airstream interstate hitch box?

[coasttocoast]

i have a 2016 AI, and I am considering a Yamaha inverter generator for when I need power and am not plugged in. yes, the AI has an Onan, but you can't run it while sleeping. Does anybody have any experience with transporting a generator or a load of about 200 pounds in a hitch-mounted box or tray? I don't want to put too much strain on the hitch even though it is rated for 500 pounds. I have read some things on the Internet about frame damage over time. If I put a 3000 watt generator in a Geardeck 17 and run the generator, how much vibration will transfer into the van? Is this more trouble than it's worth, or is this a worthwhile endeavor? If I'm not plugged in, the batteries will deplete sooner than later, and the fridge will shut down. I am getting ready to travel from atlanta to los angeles, and I don't always have a campground booked. Sometimes, the camps are hard to find or gated and no one will let you in and now you are headed to a parking lot. I tend to drive until I get tired and often don't pull in somewhere until 10pm or later.

[InterBlog]

Hi, Coasttocoast, and welcome to Air Forums! You probably missed all the teeth-gnashing from several months ago as many of us were wrangling over what are the best hitch solutions where the Interstate is concerned (there are multiple forum threads on it). Bottom line in many cases is that hitch-carrying is do-able, with caveats. Many of the commercial solutions do fail, however, and so it's worth doing research before making decisions.

Let me give you a thumbnail of my situation just so you'll understand where I'm coming from. I won't consider pulling a toad or a trailer, and that leaves hitch as the main cargo option. My husband and I own an Interstate that is first-gen, and we have both tongue weight and total weight issues that are more limiting than the newer Interstates. Furthermore we share your thinking on the undermount Onan. At some point we are probably going to remove it in favor of a portable of some kind (research not done yet). We are in the process of installing a very robust solar system so our need for a generator is diminishing - there is no need for us to carry one around 100% of the time. However, we live on the Gulf Coast where hurricane evacuations are a given, and so we want to maintain the ability to run one. That means we will eventually have to carry a portable on our hitch.

After an obscene amount of research that proved fruitless, we settled upon a custom hitch carrier that we fabricated ourselves. These three blog posts describe that process in detail. In our case, our immediate need was for a dry ice cooler rather than a generator, and so we optimized the carrier for the cooler. But with a little work, we could adapt it to a generator.

Something to ask yourself... given that this process will be expensive any which way you cut it, is it really a generator solution you want, rather than solar, perhaps with a lithium battery upgrade?

We live in the subtropics and there are times when we MUST run the coach a/c, which cannot be done on batteries. But if an owner were not facing temperatures that routinely exceed 100 degrees inside their Interstate, a solar solution might be better.

Here's a pic of our custom hitch carrier, before I trimmed it out with reflective tape and non-slip pads for the step / seat side. The cooler is secured by custom hold-downs fabricated of steel bar that make it basically un-steal-able. That's also an important consideration for a generator - even if you can find a hitch solution that works, you have to consider theft potential because generators are hot items.

[73shark]

Somewhere on this forum or on the SprinterSource forum was a thread about an AI owner that mounted a small Honda (read very quiet) generator on the hitch receiver and plugged it into the shore power.

[InterBlog]

One of the research questions that I have NOT answered yet is... what size of generator would really be required? The OP stated something in the range of 200 lbs... how is the sizing determined? Because that sounded a bit large to me. It's larger than what I've casually looked at, and larger than what my husband and I have off-handedly discussed.

[73shark]

A 3.5 KW gas generator at BORG weighs in at ~120 lbs and a similar propane one is ~100 lbs.

[LB_3]

Two smaller Honda generators yoked together are much more manageable than one larger generator.

[coasttocoast]

thank you for the very detailed information. i am looking at several generators including something that will keep minimal power going if boon docking such as lights and fridge and maybe a space heater on low. the issue here is that the run time is also minimal, and i will likely have to refill the tank in the middle of the night. conversely, i am also looking at something like a yamaha 3000 watt unit (ef3000iseb)which would power everything including the ac, and this unit weighs 154 pounds. Also factor in the weight of a can of gas, and now you are up to about 200 pounds. i considered buying a road trek rv with the lithium warp core package; however, my research led me to airstream because the road treks seemed to have more problems than airstream.

[Shiny16]

Originally Posted by LB_3

Two smaller Honda generators yoked together are much more manageable than one larger generator.

These when converted to propane could be stored inside without ink of dangerous fumes.

