'83 Excella 27' PLEEZE RESPOND!!!

[Haoleman]

My wife and I are going round and round about purchasing a TT. I had a B190 last year and it was great; just too small. Now I have a real nice Ford Superduty diesel 4WD truck so I thought a trailer would make more sense, especially considering that I will get 15-16MPG towing the Excella. Only questions I have are the following: The B190 AS van was a bear driving as when a big rig passed, yopu had to constantly correct to keep from hitting it or being blown off the road. How do you AS trailer owners fare with this? Is it the same or is it better?

If I want to be self contained, what is a good generator to buy? I am looking at the Honda I2000 and a Yamaha 2500 watt inverter unit. I want to be able to power the AC when we get into the South (Florida).

Advantage I see is having our truck to go places when we are parked in an RV park.

Tomorrow is D day so please respond. I need help here!


Terry

[davidz71]

Terry,
If you want to power your AC and do so at a db level that won't tick off your camping neighbors, you will need either a Honda 3000, two of the Honda 2000's or the Yamaha EF3000iSEB. I've heard of others running their AC on the Yamaha 2800 so do a forum search.

As long as you have the E rated tires on your Superduty then you should have a solid platform to tow.

[overlander63]

As long as you get some kind of sway control, you should be fine with your truck. The B190 is kind of top-heavy, with that overroof piece sticking up. It also catches wind like a sail.
For your F250, probably 500 (if you can find them) or 750 (if you can't) pound WD bars would be good for your truck. I am partial to the Reese Dual-Cam WD/sway control system, as you cinch it up once, and you are finished.
We have a Honda E2000i generator, it does everything but run the air conditioner, and uses a gallon of gas every 12 hours doing it. It is also very quiet and reliable. If you want to run the air, you will need either 2x 2000's, or a 3000. The 3000 is also quiet, but not nearly as fuel efficient as the 2000, and it is a lot heavier.

[davidz71]

Originally Posted by Haoleman

My wife and I are going round and round about purchasing a TT. I had a B190 last year and it was great; just too small. Now I have a real nice Ford Superduty diesel 4WD truck so I thought a trailer would make more sense, especially considering that I will get 15-16MPG towing the Excella. Only questions I have are the following: The B190 AS van was a bear driving as when a big rig passed, yopu had to constantly correct to keep from hitting it or being blown off the road. How do you AS trailer owners fare with this? Is it the same or is it better?
Terry

Terry, I used a standard Reese trunion bar setup with 1000 lb. bars with my '77 Excella 500 31' and '92 Chevy Z71 regular cab 4X4. I then went to an '01 Chevy 2500hd with the same Reese set up. The 750 lb. bars would be a better choice according to Andy at Inland RV especially with the 3/4 ton truck. My '92 was sucked in by 18 wheelers and then pushed away. This was probably due to the D rated tires and not enough air pressure. As soon as I went to the '01 with the E rated tires and aired up to 70 lbs. I really didn't notice the previous condition much. I now have an '86 Sovereign 25' with Hensley Arrow hitch and notice it even less. The Reese dual cam or straight line version is a good hitch but many here have their own preference. I'd find out what hitch comes with the trailer and go from there.

I made the big mistake of thinking the hitch bar/platform that went with the 31' Excella I bought off ebay would work fine with my '92. Big mistake as it was a welded platform which was set up for a large car. The ball sat 4" higher than it should have and I had to purchase a Reese unit with bars to get the trailer from AZ. back to TN. Hope this doesn't happen to you.

[Haoleman]

My truck has Michelins on it E rated and almost new. It goes down the road straight. Heavy duty Monroe shocks so no bounce. I am wondering if Sam's or Costco has tires. The AS probably needs them. Only problem is that if I do buy it, I'll have to haul it 100 miles until I get back to civilization. Hopefully no tire issues. I'm still waiting for the seller's call----

[davidz71]

Check max tire pressure on all four tires of the trailer and fill close to this. Make periodic stops to check that tires are not losing air. All four of the tires on my Excella were Passenger tires and I blew one coming back from AZ. at about 65 mph. Make sure you bring extra 2X8 boards to drive up on in case you have a blowout. You can remove the tire/wheel and drive up to 45 mph to a tire center without that tire on. Better yet, take a spare if you can find the right combination. I'd do an internet search for tire places in that area carrying the replacement tires you want and have them replaced before heading home. Don't forget a hammer and lug wrench. Things get ugly if the tire shreads and it beats the underside of your trailer. It bent my outrigger at a 45 degree angle toward the tire. I had to beat it downwards just to get the tire off. This is a worse case scenario but it happened to me.