new as owner

[loft47]

hi folks, we are located in moorpark, ca, new owners of an '07 classic 30 so. pulling with an infiniti qx56. we bought the as from southwest coaches in irvine. anyone got any advice on maintenance items that i should pay particular attention to that will break easily/quickly? water heaters, slideout mechanisms, brakes? mike & roxy

[flyfshr]

Hi Mike and Roxy. Welcome. I can't help you on your new coach as I'm more of a vintage guy. Not meaning me necessarily, just my trailer. Someone will chime in here with helpful advise on your specific questions.

BTW - we like lots of pictures.

Brad
FF

[moosetags]

A big Forums welcome to Mike & Roxy. You've found a great place to get all of your Airstream information.

The only maintenance suggestions that I can make Are:

Try out ALL of the systems to make sure that they are operation properly. Make sure to try out the cook top and the oven even if you don't intend to use them very often. Run the A/C and both heating systems. Open all windows and vents to make sure that they operate smoothly. Check out the Fantastic Fan; the cover has a habit of sticking.

The only other suggestion that I can make is to check the air pressure in the Airstream's tires often. Keeping the tire pressure at spec is a VERY IMPORTANT maintenance item. This is also very important on your tow vehicle.

Good luck with your new baby.

[myoung]

Mike & Roxy,

I'll be curious to hear your experiences towing with the Infinity. We had to step down from a Safari 28 SO because it would be too much to tow with our Durango, which has towing capacities slightly less than your Infinity apparently. The Classic 30 SO must weigh even more than the 28, I should think. Be safe.

[2airishuman]

hi sea otter and welcome to the forums and airstream'n...

30 ft classic WITH slide.....cool

infinity qx56....................cool

together.........................not cool


the 30 slide will likely put you over gross combined weight rating, rear axle weight rating AND reciever/hitch rating...

for the qx56...unless i'm reading the figures wrong...

the the armada/qx56 has a max hitch capacity of 900lbs approx, even with w/d gear...

the classic in 30/so is over 1,000 lbs on the tongue....not counting spare tire, options or full lpgas tanks...

yes the q has enough horses to pull this trailer

but please recheck the towing capabilities (axle rating and towing capacity are on the door pillar)

receiver/hitch figures are in your owners manual...next to last section.

these are 2 great vehicles but the q is no match for a 30 footer with slide...

a 30 ft classic with slide is clearly in the 3/4 ton range for towing needs...

even an infinity has a 'finite' capacity for towing and the published limits are not enough for this application....

please tell us more about the process that lead you to this combo...

who told ya it would work?

cheers
2air'

[loft47]

mike and rosemary, on our one trip of about 100 miles the infiniti pulled like a dream. both the infiniti qx56 and nissan armada 2wd's are rated at 9,000-9,100 lbs., about the same as the ford expedition. the durango is about 600 lbs less i believe. in traffic to pick up the classic we got about 19.5 mpg, and about 10.5 on the return trip home in l.a. city traffic towing our new toy.

[loft47]

2air', thanks for the advice. i checked this rig out with both dealers and a local hitch place, we're ok.

[Wharf Rats]

seaotter, congrats on your new A/S! I have to agree with 2'air, our 30 classic S/O with spare tire, 2 full gas bottles, and hensley hitch (ha ha) comes in at about 1300 lbs of tongue weight. We tow ours with a Duramax/Allison 3/4 ton GMC Sierra. We have towed it with my wife's Yukon Denali but I think that is borderline. Whatever you end up with, I'm sure you'll enjoy your classic S/O. To us the S/O is worth every ounce of extra weight.

[str8strm]

Welcome to the Forums and AS ownership seaotter. A great place to try out your TV and new AS will be at the 29 Palms Rally in January. There are 16 of us scheduled to go, so far. It is a good group. Everyone is friendly, helpful, and a good time. Check out the Rally Calendar and Rally Discussions under NorCal rally. Hope to see you there, and enjoy the new toy. Ron

[tslanier]

We towed briefly with our Lincoln Navigator which I think is similar to your Infinity. I was warned by many that it was not adequate for safe towing and would damage the Navigator if used very much. We went our twice to the mountains this fall and quickly realized that we needed much more TV. We just bought a Dodge Ram 3500 Turbo Diesel.

[nvestysly]

Hello seaotter,

Good to see you as a new member. I know you will find plenty of useful information here. moosetags gave a pretty extensive list of things to watch for in a new trailer and it's right on the money.

I want to reiterate the importance of tire monitoring. I was keeping a close eye on our new set of tires for the first several weekend trips (~1500 miles total) then became a little lazy. On a recent trip I walked around, looked over everything and looked at the tires closely for the first time in a while (~500 miles lapsed). I was shocked to see the inside 1" or so of one of the tires had separated and rubber was completely gone! The rest of the tire was perfect. But that inside 1 to 1-1/2" of tread was completely down to the steel belt. A quick look at the tire and I might not have noticed the defect. If I had taken off with that situation who know what would have happened.

Batteries are also very important - check the fluid level regularly.

We have a '92 - the things that have needed attention over the years are: circuit board for the fridge, electronic ignitor for the water heater, batteries, tires.

