Guess how dealer initially installed chains? I noticed immediately and corrected
I'm staying at dealer tonight and reading the manual before we pull off
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Flower
Also, the chain coupler may not be the correct strength for the job at hand and you might be able to stretch your cord a bit so it doesn't pull out in a tight turn? All fun stuff to muck with in the rain. Jim
PG...
Hozanna... the time has come.
Is the AS coupler locked/pinned? Get a D clip, you and also run the umbilical thru it. Straighten the chain and double up on the chain coupler.
Bob
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I’m done with ‘adulting’…Let’s go find Bigfoot.
Guess how dealer initially installed chains? I noticed immediately and corrected I'm staying at dealer tonight and reading the manual before we pull off
Congrats ! Glad you chose to camp overnight at the dealer and work out most of the anticipated delivery kinks. Leaks (rain & plumbing) , furnace /oven / hot water heater igniter , Roof antennal / skylight / automated roof fan/ bathroom exhaust fan test, Bath shower /Kitchen /Toilet bowl water spray leak free . Personally check your 4 tires lug nuts for proper torque LB at the dealer and check again after 50 miles. If the dealer have steel wool ( or buy from hardware), have them stuff the opening by the "A" frame / tongue to prevent rodent invasion . Have a pleasure drive home tomorrow .
Good point. I forgot that my dealer didn't lock the coupler. I drove it about 90 minutes to the CDL school parking lot and when we started the class, the instructor asked me if I was a man of faith. I asked him why he asked. He pointed to the coupler and said it was a miracle I got there without decoupling. He installed a nut/bolt to lock it down and we got on with the class :-)
Also, the chain coupler may not be the correct strength for the job at hand and you might be able to stretch your cord a bit so it doesn't pull out in a tight turn? All fun stuff to muck with in the rain. Jim
Quote:
Originally Posted by andreasduess
This has happened to me. At least now I know that my vehicle can stop the trailer without trailer brakes. Don't care to repeat the experience though.
Zip-tie thru the holes in the plug.
....I learned the same lesson on the way home from the dealer.
Bob
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I’m done with ‘adulting’…Let’s go find Bigfoot.
Zip-tie thru the holes in the plug.
....I learned the same lesson on the way home from the dealer.
Bob
This is where it happened - hard to see on the picture, but there's quite an incline. I was low on gas and had just missed a gas station on the left. Stopped, turned extremely tightly and drove back downhill to gas up. During the turn the cable got pulled out, which I didn't notice until I was coming down the hill towards the gas station.
After a second of panic, I just though "well, there's no traffic, worst thing that can happen is that I'll stop at the next incline".
In the event, it turned into a non-event. I gently tapped the brakes to see what would happen and the unit instantly slowed down. Definitely noticed the absence of the trailer brakes, but TV and trailer came to a perfectly safe stop.
Having said that, I will most definitely start using zip-ties. Great idea, thanks for sharing.
I not only use a padlock through the coupler, but I have two small identically-keyed padlocks that I use instead of the snap pins in the over-center links that attach the ProPride to the stinger, both when stored and on the road.
The padlocks allow me to safely store the stinger in the hitch at the storage yard and also insure against vandalism when I make stops on the road. Some years ago, there was a rash of vandals pulling the release on 5th-wheels, causing the trailer to crash down on the pickup bed. With the padlocks, no one can pull the pins while I am stopped somewhere to eat. The padlock key stays on my truck key ring along with the key for the receiver pin, so the locks take minimal extra time over the pins. You can see the locks in the photo
When I store the trailer, I lock the stinger into the hitch. I then put the reducer sleeve from the receiver on the stinger backwards and lock it with the hitch pin lock. No one can insert the stinger into their receiver with the sleeve locked in backwards.
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John W. Irwin
2018 Interstate GT, "Sabre-Dog V"
WBCCI #9632
Hi Paula there is a newbies guide to Airstreams that Rich Lure wrote a few years ago...maybe there should be a newbies guide to towing, but I fear the first 50 pages would be legal disclaimers!
Bob, it is relevant because that is the way the trailer came in, with the stinger bent, and the chains wrapped over the bars. Unless you have figured out a way to take a photo through a steel truck to view this, at this angle, of course. I had to wait until the customer pulled away before taking the photo. Think about where the chains would be if the trailer and safety chains had been configured correctly.
__________________
Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup.
Terry
2010 30' Classic
Vintage Kin Owner
South of the river
, Minnesota
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 4,169
Be careful with padlocks. In the road spray they will jam eventually, and if you're not in the habit of removing them often they may have to be cut off. You may end up finding out at the worst possible time.
I have a nut and bolt through the coupler lock hole. The is a nylon collar locknut, which takes a few minutes to remove unless you have the proper size ratchet in your hand. That's enough to keep kids and malcontents from removing it to cause trouble and is easy to remove when necessary.
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To learn to see below the surface, you must adjust your altitude
Gee Pahaska - yet another great idea!! Your rope guide has been a savior! ;-)
Is there an alien on your jack stand??? ;-)
It is a dragon flagpole holder made by my artistic friend Tom Beebe. Tom, a retired chef, makes a variety of whimsical animals and birds from salvaged engine parts and re-bar. I mentioned to Tom that I wished I had a dragon flagpole holder and he surprised me a few weeks later with one. Wish I had a photo of it on this laptop.
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John W. Irwin
2018 Interstate GT, "Sabre-Dog V"
WBCCI #9632
Be careful with padlocks. In the road spray they will jam eventually, and if you're not in the habit of removing them often they may have to be cut off. You may end up finding out at the worst possible time.
My locks are lubricated each time I grease the hitch (1000 miles) and the two on the links are removed and reinstalled each time I hook up or unhook. Never a problem.
I have used a lock on the ball lock for years without trouble.
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John W. Irwin
2018 Interstate GT, "Sabre-Dog V"
WBCCI #9632
I have not been using padlocks on Lucy's Hensley's over center latches, but I have always used an extended hasp Master padlock on her coupler. I have used the same lock for eight years now. It has always been in place and rarely unlocked. About the only times that it has been unlocked was to grease the ball, which wasn't as often as it should have been. This lock has never malfunctioned or jammed.
Brian
__________________ SuEllyn & Brian McCabe WBCCI #3628 -- AIR #14872 -- TAC #FL-7 2015 FC 25' FB (Lucy) with ProPride 2020 Silverado 2500 (Vivian) 2023 Rivian R1T (Opal)
I took this photo of my ProPride when I first installed it. It shows the dragon flagpole holder made for me by my friend Tom Beebe that was inquired about earlier.
Note that although I hang my chains in the back of the yoke when unhitched, the chains emerge correctly from between the bars.
__________________
John W. Irwin
2018 Interstate GT, "Sabre-Dog V"
WBCCI #9632
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