towing – Riveted

Ten Pound Door Latch

Laura Domela — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 12:11:00 +0000

I never think to get a photo of the chaos until it's too late. Several times over the past few months we've pulled off somewhere to grab lunch or get something out of the Airstream only to find that a cupboard has come open and there's a huge mess all over the floor.

Not that long ago we were driving along the Oregon Coast and while stopped at a scenic viewpoint, we opened up the Airstream to find that the spice cupboard over the fridge had popped open during our drive and most of the contents were now all over the floor of the Airstream. Additionally, a small bottle of lemon olive oil that we'd picked up at a farm in Paso Robles had broken and dumped itself all over the floor, mostly in the kitchen (and luckily it was a mild, pleasant smelling oil, and not something like toasted sesame oil). We quickly cleaned it up and put everything back and then thought "dangit, we should have taken a photo!"

The cupboard above the microwave has now opened twice during towing, and both times it's been a bit of a catastrophe (and still, no photos!)

The most recent time was just last month on the Olympic Peninsula…walnut oil, truffle salt, broken glass, rugs all soaked in oil (see previous post).

So I did a little research and found the cupboard latch that we have. There are two flavors: a 5lb latch and a 10lb latch. I figured either we had a 5lb latch and we needed a 10lb latch, or our 10lb latch after three years had worn down and become a 5lb latch (or less!), so I ordered a 10lb latch and installed it as soon as it arrived.

Opening and closing the cabinet definitely requires a bit more oomph now, but I'm hoping this will hold us for a bit.

Eleven bucks well spent! (Get yours here.)

Hitch Issue: A Sheared Roll Pin

Laura Domela — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 16:33:06 +0000

About three weeks ago, we installed a new ProPride hitch. We'd been fairly happy with our old weight-distribution hitch, but it was starting to get old…cracks showing up in the hitch block, chain links showing wear, saddles getting slightly bent over time… We also occasionally had the slightest bit of sway when a big truck passed. We decided to spring for a ProPride or Hensley, since we'd read so many good comments about them in the forums.

After a bit of study, we decided to go for the ProPride. It looked like it had a couple of minor differences from the Hensley that might be nice. But honestly, most of all, it was black and not orange. Orange is good on the inside! (Maybe we'll do a post later about the install process…it took about two hours and was fairly straightforward.)

We've towed about 500 miles with it now, hitched and unhitched 5 or 6 times, and been on freeways, 2-lane highways, and super twisty winding roads. It tows fantastically well. Big trucks pass us and we feel absolutely nothing. The whole operation feels more solid and steady than with our old hitch. It doesn't squeak or creak at all, either.

We've gradually been dialing in the adjustments and getting used to hitching and unhitching this new system. Getting the weight-distribution right and the trailer leveled takes a little trial and error.

As we mentioned in our previous post , when we pulled into the park here and started to unhitch, as we were lowering the weight-distribution jack, the jack handle just spun in place and the jack handle didn't move. This is a pretty serious problem because if we couldn't take the tension off of the weight-distribution jack, we couldn't unhitch the truck. We figured out how to pry to the top cover off of the jack head and pretty quickly saw that the roll pin that was supposed to hold the handle shaft in a spider gear had sheared off on both ends.

Here's one end:

The other end was on the ground, and the middle was stuck inside the shaft.

We tried jamming a few different things in temporarily (small screw, cotter pin, etc.) that might let us lower the jack, but they all sheared off as soon as we tried to turn the handle. I scrounged around in the hardware bin but didn't find anything. Then! I thought: martini picks!! They're cheap and the right diameter. Let's try it! Fortunately, these martini picks are apparently built to military specs. No olive shall come loose in any combat drinking situation. They were so hard that we couldn't cut them with our heavy duty wire cutters and we had to break out the bolt cutters. For a martini pick…that holds olives. (Don't ask why we carry bolt cutters.)

We sacrificed two martini picks (awwwww):

We tapped one in from each side and were able to finally manually turn the crank and lower the weight distribution bars so we could unhitch.

Today, Kevin ran down the street to the auto parts store and picked up a punch and the correct size roll pins. He punched out the old broken section, tapped in a new pin, and reassembled the jack. Now, we're good as new — maybe better, since the original seems to have started out with a weak roll pin.

(Tire) Pressure

Laura Domela — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 05:03:00 +0000

When towing a tandem-axle trailer with a pickup, you have eight tires on the ground (or more, if you have a dual set-up.) Eight tires means double the probability of a tire problem, and all that weight means the consequences of a failure are much worse. You may not want a tire failure on your family car, but you REALLY don’t want a tire failure while towing an RV.

We have a basically new truck and a basically new trailer, but we have still had two “tire failure events”. The first time, we were driving along a winding road near the Oregon coast, and ONE trailer brake locked up. Almost immediately, we had a puff of smoke and a blown tire. It turned out that the brake/hub/axle was defective from the factory. Airstream got us a new one express shipped and installed within a day under warranty.

The second tire incident may have been related to the first. About 2,000 miles later, we were towing up another winding road in the Oregon Cascades. It was nighttime, and we were on the way to Detroit Lake State Park. About 10 miles before our destination, I felt a very slight tug from the trailer. It was fairly subtle, and lasted only a fraction of a second. After that, everything seemed normal. I was concerned that maybe a trailer brake had started to lock up again (although the entire hub/brake assembly had been replaced with a new one, so it seemed unlikely). The trailer towed normally for the rest of the ten miles into the campground. Laura jumped out when we arrived at our site and went back with a flashlight to make sure we went smoothly into the pitch black campsite. I backed into the spot easily, and Laura came to my window (which she normally does to say something like “looks good, back up maybe six more inches, we’re level left-to-right…”).