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by seaotter

2air', thanks for the advice. i checked this rig out with both dealers and a local hitch place, we're ok.

hello again seaotter...

i'm not a nissan basher...

the armada/titan are fine rigs and great for towing within limits...

the qx56 has the same specs as the armada correct?

gcwr is........................14,600-14,800 lbs
MAX tongue load is........910lbs with w/d gear

curb weight is...............5,400-5,700 lbs for the infinity
which leaves.................9,000 lbs for towing IF the qx56 is EMPTY and without a hitch

a 30classic s/o is listed with a tongue weight of 1,050 lbs

that doesn't include options, water, lpgas

while the ubw for the 30s/o is 7900lbs again thats with out fluids, lpgas or options....and ZERO personal gear...

don't interpret my post as picking on you or your equipment but 'ok' isn't enough info really is it?

and i'm only concerned for your safety on the roads...

how did all the sales people explain away the fact that the tongue weigh IS more than the rating?

do you know the tire ratings? or rear axle rating? this info is on the door pillar...

i'll assume nothing has been weighed and you are relying on published data..

but the published data suggests you are over the limits

tell us more!

like others i hope you have many years of happy airstreaming...
cheers
2air'

[nvestysly]

seaotter,

2air is on the right track. It is necesary to weigh the tongue, weigh the axles if necessary and really evaluate your tow vehicle capability. I know your Infiniti is a big vehicle - somebody I know at work has one. However, size and towing capability are not the same thing.

Be sure to weigh the tongue yourself. Your AS owners manual will tell you how to do this. Double-check the ratings of your tow vehicle. If everything is truly OK you will have the peace of mind knowing you understand the ratings.

Don't simply trust the salesman/installer to say everything is OK. Over the years I've come across many people who simply want to sell you something and move on. They use any amount of double-speak to convince you what they are saying is true. Don't take their word for it. It's your safety - not theirs.

I have only towed one trailer - our 29' Excella. And, I've only used one tow vehicle - our '96 C2500 Suburban. We also have a W/D (twin-cam weight distribution) hitch. I cannot imagine pulling a trailer of this size (anything 25' or more) with anything less than a long wheelbase, heavy duty (3/4 ton) vehicle and a W/D hitch. I guess I'm old school but I find it hard to believe that some of the newer "full-size" vehicles are really suitable to the towing demands of a fully loaded trailer.

Safe Travels, Lucius

[CanoeStream]

Hello seaotter -- Welcome (ulp!) to the Forums. Congratulations on your great new Airstream. See this link and read Jack Canavera's comments on slideout maintenance. I knew he'd commented on these issues before and found it easily by using advanced search with 'slideout' as a keyword and entering jcanavera in the User Name field.

You should be very happy with your Classic and it will truly outlast many, many tow vehicles. The Infiniti QX56, Nissan Titan and Nissan Armada are relative badgemates because they share the same base chassis & drivetrain. I was the original Nissan Titan owner on these boards -- the interior styling and drivetrain power were winners. The advertised tow capacity seems huge (as is the 8900# limit for the QX56). I had to sell it because it would not let me travel the way I wanted with my 2006 25' Safari. My loaded Safari hitch weight was just under 1000# and I hit the GVWR of the top trim level 4WD Titan when hitched up and with just two adults and 100# of dogs aboard.

You've got two things working against the QX56 -- nearly the heaviest possible tongue weight in an Airstream and low payload capacity in the QX56 (if I can use a slightly different snapshot compared to 2air's broader reaching post above). Only the 34' SO model has more hitch weight. The 30 SO hitch weight is 1050# on the Airstream website and that is before installing weight distribution gear & filling the LP tanks up front. With these items and a minimum of personal stores on the trailer I would take bets that your hitch weight would exceed 1250# -- and it could easily be 100-plus pounds more! Only by weighing it will you know for sure ... a different topic that doesn't change the current equation.

Your owner's manual towing section and your doorpost capacity label will help you figure some of this out. The Infiniti website doesn't give a lot of info (true with a lot of fancier SUVs). Edmunds lists a load capacity of 1591# (the difference between GVWR and empty curb weight). Your trim level and 2WD vs. 4WD may give slightly different numbers. But if I subtract 1250# hitch weight load from this 1591#, that leaves just 341 pounds for all remaining payload in the QX56. Against this payload you must add up all vehicle options & aftermarket add-ons, driver, passengers, fuel, pets and cargo. This isn't just slim -- it's not at all practical. In order of priorities the problems become personal/family safety, emergency avoidance or braking, and tow vehicle durability. My experience was that the drivetrain would be fully up to the task -- but that doesn't hold water when it comes to exceeding tow vehicle specs in other areas. And probably no RV dealer in existence would refuse to sell with such a bulky appearing tow vehicle in your hands.

By comparison a 4WD 3/4-ton Suburban has 2273# of payload allowance (2561# for 2WD). A 3/4-ton GMC Sierra Crew Cab has 3100-3600# payload. Jack Canavera is very happy pulling with a 3/4-ton passenger van. Of course, I too would rather live in the Infiniti.

Another long discussion on the Nissan Armada is here. In my opinion these fine vehicles begin going over specs by the time a new (heavier) 25-footer or 28-footer is in tow. Keep your loads very, very light and please work on where you go with these issues.

[loft47]

wow. thanks to everyone for all of the great advice on towing capacity, it's really appreciated. after talking to a nissan service manager that i have known for quite a few years i think we will stay with the setup we have for the time being. for the type of travel we plan for the next couple of years it should be fine. again, thanks to all for the assistance offered.

[ALANSD]

It sounds like a good idea. Hope you enjoy your Airstream and your choice of tow vehicle!

[loft47]

Originally Posted by myoung

Mike & Roxy,

I'll be curious to hear your experiences towing with the Infinity. We had to step down from a Safari 28 SO because it would be too much to tow with our Durango, which has towing capacities slightly less than your Infinity apparently. The Classic 30 SO must weigh even more than the 28, I should think. Be safe.

mike and rosemary, well, so far all is very well on our short trips. in city traffic and on the road it has towed very well. the infinity has towed it very nicely. most serious challenge was a short trip that went from sea level to 4,000 feet. handled the hills very smoothly.