These are some of the vendors we like, resources we’ve used and items we purchased while doing our restoration of Tess. We are not affiliates of the vendors but we’ve had good luck with them. We are Amazon affiliates, so anything you buy from the links below helps support this site, but we aren’t sponsored and we’ll only recommend things we’ve used and liked… or if we didn’t them we’ll let you know as well.
Vendors & Resources
Vintage Trailer Supply – so many hard to find items here. Like window cranks, seals, handles… great stuff at good prices.
Vintage Airstream Resource Page- not a vendor, but a lot of good how to articles
Airforums – again not a vendor but a wealth of good people and info. Plus daily tow vehicle discussions!
Campsitephotos.com– a cool website where you can see pictures of campsites before you book them
Harvest Hosts- we love this app, even though it costs $75 per year we save at least that much. We camp in cool out of the way spots like wineries, museums, breweries and farms. You can only stay for one night (usually) and no services provided so you have to plan on boondocking; although occasionally you can get water and electricity. You are also encouraged to support the business with a purchase, but it is not required. To see some of the cool places we’ve stayed check out our Airstream Adventures page.
Stuff We Use and Like
Shocker Hitch– I just tow on the ball, since Tess is less than 4000 lbs and our tow vehicle is a diesel Ford Excursion I’ve never been too concerned about weight distribution. But the Shocker hitch puts an airbag between the tow vehicle and trailer and I have to say, I really love it- bumps on the road don’t get transferred from one vehicle to the other and it just makes for a much smoother ride and it’s easier on the camper- less banging from the truck. They have different versions including a weight distribution one. Highly recommend this.
Cyclo Dual Head Polisher– there used to be some knock offs available on Amazon, and that’s what we bought, but not any more. Our knockoff has worked really well, and we’re sure the actual Cyclo would be even better. We prefer the dual head because of its ability to diminish swirl marks, but you can probably do as well with an inexpensive single head polisher with some effort. Be sure to buy extra foam pads and don’t be afraid to change them regularly.
Mothers Aluminum Polish– we tried ALL the other polishes out there, and Mothers just worked the best for us. And it was the least expensive.
Separett Villa Composting Toilet– less bulky, a bit easier than other brands