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sheriff1 · 03-21-2016, 05:24 PM

Great pictures! Personally, I would always leave the wheel/tire on I the axle I was not working on while under the RV. I had a mate killed when a jack failed and he was under the car (a professional mechanic no less!) and have naturally been ultra cautious since.

2015 F350 CC 4X4 6.7 Diesel
2010 27FB Silver Cloud "The Silver Spoon"

explore more · 03-25-2016, 10:19 AM

I'm halfway done installing my lift blocks. It's going pretty well, but with my configuration, the blocks have to be run backwards, with the "opening" of the block facing in, towards the centerline of the Airstream (just like jwgilesjr's pics above).

Due to the placement of my freshwater tank, that meant I couldn't get a wrench on two of my bolts. I imagine it was possible, but it was NOT easy. So I decided to weld some tabs to them to keep them from spinning. Kinda like this, only a lot uglier.

To be honest, if half the bolts and half the nuts in the kit came with this setup, it'd save a lot of time, as there's not a ton of room in there to work.

Sorry about the lack of pics, it got dark. I'll take more pics tonight, and the video will be up in the next week or two.

Overall, I'm more impressed with the kit than I thought I'd be. 3" inches is more lift than you'd expect, and this should be perfect for my needs.

I'm thinking I'll probably have to get an alignment on the trailer after this, since there's room for adjustment. Has anyone else had an alignment on their trailer before?

featherbedder · 03-25-2016, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

A lift kit is OK to use. Or, you can simply add some 2 inch wide channel steel, of a variety of different dimensions depending on what you need to have.

Casters are an ABSOLUTE NO NO.

The casters will roll, no problem, BUT, when they do, they in turn will lift the rear end, IMPROPERLY, which will damage the rear quarter panels, guaranteed.

Keep in mind that while the lift kit will raise the trailer shell, it in turn will not increase the ground clearance at the axle tubes.

Andy

I def. agree with Andy about damage to rear quarter panel. I do not have rollers but drug rt. rear entering gas station and canned rt. rear corner, luckily only winkled skin no damage to frame, caulked wrinkle above rub rail so far so good.

jwgilesjr · 03-26-2016, 01:32 AM

Explore More, welding the tabs on the bolts is a good idea. I had difficulty with the freshwater tank being in the way on the front axle as well, but I was finally able to get the box end of the wrench on the bolt to allow me to torque it using a socket from below.

Looking forward to the pics.

jwgilesjr · 03-26-2016, 01:48 AM

sheriff1, sorry to hear about your friend. This was my first time jacking up the trailer and I don't think I would do it the same again.

I left the rear tires mounted while installing the spacer on the front axle, but realized I hadn't jacked the trailer up high enough to remount the tires on the front axle after the spacer was installed. Rather than raise the height at that point, I elected to go ahead and install the rear spacers and raise the height once I was ready to remount the tires on both axles.

switz · 03-27-2016, 08:15 AM

When I did the tire swap on the 25FB in a storage unit, I worked on one side at a time. I took one wheel off and installed the steel wheel spare and then removed the second wheel and took them to CostCo for the swap. The jack stand was supporting the trailer and the spare was there just in case. I replaced them in the same manner and did the other side the same way. The third trip took care of the spare.

When doing things like this alone, I try to keep safety paramount as I have read too many unfortunate stores when common sense is ignored.

explore more · 03-27-2016, 01:04 PM

I didn't want to put the entire weight of the trailer on an axle that was rated for half that weight, so I used jackstands under both sides of the frame. I had the hydraulic jack under there as a secondary safety, but I felt quite safe the entire time. Just make sure your jack stands and jack are rated for the weight of the trailer.

featherbedder · 03-27-2016, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by explore more

I didn't want to put the entire weight of the trailer on an axle that was rated for half that weight, so I used jackstands under both sides of the frame. I had the hydraulic jack under there as a secondary safety, but I felt quite safe the entire time. Just make sure your jack stands and jack are rated for the weight of the trailer.

