2021 30' Flying Cloud
Airstream - Other
Airstream - Other
Lady Lake
, Florida
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 1,255
Sumo Springs
Happy New Year All!
After months of reviews and a few calls to tech support at Super Springs I ordered a set of #1500 lb rated SSR-117-47 Sumo Springs for our F-150.
Even with the Max Tow package from Ford these looked like they will provide extra control with some enhanced ride comfort. Very clean and easy install. etrailer has a nice video. I’ll report back after we get them in use.
My question has anyone in the Airstream community installed the trailer version jounce bumper springs for their Airstream?
Wondering if it would help with bumpy roads to assist trailer shocks with jounce and rebound. They do make a set for trailer axles.
Lots of Youtube videos on the products for vehicles, Never saw one for Airstream. Maybe that should be my very first clue.
2017 25' International
Niagara-on-the-Lake
, ON Canada
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 1,838
Quote:
Originally Posted by Life is a Highway
...
My question has anyone in the Airstream community installed the trailer version jounce bumper springs for their Airstream?
Wondering if it would help with bumpy roads to assist trailer shocks with jounce and rebound. They do make a set for trailer axles.
...
The Airstream does not have leaf or coil springs like some SOB trailers, but have torsion axles so I don't see where these could be installed. Most Airstream models also have shock absorbers.
2021 30' Flying Cloud
Airstream - Other
Airstream - Other
Lady Lake
, Florida
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 1,255
Sumo Springs
Towed about 1500 miles, Truck was fine on a perfect smooth road. Truck was within the Equalizer measurements for front and rear, On a interstate did not know the rig was back there. Even going slow under 55 on back roads the tailer was jouncing the truck.
I've wrenched for years, pulled lots of farm wagons, never a large trailer I had that something is wrong feeling. Wife looked at me and said should have let you get the F-250. Although that is a done deal now made my bed can't afford the trade game. Truck and gobs of torque Max tow but it felt like the trailer was controlling it. It could be all in my head as inexperienced
Sent this picture to equalizer they said the hitch should be flipped over. The front of the trailer was not quite level down an inch from the rear.
I hesitate to offer this suggestion, as my experience is with Reese hitches, but I had a similar issue with my Reese hitch when switching from a conversion van for my tow vehicle to a club cab pickup in 1995. At the time, I didn't realize that there were different lengths of bars available to attach the hitch head to the receiver. The hitch head for my van was particularly long to move the head outward to allow clearance for the rear door mounted spare. For more than a year, I blamed the truck for porpoising (jouncing like you describe on only certain roads), and took it back to the dealer many times. Finally, I was at my Airstream dealer who had been in business for nearly 40 years at the time, and their hitch specialist looked over my rig after I explained my rough ride problem. The hitch specialist almost immediately looked at my hitch and asked me if the shop that did my set-up had a reason for using the longer ball mount shaft, and I explained that the prior tow vehicle had been a van with the rear door mounted spare tire. He told me that was the likely culprit of the problem as it was increasing the distance between my trucks rear axle and the center of the ball enough to create a "lever" effect under certain road conditions. His remedy was to install a new shorter shaft hitch head mount that moved the ball mount as close the truck's bumper as possible. That modest 2" of difference made a world of difference -- that particular stretch of road where I always experienced the problem was on my route home -- and for the first time since I had owned the pickup tow vehicle, I didn't experience any porpoising. Again, I am not saying this is an issue for your tow vehicle as I am not experienced with Equalizer, but I know that the correction definitely solved a similar issue with my Reese Straight Line hitch.
Good luck with your investigation!
Kevin
__________________
Kevin D. Allen WBCCI (Lifetime Member)/VAC #7864 AIR #827
1964 Overlander International
1978 Argosy Minuet 6.0 Metre
I have Sumo Springs on my RAM Power Wagon and like them a lot. Since the Power Wagon is mainly an off-road vehicle with softer springs (with a tow rating of 10K lb), it is nice to have that extra bit of lateral stability in the turns.
I would...go to the scales make sure you are transferring enough weight back to the FA.
