An Eclectic Group of Airstreams

[Andrew T]

We took a trip with some friends last week along the north shore of the St Laurence river to Tadoussac Quebec for some amazing whale watching. It is beautiful country with great twisty roads with 10-19% grades.

This group of Airstreams and tow vehicles sure attracted a lot of attention every time you turned around someone else was taking pictures. I said not only were we visiting tourist attractions we were one.

Andrew T

[moosetags]

Great photos!

[Cantrell]

Those are great photos but I am more fascinated by the fact that you are pulling 34' Airstreams through 10-19% grades with a Chrysler minivan and a Jaguar!!

[BradS]

Now I feel like Im guilty of over kill. I drive a 1ton Dodge and I pull a 22' CCD. I can say the truck never leaves overdrive, its like the trailer isn,t there. I dont know if I would want to see that in person

[TomR]

Andrew...great pictures!

Did you do the "set-up" on the Wrangler JK? If so...what did you do to the JK and what is it towing? What were the JK owner's tow observations? Hensley? Tom R in Two Harbors, MN

[Andrew T]

Hi Tom

Our friends with the Jeep have an tract of land up north that is pretty rough to get the Airstream into so they need a capable 4x4. We looked at a lot of possibilities but the Rubicon speced out quite well the 4 door version has a very short overhang to wheel base ratio, good shocks and light truck tires, this one has a 3.8 Litre and 6 speed manual.

They tow a 2005 25' International. We reinforced the Jeep hitch so that we would get good weight transfer. The hitch is a 1000 lb. Eaz-lift with friction sway controls. It is a very stable combination that will go anywhere. What surprizes me most about it is that it got a tiny bit better mileage than the Town & Country did towing the 34. I am sure the manual transmission helps with this. An other interesting thing about the manual transmission is that after going down a long 18% grade the brake temps on the Jeep were as cool as the much larger brakes on the Jag. The 25' Airstream's brakes were 35 degrees cooler than the other units. The 25' is about 2800 lbs. lighter but it only has 4 brakes so the I think the Jeep was doing a much better job of engine braking thanks to the manual tranny.

Andrew T

[HiHoAgRV]

Big time impressive!

[mutcth]

Andy, I know you told me about your trip, but seeing the pics of the XJ towing that big trailer - sweet!

Tom

[rluhr]

Hey, next time tell me about the trip before you go! Looks like it was great fun.

[bolerama]

Great pics....at first I thought the Jag was sitting in front of an unhitched AS as a joke...but it really was attached! What a head-turning convoy!

What kind of mirrors do you recommend? Many of the mirrors in the pics look like they are attached to the door. We tow our 23' CCD with a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Everything is great except we can't see much with the tow mirrors because the Jeep is so narrow. We want better tow mirrors than the slip-ons we have.

Thanks in advance,
Lisa

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, I have been up and down many mountains, but I think 10% was the steepest. This was in Montana and had very sharp turns with speed limits of 20 to 25 MPH. [trans manually in first gear] I don't think my Lincoln could pull a 19% grade. Are the grades rated different in Canada? I think 19% means 19' difference in elevation per 100 feet in length. Do I have this right? How did all these set-ups make it up these grades, First gear with 4:88 ring and pinion? I need to know before we make our trip to Canada.

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

.. Are the grades rated different in Canada? ...

It's a metric conversion...

[82 34Limited]

Wow, I'm so impressed with those tow vehicles. I tow my 34 foot AS with a 3/4 ton diesel Ford 250. The Jag would be a much nicer ride. Would love to know more about that,even the Chrysler van, I thought could only tow a hybrid or ultra lite. I guess my bad.
Tim

[Andrew T]

If you look closely you can see the mirrors on the Van in one shot and the Jag in another. They are McKesh and they work well on Grand Cherokee's.

18% grades are actually quite common on side roads in the east from North Carolina right through to the Maritimes. However unlike Montana the air is usually denser with high humidity so cooling brakes and engines in much easier. As well you are rarely very far from sea level so you have more power. Though the grades are steep you rarely find one more than a mile long and most are less than that.

The Navigator will have no problems with a 25' Airstream. You will get well aquainted with low gear both going up and coming down the important thing is to keep the revs in the engines powerband about 3500 RPM on the 5.4. At these higher rpms everything actually runs cooler than lugging up the hill at 2000 RPM.

The other fun thing you will find is that there is often a small town with a stop sign at the bottom of the hill. You usually have a few hundred feet and then you start climbing. The technique is to get rolling slightly and then mat it so you build your revs on the level before you start climbing. You can start on a steep grade but it takes a long time to build into the rev range.

The new Town & Country, Dodge Caravan and VW Routan all have available the same 24 valve 4.0 Litre V/6 a 6 speed automatic. It has a nice wide powerband which combined with the 6 speeds always gives you the right ratio. It is geared quite low so the 10-12% grades were climbed in second gear and the 18% were climbed at partial throttle in low gear. Highway driving is done in 5th with fourth and third available for moderate to steep climbs still at highway speed. A very nice drivetrain we have equiped about 30 so far.

Andy

Andy

[BlackRubi]

Okay, okay... So now my mental gears are spinning - I'm a Jeep guy too (TJ, Rubi) and am enamored by the idea of a set-up that would allow me to use the Rubi to tow with.

What did you guys do with the hitch reinforcements? Did you have to add an external trans cooler to compensate for the grades?

All the best -

[Andrew T]

To strengthen the hitch we add 2.5" 3/16" wall tube from the front side of the existing hitch to a large cross member that is just behind the axle. This tube then transmits the torque from the torsion bars forward.

The TJ is a much shorter wheelbase that the 4door so it is not as stable. Still the overhang is very short which helps a great deal we have made them work in the past and they actually work much better than you might think.

If you have raised yours higher than stock or put on larger tires then you won't be able to use it. If your spare is on the back you will need to take it off when you are towing as you will want the ball very close to the back bumper. The best way to do this is with a welded ball mount which allow you to keep the overhang to an absolute minimum. In "tow vehicle confessional" there are some pictures of welded ball mounts.

Andy

[BlackRubi]

Andy -

Thanks much for the reply! Cool approach to shift the torque...

I'm definitely above stock height so alas, my delusions of grandeur have been properly put back in check.

best -

[bolerama]

Hi Andy,
I'll be in the Niagara Region in a week. I'm going to try to get to London to get those mirrors. I checked them out on your website. We just got back from our fall camping trip in Southern Saskatchewan where all the wind turbines are...and one of our clip-on mirrors got blown off and smashed on the highway. Now we really need mirrors! I hope I can make it to London because I also want to see your dealership.

Lisa

[dukester]

Wow... great pics. The Jag is especially impressive. I'm thinking that old bicycle logo might just be worth trying....

[Andrew T]

Hi Lisa

That will be great We will be happy to show you around. If you like we can tweak your equalizing hitch set up as well. I think you will find your combination is more stable and rides better afterwards.

Andrew T