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amschind
Well-known member
That makes way more sense. I'm actually in the process of doing the exact same thing. I went back and forth a LOT on the airstream vs a tiny house, and came up with the airstream retaining more value after I build a real house as a.....well as a travel trailer.Its at the property and never moves. Once he dropped it, its going to stay there until I can build a house.
JJSnell
Well-known member
Yeah they are remarkable in that sense. Like a Toyota really... My Mom has an '06 4Runner and gets pulled over almost weekly and asked to sell it. My Moms like, Oh you dont want this, it has 178,000 miles on it... and they are like, "Name your price...."
As for the Airstreams, Im personally not a fan, but there are millions who are.
amschind
Well-known member
Airstreams are extremely overrated in my opinion, but the quasi-cult mindset surrounding them, coupled with an air of superiority, tends to squash deserved criticism. The insulation is subpar and hard to improve, but the bigger issues are headroom and "rear end separation". The last is the biggest issue, as the frame is well built steel beneath well build aluminum, but the layer holding the two halves together is plywood. WHEN (not if) that plywood rots, the trailer begins to separate along a horizontal plane. Step 1 in fixing that issue is "gut the entire interior".
All of that being said, they CAN be great trailers, and are nearly infinitely repairable. The first step is to replace the "subfloor" with composite sandwich (which AS themselves finally started doing a few years ago). My plan is to build essentially a boxy mini trailer within the shell out of FRP panels and angle aluminum, and then have the space between filled with closed cell foam. That's highly controversial among the revered Airstreamers as another company tried it with 1960s era foam and the stuff turned to dust, which heavily colored some folks' opinion of foam FOREVER. My aim is to improve the insulation beyond the 1" allowed by the ribs and to avoid working really hard to recreate the 1960s space capsule interior. Finally, I'm doing a full electric conversion with a 10 kW split phase AC inverter, a 15 kWh battery and 1.2 kW of solar on the roof with a 24k BTU minisplit mounted on the tongue.
Bottom line, I would argue that an AS is a great starting point, but I think that I'll wind up with a trailer that I wouldn't trade for a new one. I'm not saving any cost vs a new AS, but I think that I'm getting more for my money.
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HammaMan
Well-known member
Man that's overkill! 2ton mini split post insulation upgrade w/ 10kW worth of inverter? I'd be surprised if it ever touched 5kW w/ water heater, AC, and some kitchen appliance running! That mini split will be humming along right around 1kW at most once temp is reached, likely less. 15k btu is probably a better fit given the insulation. It's just dead weight.
amschind
Well-known member
1
12 kW is the calculated necessary capacity, but I would much rather have spare capacity when it is sitting out in the sun in 105F in the shade. The size and weight penalty for the 24k over the 18k are pretty small; I chose to save weight elsewhere and avoid the issue of an AC that cannot keep up. As for the inverter capacity, the biggest draws are the induction burner, water heater and minisplit (which is lowest on that list). I hope to get a heat pump water heater some day, but right now the only option is a Bosch resistor heater as the heat pumps are all residential sized. Maybe the coolest part will be a Kimberly wood stove: I don't want to be without heat, since that can in theory prevent the battery from charging and thus keep me from bootstrapping the whole "warm everything up" chain. As a result, I'll have that little woodstove such that I can get the interior back up to temperature with a presto log or two if all else fails.
It is absolutely overkill, and that's a lot of the point. I have found more than once that the calculated minimum winds up being insufficient in practice, such that a decent factor of safety winds up saving lots of resources in the end.
12 kW is the calculated necessary capacity, but I would much rather have spare capacity when it is sitting out in the sun in 105F in the shade. The size and weight penalty for the 24k over the 18k are pretty small; I chose to save weight elsewhere and avoid the issue of an AC that cannot keep up. As for the inverter capacity, the biggest draws are the induction burner, water heater and minisplit (which is lowest on that list). I hope to get a heat pump water heater some day, but right now the only option is a Bosch resistor heater as the heat pumps are all residential sized. Maybe the coolest part will be a Kimberly wood stove: I don't want to be without heat, since that can in theory prevent the battery from charging and thus keep me from bootstrapping the whole "warm everything up" chain. As a result, I'll have that little woodstove such that I can get the interior back up to temperature with a presto log or two if all else fails.
HammaMan
Well-known member
Well do factor in towing protection for that unit. Tongue is a great spot for it as well as all kinds of shit kicked up from the road. The companies tasked with moving TTs to dealers are required to, regardless of trailer and truck size, run WDH and a full length under-truck flap. 30' trailer 8klb pulled by a F350? WDH required.
