To lift or not to lift?

[Boxite]

The bottom line, I believe is this:

If you only plan to stay on pavement and very well-maintained gravel/dirt roads…and never need to pull off a crowned street into a rising-driveway service station for fuel….

If you never have suffered dragging the sewer pipes/valves on the pavement or objects….

If you have never had to enter into a ramp which raises the tongue of your triailer and… unknowing to yourself, dragged the “protector-guards” on the aft-end, beneath the rear of your trailer……(hint: lay down beneath the rear of your trailer and look at those two, light-duty, sheet-metal brackets at the rear of your Airstream…. you’ll recognize them because they have the paint scraped off them and/or they are bent-silly from impacting the ground in an effort to prevent seriou damage to your trailer-frame….and may not have done their job of preventing frame-damage…in-fact while you’re down there…don’t be surprised to discover what you had never notice previously……because your Airstream was designed to look good and convince you to become one of the proud group of Owners as inexpensively as Thor can get that done……and you trust Airstream to make only perfect equipment without design-shortcomings…..

If you are one of those folks…. You do not need a Lift Kit.

But if you are one of the 90% of owners who have had these issues and want to avoid further serious damage to your “baby”…..

…Get a Lift Kit.

All good…. no bad…. Lift Kits.

[foobar]

Originally Posted by Boxite

The bottom line, I believe is this:

If you only plan to stay on pavement and very well-maintained gravel/dirt roads…and never need to pull off a crowned street into a rising-driveway service station for fuel….

If you never have suffered dragging the sewer pipes/valves on the pavement or objects….

If you have never had to enter into a ramp which raises the tongue of your triailer and… unknowing to yourself, dragged the “protector-guards” on the aft-end, beneath the rear of your trailer……(hint: lay down beneath the rear of your trailer and look at those two, light-duty, sheet-metal brackets at the rear of your Airstream…. you’ll recognize them because they have the paint scraped off them and/or they are bent-silly from impacting the ground in an effort to prevent seriou damage to your trailer-frame….and may not have done their job of preventing frame-damage…in-fact while you’re down there…don’t be surprised to discover what you had never notice previously……because your Airstream was designed to look good and convince you to become one of the proud group of Owners as inexpensively as Thor can get that done……and you trust Airstream to make only perfect equipment without design-shortcomings…..

If you are one of those folks…. You do not need a Lift Kit.

But if you are one of the 90% of owners who have had these issues and want to avoid further serious damage to your “baby”…..

…Get a Lift Kit.

All good…. no bad…. Lift Kits.

Well said. Totally agree.

[carl2591]

I replaced axles on 30 ft 2005 classic april of 2022..

I ordered the axles from Red Neck trailers which was quite easy.. One thing you can do is get the 3" high brackets vs the standard 1" high.. Not sure why airsteam does not spec the 3" high on 28 ft and up trailers and 16" wheels..

I also did a 32 down angle and after year think the 22.5 is better.. WHY.. it puts me up now some 4" high over the old axles and even with the snap pads installed i need to put wood down for stabilizers at times, especially bad if the ground slopes down behind the unit when parked.. or front.. Might have to look for longer stabilizers, or modify these, if they are out there.

there is no difference in pulling or MPG.. still at around 12, 12.5 overall.. this is two plus years of full time RV living.

[mythbuster88]

Originally Posted by carl2591

I replaced axles on 30 ft 2005 classic april of 2022..

I ordered the axles from Red Neck trailers which was quite easy.. One thing you can do is get the 3" high brackets vs the standard 1" high.. Not sure why airsteam does not spec the 3" high on 28 ft and up trailers and 16" wheels..

I also did a 32 down angle and after year think the 22.5 is better.. WHY.. it puts me up now some 4" high over the old axles and even with the snap pads installed i need to put wood down for stabilizers at times, especially bad if the ground slopes down behind the unit when parked.. or front.. Might have to look for longer stabilizers, or modify these, if they are out there.

there is no difference in pulling or MPG.. still at around 12, 12.5 overall.. this is two plus years of full time RV living.

Nothing wrong with blocks of wood. We carry an assortment of various sizes that get constant use. Your set up sounds great!

[2012FB]

4th Airstream over the last 30+ years. This time we had the dealer install the 3" lift prior to taking delivery of our 2022 25 RBT. Then I swapped out the factory 15" wheels and tires for 16". Would not be without the 3" lift and 16" wheels. As others have stated it tows exactly the same.

[Otto Slater]

I'm installing the Dexter lift kit as we speak. Thanks for all the input. I will be adjusting my Blue Ox Hitch as needed. Snap pads are already installed. I will re-measure clearance; I had installed a tracvision antenna and do not want to damage it! Safe travels to all!

[ETroup]

I have lifted my International 27. Two days ago I was leaving my camping spot at Boone, NC KOA. The normal turn to the right out was tight because of a large tree. So decided to go straight across through another site and then turn right down that lane.

The site is in the mountains and the sites are terraced into a gentle hillside. Upon leaving the site, I dragged my ProPride bars a little but the rest of the trailer made it without bottoming.

Glad I did the lift.