Thanks for your advice Bill-
I almost bought a rear bumper mount but I was curious if it would have an effect -my
trailer has been repaired for frame separation. This occurred before I owned it- I
know it happened because of the aluminum "cut-outs" above my frame @ the back bumper.
The last owner told me he took it to Airstream to have "something" repaired- the
repair does have the proper rivets and there is no longer any sign of separation
therefore I believe him.
Here's my dilemma. I bought the 69 Trade Wind under the impression that the tongue
weight was 490lbs and the overall weight was 4340lbs- I was told this by the very nice
people at Airstream. This was w/in my truck's towing limits. No modifications have
been made to the trailer- when installing a load equalizing hitch and sway bars I
measures the dry tongue wt (using the lever method) and it came to 645! Now I'm
pushing my '97 Toyota T100's limits for tongue wt.. I haven't been able to get it to a
scale yet (I'm waiting for the heavier spring bars to arrive) to see what the total
dry weight is but I hope it will not get too close or exceed my truck's 5200lb. limit.
By putting the tire on the back bumper I was hoping that it would lighten the tongue
load while staying inside the recommenced 12-15%. Any suggestions/panacea for my
situation? Anyone else know their weights for the same trailer? THANKS_
Mike Conner
Wildlife Resource Specialist
City of Davis
(530)757-5686
