Factory Tour
 | Chassis Our chassis are designed for maximum strength while adhering to Airstream's traditional lightweight concept. The frame's strength comes from box channel steel with welded outriggers and cross members. The open areas in their center of the steel save weight. Q: Does water or dirt get into the open areas? A: That's a good question. Airstream is the only trailer manufacturer I know of that goes the extra mile and caps exposed openings of the structural steel. Some water is bound to get to the underbelly area, but it drains out pretty quickly. We also paint the chassis to prevent rust. |
 | Now, the chassis mainframe is brought into the manufacturing facility. It's flipped and placed on stands for easy access to the under carriage. Rubber torsion axles, aluminum under belly, the step, tank pans, stabilizer jacks, spare tire carrier, and gas lines are installed. |
 | Axles Over here you'll see something we're really proud of — our immovable torsion axle system. |
 | Q: So what makes the axles so special? A: Maybe taking a closer look at the axles will help answer that question. Do you see these four rubber tubes? They are actually frozen when they are inserted between the blue spindle shaft of the wheel and the red steel axle tube. As the rubber thaws, it expands and joins the two parts. This produces an immovable torsion axle system that is virtually maintenance free. |
 | Now let's take a look at this chassis assembly. Its been turned back over and is almost finished. Gary is insulating and installing the main, auxiliary, and fresh water tanks with their dump valve assemblies. Earlier, Jesse added the hitch jack, all under floor plumbing, and the heat ductwork that supplies warm air to the water tanks to prevent them from freezing. |
 | Q: How come one tire is missing? A: Ah, we left that one off so you could see one of Airstream's unique safety features. As we've seen, our chassis employ the world's best rubber torsion suspension system. It has far greater ground clearance than conventional chassis, and even if a tire goes flat an Airstream trailer can still be towed short distances at a slow speed because the axle system prevents the hubs from touching the ground |