Tandem axle AS can be towed with one wheel off when tire is flat for short distance, so won't damage installing lift kit. The trailer is not moving and bouncing like on road, besides I don't trust any jack stands etc. I pull one wheel on ramp of boards, either one side or both to do what I work on, with axle on ground and blocked it's not in danger of falling or worry of possible damage to frame when jacking.

explore more · 03-29-2016, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by featherbedder

Tandem axle AS can be towed with one wheel off when tire is flat for short distance, so won't damage installing lift kit. The trailer is not moving and bouncing like on road, besides I don't trust any jack stands etc. I pull one wheel on ramp of boards, either one side or both to do what I work on, with axle on ground and blocked it's not in danger of falling or worry of possible damage to frame when jacking.

I know the old ones could do this, can the new ones do this too? Of so, that's fantastic news

explore more · 03-29-2016, 08:38 AM

Here's my install video. Hopefully it helps, since Airstream installs vary from the instructions a bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsdv...O9nvVL&index=8

featherbedder · 03-29-2016, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by explore more

I know the old ones could do this, can the new ones do this too? Of so, that's fantastic news

Why not the axles are same as previous years.

explore more · 03-29-2016, 12:30 PM

The axles are the same, but the trailers have gotten a lot heavier.

I'm new to airstreams, so my assumptions may be way off. I actually hope my airstream can handle running with 3 wheels for a while.

I'm also not sure how axles are rated. I would assume a 5000lb axle would be rated to hold 2500lb per wheel.

So take a 8880 lb trailer. Let's split the weight down the middle, for 4440lb per side (for simplicity's sake).

Now let's say you remove one of the curb-side wheels. The road-side would have 4440 lbs on (2) axles rated at 2500lbs each,so it'd be fine.

The curb-side would have 4440 lbs on an axle rated at 2500 lbs. I imagine that would wreak havoc on the rubber dowels, and possible the spindle of the axle.

I could be wrong though, I'm just trying to think of it logically.

To be honest, I'm hoping my "logic" proves wrong, and we find out it's still kosher to run with 3 wheels for a bit without doing damage, as that would really open a lot of options in a blowout or flat tire situation.

explore more · 03-29-2016, 12:43 PM

Here's one more video of the pros and cons of lifting your trailer (according to me). Common sense for a lot of people, but a lot of our viewers haven't ever considered lifting their trailer. This may help some newer users make a decision. Plus it's quite relevant to this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4s7...O9nvVL&index=8

**Action** · 03-29-2016, 12:59 PM

I am pretty sure nothing on a trailer running gear is even from side to side or front to back. explore more, you might want to weight your trailer at each tire individually to find out how uneven your current set up may be.

In the event a tire/wheel assembly was not functioning on a dual axle trailer traveling a short distance and extremely limiting speed would be needed to protect the 3 remaining tires and wheels. (Assuming a spare tire change was not possible immediately)

>>>>>>>>>>>Action

explore more · 03-29-2016, 10:49 PM

one person commented on the YouTube video asking if I weakened the grade 8 bolts by welding to them. I looked it up, and sure enough, welding to a grade 8 is a no-no. I torqued it down to spec, and it's holding, but now I'm thinking it'd be a good idea to replace these with fresh grade 8's and find some other way to keep the bolt head from spinning. Any ideas?

rmkrum · 03-29-2016, 10:57 PM

Try a steel wedge driven in hard with a hammer into the space between the head of the bolt and the lift block sides? I can see that welding to a hardened bolt could degrade it because of heat.

Or cut off a cheap box end wrench, tape it in place, and leave it in there. Worth the few bucks it would cost.

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explore more · 03-29-2016, 11:24 PM

I've thought about cutting up a few 15/16" wrenches. I'm digging these:

http://www.stage8.com/amc.html

Since I only welded to part of the hex head, I wonder if I weakened the "core" of the bolt, or just the area I welded. They're BIG bolts, and the heads never got red-hot, but I still want to make sure I'm safe and not putting others in danger when I'm on the road.

rmkrum · 03-29-2016, 11:46 PM

Those bolts with the lock ears might be an even better idea. Nothing to rattle around much or fall off. If they are cheaper than a wrench from harbor freight why not try them, assuming you can get them in.

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BoldAdventure · 03-30-2016, 08:31 AM

Locking Header Bolts are nice, but I doubt you'll find the appropriate size. You could just switch to grade 10 with tabs and make up the difference.

explore more · 03-30-2016, 09:12 AM

I like how post #1 has the tabs on the 4 bolts already. That would have been really handy.

The markings on the bolt heads indicate that they're something other than grade 8. I'll need to do some more digging to find out what they are.