1" down you should be able to correct with loading and WD adjustments. You will want the trailer as level as possible with the proper weight distribution.
POI...get the 7way a little higher and make sure it's secured in the plug....AMHIK 🥴
Bob
🇺🇸
__________________
I’m done with ‘adulting’…Let’s go find Bigfoot.
2021 30' Flying Cloud
Airstream - Other
Airstream - Other
Lady Lake
, Florida
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 1,255
Porpoise explained- 7 way connector
Kevin now that makes an awful lot of sense.
I know the length of my ball hitch still makes it impossible to drop the tailgate without hitting the jack. However if it helps stops the backroad home sea sickness its worth it. I’ll discuss this with the dealership installer. As the new hitch will be installed with the new Trailer. If you want that story see forum panel on panel repair.
This July we got a hurry up -pre-delivery. It was slam bam thank you man oh it's 5:00 clock somewhere Friday see ya goodbye to bad sooooo sad. Left us in the lot without a clue of proper hitching up or even a test ride. Good thing I watched a couple or Equalizer you tubes on the cell phone.
Im glad the new style jack cover is plastic. Embarrassing to accidentally hit the key fob and the auto tailgate release drops it down. I’ll be foam padding for that. Or trying to figure a way to rotate the new style jack.
Robert Cross. Very good advise on the 7 way connector. I appreciate that. Good Eye CarGuy ( POI...get the 7way a little higher and make sure it's secured in the plug....AMHIK ��)
Quote:
Originally Posted by overlander64
Greetings Life is a Highway!
I blamed the truck for porpoising (jouncing like you describe on only certain roads), and took it back to the dealer many times. Finally, I was at my Airstream dealer who had been in business for nearly 40 years at the time, and their hitch specialist looked over my rig after I explained my rough ride problem.
His remedy was to install a new shorter shaft hitch head mount that moved the ball mount as close the truck's bumper as possible. That modest 2" of difference made a world of difference --
I know the length of my ball hitch still makes it impossible to drop the tailgate without hitting the jack. However if it helps stops the backroad home sea sickness its worth it. I’ll discuss this with the dealership installer. As the new hitch will be installed with the new Trailer. If you want that story see forum panel on panel repair.
This July we got a hurry up -pre-delivery. It was slam bam thank you man oh it's 5:00 clock somewhere Friday see ya goodbye to bad sooooo sad. Left us in the lot without a clue of proper hitching up or even a test ride. Good thing I watched a couple or Equalizer you tubes on the cell phone.
Im glad the new style jack cover is plastic. Embarrassing to accidentally hit the key fob and the auto tailgate release drops it down. I’ll be foam padding for that. Or trying to figure a way to rotate the new style jack.
Robert Cross. Very good advise on the 7 way connector. I appreciate that. Good Eye CarGuy ( POI...get the 7way a little higher and make sure it's secured in the plug....AMHIK ��)
Hi, I also tow a 25' Airstream with an F-150. [and an Equal-I-zer hitch] My tailgate would hit my tongue jack so I switched to a longer shank. Now I can fully open my tailgate and there has been no noticeable difference in handling. The original shank was a 12" model and I bought an 18" shank. This being longer than what I wanted and needed, I had a new pin hole drilled 2"s back and 1" cut off of the receiver end of the new shank.
My truck came with 18" LT tires with a max cold pressure of 50 lbs. Ford says to set all four tires to 40 lbs. I found that for me setting my rear tires to 50 lbs. was the magic number for the best handling.
__________________ Bob 2005 Safari 25-B
"Le Petit Chateau Argent" Small Silver Castle
2000 Navigator / 2014 F-150 Eco-Boost / Equal-i-zer / P-3
YAMAHA 2400 / AIR #12144
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Hi, I also tow a 25' Airstream with an F-150. [and an Equal-I-zer hitch] My tailgate would hit my tongue jack so I switched to a longer shank. Now I can fully open my tailgate and there has been no noticeable difference in handling. The original shank was a 12" model and I bought an 18" shank. This being longer than what I wanted and needed, I had a new pin hole drilled 2"s back and 1" cut off of the receiver end of the new shank. 
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