Kevin, Two things: 1) if you didn't know, RJ Dial has added the Argosy line to his picture archive at vintageairstreams.com, why don't you send him some pictures of the Minuet? and 2) you may be pleasantly suprised at the performance of your Cad in the mountains, I have a 1977 Lincoln Continental 460 CI, 4V engine with a 2.75 rear axle and it pulls the mountains fairly well. We went to the Grand Canyon NP from So Cal this past April, pulled Cajon Pass, 4500+ at about 55, and seldom went below 50 all the way to the Grand Canyon. Recently we went to Death Valley NP and on several grades I out pulled other tow vehicles who caught up to me on the levels because they just drove faster than I feel comfortable. My Lincoln has a 6000 capacity but with the 3.0 axle, I feel that it pulls our 5800 lb Safari fine.
I think that the biggest problem at serious altitude would be the fact that carbs do not adjust to thin air like electronic fuel injection does. Bill Kerfoot WBCCI/VAC #5223 1973 Dodge W200 PowerWagon 1977 Lincoln Continental 1979 23' Airstream Safari Orange, CA http://www.tompatterson.com/VALgallery/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=21 overlander_64 wrote: >With its 4,400 pound trailer tow rating, you should have a >reasonable match with an Argosy Minuet 6.0 Metre. The Gross Vehicle >Weight Rating for the 6.0 Metre Minuet is 3,250 pounds (the typical >loaded weight of my '78 Minuet 6.0 Metre is 3,100 pounds). Empty >weight of the 6.0 Metre Minuet is With the smaller tow vehicle, the >7.0' trailer width of the Minuet series is quite a benefit. The one >thing that you might want to check is the maximum tongue weight that >your Eurovan can accommodate - - when loaded for a long vacation, >the tongue weight of my Minuet 6.0 Metre approaches 575 pounds. > >With an interest level that seems to be ever increasing, Minuets are >becoming harder to find. I wasn't seriously searching for a Minuet >when I spied mine advertised on the VAC website classifieds and its >location was less than 225 miles from my home. A reasonably priced >Minuet that is in good condition doesn't stay on the market for long. > >If you haven't already discovered the entire Minuet family, there >are three distinct sizes within the family. The Minuet 6.0 Metre >(2,450 pounds Empty Weight) is probably the most common, the Minuet >6.7 Metre (2,725 pounds Empty Weight) probably the second most >common, and the Minuet 7.3 Metre (3,820 pounds Empty Weight) >probably the most unusual and the only tandem axle coach in the >series. The general consensus is that the most satisfactory towing >experience is with a coach that loads the tow vehicle to no more >than 80% of the maximum tow rating (the safest method when using >published weights is to use the maximum trailer tow rating of the >tow vehicle and the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of the coach rather >than its empty weight). You can find the Minuet page of the '79 >Argosy sales brochure posted at: >http://www.airstreamforums.com/photos/data/500/827Argosy_Minuet_1979. >jpg . > >Good luck with your search! > >Kevin > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] To unsubscribe from this group, go to http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/AirstreamList/ and unsubscribe. To suspend delivery while traveling, simply change the delivery option to No Mail-Web only. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AirstreamList/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