Not sure if something like a 1000d nylon cover would handle the protection. Perhaps if you add a 1/8" plastic of sorts as a rock guard. You don't want the wind continually spinning the fan either. Just something to keep in mind.
Not sure if something like a 1000d nylon cover would handle the protection. Perhaps if you add a 1/8" plastic of sorts as a rock guard. You don't want the wind continually spinning the fan either. Just something to keep in mind.
JJSnell
Well-known member
I'm glad you said it and not me. I don't ever want to talk down about anybodys, car, truck, trailer, hobby etc... but yes some are very cultish about them. And J think that alone pushes me away from them. I've never even been in one so I literally have nothing positive OR negative to say... but it's like my friends who have "Traeger" BBQs... sometimes I think they just want to say Traeger to say it, it's now become a verb, "Dude you wanna come over Saturday? We're gonna Traeger up some steaks". I can almost hear the same British accent with nose pointed in the air as the "Pardon me... but would you happen to have any Grey Poupon?", guy.
Part of that just chases me away...
StoneGray22
Well-known member
What front bumper is that?THAT THING IS A HOTEL ON WHEELS.
My build is in a SLIGHTLY different weight class... 2400# empty at present, but I hope to have the loaded weight under 5000.
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amschind
Well-known member
I think there are two things at work here, and they aren't necessarily the same (though they often travel together).I'm glad you said it and not me. I don't ever want to talk down about anybodys, car, truck, trailer, hobby etc... but yes some are very cultish about them. And J think that alone pushes me away from them. I've never even been in one so I literally have nothing positive OR negative to say... but it's like my friends who have "Traeger" BBQs... sometimes I think they just want to say Traeger to say it, it's now become a verb, "Dude you wanna come over Saturday? We're gonna Traeger up some steaks". I can almost hear the same British accent with nose pointed in the air as the "Pardon me... but would you happen to have any Grey Poupon?", guy.
Part of that just chases me away...
1) "I'm superior because I bought PRODUCT X." I think a moment of reflection on this reveals it as insecurity and/or the need to belong to a group (of people who like PRODUCT X too much), and while it can be a bit galling, that realization makes it easier to respond with "Sure man, that's pretty cool. Why don't you show it to me?"
2) "I spent a lot of money/time/effort/resource X on PRODUCT X and therefore it MUST be perfect because of my effort to obtain it and my need for it to fulfill a role." I think that this one can be multifaceted in and of itself, but broadly is easier to see through and empathize with.
It took me a long time to realize that people are often a LOT less self-assured than they let on.
amschind
Well-known member
It's a Fab Fours black Steel Elite. I had to pay a guy more than the cost of the bumper to put it on and still wound up spending a weekend with an angle grinder to get the electronics and intercooler duct right. I'm glad that I have it because I drive out in West Texas where whitetail deer can and will enter your truck via the windshield, but the install was not simple and I had to totally redo the lower fascia design. Their customer service is very good, but I'd ask some pointed questions about the install before I bought it again. Rear bumper install was a breeze, BUT gets in the way of a LOT of hitches that extend up at all.
amschind
Well-known member
The folks who have done them before mostly used brushed aluminum covers (matching the Airstream aesthetic) that they remove when it is in use. My plan is something similar but I have the advantage of gator guards on all four tires. The trick is that the radiator has to face front and rear, so the part that you most want to protect also cannot be obstructed if you want to run the AC while you're driving so that it's cool when you arrive. It's an open question.
As for the WDH, I have my equalizer mounts in place still for fitting. I'm either gonna move the mounts back slightly or go with this, which uses space mostly near the hitch:
B&W
amschind
Well-known member
For whatever it's worth, I have Tremor CV shafts and a Raptor torsen diff in an otherwise stock '21 XLT front end. I don't know if it's perfect, but it doesn't make funny noises and it hasn't exploded yet.
HammaMan
Well-known member
Did you install a TOD transfer case or still have the XLT locking unit in?
The fans on the minis typically blow air out, if you're placing it forward consider getting a couple yards of 1000d nylon fabric and create your own cover. That's some really heavy duty fabric and comes in different colors. The brushed aluminum might look good, but it's not very practical especially if you're moving around and have store it vs rolling up a custom cover. Though you could possibly fab up a 3 sided with top that has little opening doors to let the fan breathe.
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