[InterBlog]

When I took a quick initial look at the little portable generators on the market, my inquiry came to a screeching halt because I could not see an immediate good way to secure them once they were removed from the Interstate. The best I saw at first glance was a plastic handle, which isn't going to cut it. For instance, the Honda EU2000i, which seems to be well-rated (46 pounds; not sure that exact one would be large enough). Protag had a good idea on another thread, of placing the generator a bit of distance away from the Interstate at night, to reduce the noise. Well, it might reduce the noise, but it would also increase the legs that it might walk away on. Such a scheme might work in certain more remote situations but it's a scenario that can be crossed off the list where Wallydocking is concerned.

[Shiny16]

If you search online for eu2000 accessories there is a metal handle protector that's remedies the plastic handle vulnerability.

[Shiny16]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

When I took a quick initial look at the little portable generators on the market, my inquiry came to a screeching halt because I could not see an immediate good way to secure them once they were removed from the Interstate. The best I saw at first glance was a plastic handle, which isn't going to cut it. For instance, the Honda EU2000i, which seems to be well-rated (46 pounds; not sure that exact one would be large enough). Protag had a good idea on another thread, of placing the generator a bit of distance away from the Interstate at night, to reduce the noise. Well, it might reduce the noise, but it would also increase the legs that it might walk away on. Such a scheme might work in certain more remote situations but it's a scenario that can be crossed off the list where Wallydocking is concerned.

Having a generator secured to your bumper doesn't make it any less susceptible to theft the chaining it to a tree. Additionally I'm not sure I would want the generator running on my bumper all night while asleep inside.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Shiny16

Having a generator secured to your bumper doesn't make it any less susceptible to theft the chaining it to a tree. ....

It's not exactly that simple, because not all chains are created alike. While we were building our hitch carrier, I had growing concerns about *the hitch carrier itself* being stolen, with or without the high-theft-target Yeti cooler attached to it. This because the carrier is obviously custom and far higher-quality than anything in the commercial market (it could be used on any vehicle with an appropriate receiver - it doesn't have to be an Airstream Interstate).

So I researched the issue and came up with the Pewag chain option. No security measure is guaranteed to be 100% effective, but Pewag comes darned close. So our hitch carrier is redundantly attached to our Interstate using a segment of Pewag, and any cargo we place on there will be attached using 3/8" steel bar or better. That's a different scenario, a far more secure scenario, than running an average chain to a tree.

The next obvious question is, so why not run a Pewag chain to a tree and achieve equivalency?

The partial answer is that it becomes cost-degenerative. Pewag is expensive stuff and at a certain point, the Pewag becomes the more valuable asset and the primary target of theft. So instead of cutting your chain to steal your generator, they'd cut your generator to steal your chain. And/or they'd cut the tree.


Pewag in that context would also be weight-prohibitive for use with a Class B. It's wonderful stuff, but it's a beast where weight is concerned.

[Shiny16]

WOW! I just watch the video with the grinder. That's impressive. I think I'd be more worried about someone destroying my camper trying to get that off but we can always find something to worry about.
Sounds like you have a well thought out setup.

[InterBlog]

You are correct - it's all about finding sweet spots. While I can never guarantee no theft-related losses, particularly if we leave our Interstate unattended and go off hiking into the wilderness - it's all about best-guessing the appropriate bang for the buck.

My approach was influenced by several high-profile theft cases in my local area. I'm on one of those Facebook local mothers' groups for mutual aid. At one point, a mother put out a frantic appeal for help because her husband had gone fishing, launching his little boat off his trailer. Well, while he was wetting his line, someone came along and stole his boat trailer off his pickup. It was a Sunday and we still have some blue laws in Texas, so his wife could not simply go purchase a replacement trailer. So someone from the FB group with an open trailer had to go fetch this guy who was helplessly bobbing around in Galveston Bay.

That is when and where I learned just how defeatable commercially-available hitch locks really are. My response was to add the Pewag chain segment for extra protection. It cost me perhaps $25 for the chain and shipping (it's heavy) - small price to pay for a measure that might make the difference between stolen and not stolen.

But then you might say, well, the Pewag is almost impossible to defeat, but you have to lock it to the vehicle and the carrier, and the locks are then vulnerable. Yes and no. If one is clever and embeds the locks up into the structure, it may be possible to get fingers in there to unlock them when needed, but basically impossible to insert a cutting tool into the same tiny space.

In sooth, a lot can be achieved by thinking through the problem thoroughly.