Best (and quickest) Weight Distribution Hitch plus a towing question

[logan]

It's certainly way more forgiving since it has the auto ride height. This does NOT fix the base problem of transferring weight from the rear to the front. That's why you do the bumper height measurements. You really can't measure tension. By measuring bumper height, you assure a perfect 50/50 weight transfer.

Maybe I am misunderstanding but by level for both r1t and trailer I mean the bumper heights were correct in the final settings and not as good for the other two?

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[Zoidz]

Are you aware of the very high danger of low relative tongue weight? Be sure you actually either measure this or estimate it well.

I saw a contractor's pickup and enclosed trailer a few weeks ago that was clearly loaded too lightly on the tongue. The tail was wagging the dog, so to speak. The trailer was wandering left and right everytime he went over a slight bump or rise in the highway and he was fighting it with the steering wheel. I thought he was going to oversteer and lose it.

 

[DarthBrader]

On the concept of reducing tongue weight and trailer stability, I highly recommend the following video and paper:

https://purehost.bath.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/147993632/JAUTO981.pdf

Bottom line is that you should not load up the back of your trailer like a see-saw to reduce tongue weight because you will cause even bigger problems.

I don't know that you can get a 25+ foot Airstream within the tongue weight spec for the R1S, and having the principal storage in the rear of the 28 foot Pottery Barn would have me worried. I suspect the R1T with its longer wheel base would handle it much better.

 

[moosetags]

We have been towing our Airstream Travel Trailers for almost twenty years now. We have had two 25FB's, each with a tongue weight of 900+#. We have always used either a Hensley Arrow or, more recently, a ProPride hitch system. These are both anti sway/weight distribution hitch systems. Until recently, we have used these with 3/4 ton Suburbans and Silverados. We now also tow with our R1T and use the ProPride. It seem to work as well with the R1T as it does with the Silverado. The point of weight distribution is to insure that the front wheels of the tow vehicle have sufficient weight and contact with the road for effective steering control.

The ProPride is a very expensive hitch system, but the Airstream is a very expensive Travel Trailer. For the towing comfort and safety involved, we have always found it well worth the money.

Brian

 

[SwampNut]

Maybe I am misunderstanding but by level for both r1t and trailer I mean the bumper heights were correct in the final settings and not as good for the other two?

Right, because the Rivian fights to level the truck, you can never get a fully perfect 50/50 distribution. On my previous truck, I estimated settings, put the trailer on, measured the angle of drop. Adjusted, measured angle...etc. Until it was dead flat. Since the Rivian will never let itself drop, there's no way to measure and adjust. It's a detail, and it's not HUGE, but not the same as a perfect adjustment.

 

[KootenayEV]

I'm using an Anderson with a 20FB Flying Cloud which has a tongue weight (dry) of 650 lbs - fresh tank loaded (located behind the axle) along with all our gear up to the 5,000 lbs GVWR, tongue is around 600 - 620 depending on if I have both propane tanks full or not.

A few things to keep in mind:

• With the truck self-leveling, you can't use the tape measure trick to determine weight distribution settings (I did it at a truck scale) - you can set the ball height properly though.
• I find the truck sometimes auto-levels at inopportune times, so I often go into the menu and turn on Tire Change Mode. You can only do this while in park; if you shift to neutral, it will stay on, but as soon as you shift to drive or reverse, it turns off!
• The Anderson isn't meant for trailer hitches with the "shark fin" type that holds it closed; the Anderson applies forward pressure on the hitch coupler, which can be awkward sometimes when disconnecting (sometimes I have to move the truck a teensy bit forward to let it disengage when I want to lift the coupler off the ball). I have the "shark fin" type and am using the Anderson anyways, but with a pretty low amount of weight transfer.
• To get the chains off easier, lift the hitched trailer up a few inches as it eases the tension on the system. It is a pretty quick system to get on and off.
• You do need to include the weight of the WDH in the tongue weight / payload calculation.

Having said all the above, I've towed several thousand km's now. At first I used as much weight transfer as I did with my old Honda Ridgeline (ie pulled about 200lbs off the tongue), but I tried with less tension and now only pull about 75lbs off the tongue. So I'm slightly over the 500lbs suggested limit, but not by much. I'd consider even towing it without the chains, and just using the Anderson ball system still for anti-sway, it tows that nicely. But, I think you'd have a hard time getting 300 lbs off your hitch with the Anderson system.

If you haven't taken a look at the 20FB, I would suggest you do. You might find it sufficient rather than jumping up such a big amount from your 16 (we initially were looking at 25/27 floor plans). Couple of pros:

• The combo of Rivian/20FB is short enough to only take up two stalls long, so I can fit in almost any parking lot fairly easy. Similarly I can fit in pullouts reasonably easy.
• The 20 is short enough to fit in many National Park spaces.
• The kitchen is quite large in terms of counter space and sink space (in some ways it is better than even the >27'ers!)
• The grey tank is most of the size of bigger units; the fresh tank is smaller, but is pretty easy to fill up when at a minimal service site by just adding more water from a refillable 3 gallon jug
• Doesn't have the wrap-around windows with the rear dinette, but the large side windows on the dinette have also lent themselves to some nice views

The biggest con has to be the bed set-up! We are in our 40's and it is still working for us, but we have played with the idea of talking with Airstream Unlimited about reconfiguring the dinette into something more like a lounge and removing the wardrobe to buy enough space for a wider bed... but for now we just live with it.

