issues?

 

I personally know quite a few people who have had terrible experiences with brand new campers ie: roof, door and all windows leaking, floor problems, interior fixtures coming loose on the first trip, slide out malfunctions, etc. I do not know anyone however who has or does own an Airstream. As they are constructed quite a bit differently than most other campers my interest is piqued thinking the design might lend itself to not suffering the same maladies as I have much too often heard about today's modern bumper-pull non Airstream type campers.

 

Thanks for any helpful insight into Airstreams!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I’ve always heard that same thing about Airstream.  Just the outward design and materials seem to me that it’s obvious they have certain advantages.  And,  going to that effort reinforces the idea of quality and low maintenance.  BUT, I have no personal experience with them either.

 

Cat Brules

 

 

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I had a 1973 Airstream LandYacht for about 15 years. I drug it all over the Western US and Canada. Make sure the hubs have Bearing Buddies installed so that you can grease the wheel bearings. I was building a mountaintop communications site up in the Laguna Mountains east of San Diego and was living in the Airstream up at the site and one night the front of the trailer came crashing down. Seems the jack had rusted enough that it collapsed. Drove into El Cajon and got a new jack and used a forklift to lift the trailer up, installed the new jack, besides having some brake work done and replacing a water pump that’s the only problems I ever had with it. I sold it to my sister and brother in law in 2001 and they are still using it. It had the aluminum roll top/tambour doors and the fabric that held them together rotted away so about five years ago I built all new tambour doors out of oak and canvas and they turned out pretty good, Airstream uses a different kind of door now.

 

If I had the money I’d buy another, they are pricey but very well built.

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I worked for a dealership that sold Airstreams back in the sixties and early seventies. It was my first paying job and I learned several valuable skills.

 

While everyone else was building travel trailers on a steel chassis with a wooden superstructure, Airstream was using aluminum superstructures and stressed aluminum skins, (it’s called monocoque) that added to the strength of the trailer!  They also offered a nation wide network of participating dealers that provided maintenance and certified repairs.

 

It’s pretty much the same today. They ARE pricey!!  Price is relative! One of my racing buddies used to say, “You don’t always get what you pay for,  but you NEVER get what you don’t pay for, unless you steal it or someone gives it to you!!” 

 

Airstream is top shelf!!

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When we bought our fiver, we looked very seriously at Airstream.  The only two comments we had were take a good look at the head room.  We found a number of them had short ceilings.  Second, and most important is weight.  Because of their sturdy construction, they are VERY heavy.  Make sure you have more than enough truck to pull them.

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We have had our 28ft. Airstream for 16 years now. Only thing we have had done is new brakes last year. We bought it a year old as the owner wanted a 30ft. one. It is the BEST !!!!  I have towed it with our old Ford Excursion and now tow it with our chevy 250. You definitely get what you pay for. Buy once, cry once. Never cry again.

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Always wanted one.  But in our day, somebody had to die for one to come available.  And we don't have enough truck to pull one.

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We looked at their smallest one. Loved the style, the quality, the features. Pretty much everything about it.

 

What swayed us against it was the weight. Even the smallest model required more than our four cylinder Subaru.  

 

We we opted for a teardrop trailer instead.

 

http://tinycamper.com/teardrop550ultra.htm

 

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Many years ago we toured the Holiday Rambler plant, and came away impressed with the welded aluminum frame vs stapled wood framing.

The Airstream frame may be also unique, but I'd think they use the same fixtures everybody else uses.
Folks probably have more trouble with the fridge and plumbing, than with the frame.

 

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On 2/14/2020 at 9:18 PM, Dantankerous said:

Anyone here have any experience with Airstream campers?

 

Quality? Longevity? Routine maintenance? Other mechanical or other issues?

 

I personally know quite a few people who have had terrible experiences with brand new campers ie: roof, door and all windows leaking, floor problems, interior fixtures coming loose on the first trip, slide out malfunctions, etc. I do not know anyone however who has or does own an Airstream. As they are constructed quite a bit differently than most other campers my interest is piqued thinking the design might lend itself to not suffering the same maladies as I have much too often heard about today's modern bumper-pull non Airstream type campers.

 

Thanks for any helpful insight into Airstreams!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hamley has two. A Bambi and larger model. One for long distance another for one nighters.

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The only thing I've heard to watch out for on Airsteams is the flooring.  If you're buying a used one, make sure there aren't any soft spots on the floor.  Replacing the flooring can be a very expensive, labor intensive project.  I think Airstreams are very well built campers but priced way above what I'm willing to pay for one.  I can buy 4 pretty nice campers for the cost of a similar sized Airstream.   

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One of the RV Youtube channels I subscribe to is one called Long Long Honeymoon.  They have an Airstream and have traveled all over the US.  They have all kinds of videos but there are some just about their Airstream and maintaining it.  You can find it here.

 

Kajun

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