[A/S] Airstream Offroad - It's Roots?

[Jim Redelfs <jim.redelfs@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Can a late model Airstream be properly raised for GENTLY modest offroad use?

Now, the rest of the story...

I have read Hunter's words in <news:alt.rv> for a LONG time.  Thanks for the
invitation to the Airstream List.  I know that I should LURK but I thought
I'd jump right in.  Please point me to the Airstream Offroad FAQ, if such a
thing exists!  I was told to introduce myself.  Just remember:  You asked!

Come April 2 I will observe 32 years with the local telco, Northwestern Bell
Telephone Company in its heyday.  Even though I can paper my walls with
Qwest stock cheaper than good wallpaper, I am still proud of being one of
the LAST of a dying breed:  An honest craftsman.  (I install and fix phone
jacks, inside wiring and MOST of the stuff outdoors.)  I'm 51 (ok-and 1/2)
and not looking to retire just yet.

Leslie, my wife of 31+ years, and I have been campers since the days of the
Sears Hillary tent with three LITTLE girls.  We tent camped with a porta
crib and two high chairs at the zenith of our adventures with little ones.

The daughters are all married now (All withing 27 days, 2002).  Now we are
planning an unprecedentedly EARLY outing `180-miles east to Des Moines to
(hopefully) witness the arrival of our third grandchild.  Lisa, our youngest
daughter and mother of our first grandchild, is about to deliver her second
- a girl this time.   :)

I am intrigued by the monocoque aspect of the Airstream trailer and its
durability if towed "properly" over rough terrain.

I know the Airstream went to war in WWII.  That wasn't exactly "good
interior gravel roads" as the latest campground guide likes to put it.

Can a late model Airstream be properly raised for GENTLY modest offroad use?

I am even more anxious now, what with a Honda portable genset, to go back to
the desolated dead end of a forest service road for an overnight or two
under the stars in complete silence and solitude.

After we got the three weddings out of the way, Leslie and I took a week off
and went to Rocky Mountain National Park.  Even though school had been in
session everywhere for a couple of weeks, the campgrounds were *FULL* when
we arrived without a reservation on a Saturday afternoon.

Well, I have always bragged that we could be comfy and warm parked ANYWYERE,
so we set out to find "Anywhere".   :)

We drove to the visitor's center, paid A LOT for an official map of the
national forest we were in.  While seated at our dinette in their parking
lot, we did a little map reading and chose what looked like an interesting
road leading - and disappearing - into the forest!

It was a GOOD, crushed rock road, but it was STEEP.  I presume, in order to
stem errosion, there are lateral "speed bumps" built diagonally across the
road spaced probably a hundred yards apart.

In order to safely traverse these bumps and NOT tear out my plumbing and
holding tanks that are aft on the trailer, I jacknifed the truck and trailer
while crossing each bump so I could keep an eye on the tanks and plumbing.
All went well.  Slow but sure.

I learned some valueable lessons during this adventure.  My tow vehicle has
an unusually long wheelbase.  This fact alone restricts where I can do,
whether I'm towing something or not.

Plain geometry insists that the SHORTER the trailer, the more rugged ground
it can successfully negotiate.

Soooo...  Will an Airstream do what I want?

Thanks!
              :)
JR

2000 Skamper Ultra 249 TT
2002 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD
Vortec 8100 - Allison 1000