Two Airstream rollovers in a month

[dkottum]

Give me a break.

We bought our Ram 1500 for its safe and controllable handling in emergency maneuvers with and without the Airstream attached, more than adequate braking ability, excellent towing stability (which is a matter of hitch setup, suspension, and tires, not size), very comfortable ride, easy daily driving and maneuvering, and less top heavy making it less likely to roll over and less likely to crush the cab and injure us if it does. It's also less rolling mass to stop quickly when you have to.

If you must travel heavy then you must have a heavy duty truck. Unfortunate choice if overall safety is the concern. If you can manage your gear and weights you can travel and daily drive a variety of light duty trucks, vans, and SUVs that are better suited for the safety and well-being of the passengers as well as others on the roadway.

[boondockdad]

at risk of hijacking/trolling this thread...
Andy, I'd love to see CAT slips on your rig.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Oh my....well, at least it's my 'unfortunate choice'.

Bob

[Moflash]

Originally Posted by dkottum

Give me a break.

We bought our Ram 1500 for its safe and controllable handling in emergency maneuvers with and without the Airstream attached, more than adequate braking ability, excellent towing stability (which is a matter of hitch setup, suspension, and tires, not size), very comfortable ride, easy daily driving and maneuvering, and less top heavy making it less likely to roll over and less likely to crush the cab and injure us if it does. It's also less rolling mass to stop quickly when you have to.

If you must travel heavy then you must have a heavy duty truck. Unfortunate choice if overall safety is the concern. If you can manage your gear and weights you can travel and daily drive a variety of light duty trucks, vans, and SUVs that are better suited for the safety and well-being of the passengers as well as others on the roadway.

Who recommended a short box regular cab 2wd 1/2 ton for your application?I just can't imagine some one recommending this for a 25ft Airstream TV.


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[jcl]

Originally Posted by Glenritas

jcl ,

The letters CGVWR mean Combined Gross Vehicle Weight Rating .

That means the weight of the 2008 Honda Odyssey and the 34' Airstream in this case can not exceed 8,410# according to the 2008 Honda Odyssey owners manual .
Unfortunately Andy's rig weighs 13,000# and that my friend is 4,590 # heavier then the CGVWR or about the same as the unladen weight of another 2008 Honda Odyssey .

What part of this don't you and Andy understand.

I can't speak for Andy, but I understand just fine what Honda means. They are using the term to define a tow rating. I don't know where you get the term CGVWR, since you quoted the Honda owner's manual as your reference, and that manual calls it GCWR. The term is commonly used for commercial vehicles which require licensing for the combined tow vehicle and trailer weights. It is another way of stating the tow rating, one that easily allows a manufacturer to reduce the tow rating by the effect of payload in the tow vehicle.

You still haven't answered the original question in response to a claim you posted some time back:

On this side of the US boarder (sic) it is unlawful to exceed the tow rating and will get the lawyers involved in case of an collision

We all agreed that GVWR, axle ratings, and tire ratings have legal significance. It appears we are still waiting for the reference that in the US, a tow rating (or a combined vehicle weight rating, effectively the same thing) has legal significance for non commercial vehicles. Perhaps your republic regulates tow ratings, I don't know. But it seems a stretch to claim that such a law applies to all of the US.

Out of interest I did look up the California motor vehicle laws. I found a reference to non commercial towing for RV trailers over a certain weight. The requirement was that the tow vehicle weigh at least 4000 lbs. So there is one legal requirement.

Cheers

Jeff

[Glenritas]

Jeff there are 50 states on this side of the us border. All have laws and regulations as do all your Canadian Provinces .

I am not going to search through any of them for you.

Bottom line is Andy's rig is way beyond the factory specs . See pages 396 - 408 in the 2008 Honda Odyssey owners manual regarding towing http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/p...8/HJ0808OM.pdf

That will contribute to Andy's down fall as a defendant in a civil or criminal case. Believe me when I say the lawyers will have a field day. They will look at every law , search the internet and any other resource they have up their sleeve.

At this point I'm done . My Point has been made deal with it.

[leedav]

Thanks all again for this thread. It motivated me to research all the capabilities and options of my tow vehicle. I'm pleased to be well guard-banded but will still be even more careful.

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by Moflash

Who recommended a short box regular cab 2wd 1/2 ton for your application?I just can't imagine some one recommending this for a 25ft Airstream TV.


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

I use a short bed regular cab truck to tow my 31 footer, I am perfectly comfortable driving at highway speeds and even with one hand most of the time.

It stops, it goes, it handles, and it steers,,,,, really well thank you very much....

[timhortons]

Originally Posted by Glenritas

Jeff there are 50 states on this side of the us border. All have laws and regulations as do all your Canadian Provinces .

I am not going to search through any of them for you.

Bottom line is Andy's rig is way beyond the factory specs . See pages 396 - 408 in the 2008 Honda Odyssey owners manual regarding towing http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/p...8/HJ0808OM.pdf

That will contribute to Andy's down fall as a defendant in a civil or criminal case. Believe me when I say the lawyers will have a field day. They will look at every law , search the internet and any other resource they have up their sleeve.

At this point I'm done . My Point has been made deal with it.

CAN-AM has been around for about 50 Years. If I was a betting man, I'd put it on you flipping and rolling your tow config long before their "downfall". Is there a double minivan rollover thread I haven't seen on here ?

[timhortons]

A lot of comments of TV brakes here, engine braking and the like. But if the problem is the trailer running you over when you stop/jackknifing/spinning you out,sway and roll, shouldn't the focus be on keeping a extreme close eye on the life/health of your trailer brakes ?

Probably anti sway braking control in the trailer itself should be standard in the industry rather than a $500 module also.

