Off-road capabilities of AS?

[benjisgal]

Originally Posted by Felix'64

View from our Airstream at our favorite location in the middle of the woods.........

vb


Looks heavenly!!!! I got to find me a place like that....

[tvoneicken]

Speaking of off-roading: how steep a slope can one pull an AS up? I'm towing a 23FB (6000 lbs) with a 4WD V8 4runner and, as far as I can tell, in the low gears there's enough power to pull the whole thing up a vertical. So the limitation must be tire traction? Or is there something else that fails first? Sometimes when I floor the accelerator when merging onto a highway I fear that I may rip off the trailer tongue! Joke aside, what gives first?

[barts]

Originally Posted by tvoneicken

Speaking of off-roading: how steep a slope can one pull an AS up? I'm towing a 23FB (6000 lbs) with a 4WD V8 4runner and, as far as I can tell, in the low gears there's enough power to pull the whole thing up a vertical. So the limitation must be tire traction? Or is there something else that fails first? Sometimes when I floor the accelerator when merging onto a highway I fear that I may rip off the trailer tongue! Joke aside, what gives first?

If the trailer tongue doesn't break when you accelerate, it won't break going up a hill - the amount of load is essentially the same.

As the the amount of load: let's assume you have 3500 lbs on the rear wheels, and a coefficient of friction of 1: that means you can exert 3500 lbs combined on both truck and trailer at the limit of wheel traction. If your truck and trailer weigh about the same, this will be evenly split, so you get 1750 lbs horizontal load on the tongue. Nothing to worry about...

- Bart

[MPB]

Originally Posted by blt4spd

The dirt road in has a couple low spots, through creek beds, that play havoc with the rear bumper. To keep from dragging I carry two sets of heavy duty, plastic ramps (Auto Zone) and going very slowley, set these back to back, front to front, back to back, on both sides, raising the clearance intill we are out of the dip.

I'm not quite with you on the ramp technique. Will you please explain in more detail?

[Gringo]

whew, I thought it was just me. I was in a dance step til the dip...but I am also interested in this technique. I got a couple little ditches to get across on our place in CO, too.

[Goal15]

If it's your land, build some bridges :-) fun with power tools is always to be looked forward to with great anticipation

[Broccoli]

So in my search of the forums I've found both 2-axles are better and 1-axle is better for traveling on gravel/dirt forest service roads (with a bit of washboard of course). I believe this comes from the fact that there are owners of both that are satisfied with the capabilities of their AS?

Anyone with experience towing both care to weigh in? My tow vehicle is a 1/2 ton Z71 suburban and we're considering either the 19' or the 23' international, but do a substantial amount of our camping down several miles of gravel forest roads...

[pod people]

Only have experience with one axle AS. But we have found our little 16' CCD to be pretty capable.

We tow with a land rover - and have had to use 4 wheel low on a couple of occasions.

The short length is a big plus. The rear bumper has a pretty decent hang over (good for hills).

Also - the single axle is really maneuverable in tight spots.

So far - we have only had to replace the medicine cabinet (a victim of 1 hour of washboard gravel road down to Chaco Canyon, NM)

Good luck with your choice,

[Friday]

We had a Basecamp that we pulled with a Tacoma, and it was very useful in rough terrain... good approach/departure angles and shorter and narrower than the standard A/S.

That said, we sold it and moved up to a 22' International... as we needed more space and creature comforts. If I was going to do more back-roading, I would stick with a 16 foot Bambi, stuff some taller tires under it, and use a shorter wheel-base SUV as a tow vehicle.

I can say now, that 6 feet more trailer makes a big, big difference in tight spots...

[draigue]

My FJ Cruise w/17 Sport goes anywhere I like. My "anywhere" though is different from a 20 yr olds anywhere

[Royce]

Originally Posted by draigue

My FJ Cruise w/17 Sport goes anywhere I like. My "anywhere" though is different from a 20 yr olds anywhere

Had to laugh. Same for us the Wrangler pulls the '77' Minuet most places we want to go. I try not to put too much strain on the trailer frame by going through deep dips on back country roads. When we replaced the axle I had them mount it at a 45 degree down angle, that combined with just having a fresh axle with no sag got us about 6 inches more ground clearance.

[JamuJoe]

We sold a 17' single axle Casita when we purchased our two axle, 2011 FC23FB. The shorter, single axle with 15" wheels was certainly more maneuverable in tight spots, but then again we've parked the 23FB in some very tight and steep sites. Reversing course on a blocked backroad with minimal shoulder is probably my greatest concern with the 23, although my 08 Grand Cherokee Diesel never minds going off the road. I guess the steepest I've towed the 23 would be about 8% grade on gravel. For forest service roads, the shorter, higher clearance, lighter Casita had the advantage, but for our current travel mix of highway, gravel roads, and National / State parks, the 23FB is a great compromise. I like the two axle for ride, braking traction, and redundancy. In 8400 miles since purchase in April 2011, including some notable washboard like Chaco Canyon, and snow/ice through the high passes in Mt Ranier NP, I've only scraped the rear sliders once and our total damage has amounted to two screws falling out of the microwave bracket.

[48Bob]

We tow our 20' Safari into many tight places in order to find secluded campsites. And yes, we have had to make a couple of long back-ups or tight turn-arounds when the road finally got too bad. But we have learned, we now carry our mountain bikes on the hard toneau cover of our Dodge Ram PU and if we are contemplating trying a road to find a campsite, we just unload the bikes and go for a ride. We can scout our a couple of miles of road in short order that way. Plus, it is a great break from sitting in the truck. Any of the smaller AS, either single or double axle will work fine for getting into more remote areas, just remember to go slow. We love getting ours into more secluded spots.

[keneramirez]

We are in the middle of a trip where we ended up unexpectedly traversing a very steep and rutted dirt road with our 25' FC. We found the double axle very helpful. In the deeper ruts and holes the first tire would enter and sort of "float" over the hole until the rear tire would enter and then the first tire would do the majority of the supporting, with the trailer never really feeling the full impact of the hole. Slow and steady was the key, and not stopping while heading up the worst of it (keep that slow steady momentum). It was our first (and hopefully LAST) experience where we had to reverse, shift into 4L and then take a second run at it to get up a particularly challenging section.

[amxpress]

I watched a YouTube video on the installation of Dexter’s 3” lift kit under a dual axle AS. Very impressive. If I was to do serious off roading with my Bambi 22FB, I would definitely consider lifting it 3”.

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by amxpress

I watched a YouTube video on the installation of Dexter’s 3” lift kit under a dual axle AS. Very impressive. If I was to do serious off roading with my Bambi 22FB, I would definitely consider lifting it 3”.

If I wanted to do off roading, I would buy an Oliver (I hear Lady Gaga singing "Born This Way") and save my Airstream for Glamping. Seriously, fiberglass is cheaper and easier to repair. And the Oliver is made to go out in the mud and blood and beer.