This post hits a very important issue, overheating tires. That can easily lead to a blowout. Not pretty on any trailer. Thank goodness I had read a lot of posts and had a lot of good advice before buying my first dinky twinkie.
I had about 500 total miles towing experience (in 2004) when a driver with a big SOB pulled in beside me at a rest stop and asked two questions not commonly heard today.
1) do they still make Airstreams?
2) is your husband around? I'm having some problems with my setup and would like to ask HIM for help.
I could see his tri-axle was dragging tail, and informed him that I was going on a three week trip by myself. His back tires were hot enough to brown marsallows. Almost burned my hand on one. He was using an F-350, with a hitch set up by the previous owner who must have used a station wagon - with an 5 inch RISE for the ball. Of course I had big wrenches (made an inappropriate "big tool" reference to embarrass the man), because we literally had to remove the ball and turn his riser upside down to make it hang low enough. How does a woman torque a ball to 300 lbs? Put both feet on the riser and pull like you're giving birth to triplets... and hope it is enough.
I advised the driver to stop at the nearest "Big Box" hardware store and buy two wrenches like mine, then check the ball at every stop. Also showed him how to grease his ball.... his wife couldn't stop laughing.
Took nearly 2 hours to get h re-hitched, and we did draw a bit of an audience, but in the end I knew he and his family would be quite a bit safer. He would be in control of the trailer instead of being beaten up by it. Six tires would be carrying the trailer's load rather than two makes a whole lot of difference.
The next day, I stopped at an Airstream dealer and watched a tow truck bring in an SOB that had rolled on an interstate. 2 adults, 4 kids and a 25 ft. SOB loaded to the top. They were MOVING and didn't want the expense of a moving van. How they all lived through the wreck I will never know.
I am not a fan of more government, but too many people start their "adventures" with no clue, and it's a coin flip whether they learn from nice supportive people or learn "by.accident."
Quote:
Originally Posted by JCWDCW
As others have noted level is best and 1" is acceptable. You need to understand that when the trailer is not level you put more weight on one of the axles (the wheels on the lower end). That means that one set of tires is possibly running way over the capacity rating. 5 inches could be the same as running the front (or back) wheels up on a 2 inch plank. That much drop if you loaded the trailer to do cause the suspension to drop 2 inches would be a serious overload (IMO)
JCW
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