I bought my '82 Tri-Axle Excella out of state and to register it in Texas, I had to have it weighed. It totaled out at 7,094 pounds with the original Gaucho couch. I removed the Gaucho and replaced it with two home style recliners that I guess weigh about 75 lbs each. I estimate I have added, at the most, another 600-800 pounds including television, microwave, electronics, one additional battery inside with two on the hitch A-frame, and two 100-watt solar panels and controller, and some clothing and cooking equipment. I'm guessing, and I think fairly accurately, that I'm now running at slightly under 8,000 lbs.
I've been pulling it with my '06 Ram 2500 with 6 liter diesel. I did some test pulling when I got it including the 1,800 mile trip back to Texas with it. I ran with the WD chains in the next to end link and it towed like it wasn't even there.
This past weekend, I went to a meetup with a bunch of friends at a state park and as I was readying to leave, some of my younger friends came over to help me hook up. While I was stowing the water and sewer hose and tidying up the inside for the trip home, they hooked up the WD bars. They all had box trailers so they did what they do on their own rigs and used the third link in the chains. Just giving the hitch area a once-over look, the way it was sitting in a very un-even parking spot, I didn't notice the way they had put the WD bars on.
My 150 mile trip back was interesting to say the least. The blue highways I traveled on to get home aren't the best in Texas and there was a lot of fore-and-aft "diving and swooping" going on. About half-way home, I noticed the remains of my XMRadio antenna cable waving in the breeze down the traffic side of my trailer. It took about 10 miles to find a pull-over and a snip with my knife took care of that. Apparently the antenna itself had parted company with remains of the old analog TV antenna and committed suicide. I did a walk-around and got a real surprise at the rear end. Three rivets had popped and the bottom skin of my sewer hose, electric shoreline compartment was dangling in the breeze with all the contents hanging out below. Another few miles and it have been long gone. A couple of coat hangers and a pair of pliers and I made it home. I backed it down into my long concrete driveway in the pouring rain and said "later for you".
This morning I went out to my garage door and looked past the pouring rain and could see what I couldn't see at the state park. She looked like a humpback whale in my driveway with the hitch area *way* too high. The tires on my back axle must have been taking most of the trailer weight while the front axles got a free ride.
Stuff happens. The XM antenna loss and old rivets wearing out I take in stride. I have lots more of them but I learned a big lesson in unsolicited hooking up help: "Thanks, but I can manage" will be the answer next time my buddies want to help. Maybe I'll let them put the sewer hose away.
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