To any loyal readers who might have jumped aboard our Airstream adventure, we are sure to have lost you. We offer our apologies for yanking you aboard our little caravan, and then shutting the door and blacking out the windows. We know we have left you behind like so many bloggers do – but we’ve come back to lift you over our shoulders and ‘Stream you to the Promised Land. We hope you will give the Airstream Campers a second chance.
To the Promised Land
Life has been busy. Brandon is in a new role at work, and working through an MBA (only 2 semesters to go!). After six years in real estate Carrie went big time and earned her brokers license – she’s now moving onto an exciting new real estate venture with Goldwasser Real Estate.
But enough about us, the question is: have we neglected the Airstream as much as our sad blog? NO! In our hours off we have been gutting, cleaning, scrubbing, grinding, polishing, and painting away! We have decided on a maiden voyage date of April 16th, 2011!
This date marks the Brandon’s 5th anniversary riding in the MS150 ride from Houston to Austin. One of Brandon’s coworkers has generously offered his home in La Grange as a pit stop (sure beats the mania in Tent City), and has invited our Airstream to join the Night 1 festivities!
There is a LOT of work yet to be done – from completing the beautiful exterior:
• polishing, polishing, polishing
• running lights
• propane tanks
• wheels and tires
• under carriage
• black water tank
• compartment doors and locks
to a massive interior undertaking:
• painting
• all new utilities lines (plumbing, propane, electrical)
• appliance installation (breaker box, converter, batteries, water pump, storage tank, furnace, water heater, water filtration, Air Conditioner, refrigerator)
• flooring (decided on a beautiful floating cork floor from WECork.com)
• kitchen galley (sink, stove, countertop, backsplash)
• overhead cabinets
• bathroom hardware (sink/shower)
• bathroom closets
• couch/bed
• dinette/bed
• light fixtures
• media center (record/CD/iPod player, speakers)
• decorating (cushions, curtains, creative touches)
Watched a great Airstream restoration series on YouTube from a DIY network show Classic Cars. Very helpful information, and a nice reminder of exactly how much we don’t know and how many hours of work still remain.
We also need to prep the Toyota Tacoma with a nice new hitch and electrical hookups. Of course neither one of us have actually spent quality time behind the wheel with an Aluminum lady in tow, so there will be many of orange cone practicing in our future.
It’s fair to say she won’t be PERFECT by the 16th, but she WILL BE movable at the very least, and look beautiful while cruising. After typing out the list above (and we’re sure there are some things missing), we see an Aero Bed as a very real possibility for the maiden voyage.
To get things going again, let’s move quickly through the hitchin’ and wirin’.
I had called a few local places that had reasonably good Yelp reviews spots (Spiller Hitches, Texas Hitch and Truck Center), and received quotes for a hitch + electrical hookup ranging from $400-$530. Yikes. While I’m sure these guys do a great job, $530 + tax wasn’t just a drop in the bucket.
After talking with our friend Sarah (aka “The Hidden Ace”), she convinced Brandon that it was a little bolt here, a little bolt there, and voila – a hitch and a hookup. I jumped online and found an EXCELLENT website: hitchdepotusa.com
This website happens to be perfect for the clueless and determined DIY’er (aka Brandon). Select type, year, make model, and BAM – incredible deal. $142 with summer2010 promotion code, and free shipping on a VERY heavy shipment.
HitchDepotUSA also archives a plethora of PDFs. We utilized a Toyota Tacoma/X Runner hitch installation PDF, Tacoma wiring location guide, trailer sizes for determining which class hitch, and a handy adapter/plug & socket wiring guide. All of these resources were easy to find and download.
The hitch came in a matter of days. Cousin Chris came over to lend a helping hand (or in his case, a helping bear paw). I had driven the truck up onto the ramps I borrowed. They were the perfect tool for working under the truck. Instructions from hitchdepotusa.com were very easy to follow, and the Curt hitch class 3 install was finished in about an hour.
The electric wiring went even faster. Super easy to remove tail lights and install. Its still hard to believe that I was quoted 530+tax and got it done for just $189! Huge thanks to HitchDepotUSA for the instructions, low prices, and super fast and free 2 day delivery! I wouldn’t think someone could get free shipping that quickly for something so heavy.
The Hidden Ace was right: installing a hitch and electrical harness is simple. We had it done in an hour, and learned something new along the way. DIYers rejoice.
Tacoma, meet Airstream. Airstream, Tacoma. Next up: The Polish Begins.
The Airstream Polish Project Begins
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