dragging on steep hills

[flyfshrmn]

I have a 1975 23 foot Safari with the rear bath. The driveway to the house where I keep it comes off level road surface and then makes a steep bend up. I pull the Eazlift hitch and replace it with a longer drop hitch and the trailer still drags the rear of the frame and the black water tank outlet as the rig articulates on the slope.l I've had to replace the outlet cover twice and install a new outlet once. I'm sure that if I keep doing this, eventually it will crack the tank. I can only drop the hitch so far before it starts dragging the jack bottom at the front. I would like to install a set of rollers as in this illustration http://www.airforums.com/forums/f44/...s-56859-3.html. I've considered putting a rubber nose wheel on the jack bottom as well, but I doubt it would stand up to any real stress. Anyone have any other suggestions?

[TG Twinkie]

I would think you would damage the frame of the trailer if you in effect lift it by the rear. I would consider building a pair of ramps that would smooth out the "V" shape of the incline. A couple of 2"x8" boards with a support block or two in the middle would work.

[newroswell]

I'm concerned that once a lot of weight is on the rollers and the trailer is lifted at the bumper it would cause damage to the shell. Kinda the opposite of frame separation from the rear end dropping.

How about replacing the axle's to gain more drop angle, or fabricating a frame block between the frame and axles to gain a few inches. Too much of that will be horrible for looks & aerodynamics. But if 2 inches might be just enough.

[exthemius]

We had the same problem in our driveway. Went down to the local bigbox and purchased 2 lengths of 2x10 decking stock and made our ramps (they are wide because we're on a cul-de-sac, and have to come out an an angle). Anyway, the doubled up area sits in the lowest area (basically the "v") to help with bending.

[eubank]

I agree with the other posters.

We had a pretty similar problem with the drive at our old house: A BIG notch in the driveway would cause the rig to bottom out. Problem solved with a pile of old boards, stacked side-by-side to raise the center of the notch by six inches or so.


Lynn

[HiHoAgRV]

Draggin' like this?

Some 2x6's got me out of this bind once I dug out a channel and backed up

[newroswell]

HiHo! That's a dead end street! Cool photo though. I'm finding I have to think about approach angles more with the 30' than with the 25'.

[Jammer]

flyfshrman,

If it's your driveway or one belonging to a friend you may be best off paying to have it graded (assuming it's gravel or dirt) and maybe even have a load of fill trucked in.

Often an hour or two of machine time is enough to solve the problem.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by flyfshrmn

I have a 1975 23 foot Safari with the rear bath. The driveway to the house where I keep it comes off level road surface and then makes a steep bend up. I pull the Eazlift hitch and replace it with a longer drop hitch and the trailer still drags the rear of the frame and the black water tank outlet as the rig articulates on the slope.l I've had to replace the outlet cover twice and install a new outlet once. I'm sure that if I keep doing this, eventually it will crack the tank. I can only drop the hitch so far before it starts dragging the jack bottom at the front. I would like to install a set of rollers as in this illustration http://www.airforums.com/forums/f44/...s-56859-3.html. I've considered putting a rubber nose wheel on the jack bottom as well, but I doubt it would stand up to any real stress. Anyone have any other suggestions?

Installing rollers will damage the 2 rear quarter panels, GUARANTEED.

You can increase the width of the rear drag plates, which will help.

Also, your axles may have had their rubber rods go south. If that's the case, replacing the axles will help, along with increasing their starting angle.

Andy

[patentguy]

I have the same problem with my driveway - too steep to either back or pull her up. I first tried backing up and the guards on the bottom of the bumper dug into my driveway (asphalt). Then I tried to pull her up and the tongue dug in. So when I tried to back it out - the guards under the bumper dug into my street I did get it back onto the street, but not without leaving some divots.

I gave up and rent a spot at the local storage facility. Not my first choice, but I don't see a way (other than regrading my driveway) to get my silver swan onto my property.

Any thoughts on overcoming this without the need to redo my driveway are appreciated.

[pmclemore]

patentguy, did you try the driveway without your WD bars? Sometimes it doesn't take much to help.

Andy made two good points for the OP; his '73 may be at the age that the axles have begun to sag - thereby lowering the rig. The second point is that installing rollers is the same as jacking the rig from the rear - bound to stress the back end. However if you install a wider drag plate, the stress is spread and may be enough to permit dragging when entering and departing.

Pat

[4RXLA]

If the slope of the driveway is reasonable, I would check the axles first. New axles will give you up to 5 inches of clearance, presuming yours are shot.

[airstrmkids]

I replaced the axles on our 27 foot 1969. We raised the trailer 3 inches at the rear tire from the floor to the trailer. So I dont know how much it raised the rear end. Ours was close to the ground but now it is not. Because our axles were shot. We bought our axles from Inland RV. It was pretty easy to put the new axles as I did this myself but had to have help with taking the old axles off.

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

Draggin' like this?

Some 2x6's got me out of this bind once I dug out a channel and backed up

That's really a fine looking road grader you have there.

[flyfshrmn]

Thanks for all the input. I'll be inspecting the axles when I next pick up the trailer. I do have some theoretical questions regarding rollers versus dragging the frame. I fail to see the difference between transferring the load via dragging vs. a pair of installed rollers. And, in fact, the rollers cross connected to the frame would tend to spread the load over the entire rear frame, rather than concentrating it at the drag point.

I cannot correct the driveway slope. It goes from level at the pavement intersection to about a 25 foot section of 6-8 degrees with a required dip right at the end of the driveway to prevent runoff onto the pavement. The transition is longer than the trailer, so grading will not alter the transition point. The trailer frame and tank outlet drag on the pavement going up and on the driveway exiting. I am going to build a couple of ramps and try them next time up. If I can lift the rear enough by getting the tires on the ramps with the rear of the trailer on the pavement, it might alter the angles enough to prevent dragging. I will also use a maximum drop hitch and just pull the jack. It's only three bolts and will give me another 2-3 inches of drop in the front

[Bill M.]

I still think take it to Andy and have him put new axles and 16 inch wheels on it. You would get the money back if you sold it and that would make it a very nice boondocking machine if you keep it.

[flyfshrmn]

Picked up the AS in late March. Used a Six inch drop hitch w/o ez lift and cut across the slope to the pavement. Did not drag the rear, but just barely scraped the jack base on the dirt. This puts the waste line outlet on the high side of the slope and it cleared by about an inch. Have some minor repairs to do and will check the axle height again. When I checked it at pickup, it was 1/2" lower than stock specs.

The only real problem with this is it requires changing the hitch out on the road because there is no convenient pullout along the entire access road to my place.

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by pmclemore

patentguy, did you try the driveway without your WD bars?
Pat

That's what I was going to suggest too as I read thru this thread!

Easy enough to try if you haven't already, and may be all you need


Brian

[dwightdi]

I have been dropping my bars for 15 years whenever I back into my uphill driveway or any site that it looks to be a problem.

[WayTooCool]

So, I've already bent both skids (seriously) and wrinkled the rear quarter panels. After I stop crying, what next!!!