dragging the rear end of my 30' excella in the skid wheels

[gtmellon]

I had just purchased a beautiful 1998 30' excella and and pulled into the first gas station I saw when I heard a loud scraping noise as I pulled into the driveway. I found pieces of the small drag wheel littering the driveway and the corner of my new airstream appeared to be accordianed slightly. Since I'm towing this beauty to Cabo San Lucas in Baja this month you can imagine my concern with the low profile. I took the trailer to the local RV service center in Eureka CA and the technician measured the clearance of the frame to the ground front and back and it was equal at about 8 inches. I asked him if it wouldn't be better just to leave it off since the small wheel occupies about half of the available clearance space and he looked at me like I was crazy talking. Was I ? Is this a problem with other airstream owners? What else can I do besides just be dam careful on driveway approaches and anyplace else that the road is uneven. Bigger tires maybe? This could be a serious challenge especially in Baja. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. thank- you, Greg Mellon

[2airishuman]

hi greg and welcome to the forums...

baja...man you will have to give us reports....lots....and pictures.

i want to spend part of next winter there.

take the drag wheels off...they only reduces clearance.

someone added them as a/s don't come with them, or need them

the frame has a small spot that is low enough to protect the underbelly....

and scraping LIGHTLY there happens occasionally.

yes clearance can be an issue with steep angles...

take them obliquely. take them slowly. take another route.

is your hitch properly sized so the trailer is level?

bigger tires not a good idea and your axles aren't old enough to be sagging...

8-10 inches is about normal as i recall and dragging isn't common

take a few pictures and post them...may get ya more help seeing it.

cheers
2air'

[gtmellon]

Hi 2air', many thanks for the reality check. I'll definitely remove the little buggers and take it slow and easy. Sounds good - I'll post a few pics when I get back. peace out , Greg

[Steve Heywood]

I've towed my 30' Excella for the past 30 months and nearly 10,000 miles. I've drug the back of my trailer ONCE! If I had wheels on the bottom of my frame I would have drug it many times.

[rickandsandi]

Yea, I have a set of thsoe wheels. Brand new still in the box! When putting together our STUFF while waiting for our AS, they looked like a good idea. Once I went to install them it all started making no sense at all. Why would I want to decrease my ground clearance. Anybody want a complete set still in the box?

[john hd]

Anybody want a complete set still in the box?

nope, i'll keep the casters on my roll away tool box.

airstreams have a pair of skid plates at the rear of the frame. they are simply a "c" channel welded to the bottom of the frame.

in my view they are a consumable item, mine are rounded off at the rear from occasional drags. if i ever wear them off to the point of needing replacement i'll just weld new ones on.

john

[CanoeStream]

Yes to all of the above! I learned this early and there are some gas station entries that I no longer attempt. Taking it slow will prevent bounce from contributing to the drag. And going in at an angle does improve the geometry. Sorry hearing about the damage.

[dwightdi]

My skid plate part of the frame on my 77 31 footer are squared off. The first time I tried to back it into my uphill drive I dug a one inch deep groove into the drive (my wife was directing and failed to look down to see the problem). I fairly quickly realized it was taking too much power to back up and got out. No damage to the unit and now I take the W/D bars off before I back in and that gives me enough clearance. I also drop them if I am backing into an uphill camping site. Sometimes the little dips fool you but you will learn what situations to avoid.