Just Bought a 31ft 1981 Excella II

[Splitrock]

I like the hitch. Do you have any anti-sway devises installed?

[Splitrock]

The bottom picture looks like there's a helicopter landing behind the trailer.

[Aage]

Looks really good, perryg14!

[perryg114]

Thanks guys. A lot of hard work has gone into making the beast road worthy. I had a brake too tight when I left home. When I stopped at the first rest stop, I checked all the brakes and one wheel was real hot. I loosened the adjuster and jacked it up and spun the wheel and hit the road in about 15 mins. That wheel was acting funny the whole trip after that. When I got home, I took the hub off and the heat poped the grease seal out and the grease was making it squeel and lock prematurely. I have learned not to adjust these things too tight.

I did not use the friction sway bar on the way down but I did on the way back. It was much more stable above 60 than without it. It was not real bad without it. I think the friction bar made it handle worse in road ruts. The load bars were for 750 tounge weight. Which should be pretty close for my trialer according to the books.

My new BF Goodrich TA Long Trail 235/75-15XL tires ran cool all the way there and back. I think they were a good investment. They are wider and a little taller than stock which I like. No clearance problems at all. I may get some centramatics and put on there soon.

The trip to FL and back was about 900 miles, not bad for a maiden voyage. We are going back for Thanksgiving and we will be going to see my folks near Orlando. That will be about a 1200 mile round trip.

Perry

[sphinxatuf1]

Perry-
I have just bought a 31' Excella II and am about to take it to Florida. I know several years have passed since this post, but if you still have yours, I was wondering: what brand anti-sway bars do you have and do you recommend them? How did you know what to get as far as weight? I'm totally new to all of this, but apparently towing the airstream with just the ball is frowned upon. Thanks for any help you can give!
~Nikki

[perryg114]

I a using 750lb bars. It is a simple Reese type hitch with a friction sway bar. It is old school but it works up to about 75 MPH which is plenty. There are better hitches out there if you want to drop some coin. Yes I still have the trailer and we use it several times a year.

The bars just move weight from the rear axle of the tow vehicle to the front tires to aid in stability. The friction sway bar is a separate part that dampens sway of the trailer left to right.

Perry

[BasicWrench]

Perry, I know this post is over 10 years old, but I wanted to see if you could send (via a private message) any additional photos or videos of your work. I bought the same year/model (31' Center Bath, Rear full bed) right before the pandemic and I have many of the same issues that you tackled. Let me know.
Chris
PS: Tried to send a private message, but got a message that your inbox is full...FYI

[perryg114]

Just IM me again. I made room. I would just to a search under my name in the floor and frame section and see what pops up. Go to search then select advanced search and you have more options.



Perry