There aren’t many repairs on our Airstream that Carl won’t tackle himself. Rear-end separation, however, is one of them.
Front-end and rear-end separation occurs when the frame (the bottom part) begins to separate from the shell (the unique aluminum exterior), either due to structural issues or rot in the subfloor. It requires significant repair. For our rear-end repair, the bumper and rear compartment door needed to be removed, the rear aluminum panel altered, new brackets and a replacement door installed, and the subfloor sealed with epoxy.
Many full-time RVers have DIY capabilities. Carl is our DIY guru. He has replaced skylights and ceiling fans. He has repaired stove burners. He has changed out the axles with the help of his brother. He has repaired and replaced our refrigerator and the water heater. The list could go on. But the rear-end separation on our 2005 Airstream Classic was one repair even Carl couldn’t undertake.
He noticed it a few years ago. As the person who handles most of the “outside” setup and teardown, he spends a lot of time in the back storage compartment, where he found moisture was intruding just inside the compartment, affecting the wooden subfloor under the carpet. He dried it out, replaced some rusted bolts with new ones, put in some filler, and applied sealant. Then he noticed the frame moving when he lowered the back stabilizers. Of course, he used the blue-tape method; barely a band-aid, let alone an actual repair!
At that time, we researched the problem and discovered that Airstream had a front-end separation issue and that a kit had been designed to repair it. However, there wasn’t much to learn about rear-end separation (same thing, different end) as it was much less common. That has changed, however, and other types of repair have been developed over the past few years.
Over the past few months, Carl has noticed that the movement between the shell and the frame has become more pronounced, and we have started discussing having it professionally repaired. We thought that if we could get it scheduled somewhere out west during the 2026-2027 winter season, we would get it done. I made calls to places in Utah, California, and Arizona, received some pricing information, and discovered that, as is typical, the privately owned Airstream repair place in California with the experience to do it would not be available until next summer.
Meanwhile, Carl was asking for referrals through some of the forums he frequents. And he got a few referrals for the same place – Midwest Airstream Service (MAS) in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. Well, this was interesting, as we were going to be traveling through Wisconsin to get to Gary, Minnesota for Carl’s harvest job. So, we contacted MAS, talked with Clayton (one of the owners), and learned that they had just had a cancellation and could work us in the next week (right before the Airstream Club’s international rally) if we could get there.
MAS uses heavy-duty HeimBuilt brackets designed for the separation issue. They are made of thicker metal with rounded corners, eliminating the weaker squared-off corners. Because of the rounded corners, our back storage compartment door needed to be replaced from its rectangular shape to a slightly smaller, long oval shape, which had to be ordered from HeimBuilt and shipped to MAS before we arrived.
We dropped off our Airstream on a Monday afternoon, rented a hotel room in Reedsburg for the night, and began the impatient wait for the repair to be done. Luckily, we only needed one night at the hotel (there was a possibility of two). And we spent a good part of our time on Tuesday twiddling our thumbs because we could not stay at MAS all day and watch the repair (insurance reasons…).
What to do in Reedsburg While Waiting?
Yes, it’s just down the road from Wisconsin Dells, and we could have planned something fun, but we didn’t know when the repair would be finished and wanted to stay close. We lingered at the hotel until check‑out, then drove to a nearby waterfall—only to discover it was on private property with nowhere to park. Back into town we went for lunch.
I suggested the local library for a couple of hours, but it happened to be closed just for that one day for staff training. So we parked under a shady tree in front of the historic train depot, which is now the Chamber of Commerce, and wandered a short stretch of the 400 State Bike Trail down to an old trestle. With our bikes locked inside the Airstream and the motorbike already on the truck, riding wasn’t an option. We wrapped up the afternoon with ice cream at Culver’s and headed back to MAS to wait.
A massive rainstorm rolled in, tornado warnings lit up our phones, and Clayton’s truck lights mysteriously flicked on. We texted him, and despite the downpour, he waved us inside. We spent the next couple of hours in their conference room, petting Junior—their mascot cat—and chatting with Clayton and his dad, Steve, as they put the finishing touches on our Airstream.
About Midwest Airstream Service (MAS) aka Midwest Silver Stream Customs
Those last few hours gave us a chance to learn more about MAS and how this father-and-son business came about.
Most Airstream owners know the value of privately owned shops that service, repair, and renovate Airstreams. The manufacturing plant is in Jackson Center, Ohio, and Airstream dealers with service centers are sporadic around the country. In addition, getting into any one of these service centers can take months. We were fortunate with our timing.
MAS has been around for 10 years, but it has just been in the past few years that they have stepped more fully into service and repair. Steve started renovating an Argosy many years ago, which led others to hire him to renovate their Argosies and Airstreams. Clayton discovered while in college that he preferred helping with renovations to pursuing a course of study, so he joined the business with his dad. They have built a stalwart team and partnerships with places like HeimBuilt and are earning rave reviews for their customer service and quality of work.
Carl, being our DIY extraordinaire, will continue to repair and replace things as needed in our home on wheels. But when our Airstream needs professional attention beyond his DIY expertise, we’ll happily make our way back to MAS.
A big thank you to MAS for getting us in and out so quickly. We hope you have a great time at the International Airstream Rally in Minot.
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