 

[logan]

<snip>

If you haven't taken a look at the 20FB, I would suggest you do. You might find it sufficient rather than jumping up such a big amount from your 16 (we initially were looking at 25/27 floor plans). Couple of pros:

• The combo of Rivian/20FB is short enough to only take up two stalls long, so I can fit in almost any parking lot fairly easy. Similarly I can fit in pullouts reasonably easy.
• The 20 is short enough to fit in many National Park spaces.
• The kitchen is quite large in terms of counter space and sink space (in some ways it is better than even the >27'ers!)
• The grey tank is most of the size of bigger units; the fresh tank is smaller, but is pretty easy to fill up when at a minimal service site by just adding more water from a refillable 3 gallon jug
• Doesn't have the wrap-around windows with the rear dinette, but the large side windows on the dinette have also lent themselves to some nice views

The biggest con has to be the bed set-up! We are in our 40's and it is still working for us, but we have played with the idea of talking with Airstream Unlimited about reconfiguring the dinette into something more like a lounge and removing the wardrobe to buy enough space for a wider bed... but for now we just live with it.

I'll second that. We have a 22FB Caravel which is of comparable size. It's a very convenient size for two people. The only reason we are thinking of upgrading to a bigger size is because we now sometimes wrap our vacations with work weeks to split up the travel and because we enjoy it and then it feels too small if two people are on zoom calls at once. No one really wants to be the one at the picnic table especially if the weather is dicey. Working with a desk out of the truck kind of works but still we are considering the airstream with a separate office for this reason alone. Otherwise we love our 22' for all the conveniences that @KootenayEV mentioned. Small enough to fit many places and yet large enough for two people in relative comfort. (Kind of should have done the 23FB flying cloud for the better bed and fixtures but otherwise near perfect.)

 

[Fraslin]

... it feels too small if two people are on zoom calls at once.

Yes that is exactly why we were looking at the bigger one - my wife and I are both on calls all day as we work remote and in a larger trailer we can each take an end of it. We are both loud but figure if we close both curtains we will not hear each other

 

[logan]

Yes that is exactly why we were looking at the bigger one - my wife and I are both on calls all day as we work remote and in a larger trailer we can each take an end of it. We are both loud but figure if we close both curtains we will not hear each other

Just out of curiosity why the pottery barn instead of say the 30fb office?

https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailers/flying-cloud/floorplans/30fb-office/

^ This is the one we've been looking at. Sounds like your criteria may be the same too. Pottery barn looks really nice but where would be the two separate places? For the above it would be the office and dinette (or maybe bedroom if just coding and need a different position.) (We also are a little skeptical about the curtains but we thought maybe the spatial separation and perhaps increasing thickness if need be might work. Some thickness already.)

What is you and your wife's thinking on this?

(Edit: rereading your message I see what you are thinking about the ends. It is a lot bigger. Just have the slight discomfort of calling in with a laptop on your lap versus on a separate table.)

 

[Fraslin]

ust out of curiosity why the pottery barn instead of say the 30fb office?

My wife! She fell in love with the Pottery Barn. Agree office is similar as we like the separate couch and Dinette and would check most boxes. We are seeing some nice deals on 2024 PBs now too so the price is way less of on issue.

Plus I think it would be more likely to be a longer-term trailer for us at least until we get an fully EV-friendly Airstream model like the concept they showed a couple years ago.

 

[logan]

My wife! She fell in love with the Pottery Barn. Agree office is similar as we like the separate couch and Dinette and would check most boxes. We are seeing some nice deals on 2024 PBs now too so the price is way less of on issue.

Plus I think it would be more likely to be a longer-term trailer for us at least until we get an fully EV-friendly Airstream model like the concept they showed a couple years ago.

It does look very nice

 

[Foobar]

The Pottery Barn has a lot of nice amenities that look great and perform well in a house but in a moving trailer add an additional layer of things that can break or go wrong. I recommend talking to other PB owner about their experiences before committing. Everyone I know with a PB has run into things specific to the PB that they had to deal with. The nice Roman shades are a common failure point.

That all said, best looking interior of any of the available models - no question.

Also - seems that there are a good number of us Rivian/Airstream owners here - anyone else going to make the trip to Sedalia next week? I’ll be arriving on Thursday and parking with the Grapes and Grains group. I hope to see other EV tow vehicles represented this year!

 

[KootenayEV]

My wife! She fell in love with the Pottery Barn. Agree office is similar as we like the separate couch and Dinette and would check most boxes. We are seeing some nice deals on 2024 PBs now too so the price is way less of on issue.

Plus I think it would be more likely to be a longer-term trailer for us at least until we get an fully EV-friendly Airstream model like the concept they showed a couple years ago.

What about the Pebble?

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