Airstream axles

Finally new airstream axles. We have been riding on the old axles for way too long. We picked up the new axles from Auto Saftey house on friday. The axles are Dexter axles and we went with 22.5  degrees (which added 3 inches!)  . They came out to $446 each thanks to a friends discount. Orginally they would have been $550 but thats still much less then what the airstream websites would have charged. Inland RV was about 745 each plus shipping.  We had to drill new holes but it really wasnt that hard to do. I used a stepper bit from harbor fright that went right through the frame. We saved around $700 drilling our own holes.

 

UPDATE AS OF 08/27/2014:

(I have had a little over a year on the new axles and I am happy with the quality however, I would highly recommend going more than 22.5 degrees. If I could do it over I would do 26 to 32 degrees.)

before



after

Just looking at it you can tell its time to replace. It’s done its job for 40 years which is pretty amazing. I wonder if the new ones will last that long?   

I did research online and found that torsion axles really don’t need shocks. We are not installing shocks on the new axles. If for any reason in the future it becomes a problem I cut off the brackets from the old axles incase I want to weld them on.

Chris removing the first axle

Here you can see the new bolts. I used Grade 8 bolts that I bought from Napa auto parts. The bolts are not in the original holes on the airstream frame. We just picked a new spot and drilled away from the old holes and made sure we drilled as high as we could from the bottom of the frame using a stepper bit. Drill the new holes with the axles inplace. Drill through both axles and frame and just slide the bolt in.

Chris, Jason, Allen

Dad, helping out.

Thanks Jason for the help!

20"

23"



After everything was done we gained 3 inches!

If you are planning on doing axles yourself, I will be posting all the measurements, where I got the axles, tools I used and where I dilled the holes. Email me if I forget. It took about 3 hours.

You will need:  5/8 grade 8 bolts. I got 8 of them at napa auto parts. nuts bolts and washers came out to $35.

Suggestion: You could go with ½ inch bolts. They are MUCH easier to find and you can buy a half inch drill bit almost anywhere. If you do go with 5/8, Sears has 5/8 drill bits. If you use a stepper bit you will have to drill at a slight angle.

*Please feel free to email me if you would like more information    

Airstream Door light (switching to LED)

I replaced the original overhead door light with LED's yesterday. I cut a strip into four pieces with 6 LED lights each.  I cut out an aluminum plate that fit the inside of the light housing and bent the bottom so that it would attach in the same location in the rear of the housing. Everything worked out perfect. I also used a glue gun to seal all the connections on the led strip to help with any corrosion that may happen. Even with all 24 LED lights on it only comes out to 3 watts

In the next few months everything will be switched to LED's. We have LED running light's that i need to install as well

It will be nice to leave this light on and not worry about it draining the battery power. 

This is with the plastic light cover on. looks great

Starting to shine!

           This was the first time out with the window tint on and it looks amazing! we had so many compliments it really made us feel good about the work we've put into our Airstream so far.

 

First I used aircraft stripper to remove the clear coat. I picked some up at auto zone and purchased some brushes to apply. Use heavy duty rubber gloves to protect yourself when you brush it on. After it bubbles up spray it off (I used a pressure washer). Once the clear coat is removed it’s ready for buffing. I used a 7” buffing pad on a rotary polisher with Nuvite F7 polishing compound. I tried multiple compounds and stand by Nuvite 100%. Nuvite is a little $$ but a little goes a long way and personally I believe it to be at least 3x as affective then other brands on the market. Next you’ll need a Cyclo orbital polisher. It’s the only way to remove the swirl marks left by the 7” buffing pad. I purchased mine used on craiglist.

To clean the black residue left behind by the polishing compound add 2  ounce (+or-) of vinegar in a spray bottle mixed with water. Spray the area and use a microfiber towel. For tough spots use terry cloth but be careful because terry cloth will leave scratches. The best way I found to remove residue is to cover the Cyclo buffer with the microfiber cloth. It works really well and is quicker than doing it by hand. Here is a list of what I used:

Buffing pad: Presta Double or single sided BLACK wool cutting pad
http://www.amazon.com/PRESTA-Single-Sided-Cutting-Buffing/dp/B0082LFSPG

Buffing pad attachment: Quick connect adapter
http://www.autodetailingwarehouse.com/dewalt-polisher-makita-polisher-drive-adapter-DP1900.html

7in Sander/Polisher
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-7-in-Sander-Polisher-9227C/100594840

Cyclo buffer:
http://www.eastwood.com/cyclo-model-5-dual-headed-polisher.html?srccode=ga220010&gclid=CMWBrfz24L0CFS1eOgodX3oAyw

Nuvite polish: F7 cut and finish with S
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/cs/cleaners_znuvite/nuvitenushine.php

Terry cloth and Microfiber cloth

Kitchen ready for veneer

pull out trash can

when the trash can is pulled out, it provides access to the water pump and levers

ready for veneer!!

Restoring Airstream Windows.

Before

After

Nikki working hard polishing all the small items.

Before shot

The window latches were polished using a fine wire wheel. Then we poured oil into the spring mechanisms to free them up. They worked very smooth after that. Left-before, Right-after

After the windows were polished and the new gaskets were put on, I tinted the windows using 15% tint from windowtint.com. We ordered one roll of 24”x 50 feet. It was less then a 100 bucks. I found some very helpful techniques that will save you time and tint- email me if you want me to send you that advice.

 

I love the new look with the tinted windows! Blocks out 99% of UV’s and also reduces heat by 65%  

We used the D Seal gasket 381665 from Out-of-doors Mart. All the windows and doors will have this type of gasket

I tried multiple products on the windows and found that the Dico buffing wheel (Important: Use only the one with the single stitch) was the way to go! It was very effective. I just bought the connector to use with my drill and applied NuVite when needed.    

Before I polished the widows, a lot of oxidation and dirt had to be removed. I used a bottle of water with 20% vinegar and a 3m fine scotch pad. It removed so much of the oxidation with very little scratching. This dramatically speeds up the polishing time.