Thanks everyone for helping me out here!
Your advice has been great and i've combined your knowledge with that of the good folks over at the AirStream List on Yahoogroups...
I'm set as far as brakes are concerned: fresh set of calipers, front rotors in great shape (with an extra set), as well as a rebuild power pooster from booster dewey and a new master cylinder from Napa. I even replaced all the rubber lines for the brake system when i got the car in August 2005. I think with the disk brakes on my newer 19 foot Bambi international, and good towing practices provided by Scott, Henry and Uncle Roger, i should be OK.
I plan to take a couple of weekend trips first to get used to the basics and will probably take a one week trip to Western NC to see how i do on the blue ridge.
to recap, here's the collective wisdom:
+ Imperial should handle a total weight of 5500 +/- without damaging the car as long as i
+ have a (REESE) weight distribution hitch system welded to the unibody in several places.
+ good idea to find an optional tranny cooler and the larger radiator fan
+ add sway bar system and fender mirrors for safety
There's a ton of other wisdom that i'll recap later but for now, that's the story.
I've decided to go newer, smaller (and way more expensive) for the trailer, particularly for safety and realibility eventhough i could probably get a neat vintage airstream that would weight much less for much less money than a newer unit. Since i plan to spend a lot of time bascially living and working in this thing, there's some advantages to eliminating concerns and only focusing on the health of the car. That said, if anyone here has a line on an amazingly well restored vintage airstream with a GVWR around 5000# with satelite tv and HVAC, then please let me know off list. =)
Cheers,
Javier
1968 Imperial Crown "Shriners" Convertible
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