No longer curious- its in the drive !

hilltool · Apr 5, 2012

Brought it home yesterday. Will post pics when I can . Right now it is plugged in and I'm seeing if the refrig works- which I am sure it does.

2001 22 foot travel lite- VERY CLEAN.

Ride home over city streets was a bit bumpy with f150 4X4 equipped with air springs. Yes- I WILL get a weight dist hitch- but in mean time, I wonder if I stiffen things up (add air and rear height) or let it out. I'm thinking add air. At any rate, got her backed into one car drive between two retaining walls on second try- so I'm feeling good about that.

First Issue- left hand side of door going in (by grab handle) with trailer up. I've caught my self on the sharp corner twice now--- though I admit I am working in tight space between trailer and wall. Anyone have same issue?

Admittedly if that is only issue I have I am in GREAT shape. !! Thanks everyone for advice . They are predicting a heavy freeze tonight so I won't purge the system of anti freeze---yet. But I may put a few beers in the frig just to do it and ---try out the furnace. :

JackandJanet · Apr 5, 2012

hilltool said:
Brought it home yesterday. Will post pics when I can . Right now it is plugged in and I'm seeing if the refrig works- which I am sure it does.

2001 22 foot travel lite- VERY CLEAN.

Ride home over city streets was a bit bumpy with f150 4X4 equipped with air springs. Yes- I WILL get a weight dist hitch- but in mean time, I wonder if I stiffen things up (add air and rear height) or let it out. I'm thinking add air. At any rate, got her backed into one car drive between two retaining walls on second try- so I'm feeling good about that.

First Issue- left hand side of door going in (by grab handle) with trailer up. I've caught my self on the sharp corner twice now--- though I admit I am working in tight space between trailer and wall. Anyone have same issue?

Admittedly if that is only issue I have I am in GREAT shape. !! Thanks everyone for advice . They are predicting a heavy freeze tonight so I won't purge the system of anti freeze---yet. But I may put a few beers in the frig just to do it and ---try out the furnace. :

Your weight distributing hitch should have instructions regarding what to do with the air springs, but my Equal-I-Zer hitch instructions say do not try to level things out with the springs. That adjustment will take place with the ball at the proper height and the hitch adjusted correctly. So, adjust the springs so that the truck sits level without the trailer and then adjust the hitch so that both the front and rear of the truck compress the same.

I had a sharp corner at the door on my trailer too. I rounded it off with a Dremel tool.

- Jack

RichR · Apr 5, 2012

The air lift is okay if you are hauling something heavy in the truck, but is of no use in towing, nor does it increase the truck's hauling weight limit. The WDH hitch is the important thing to have.

Fireballsocal · Apr 5, 2012

hilltool;11420 Yes- I WILL get a weight dist hitch- but in mean time said:
Congrats on the trailer! I would recommend against the air springs and stick with the WDH. Read about my adventure with timbren rubber helper springs here: http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f19/i-installed-timbren-rubber-overload-springs-my-tundra-1030/

As for the beer, I would wait. I stuck a 12 pack of soda in mine when I first got it, not realizing how cold it can get. I had the thermostat turned to 6 and all cans exploded, creating some really neat icicles. I find between 3-4 gets the fridge around 34 degrees but your fridge may be different.

RichR · Apr 5, 2012

Get one of the digital thermometers and set the outside sensor in the fridge and take the base station in the house. You can monitor the temp without opening the door or going outside.

hilltool · Apr 6, 2012

RichR said:
Get one of the digital thermometers and set the outside sensor in the fridge and take the base station in the house. You can monitor the temp without opening the door or going outside.

LOL- But, half the fun is having an excuse to go out and check the trailer.

The air springs on the truck were installed to bring up the weight when I was carrying a 1200 lb pop-up truck camper. I now have a bit of "lift" in the truck and it sort of maintains a lopsided configuration when I have both springs empty, maybe due to a bad install job on my behalf. The smart move may be to just remove them as they are not really necessary anymore. However, they can prove handy with the occasional heavy load. I tend to keep about 20lbs in the them just to keep things even and I'm not sure to what degree that adds to "bucking".

The literature says an approx 405 lbs of tongue weight- and I know that will change according to weight in trailer and weight in rear of truck. That said- many of the wdh i am looking at seem to jump from 400 lb tw to 800. I realize a 400 lb tw would be aiming to low----is 800 too high? I've seen some 600 s but not as many. i guess I'm asking what others are using as parameters for choosing their hitches on similar sized trailers. Also- any particular favorite brands?

Thanks

Rick

No longer curious- its in the drive !

hilltool

Senior Member

JackandJanet

Senior Member

RichR

Moderator

Fireballsocal

Senior Member

RichR

Moderator

hilltool

Senior Member

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