[Hittenstiehl]

Alright Already,,,, really? Is there anything of value being added here (anymore). Now it's digressed to betting on rolling minivans (and other like comments).

Does a teacher need to step into the playground and say play nice.

Come on, we are the people we sit down with at Potluck's.

[John&Vicki]

Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl

Alright Already,,,, really? Is there anything of value being added here (anymore). Now it's digressed to betting on rolling minivans (and other like comments).

Does a teacher need to step into the playground and say play nice.

Come on, we are the people we sit down with at Potluck's.

I'm still fairly new here - two years - but it's depressing how so many threads degenerate into religious diatribe regarding Big Truck vs, Everything Else and Hensley/ProPrides vs. Everything Else.

Here is what I have learned here: you and your loved ones will die or at best be maimed and sued to bankruptcy unless you are equipped as follows:

• Big Truck as TV
• Hensley or ProPride Hitch
• Centramatics
• TPMS
• 16" wheels with Michelins on trailer
• Exact perfect tire pressure (as yet undetermined)

And don't let those crazy Canadians tell you otherwise - they seem to have some prejudice against 'Merican Big Trucks.

Cheers,
John

[timhortons]

Originally Posted by John&Vicki

I'm still fairly new here - two years - but it's depressing how so many threads degenerate into religious diatribe regarding Big Truck vs, Everything Else and Hensley/ProPrides vs. Everything Else.

Here is what I have learned here: you and your loved ones will die or at best be maimed and sued to bankruptcy unless you are equipped as follows:

• Big Truck as TV
• Hensley or ProPride Hitch
• Centramatics
• TPMS
• 16" wheels with Michelins on trailer
• Exact perfect tire pressure (as yet undetermined)

And don't let those crazy Canadians tell you otherwise - they seem to have some prejudice against 'Merican Big Trucks.

Cheers,
John

<satire>That's because the best thing you can do for tow safety is make your vehicle as heavy as possible, use a simple rear suspension, on giant knobby offroad tires with a squishy ride, add a 350 HP engine to rapidly advance past the speed limit, ignore all weight distribution issues and bolt on the product with the most aggressive marketing, insulate the driver from all resulting noise, and put the cabin 3ft higher in the air. </satire>

2 blocky SUV rollovers in 1 month should be something to make the Truck AND SUV* drivers pause before the minivan and finally the car people get worried. Especially since the most popular mod for pickup trucks seems to be adding a sort of cabin cover to the bed with windows and turn the truck back into a SUV.

* I have an SUV.

Aloha

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by jcl

I can't speak for Andy, but I understand just fine what Honda means. They are using the term to define a tow rating. I don't know where you get the term CGVWR, since you quoted the Honda owner's manual as your reference, and that manual calls it GCWR. The term is commonly used for commercial vehicles which require licensing for the combined tow vehicle and trailer weights. It is another way of stating the tow rating, one that easily allows a manufacturer to reduce the tow rating by the effect of payload in the tow vehicle.

You still haven't answered the original question in response to a claim you posted some time back:

We all agreed that GVWR, axle ratings, and tire ratings have legal significance. It appears we are still waiting for the reference that in the US, a tow rating (or a combined vehicle weight rating, effectively the same thing) has legal significance for non commercial vehicles. Perhaps your republic regulates tow ratings, I don't know. But it seems a stretch to claim that such a law applies to all of the US.

Out of interest I did look up the California motor vehicle laws. I found a reference to non commercial towing for RV trailers over a certain weight. The requirement was that the tow vehicle weigh at least 4000 lbs. So there is one legal requirement.

Cheers

Jeff

Pretty much EVERYTHING weighs more than 4K these days.

In case a person hasn't noticed, all new cars are pretty much BRICKS.

[J. Morgan]

You know what?

Andy and CanAm could be real assets to this forum if they didn't catch such a rash of crap all the time.

People that don't feel the need to have a heavy duty one ton might even actually benefit from their REAL WORLD experience.

So why don't all of the book-smart people just do us a favor and back off?

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by John&Vicki

I'm still fairly new here - two years - but it's depressing how so many threads degenerate into religious diatribe regarding Big Truck vs, Everything Else and Hensley/ProPrides vs. Everything Else.

Here is what I have learned here: you and your loved ones will die or at best be maimed and sued to bankruptcy unless you are equipped as follows:

• Big Truck as TV
• Hensley or ProPride Hitch
• Centramatics
• TPMS
• 16" wheels with Michelins on trailer
• Exact perfect tire pressure (as yet undetermined)

And don't let those crazy Canadians tell you otherwise - they seem to have some prejudice against 'Merican Big Trucks.

Cheers,
John

It's funny, you pretty much nailed our setup. However I don't feel it is necessary or the only solution. It just happens to fit my fancy and the way I like to travel. There are many solutions that work for many different people. What is necessary to have more harmony is for each of us to realize there is no holy grail and each user's needs, comfort levels, interests, and tastes are unique and it doesn't really matter if they don't match our own. Take my word for it that you all will feel much less tense if you adopt that attitude.

Ken

[switz]

Tuson is working on a trailer side brake control to stop sway.

http://www.direclink.com/Sway%20Cont...Guide%204C.pdf

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by switz

Tuson is working on a trailer side brake control to stop sway.

http://www.direclink.com/Sway%20Cont...Guide%204C.pdf

Thanks for the link. It looks like a great idea.

Ken

[slowmover]

It's been reviewed in its own thread. A no brainer to have

[John&Vicki]

Originally Posted by switz

Tuson is working on a trailer side brake control to stop sway.

http://www.direclink.com/Sway%20Cont...Guide%204C.pdf

That is the best write-up on sway that I have ever read. Thanks for the link! A friend just towed a new Airstream home today and I just forwarded it to him.

Cheers,
John