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Old 10-25-2006, 03:12 PM   #1
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2012 31' Classic
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Towing with the 345

Streamers,
As you may remember, we had the hitch on our 345 beefed up this past summer. I just made the third long tow with the 7000# race trailer behind our '86 345. Fantastic trip just like the first two. The weekend weather was very crappy, and boy was I glad I had the Airstream to stay in. We raced our last race of the season, and won the GT-3 championship by ONE point. It sure was great having the motorhome to go back to to warm up.
Now I want to get away for at least one more weekend before the snow flys.
Rob
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Old 10-25-2006, 03:44 PM   #2
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1982 28' Airstream 280
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Rob,

Congrads on your win. That is a mighty fine looking Porsche there, and the trailer really looks great behind your MoHo. Is it OK to have a bit of the green-eyed lady over the car?

Steve
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Old 10-26-2006, 11:18 PM   #3
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Refresh our memory...
What did you do to improve towing?
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Old 10-27-2006, 07:05 AM   #4
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Glad to hear that the hitch mods are working well. This increased towing capacity really opens the door to do so much more with the 345.

Congradulations on your win.

On the last fling idea...any interest in a Kentuckiana Micro Rally in Nov? I'm thinking about Lincoln Lake or Mamouth Cave. Maybe drum up some other Airstreamers from Indy, Ohio, Tenn, etc.
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Old 10-30-2006, 06:10 PM   #5
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Klattu,
We took our 345 to Dan's Hitches in Elkhart, Indiana. These guys really know their business! If you do a search on "345 and towing" you can see my original post from back in August. I am posting a couple of pictures here also.
What they did was remove the lame original hitch, and make a new much more strong one to go in it's place. The receiver was originaly about 8" long, and now it is about 3' long, with much more support. The new tow limit is 10,000# with 1200# tongue (weight distributing hitch). Our fully loaded rece trailer is 7000# with 700# tongue. The 345 pulls it like it's not even there.
Steven,
Can you give me some more information on the rallys? Dates, locations, etc. We are tied up the weekend of 11/11-12. It would be great to get out one more time this year.
Rob
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Old 11-01-2006, 12:53 PM   #6
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Congratulations on your win.
I took your pictures of the hitch remake to a local hitch shop here in Milwaukee and he will be fashioning a similar support on Chummy. My 280 has the black and grey water tanks right behind the bumper so he had to modify the design and will bolt the supports on so if I ever need to replace the tanks I can still get at them.
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Old 11-02-2006, 06:11 AM   #7
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Chaplain Kent,
Your coach will probably tow even better than our 345. You do not have as much overhang. You may have to experiment with hitches. I use the one that I have allways used with my Silverado. The one the hitch guys gave me made the trailer set up too high in the front. I will try to post some pictures this evening.
Rob
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Old 11-02-2006, 07:01 AM   #8
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We will be towing a car dolly and the trailer hitch guy will be making a reciever to match the height of the dolly.
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Old 11-06-2006, 06:19 PM   #9
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Here are two hitches with very different ball heights. The low one is what I have been using with my Silverado. The high one is the one I thought would be right for the Airstream. Wrong. The low one is also just right for the Airstream. It keeps the trailer nose just a little above dead level.
Also here is a shot of our get together yesterday at Wayne Olson's shop.
What a blast!
Rob
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Old 11-07-2006, 12:44 PM   #10
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Rob,

What a picture. Makes me wonder what the record is for the most AS MoHos at one place and one time?

Steve
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Old 11-07-2006, 01:50 PM   #11
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the Forums record is the Mystic Springs Classic Motorhome Rally of almost 5 yrs ago. We had a whopping 6 plus one trailer. Whoah.
We did have a blast though .....riveting and talking aluminum. Photos are on the Forums photo site.
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Old 11-07-2006, 01:54 PM   #12
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here we were....
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Old 11-08-2006, 06:28 AM   #13
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It would be fun to try and get a bunch of us together next year somewhere. We attended the "Yenko Racing 40th Anniversary" last summer. There were 31 original Yenko Stinger Corvairs there, along with Yenko Camaro's, Nova's, Corvette's, and Chevell's. This was the largest group of Stingers in one spot since they were built in 1966.
Picture one is my crew chief Al Huston with his '66 Yenko. #2 is of some of the racing Corvette's. #3 is my Corvair engine builder Warren LeVeque with his wife Sharon, and their Yenko race car.
Rob
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Old 11-08-2006, 03:16 PM   #14
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Then we could all parade around town, drink beer, lounge in the streets, drag race the MoHos, and really make a pest of ourselves. Like the motorcycle folks do. Sounds like fun to me.

Steve
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Old 11-08-2006, 06:19 PM   #15
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Rob,
I use my MoHo to go racing too. All my racing buddies are so jealous. They call it the "Silver Twinkie". My wife calls it Authur. My trailer isn't so big, but it's over the 1000lb rating for the rig. It's a 6x12 Wells Cargo, and it weighs about 2700-3000# with 2-3 bikes and gear. This picture is from Port Angeles, WA about 6 hours from Portland, way out on the Olympic Peninsula.
It's good to see some other racer types out there!
-KM

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Old 11-08-2006, 06:51 PM   #16
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Outofcontrol,
Looks like fun!
Rob
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