Some time ago there was a thread about towing at speed. I remembered reading a facinating (at least to me) article from the early '60's about a test drive pulling a 30' AS at nearly 100 MPH. I came across the scan and have added a link below to the first scan in the series for anyone who is interested in reading a little AS history.
To make a short story a bit longer my buddy bought a 1966 Chevrolet Impala 8 passenger stationwagon, restored, with a 396 engine and 700R4 to tow his SOB (he's an Airstream wannabe so far). I was looking for a gift for his surprise 10th anniversary of his 60th birthday (he made it clear he was not going to celebrate his 60th so we had to get creative). I was looking at Big Block Chev tune-up manuals and there was one about Sixties Impalas. As I picked it up it flopped open to the article about some guys who towed a 31' Airstream to the track (sand from the pictures) with a 67 or 68 Impala and proceeded to set a new speed record towing the trailer of 100.55 MPH. Obviously it was the book to buy him, which I did. He's now even more encouraged to buy an Airstream!
I know I may get some flack from the Forum, but there has been a couple times, on our way to the River in the middle of the desert, I've lost track of how fast I'm going, look down at the speedometer and I'm cruising at a 90+ MPH speed... trust me, my foot cannot move fast enough to the break (with a soft touch, of course) to bring it back down to a safe speed. It's just amazing though that there's those few seconds where you "forget" you're towing a 25'+ trailer behind you... OK, now bring on the flack! :-)
I know I may get some flack from the Forum, but there has been a couple times, on our way to the River in the middle of the desert, I've lost track of how fast I'm going, look down at the speedometer and I'm cruising at a 90+ MPH speed... trust me, my foot cannot move fast enough to the break (with a soft touch, of course) to bring it back down to a safe speed. It's just amazing though that there's those few seconds where you "forget" you're towing a 25'+ trailer behind you... OK, now bring on the flack! :-)
After a few years of towing the Airstream, I found that about 62 is the sweet spot for my rig. Not fast enough to totally turn MPG (miles per gallon) to GPM (gallons per mile), but also not slow enough to take a lot more time to get to the destination.
I know I may get some flack from the Forum, but there has been a couple times, on our way to the River in the middle of the desert, I've lost track of how fast I'm going, look down at the speedometer and I'm cruising at a 90+ MPH speed... trust me, my foot cannot move fast enough to the break (with a soft touch, of course) to bring it back down to a safe speed. It's just amazing though that there's those few seconds where you "forget" you're towing a 25'+ trailer behind you... OK, now bring on the flack! :-)
Towing my Airstream with my 6.0L PSD, it's very easy to spaceout and lose track of your speed.
__________________ 2003 Ford Excursion (6.0L PSD) Prodigy / Equal-i-zer / Honda EU2000i / Xantrex Link 10 U.S. Navy (Retired) Airstream Life Contributor Air#5661 / WBCCI#--
Sixty five MPH seems to be my 'comfort speed' and I've towed faster at times when passing. What a dream an Airstream is to tow. I'm always amused passing those large white "Chlorox Bottles" that look like they barely fit under the overpasses as they poke along the highways and byways.
__________________ "Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress...But then I repeat myself." S.L.C.
Like Silvertwinky above, I find the sweet spot to be 62 mph. Everything just works fine at that speed. Once we drove 36 hours straight from NH to SD. You really learn your rig when you put on large distances.
Mark
__________________
-Life is a journey, not a destination.
Aerosmith
I just returned from a 1200 mile trip from Fl. to Oh. where we picked up our 87, 25 ft. Sovereign. Average speed for the return trip was 64 mph., 11.6 mpg. There were times that we were traveling between 80-85 mph.
The Sovereign towed better and gave us better mileage then our 77 23 ft. Safari.
__________________ You never know what you can do until you try to undo what you did.
I have also towed a bit faster than I should have, at least a couple of times.
Now, for you speed demons out there, and you know who you are, remember that the speed rating for ST tires (the ones mounted on our trailers) is 65 MPH. Exceed that speed at your own risk and peril.
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Terry You repair things with tools. You fix things with a hammer.
AIR#2611
I've been known to tow a little above the posted limit myself. But with 34' behind me 85 or 90mph would be impossible unless I were on a extremely long grade, but then it would probably pass me up. Usually 68 is the norm.
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