Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreamnair
We installed a rebuilt Hensley Arrow on our '99 AS Excella before we hauled it home ... Noticed some sway on the road and found one of the struts a bit loose when we got home. About two cranks on the square nut tightened it right back up, but I'm wondering:
- Is sway a given if the nuts aren't absolutely tight? How tight is tight?
- Why did the strut come loose in the first place? Is this just the brackets and pins taking slightly new positions as the trailer is driven?
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John:
I try to put no more than about 10 lbs of force on the handles when tightening the adjustment nuts on the struts to "vertical". The most important thing is to adjust them while the trailer/hitch/TV is absolutely straight and in line.
Some adjustment should be considered normal until you have it "dialed in".
Review the maximum allowable axle weights issued by Toyota for your Tundra, there should be a sticker stating Front Axle, Rear Axle, and Combined Weight Maximum either on the drivers side door or the drivers side "B" pillar. With your setup you may well be exploring the upper limits of the envelope.
It's a long read, but the following thread is really what it says, the ultimate...
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...ide-26279.html
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreamnair
I have been tightening up the spring bars to the middle notch, but my dealer thinks I'm putting too much load on the TV front wheels and reducing the load on the rear wheels (the rear wheels sometimes "peel" when starting from a full stop--he thinks this means too little load on the rear). Anyone out there have experience with the HA hitch, a 31' AS, and a Tundra TV (with tow package rated at 10,400# tow capacity)? Personally I think it would be difficult to overload the front axle and "underload" the rear axle with the spring bars, but I'm open to correction on this.
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Without an actual scale weight ticket it is impossible to adjust the weight bars for the optimum geometry. I have included a synopsis of one of my recent weighs below.
I was surprised that with the weight bars relaxed on my setup (not the largest Airstream manufactured) I was overweight on the rear axle. Remember, this is on an Excursion - this brings home the importance of matching the Tow vehicle to the trailer. Hiking up the weight bars to mid level distributed the load nicely, sharing the trailer tongue weight appropriately between the Steer Axle and the Drive Axle.
It will cost less than 20 bucks and an hour or so of your time to get several weighs on a CAT scale - that is one sure way to ensure you have a safe tow. Make sure you get the height measurement for the ground to top of the Front Wheel Well and also for the ground to top of the Rear Wheel Well for each weigh. Besides sharing the weight it is important (secondary to weight) to bring the rig to approximate level with the weight distribution bars. How much weight to add to the front axle is argumentative - a lot depends on the squat of the rig and how much needs to be unloaded from the drive axle to get you back in the manufacturers limits. In my example below, getting the weight on the steer axle back to about what it was prior to sitting the trailer on the rear was about "right".
Without spending some time at the scales it is impossible to tell exactly what you have. It is too inexpensive and takes too little time NOT to make sure the weight distribution bars are set up properly - especially if you are experiencing a problem on dry pavement - imagine what would happen if the rig started to act squirrely on wet or slick pavement.
Airstream safe!