New Member 06 34' Classic

[dnanino]

Hi, My wife an I are buying a 06 34' Classic this week, sold our beloved 25 six months ago. We are thinking of full timing since we are both retired USAF and all the kids have gone. We looked at 30,31 and 34's. My wife loves the 34, and I like the room.

My question is has anyone heard of any problems with this year, model? I have searched the forum an found very positive comments on 34's.

The 34 is in great condition, its been in covered storage for 3 years.
I will be towing it with a 08 chevy diesel, 6.6 turbo, allison 6 speed, dually.

I must say I'm alittle taken back by the size and the tri-ax setup. I'm sure
it tows well, its the turning part that I hope won't be a problem.

Thanks

[SteveH]

I have no first hand experience with a 34, but just wanted to welcome you to the forum. I'm sure there will be many with the info you need responding soon.

[Cantrell]

Welcome to the forum. You have plenty of tow vehicle for the job and you will find that the 34 is a pleasure to pull. In my opinion, the triple axles track better which makes turning and backing easier than a smaller trailer. You just have to be extra careful not to catch a stationary object (poles in gas stations, trees, etc.) because it is so easy to become comfortable with how well it handles. I would bet you will say it pulls easier than your previous 25 after you get used to it.
Best of luck and enjoy all that extra space.

[dnanino]

I will say that makes me feel better, this is our 3rd AS from a 20 to a 25 and now a 34. We really loved our 25, great for long trips an stays of
a month or so, but we really needed more room. thank you for your reply.

[SARGE/AF]

Welcome to the community and Airstreamming, maybe we will meet someday, WBCCI#2500, Good Sam Member. below is the only problem I have ever encountered with a tri-axle.

[QUOTE=dnanino;902578]
The 34 is in great condition, its been in covered storage for 3 years.
I will be towing it with a 08 chevy diesel, 6.6 turbo, allison 6 speed, dually.
A) that is plenty of vehicle to tow a 34 with, you will most likely finding yourself trading down to a 3/4 ton and it will still be plenty of vehicle.

I must say I'm alittle taken back by the size and the tri-ax setup. I'm sure
it tows well, its the turning part that I hope won't be a problem.
A) you will be pretty amaised on how well they tow, in general turning is not that much different than any other trailer with the exception of length and how tight you can turn which is your drawback with a tri-axle, you can not turn any tri-axle extreamly tight because of the binding caused on the 3rd axle, another thing is to never ever make a tight turn without the trailer moving forward or backwards first. What I am refering to is hooking to at an angle then pulling it sideways which will bind the axles and actually rip it from underneath.
I had stopped at one the truck stops that I used to frequent when driving to visit a friend and AS owner, he had one in his tow lot waiting for AS to send a replacement axle for a Tri-axle, what had happend is someone had pulled into the truck stop and got themselves into a tight turn where they could not make the turn, the person backed up a little then turned even tighter to make the turn, the turn was so tight that the bumper of their vehicle had knocked the propane tanks loose and their bumper was against the frame. Instead of stopping they continued the turn literly dragging the front and rear axles side ways pivoting on the center axle, the front axle was shoved out to the side and ripped the mounts from the axle, once this occured someone had stopped them and told them what was happening, the person driving came into the shop to my friend who helped by using his tow truck to lift the tongue of the trailer enough to unpin the hitch and let the hitch pop out of the reciever thus moving the tow vehicle, he rehooked the tow truck placed chalks under rear 2 axles moved it back to lift trailer enough to get front axle out from under it. Unfortunately it was untowable for the road but repairable.

I have had my 34 now for 6 months and love it in both towing and space, we like you bought ours for us to full time in once the 2 grandkids we have custody of are grown or back with their parents, now we just make trips as we can with grandchild most of the time. We took a trip from the beginning to the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, there was one place in VA near Roanoke where a portion the BR was closed due to trees falling on the road, missed the turn for the detour because someone stole the sign, took another detour which took me onto a 2 lane which had some hair pin turns and switchbacks that was so tight that my right front tire was on the right side edge of road and the left trailer tires was all the way over on the left side edge, this did cause the binding I talked about earlier.
This will be the only time you may experince this, so watch that you do not get yourself into these types of turns.

Sarge
P.S. I am also former Air Force

[dnanino]

Again I'd like to thank all three of you for your time and welcome.
It's nice hearing from other 34 owners you can learn alot. The frist
time I looked at the 34 I said I sure hope I'm doing the right thing
she's Sooooo long. I'm going to take it slow and safe til I get use to
the handling. Air Force, I flew C-5's and my wife was a flight nurse
(air/sea) I loved my 30 years and her 27. Funny thing we saw the world
and now we'll see the US. I would like to meet our AS owners and plan
to be active on the Forum. Again thanks.

[hookedonclassic]

We had a 2006 34'er for about 4 years and towed it with a 2004 duramax GMC quadcab short box. It towed like a dream. But as a 2006, it probably is on the recall list for the Actibrake hyd brake pump which was a real pain for me. Eventually, I had the Actibrake replaced with a Dexter pump. When we got the 34'er, we moved up in size from a 29'er and the additional 5' was noticed. As far as getting into and out of places, pick your gas stations. You can always back out if you get into trouble. Backing with the 34' is easier than with a smaller length trailer as mentioned by others. Congrats. Enjoy it. It's a head-turner many times.

[dnanino]

Yes sir we may have a problem.

Just left the 34 and it has a actibrake hyd brake system. I will contact
airstream. WOW this is what I was hoping for great advice!!!!!

Thanks

[Air Apparent]

dnanino:

Welcome to the forums.

We have a 2008 34' and love it. We moved up from a 2005 classic 30' and found no problem in towing the 34. I have a friend who also has a 2008 34' who moved up from a 2005 International 25' and has had no problem in driving it. We both pull using 3/4 ton diesel trucks.

The 2006 will have the heavier axles with a total gross vehicle weight rating (gvwr) of 11,500 lbs. Our trailer came with a cargo carrying capacity (ccc) of over 3,000 lbs and well still have over 2,000 lbs left with our current stuff in it. Since you will be fulltiming the ccc will be important to you.

Prior to 2005 the 34's had a gvwr of 10,000 lbs. The 2006 also has the disc brakes which we like even though I am dealing with some brake issues right now.

We find that there is a huge difference in living space between the 30 and the 34. We were surprised by this. Four feet makes a big difference in living space especially if you will be fulltiming. The 34 is very liveable.

In looking for a 34 we were looking for 2006 and newer because of the higher gvwr and the disc brakes.

Some Airstream oweners will say that the smaller trailers are easier to handle. I believe that the handling relates to how skilled the driver is in driving a trailer. I have no problem getting my trailer into sites. However, I have been pulling trailers (both RV and boat) for a long time. The campsite setup and campsite breakdown time is the same for a 34 as for a 22. The length makes no difference.

You will enjoy it.

[darlingbooks]

Congratulations on getting your 34'. I think you'll love it especially if you go full time. We've been full timing for a year and have very few problems.

Anne Marie

[Aviator]

dnanino,

The 34 tows very easily. We are using a 2009 F150 as our TV. I do highly recommend the ProPride hitch. It has made all the difference for us. My inlaws were the PO's and they full-timed in it for several years. We haven't had any towing problems with it. As previous posters have mentioned, the read axle tires will "scrub" when making tight turns, but it isn't enough to flat spot the tires or anything.

Welcome to the "heavy" Airstream.