Bambi Quick Silver Axle upgrade.
We just returned from Jackson Center with an upgrade to 4300lb axles and 15' wheels and tires. I got the idea from "Ijmii" (one of our forum members) after experiencing a blowout during a trip to New England area this past August. With help from "Ijmii" I contacted Chris Burch, Service Writer at the Airstream Plant and scheduled the upgrade. The price has gone up a bit as the total cost was $2,000 for the axles, alloy wheels (steel spare) and new ST 225 70 15 R load range D tires. They also trimmed about an inch from the bottom rear of the wheel openings for clearance. All other areas have more than enought clearance for the 15" wheels. The work only took the better part of a day so we took the 2pm tour of the plant, very interesting. They have just upped production to approximately 37 units a month and run about 300 unit backlog to dealers. The plant has three RV parking rings each holding 8 units for those visiting or having work done at the plant. While your rig is being worked on, overnights are free, otherwise it's $10 a night. Finally, for Quick Silver owners the 2k expense should be judged as a fairly good investment considering the original cost of the unit. I tow with a half ton pickup and the one thing I noticed is less bounce from the trailer on due to the heavier axles. Also the larger wheels have bigger drum brakes and it is noticeable as I had to lower the setting on our brake controller. I really don't see the need for disk brakes on this small unit but that's another subject. In a little over a year since we bought the trailer we have a six week 8k mile trip plus another 55 days prior and 6k miles and now anther 2 week trip to Jackson center and a round about trip home for 2.5k miles. Love our QS.
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