Several others have HiLos of your vintage and have done awesome jobs with restorations. I spend time on the Airstream forum and know all the pitfalls. It costs about$10,000 for restoration parts and can take four years to do the restoration. I think at this time in my life I would loose my mind trying to do this!! We have a very narow space in our driveway. No garage. I took our 25ft. Classic down in my MOM's yard when we did our repairs/restoration.

yes I have seen the others and mine don't even come anywhere near as nice as theirs are. I wish my health was better . I have to kinda hurry and do things now. i'm not a carpenter ,as I said b4 but I have seen some killer restorations on here. wish mine will look that good but I doubt it. I prolly just have more goodies lol altho 1 thing it will all still be mostly original everything.

I know what you mean I couldn't do that at all.

dam I couldn't afford the airstream to buy it let alone redo it, lol

does anyone have any if's and's or butt's about going with only a propane generator instaed of a gas one? I am worried I made the wrong choice? did I?

Thank you all!

I don't see any problem with a propane generator. Lock it down real good when in a campground or boondocking.

yeah they do gather/attract the thieves. lol all generators, or anything not bolted down does too. thank sam how did the you know what go? send me a pm. I have so much to get done and finish. feeling overwhelmed sitting in this chair rolling around to get knee to heal. it don't really have to be done I could camp now, but I want it to the point where I don't have to do any work. wait a minute? no I don't! LOL the work will always be here, I won't! I will be doing work on it while I am camping lol . just so many neat things I have thought of I can do to it. it will be 1 of a kind lol. I think it may be now?

some b4 and after pics i'm trying! LOL still wondering about my paint job if I should leave it or not. it is easy to touch up lol. I think it looks better now that it did when I got it? no? I got the front fresh water 35 or more gallon, tank, an aqua magic Thetforde iv flushable toilet to hook to my 12vdc or 120ac pump, a 35 gallon gray tank. all for $40 bucks. one of the tanks is a lot bigger it says on the tank itself. I forget tho. all I need for the front tank is a transom plug 1 1/4". I forgot on front tank, and should have made it fill from bottom up to top tho. I guess, I do have quick disconnects for both are same size as garden hose and I can still do it anytime I think. back wall is done except for the top and I am making my own camo burlap drapes and seat cushions. startin to think it kinda looks hillbilly! oh well. like I said I aint the best when it comes to remodeling or woodworking. just doing the best I can with what I can get.

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I lucked out again today. the guy beside me at storage outside is taking his camper to fla. Friday. I am switching out my tires on mine right now I have a 235/75r/15 on 1 side and a 14" 205 75r on the other. as I had said earlier the 235's way to big. I had gotten 4 14" rims and 3 dry rotted tires for free from a tandem a guy gave me. I had the 2 14" tires un mounted already, and I have 1 on the camper and a dry rotted 1 as a spare for now. he is having his like new 14's taken off tomorrow, am and gave them to me to pick up after the guy takes them off. they are from '03 but look like new. 9i know they are old, but I won't be going real far anyways, anytime I do go camp it will prolly just be a 1 tanker trip. I can't afford anything else and don't really trust the truck all that much to go far. rear springs are bad on truck.
they have no dry rot, nothing, and like new tread. not many miles on them for sure either.
he just wants new tires b4 he goes to fla. so now I just got another set of free tires. exact ones I needed to finsh tire project. got 4 like new ones for truck already for 30 bucks Goodrich radial ta's. so saved me dismounting fee's and disposal fee's. so all to do now is take the 15 off the road side and put the 14 on and then have all 3 good 14's on wheels. for just the mounting fee's. except for the generator. I am still way under $300.00 in the whole camper.

I would recommend you have the tires balanced. Some of our snow is melted. I still see a huge pile on my front lawn. We need to go where the HiLo is parked and see if we can get it out for Thursday apt. for inspection.

yeah sam, I picked up the free tires 205/75/r14's they are getting done as we speak. they are mismatched tires but same 6 ply ply ratings, and same tread on them. 20 bucks to mount and balance. and new valve stems. I am good to go now lady! anywhere I want to go. maybe I come see you and DH! LOL lol

I got the tires, sam it was 25 bucks for new stems ,mounting on rims, and balancing. I have to get them on the camper now lol. they were mismatched tires, by brand names but same 6 ply. trailer tires. both like new tread tho.

I got 1 235 /75r/15 to take off yet. ,it will fit bro in laws hay wagon like the other 1 gave him. those tires were just way to big for that camper.

here is how far it needs to be jacked up using 2 jacks. just to put 205/75r/14" tires on it. that's with letting all the air out of the tires. good news is I now have 2 good tires on it and a good spare too.

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You don't have any wheel well openings. I can see how that makes changing tires difficult.

- Jack

also on each side now is underneath 6-8 inches on either side of the fender well. when let down with the 14 on it the leaf spring u bolts only clear the road by about 4 inches. there is about 6 inches in between the outter side of well to the drum. you have to kick the tire up and in to clear the drum, hope it don't fall off the 2 safety jacks then then get it on the drum and lift it 6-8 inches up.. be a bad situation on the road with no floor jack. would take me all day. it took me 4 hours, but I am still very weak in my limbs from the radiation and the surgeries too. still tho. I have never seen anything like it. lol now to figure out how to get air back in them w/o a compressor or tank lol cant go any smaller on tires I could go thinner but no way i'm doing that. going over today to do some more. 46 today and 60's rest of week

how's things with you and yours? good I hope. thanks for the reply, nice talking to you. thank you mike

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Just a thought - I think I'd change the tires with the top lowered. Having the top up raises the center of gravity and makes the trailer more susceptible to tipping over. Also, I suspect having that much tilt in the trailer doesn't do any favors to the guide blocks or the cables and pulleys. Looking at your last picture from the rear, the top is badly tilted compared to the bottom half. That tells me something is under stress on one side.

- Jack

That makes a lot of sense. I never thought of that. it was just already up and and I guess I gave it no thought at all. looking from the rear I had already needed to straighten it up a few inches, from all the new cables I installed. I never really evened them up all that well after, looking the right side when I did the bottom baseboard inside it was already higher than the left. I was going to adjust that when it warmed up. it was getting cold out bout that time. right side is the one that was bad when I found it that I rebuilt on the inside with all new studs and paneling , baseboard, header etc. that's all new. you are right it does need jacked down when changing tires. lol I have those 2 cables prolly shorter than the other side I need to find out by how much now. thanks for the input! it's much appreciated. something e4lse I forgot tho too there is a lot more weight on that side fro tools and such inside also that cupboard. learning curves lol I actually had to jack up the whole box not just the axle and frame on that side. thanks Jack!

Like I said I know it looks hillbilly right now, and I am getting disappointed with all the work I have in it. but hopefully that will all change if I get my health back, and when. I never really hillbilly or jury rig anything in my life. I am disappointed with the looks of it now. it seems it will always look this way, which isn't true. that's not me. its me rushing stuff. I a getting discouraged now.

Please don't be discouraged and don't take my comments as criticism. I think you have worked miracles with your trailer. Press on!!!

- Jack