This time, she did NOT say that.

“Um, honey? We’re missing a wheel."

(OF COURSE that’s not what she meant.)

“We have a flat?”

“No, we are missing a wheel. From the trailer. The wheel, tire, everything. Gone.”

I then fine-tuned my entry in the “stupidest question in the world” contest…

“Are you sure?”

“…” (My question did not rate a response)

“Come look. I was looking to make sure the stabilizers would clear the curb, and it was really dark, and something was weird. I could see one silver part of one wheel, but then there was just black for the other one. I put my hand out and there was nothing there. Just that gnarly metal nub, like when they grind a tooth down to put a cap on it."

I grabbed a light and went back to look. Front trailer tire and wheel…check. Rear trailer tire and wheel… GONE. There was only the hub/brake assembly hovering in space with two of the studs broken off at the hub. Behind that, there was some bodywork damage to the rear underside of the trailer – apparently inflicted by the wheel/tire assembly as it departed the scene. THAT was the “slight tug” we had experienced ten miles before.

Not good.

I should take this opportunity to modify my alarmist statement above about “tire failure events” towing an Airstream. While it seems like a sudden and complete tire failure on a loaded 6,000 lb trailer being towed up a winding mountain road, with steep drop-offs on the sides, in the dark, would be a VERY BAD THING – the truth is we noticed nothing. The trailer towed as normal for ten more twisty, hilly miles, into the campground, and into the site, as if nothing had happened. Also, in the first incident – with a sudden blowout, the trailer towed as normal (although in that case I knew about the problem so I went very slowly and carefully to a safe pull-off).

I know this would not be true of every trailer, and it makes a good argument for a tandem-axle design versus a single axle design. If a single axle trailer had a wheel depart, I’m certain you would not continue calmly to your destination unaware.

In retrospect, the loss of the wheel was probably due to lug nuts either being too loose (wherein the vibrations would slowly cause the lug nuts to back off until the tire started to wobble – causing the lugs to shear and the wheel to break free) or by the lug nuts being over-tightened damaging the studs and causing them to break under load much later. The last time these lug nuts had been touched was when the shop replaced our hub/axle. That shop, I believe, either over- or under-tightened our lug nuts. I did not heed the warning (which I believe is posted on a sticker on many trailers) to “re-check lug nut tightness after 50 miles”. Do it. Really.

We went searching for our missing tire/wheel the next day. It was an exercise in futility.

We called a towing and roadside service company in the nearest town, and they sent a guy with some replacement studs. He took the hub off the trailer in our campsite, removed the broken studs, pressed in some new ones, and then we fitted our spare tire. $300 later, we were good to go again.

Once back home, we dropped the trailer at Airstream Adventures Northwest for repairs to the damage to the rear of the trailer, plus a replacement wheel/tire. They did a perfect job – the damage is completely gone. Total repair cost was about $2,000. (Ouch!)

Having two wheel/tire failures in a relatively short period of time gave rise to an unreasonable paranoia about our wheels and tires. I now check the lugs before each trip. I check the tire pressure before each drive.

We wanted a peace-of-mind solution for tires. We decided to get a remote tire pressure monitoring system. After a bit of research, we decided to go with the:

Hopkins 30100VA nVision Tire Pressure Monitoring System

This system sits on the dashboard and gives you a nice green light if all tires are at the proper inflation. If one of them gets a tiny bit low, it beeps and gives a yellow light. If pressure drops substantially, it beeps LOUDLY and lights a red light. It has a popup screen that shows air pressure in every tire you have.

The system requires you to put a special transmitter on each tire – where the valve cap would normally go. The main unit plugs into a 12V plug and sits on your dashboard. It monitors the tire pressure wirelessly.

There are some issues we’ve had with this unit. First, the user interface for setting it up is very clunky and unclear. It took quite a bit if futzing around to get all the sensors installed and working properly.

Second, it only comes with six sensors. You can buy extras in pairs. If you’re using a four-wheeled tow vehicle plus a four wheeled trailer, you need at least two extras. If you want to monitor the pressure in your two spares as well – you need two more.

Third, the sensors have to be replaced periodically – every couple of years maybe? We don’t know for sure yet. We’ve had one sensor fail in two years of use.

Fourth, in our configuration, the signal from the trailer sensors to the receiver on the dash was intermittent. The company sells a special “booster” add-on (which we mounted in the canopy in the back of the truck) to help when there is a long distance between the truck and the trailer. That’s an extra and hidden cost to the system.

We’ve had good service from the unit. Three times, we’ve had tires get a bit low and it has warned us before a problem developed. Twice, it was a screw or nail in the tire which could have later turned into a bigger problem. Overall, I’d recommend one of these systems, although the door is wide open for one that performs better and is easier to use than this one.

And finally – I need to point out that a system like this would not have caught or prevented either of our failures. One was a brake lockup with instant blowout. The second was a wheel that departed the rig – with tire pressure sensor intact, and tire fully inflated. Yep, the pressure was just fine – but the wheel and tire were in a ditch several miles back…

(Posted by Kevin)