Uwe,
As you know, I'll be at the California Streamers Fall Rally and I'll be using my Air Hitch to tow as I did this last weekend under heavy winds going and coming from Palm Springs..... No problemo! and smooth ride.
R/
Rick
__________________ "Better to have more then you need, then need more then you have because you don't have enough!" AIR #: 8129
I just replaced my 1500 Avalanche with a Dodge Ram 3500 (03). I have not even connected the AS. I measured the receiver heights on the old and new and the new is approx. 3" higher. The Avalanche would sage at least a couple inches and more with scooters or a motorcycle in the bed. I will normally have a couple bikes and misc. other gear (lots) when we travel. I am thinking my love for lots of gear will help to soften the stiff suspension but I am still concerned for the AS. I am also faced with spending 125.00 for a new draw bar and they are made in increments that look like I will fall about in the middle of for my needs. So I am thinking if the Air ride/safe is compatible with my Reese strait line hitch and it resolves issues with to stiff of a ride that it may be worth a try? Any comments or recommendations would be appreciated. Phil
2-air; Did you price them? I looked at the link and they look interesting but they don't have prices. Makes me think they must be high! What is your take on trailer protection compared to the Air Safe hitch?
If it works as advertised, then it would have been a godsend on CA freeways.
Concrete freeways with expansion joints that are equally spaced are a nightmare for towing a trailer. I got the worst trailer tongue hop while towing around greater Los Angeles. If my new Suburban does the same thing, then I am going to budget one of those airride hitches for 2008, for sure.
My hopes are that the coil spring suspension in my 07 will be more responsive to this problem, as opposed to the stiff leaf springs in my previous Suburban. I have not towed with the new truck yet, though.
I can truly say your roads around L.A. AND IN GENERAL THE HIGHWAYS AROUND CALIFORNIA, ESPECIALLY I-80 IN THE TRUCKEE PASS were terrible. I mean we used to think the Michign roads were bad. I was glad we had a new f150, the truck rides soft and the trailer was not getting beat up too bad, but still. We commented when we got home california in all the 7900 mile run by far the worst. Leaving again in january and not loking forward to it.
I just ordered one. I will let you guys know how it feels. (Airsafe hitch). I may not be a good judge considering I have not towed with this truck yet. Any way I figure it will be better to stat with it than to find out I needed it after the fact. Any body else in a similar boat with a 3500lb truck and a 77/31 AS or close?
Phil,
Good for you. To me it makes sense. I'm not selling them but as I search the hitches out there, what better concept could there be unless there is a blaring miscalculation I can't see, and that could be very true. What we have to weed through is opinion and steering committees. I'm a master of neither but I just like this hitch and want a reason not too. It may never marry a HA but why should it? Different animal with a different goal. What are the down sides please sombody?
Hi, maybe Safari-Rick will take some pictures of his new air hitch and show us what it looks like all hooked up and tell us of his experiences so far.
I would like to hear about this too-especially as it regards to freeway bounce. I'm thinking this has potential to break up the resonant frequency which seems to cause the porpoising. His trip to Palm Springs would be interesting to hear more about-especially the section on the right two lanes of the 10 eastbound just past the 60 merge. I get horrendous freeway bounce on about the first two miles after the merge.
Basically would like to hear his experiences with freeway bounce before and after the hitch.
I just received mine and had to get a longer drop. They sent it 2nd day air out of Washington. They seem nice to deal with and prompt shipping. I Will try and do a trial run in the next few days. I will let you know how it feels. Phil
Update; I just returned from the Can Opener. We did about 1600 miles. 1st trip with the Dodge dually. I had a motorcycle in the back and all of my abundant gear. The air-safe hitch seemed to do the job. I never towed with out it with this truck but I would say that the ride (in the truck) was soft and smooth more so than our 1500 Avalanche was. It may be the longer wheel base or partly because of the Air-safe hitch. I could actually see the trailer moving independently from the truck on bad roads or bumps. I can't say on a comparative basis how it works but I am pleased with how it seems to work. I feel that the heavy truck pulling the trailer has advantages in safety and stability. I like the idea of the dually having the extra traction and blowout forgiveness. So over all I am very happy with my elephant pulling the nat so to speak. I was getting approx. 14 MPG with approx. 65 miles per hour. The driving was relaxed and I was more confidant knowing if the stuff hit the fan in an emergency I would have the best chance maintaining control.
When you see the independent movement of the trailer in the rearview mirror, that means the air hitch is doing the job it's designed for. I noticed the same thing when I first got mine. The trailer and its contents stay much happier without my F250's suspension jerking it around, and the F250 and its passengers are happier too.
Phil, I have been looking at the Air Safe Hitch also. I saw it on Artstream's tow truck as well. Which model did you purchase? Was it the Class V model ? I tow with a 1 ton dually also.
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Hi, maybe Safari-Rick will take some pictures of his new air hitch and show us what it looks like all hooked up and tell us of his experiences so far.
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