Just different IMHO
But Avion owners are NOT welcomed to any AirStream club
My current trailer is all aluminum Legend Made In Alma MI
https://completetrailers.com/2021-le...-80640/6832110
I prefer an open interior so I can change usage, by loading in different setups
2o17 Work in progress
I camped in it the day I picked it up
Originally Posted by Serge S
Tin Can
George on Velvia 50
Have you knocked your front end out of alignment yet? If not, it's probably adequate.
Firebreaks, once they start to washboard, really do a number on front ends before long.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
I saw someone using something similar. Do you have any windows in your set up?
The price is right, esp if you are handy and can build it out the way you want.
Old airstreams are expensive if in good shape.
Plus they tend to leak from what I have been told.
I have yet to have any alignment problems, but then I tend to drive very slow when the going gets rough. Some of the TV ads that have their SUVs blowing down dirt roads give a false impression of off roading. I had a friend with an expensive SUV who also blew down rough roads. He was always having alignment and front end problems. Lot of dirt roads here in New England have deep ruts. Was told that if the width of the 2 ruts differs from the width of your vehicle's tires, front end problems are most surely to be in one's future.
I had it made to my spec. 2 RV windows one each side. RV Screen door and the lock was strong enough to stop some serious pry bar action. It still locks and seals so I did not claim it or fix it. I did make a full police report with pictures. The Chief wanted to take fingerprints, but I had already ruined that...
Full ceiling with LED tube lighting, 120 VAC 30 amp RV input, I added a 120 VAC outlet above a wheel well. I also installed Deep Cycle Batteries with RV type charger/converter. Put in a very low draw 12VDC/120AC Engle small fridge. 2 burner Propane cooktop.
The smallest RV Fresh air furnace, an exhaust hood, and roof top 2 way 12V fan. Changed the roof vent to metal as the OE break. A cool Canadian mounted fan, no shroud, rubber blades 12 V.
4 5000 lb floor tie downs, it can hold 2 full dress bikes, but I will no longer ride. Quit this year, but I had fun for 55 years/200 motorbikes.
The walls are 3/8 Advantex, the floors 3/4 same thing
The V-nose has all the stuff under it with a 42" high workbench
I had wanted foam spray insulation underneath, but they wouldn't do it. Now they do. I can do that, someday...
This summer I will add removable beds, insulate a bit. I use a removable rug
The back door is a strong ramp, which can also be a porch with little jacks
I have hauled big heavy things packed to the top.
Mounted speakers I had, with a tiny Bluetooth amp, I run with my phone
I carry an EU1000i Honda generator I have used for 25 years
I can live it now, but will constantly improve it.
It's a little too high for me, 80" inside, I am 70".
Next life, I will get it right...
LOL
ps I also made it full Darkroom with dark slides for the windows
Soon I decide where the 6" camera obscura hole goes, I will add a removable lens
I love summer naps in it
Tin Can
Sounds really cool.
Would be nice to see.
Thanks for posting the details.
I'm going on a cross country road trip and some shorter photo trips from my home in Charlotte, NC, and it'll have to be in my Honda Accord, if I can no find and barrow a small camper or something like an aircooled VW Van.
I do no mind tenting, I have a good three season North Face in good and complete condition, but sometimes you want to be more 'secure' than a tent, and be able to simply climb in the back and go to sleep in a Walmart Lot or similar.
We had a nice VW Passenger Van when I was a kid and took many day trips into the mountains hereabout, and other than the occasional gust of wind almost blowing us off the mountain, enjoyed it very much.
Since then I've had a Dodge Conversion Van, which was very nice, until the transmission, went out for the second time after replacing it once, and I'd consider one of these if the dollars were there, but they are no, and I feel some distrust for these more complicated machines than a Truck or Old VW.
I plan to take my Speed Graphic, Hasselblad V system and 35mm kit on this trip, and besides my tent, cook stove, gear, boots, coats, etc, I have two modern Japanese Tatami mats to elevate me off the ground just a little more and give extra thickness to the self-inflating campers air mats which I have already.
If you are camping in a truck bed or inside a van on the floor, together, these can make all the difference in getting a good nights sleep and a semi-permanent impression of a bolt head, etc from the platform.
A fitted Tatami can also be a nice 'clean surface' to roll out as a floor covering, when ready for bed, or spending the day inside because of bad weather outside.
IMO.
For ten years I roamed the western states in a VW bug and my 4x5. Rarely stayed at a campground (except free FS and BLM ones), sleeping bag on the ground (actually an insulite pad.) I had an old Kelty tent at the time if it rained. A bit younger at the time (20s), I must admit.
The EuroVan weekender is much nicer, I must admit. I still backpack, but finally got one of those fancy Thermorests pads now.
I was camping a couple thousand feet higher than the Death Valley floor (free campground) in the van, turned 90 degree to the wind, slider door opened with a view down into the Valley and an icebox full of beer. 50+ mph winds with higher gusts rocking the van as I looked down at Stovepipe Wells and the wind raising dust a few thousand feet into the air above the Valley. I was not about to leave to go anywhere -- no sense in getting the van sand-blasted and flying my 11x14 like a box kite. Pretty sweet day actually for me, others in the camp were getting their tents shredded.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
I was way back at the hot springs in Saline Valley before it became a remote hippie hangout. Had venisons steaks cooking atop a Coleman stove by moonlight while I was in the hot spring; but a coyote walked right up and pulled one right off the hot grill. Then I found a flat spot on nearby clay to set down my mat and sleeping bag; but around dawn I was darn near trampled to death by a braying herd of wild donkeys. After hunting for red volcanic lava bombs atop what later became known as "hippie hill", we headed back out and broke an oil pan on those horrible washboard roads, a long, long ways from anywhere. Managed to plug the hole with sticks and toilet paper and sap. ... long story, plenty more misadventure. Ran into a Navy Seal paratrooper training doing practice search and rescue back there, but they never did find one of their own guys! That didn't bode well. But when we finally did make it back to a paved road, we learned the only two tow trucks in the entire vast county were themselves broken down somewhere. Permanently patched the hole with some epoxy putty obtained in Bishop. Kids do dumb things, and I was certainly once included in that category. Now I've graduated into the "adults do dumb things" category instead.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks