Hello again. I guess my message about not trying to take it with you isn’t getting out to all that need to take note. So, one more time:
Don’t overload your Airstream! A customer came in to the shop a couple of weeks ago with an Airstream Classic that was supposed to have a GVW of 8300 pounds. He said he was having trouble with his load range E tires not holding up. I went out and looked, and sure enough, all the tires were in various stages of advanced failure. I had some other work to perform ion the trailer, so I called and ordered new tires, and went to work on the rest.
I should say I tried to go to work on the rest. The first clue there was something amiss was when the customer dropped the trailer, and had to let a lot of air out of his truck’s aftermarket air shocks. This was on a 1 ton truck, so his springs alone should have been more than enough to carry the Airstream’s weight.
I then opened the door, and jumped back as an avalanche of stuff came spilling out. Wow! Fifteen minutes later, I had removed enough stuff to gain access to the interior of the trailer. The customer had gone on an errand, and I had to locate some things I was supposed to repair. This turned into a “Where’s Waldo?” game inside. Every drawer, every cabinet, every horizontal space was filled to overflowing.
Finally, I had enough unloaded to perform the work requested. When the customer returned with even more supplies, I decided to try to explain about the consequences of overloading his Airstream. I couldn’t get him to understand how severely overloaded his trailer was, and how dangerous this condition can be. I finally talked him into going over to the local truck stop and get his rig weighed. Without all the stuff I hadn’t put back in the trailer, it weighed 10,400 pounds. It’s no wonder his tires were failing, they were committing suicide in order to get out from under the load.
So, I think I educated one customer how much damage he was doing to his trailer, as he started going through all his excess, and weeding out what was not going to be used on that trip.
Of course, this week, in came another Airstream Classic that was also overloaded, though not as badly. It also had tire problems, but I hope this customer also saw the light.
If you see somebody using a plunger to pack their Airstream, try tactfully letting them know what they’re doing. If they won’t listen, send them to me.