At $900 the glow of a neat idea gets dimmed some. It would be nice to see some evidence of effectiveness beyond advertising and testimonials. I could see where it would be great, but then I thought that about all those backup cameras the forums was abuzz with last winter......
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Rodney
The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.- Mark Twain
At $900 the glow of a neat idea gets dimmed some. It would be nice to see some evidence of effectiveness beyond advertising and testimonials. I could see where it would be great, but then I thought that about all those backup cameras the forums was abuzz with last winter......
Not to hijack Randy's thread, but you mentioned back-up cameras. I am currently testing a high quality wireless camera unit that accepts up to 4 cameras, is full color, has a great picture quality, a wireless range in excess of 100' and has audio at the camera also. I just got my test unit from the manufacturer a few days before I left OR, and have used it 3 times to hook up. Went right on the ball each time! A nice, compact unit that seems to really work .......so far
I'll finish the testing when I get back to FL after the Balloon Fiesta and will file a full report with pictures at that time.........stay tuned!
2Air
Thanks If I can figure out how to post pic's I will do that. I bought about 10yrs ago It had been on a 24ft enclosed car trailer and thats why I bought it,I was gonna use it for the same thing,just never did. U-bolts I have are for 6"channel frame. I also found that the ball is 21/1/2 inches above the ground on my Monster truck and now I have to find a drop receiver,to make the top of the ball 18" to couple correctly with an airstream
Thanks 2AIR
Roger
I bought an AirSafe air ride hitch a couple of years ago after the board discussions about how stiff truck suspensions are not good for Airstreams (or actually any trailer). I remember Andy making the point the Airstreams today have more frame-and-body integrity problems than they used to have when they were pulled with boulevard-ride sedans. I used to pull my Airstream with a soft-ride Ford Custom 500. Today, I have a stiffly sprung F250. And I can tell you that I began to loose rivits with the stiffer-riding truck and experienced some interior-wall cracking in two places.
Well, I bought a Class V AirSafe hitch, use my weight transfer bars, and have confirmed that all the stuff the manufacturer says about them is true. My Airstream now thinks it's being pulled by my old sedan. It no longer feels the jerking and jarring of the stiff truck suspension. The AirSafe air ride hitch allows the trailer to flex on its own torsion bar suspension largely independent of what the truck is doing. I can push the hitch up-and-down by hand when it is hooked up to the truck, and the truck hardly moves while the trailer goes with the flow. Same thing happens on the road.
It is a great innovation for those who want to be kind to their trailer. And it also helps the operator as well, since the ride in the tow vehicle is helped by being allowed to take the bumps largely without interference from the trailer.
The Firestone airbags on which the hitch operates are inflatable up to 100 psi. My Airstream uses about 45 pounds. Each hitch weight would require more or less air. There are marks on the hitch which show when the proper amount of air is in the bags. It has a tire-type Schraeder valve for filling up or releasing air as needed.
Airstreamer67, thanks for the report. Well detailed feedback is a tremendous help for those of us on limited budgets trying to direct the money to where it will do the most good. The price of this hitch is within reach if I know it really does what it is supposed to.
It would be interesting to meter 1000 miles of towing without the hitch and 1000 with the hitch to determine the difference in transfered shock.....
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Rodney
The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.- Mark Twain
Well General, I have no way of actually measuring the effect, except observing the soft ride the trailer is now getting by watching the trailer sway independently to the beat of its own drum in the rear view mirror while my F250 does the same on those unmerciful Interstates.
I did a lot of rearview trailer watching on my first trip with the AirSafe hitch, a 5000-mile crosscountry journey, and I can confidently confirm the positive attributes claimed by the manufacturer.
The only downsides that I can think of are the price (nearly $1000 for the Class V), the weight you need to tote while putting it on and taking it off (heavy, but I can do it at age 64) and it does add some length to the hitch which theoretically can add to the effect of the trailer hitch weight on the tow vehicle (altough this effect is possibly negated by the use of the weight transfer bars, whose effect is correspondingly magnified by the extra length), and I've felt no problems related to this extra length. In fact, the only problem I experienced on the crosscountry trip was with the chain attachment of one of my weight transfer bars: a simple nut worked loose. As a result, I took off the bars early on my transcontinental trip intending to get a replacement part at a hardware store in the next town, but it felt so good I passed it by and finished the trip (about 4500 miles) without the bars and experienced no problems whatsoever. So, I waited until I got home to fix the transfer bar's chain attachment.
One little bonus concering the extra length of the hitch: I can now fully open the tailgate of my F250 for full access to the bed with the trailer hitched up.
As I said, me and my rig really appreciate the mellowing effect of our air hitch. I wish I would have had it when I first got my Airstream 21 years ago, but it hadn't been invented yet. But, better late than never, as my trailer likes to say.
Airstreamer 67
U mentioned watch'n that rearview mirror. U should be seeing almost as much rearward as U are forward. I hope U have spot mirrors also these are very improtant also in maneuvering and cornering. I have them built-in on our F350SD. I drove OTR 45 yrs I need my mirrors,most big rigs have at least 6 mirrors. GOOD Luck with your new Hitch,
Roger
Seems like every time I open a thread and read it my wish list gets longer. This one may move up pretty close to the front of the list, not sure where the $900 is going to come from though.
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Rodney
The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.- Mark Twain
I think these are a fantastic idea and from folks that have them that I've spoken with (about 3 people), swear by them. I think the only thing that has held me back is the steep price tag.
I myself can see how this could benefit a person even driving a 3/4 ton with around an 800lb hitch weight.
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Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq and millions of others are by far the most popular with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. -NY Times 1991
Used together that might be the ultimate but I'm still thinking there will be more benefit for the trailer with the Airsafe. I'm not sure, just thinking out loud and still studying.
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