Greetings Streamers

[HotRod]

I'm posting my first message on the Airforums site. I have a 28 foot Safari on order, and it should arrive in about a month. I'm busy buying odds and ends to fill it up, even before it arrives. And, I'm trying not to lose too much sleeping stressing over pulling something that big.

I look forward to learning more about my new silver sausage through this forum.

My best regards.

Rod

HotRod

[Boondocker]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on the new AS! You are going to love that thing and there are plenty of places to use it out that way. In fact I will be there in 3 weeks doing just that. The towing will become second nature in no time

[Safari-Rick]

Hey Rod,

Ahhhh, you kinda failed to mention the type of tow vehicle you're going to be towing the AS with? Hopefully, you're not towing a 28 ft with an underpowered 6 cy.? Or is that the reason you're stress'n ?

Just saying....

Safari-Rick

[CaddyGrn]

Welcome to the forums!

Congrats on your new Airstream! Be sure and check out the rally schedule on the blue toolbar above and go to one as soon as you can! You'll meet great people and get to show off your new baby!

Happy camping,

Mrs. NorCal Bambi traveling in S Tardis ~ from the Great State of Jefferson

[Jimandrod]

Nice to see you here!

[Goin camping]

Welcome!

I know the waiting is just killing you.

Whats you're worry about towing? If it's the ability of your tow vehicle just post what you have and we'll help you figure out if its got what it takes.

If it's because you may not have much or any experience towing... Don't worry we have tips and techniques that'll have you pulling and backing like a pro in no time.

[Foiled Again]

I too worried about towing a "monster" 22 footer - my first Airstream. That was three years ago, and I can tell you it took about 10 miles to convince me that I would be able to become very adept at doing this. (Backing up took much longer and I embarassed a Marine D. I. with the language I used.)

Good advice? Learn baby learn! The best (and worst) thing is that you don't have to have a CDL license to tow a recreational vehicle, which means any idiot can strap a trailer on anything that has a hitch and take off. Of course that's a great way to end up in a ditch hanging upside down by your seat belt. There are many many many good threads about tow vehicles and proper hitching techniques right here on these forums. So you've got eight weeks to study and learn. You'll get some conflicting advice, but here are the basic topics you should familiarize yourself with:

Weight distributing hitches & hitch height

• how to avoid porpoising
• how to avoid yaw and sway

Balancing your rig
Tongue weight
Brake controllers
Towing mirrors
Matching the tow vehicle to the trailer size and weight
Safe towing practices:

• as a newbie, avoid heavily trafficed roads (like the beltway around Baltimore at 9:00 am.... ask me how I know
• slower is GOOD, especially downhill and in bad weather
• always yield to a***oles, be courteous and stay out of the way
• always remember you don't just tow a trailer, you have to STOP it too

I'll also bet that you'll find someone on this forum who lives within 25 miles of you who'll be glad to take you through the basics. Of course also check "forum rallies" here and go visit even if you don't have your silver baby yet. RV'ers and especially Airstreamers tend to be the nicest people on the road.

Paula

[Jimandrod]

Originally Posted by Safari-Rick

Hey Rod,

Ahhhh, you kinda failed to mention the type of tow vehicle you're going to be towing the AS with? Hopefully, you're not towing a 28 ft with an underpowered 6 cy.? Or is that the reason you're stress'n ?

Just saying....

Safari-Rick

OK - I'll go ahead and answer this one for Rod since I'm equally familiar with his truck. The "Big Red Truck" is a 2004 Ford F-150 XLT 4X4 with a Triton 5.4L V8. It's an extended cab with a 144" wheele base. It has the factory tow package with the transmission cooler and is tow rated at 9300# It should handle the 7300 pounds of a loaded 28' without too much problem.

[Mikethefixit]

Rod
Welcome and Congratulations on the new AS. Now for the business end. I personally strongly recommend Staying away from what I call little trucks. Your choise.CHEV,FORD,Dodge. The rest are little trucks. A 1/2 ton will do it but 3/4's better. Crewcab is great, preferably long wheelbase to give ya stability and the 3/4 gives you a little extra weight for stopping. I have a 1ton by choise ,my truck weights more than the trailer comming in at 8k lbs full of fuel and loaded to go.
Paula has laid out some good advise ,she also knows. Now the choises are up to you ,I personally would not schimp on a TV when I have spent the money for such a great trailer
Good Luck to YOU!
Roger

[HotRod]

Thanks for the recommendations. I have a big F 150, with a rated towing capacity of nearly 10,000 pounds. The trailer dry should weigh less than 6,000. I think the towing ratio is OK. My concern is that . . . well, that's a pretty big thing following closely behind me. I'm reasonably confident that I'll become comfortable with it in no time. Wish me luck.

HotRod

Originally Posted by Mikethefixit

Rod
Welcome and Congratulations on the new AS. Now for the business end. I personally strongly recommend Staying away from what I call little trucks. Your choise.CHEV,FORD,Dodge. The rest are little trucks. A 1/2 ton will do it but 3/4's better. Crewcab is great, preferably long wheelbase to give ya stability and the 3/4 gives you a little extra weight for stopping. I have a 1ton by choise ,my truck weights more than the trailer comming in at 8k lbs full of fuel and loaded to go.
Paula has laid out some good advise ,she also knows. Now the choises are up to you ,I personally would not schimp on a TV when I have spent the money for such a great trailer
Good Luck to YOU!
Roger

[HotRod]

Thanks for taking the time with all the good information. I'll be sure to avoid the Baltimore Beltway during rush hour!

HotRod

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

I too worried about towing a "monster" 22 footer... snip...

as a newbie, avoid heavily trafficed roads (like the beltway around Baltimore at 9:00 am.... ask me how I know

• slower is GOOD, especially downhill and in bad weather
• always yield to a***oles, be courteous and stay out of the way
• always remember you don't just tow a trailer, you have to STOP it too

Paula

[moosetags]

Welcome to the Forums. We're glad to have you with us.

We're not launching rockets here. You can, in fact, learn to tow an Airstream. If I can do it, most anyone can. Just take you time and do your homework.

Brian

[HotRod]

Originally Posted by Jimandrod

Nice to see you here!

It's nice to be here. Thanks for getting me set up!

[DreamStreamr]

Hey Hot Rod!
We're just under four years into this Airstreaming thing and still marvel when we look in the rearview mirror and see this trailer following almost right on top of us. We towed a previous trailer with an F-150 and could fold the F-150s rear view mirror up to the ceiling so we wouldn't be distracted looking at the trailer.

We started in a 22' Airstream then found out you can live in these things. So we sold the 22, bought a 25, sold the house and furnishings and have been on the road almost three months this year. We spent almost three months last Fall full-timing as a shake-down cruise before we sold the house. You know, figure out how many anvils and boat anchors we really needed to take with us before we sold or gave them away. Still making lists of what we did take with us and haven't used. Guess we'll do it permanently until, all the roof lockers are empty. . .

Airstreams are the greatest. We thought our first one was incredible. We love this one even more. We hope you have a blast. And check out WBCCI, if you haven't already. It was one of the best kept secrets we almost didn't find out about, and we would have missed out on another source of information as rich as this forum. And we get to see those folks face:face pretty regularly. Very nice for us.

Visit us at Dreamstreamr Odyssey Chasing 75 Degrees