Argosy 4X4 Duramax conversion

Psychodan

New member
Our plan (this is my wife's idea. I am a lucky man) is to convert a 24' Argosy into a vehicle that can travel comfortably in all weather conditions, on the freeway to our mountain biking trail heads. I have a lot of ideas rattling around, we will see which ones come to fruition. We are using a 2006 Silverado 2500HD. I will be using single wheels on all 4 corners, all identical. I will be moving the hubs to their proper location, relative to the width of the body.
 

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Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
Very cool! I love those old Argosy motor homes and trailers. IIRC an Argosy is basically an airstream that has a painted instead of having the aluminum exterior. There were Airstream motor homes, too, but I think the Argosy version was made for a longer period of time.
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In any case, I wonder if this thread might be more appropriate in the "custom camper" sub forum? Just a thought.
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Looking forward to seeing how this goes!
 

Psychodan

New member
Gutting Progress

I am surprised they ran the floor framing square tube on its side. Its a very weak design, to only add an inch of interior head room. Sagging is very evident around the rear of the chassis. I plan on running the 1X2 square tube in the upright orientation.
 

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Psychodan

New member
It is the same as the Airstream, other than galvanized steel brows, and a little bondo wherever the body was damaged. And paint, of course. I want it for the glass and the aluminum shell, that's it. We have not decided if we should re-paint, or leave it grunge. Thanks for watching!
 

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
Psycho minds think alike. Dunno if this project ever got finished, but there were vids of it being test driven:

http://expeditionmotorhome.com/monster-4x4-airstream-motorhome/


18_g.jpg



One of my favs. As I recall they flipped the engine around to make a diesel pusher out of it.
 

Eldgen

Builder of Dreams
Hi Dan,
Good to see you on Expedition portal. I'ts nice to see pictures of the beast after you telling me about it, I look forward to the long travel goodies. I think you should do a set of steel bumpers and shave that front valance off right at that body trim to open up the front wheel wells a little more. Look forward to following the build.
Eldgen.
 

Psychodan

New member
I remember seeing that, looked like a good idea. I was sad to never see a finished product tho, I wonder if they got it done.
 

Psychodan

New member
Silverado Strip

I built a gantry to help with disassembly of the truck, and it came in handy to remove the AC unit. Sucker was heavy.... We had the truck stripped in a weekend, loaded all the unwanted parts, and sold them back to Spaldings. We tried the auction route when it came to buying the wrecked truck, but our local wrecking yard hooked us up, I believe we got a good deal. About $7000 for it, rolled but no damage to anything we wanted to use. It appeared the owner was good to it, unfortunate to wreck it. But we will have it back on the road with new purpose.
 

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Psychodan

New member
Oh, just so everybody knows, I haven't spent any time learning the controls on this site. Hopefully I insert comments in the appropriate locations, don't delete anybody's comments, etc. Forgive me if I do, and send pointers my way if you feel inclined. Thanks!
 

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