Airstream Lean

[72 Excella500]

In 2002 I replaced the axles on my 1972 Excella 31 ft due to the old ones had sagged and when I jacked it up the wheels would not drop down. I bought the axles from Henshen. Before I installed these the coach had a lean to the curbside and I figured the axle replacement would solve it. The new axles lifted the coach up about 2 inches but it still has the lean. It is about a 1inch difference between the sides. I checked the mounting hole locations and the amount of the torsion axle drop they are both the same. I was wondering is this something normal or is there something else that I am over looking. Thanks in advance

[uwe]

Maybe frame sag? Is the trailer loaded evenly? Did you check it on a flat surface?
If it's frame sag, then you could tell by standing on te bumper and rocking up and down, watching the gap between the bumper cover strip and the lowest rubrail. if there is a lot of mocvement, then you might have frame separation problems.
My trailer is not perfectly even, but it's more like 1/2 in loaded.

[72 Excella500]

I checked it for that. I looks like one of the past owners had the frame strenghtened. Both sides have 1/4 steel welded inside the frame rails from the axles all the way to the back. The shell is stright I cannot see any frame buckling. The repair has been done on the back corners of the shell. You mentioned yours leans. What side does it lean to?

[uwe]

Mine leans to the curb side, ever so slightly. I noticed while setting up my weight distributing hitch on my relatively straight warehouse floor.
I measured before and after, and noticed the discrepancy.
None of my vehicles are perfectly straight eiher, by the way.
Well my Dodge van actually was straight, but it's sold now.

[72 Excella500]

Thanks UWE. Maybe its just normal. It leans the same loaded or unloaded. I thought about dropping the axles and welding in new structure and lowering the axles 1.5 inches on the curbside, but I don't know if I want to go through the hassle.

[dscluchfc]

My 1984 31" Excella leans curbside at least an inch.

The curbside has the stove, sinks and associated cabnets, furnace, bath, and water heater..

The street side has 6 feet of empty closet, the pantry cabinetry, the empty frig, and an empty credenza.

Therefore, I think my lean has something to do with unequal weight distribution when it is not loaded with clothes and groceries....but that is just a guess.

[Inland RV Center, In]

It is not unusaul to see an Airstream trailer lean to one side, to some degree.

We are all familiar with "weight and balance," as far as tongue weight is concerned.

However, side to side weight balance has never been a major issue with respect to towing capability.

That being the case, checking the trailer when it's empty will typically be misleading.

Check the trailer when it is loaded for travel. That usually levels out the trailer.

However, especially with 1974 and older trailers, the rubber rods in the axles could have deteriorated more so on one side than the other. There is no logical explaination for that set of circumstances, but it does and has happened.

Adding a shim to one side would cause the axle mounting plate on that side to carry the load, instead of the load being carried by the frame as well.

Andy

[overlander63]

My single-axle Argosy has a lean to the streetside of about 3/4". It had a lean to streetside of 1 1/2" before I replaced the axle.
I have the luxury of having a single- wheel portable scale, and the streetside is about 250# more than curbside.
Maybe you could do the same just to check.
Terry

[72 Excella500]

Thank you all for your input. I will live with the lean.