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slowmover · 07-09-2015, 09:35 PM

Thank you, Aerohead!!

The former head of A/S has a rental company on the West Coast that offers trailer and tow vehicle as a package.

In the mid thru late 1990s the trailer was modified to a wider body across the line. Different curvature at all junctions. Though I'd doubt any significant change in wind handling.

The real "problem" with A/S from about 1990 onwards has been weight gain. A trailer that could have used aircraft honeycomb floors and aluminum cabinetry instead went on a weight gain binge.

My 1990 Silver Streak -- 35' in length -- is lighter in all ways than a current 28' A/S. What this means is that the tongue weight is heavy enough in the trailers this size and larger to start to push out suitable tow vehicles which are also more economical in solo duty than a pickup.

While the lowered HP demand is great (it is) I would say that th combination of torsion axles and crosswind handling is what makes this iconic brand the real value it is. Andrew Thomson of Can Am RV outside Toronto writes of putting this trailer thru the slalom and being able to drift the trailer behind a properly hitched and well chosen tow vehicle. This, my friends, is what makes this brand desirable. It's just an excellent all around design.

Compare to a box trailer and it's completely unacceptable leaf suspension, the handling of heavy crosswinds with those rounded edges means that the wind does NOT pile up down the length of the trailer to start sway, but passes over and "pulls" as it tow by (a way of stating advantage in an earlier post by the OP). This is a lessened effect. It has not been unusual in my experience to get out at a stop and have the vehicle door ripped away by winds I was pretty well unaware of. Winds that cause tractor trailer and especially 5ers to have to pull over and wait out.

FE is great, but safety trumps it. Careful specification of the tow vehicle is what maximizes design advantage as to lowest fuel burn.

The typical towing penalty for a travel trailer is 40% from solo where the rest is the same. Up to 50% is the range. For an A/S it can trend down to 30% in the same scenario, but one must be painstaking to establish the best mechanical baseline.

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07-09-2015, 09:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
slowmover Banned Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 2,442 2004 CTD - '04 DODGE RAM 2500 SLT Team Cummins 90 day: 19.36 mpg (US) Thanks: 1,422 Thanked 737 Times in 557 Posts	Thank you, Aerohead!! The former head of A/S has a rental company on the West Coast that offers trailer and tow vehicle as a package. In the mid thru late 1990s the trailer was modified to a wider body across the line. Different curvature at all junctions. Though I'd doubt any significant change in wind handling. The real "problem" with A/S from about 1990 onwards has been weight gain. A trailer that could have used aircraft honeycomb floors and aluminum cabinetry instead went on a weight gain binge. My 1990 Silver Streak -- 35' in length -- is lighter in all ways than a current 28' A/S. What this means is that the tongue weight is heavy enough in the trailers this size and larger to start to push out suitable tow vehicles which are also more economical in solo duty than a pickup. While the lowered HP demand is great (it is) I would say that th combination of torsion axles and crosswind handling is what makes this iconic brand the real value it is. Andrew Thomson of Can Am RV outside Toronto writes of putting this trailer thru the slalom and being able to drift the trailer behind a properly hitched and well chosen tow vehicle. This, my friends, is what makes this brand desirable. It's just an excellent all around design. Compare to a box trailer and it's completely unacceptable leaf suspension, the handling of heavy crosswinds with those rounded edges means that the wind does NOT pile up down the length of the trailer to start sway, but passes over and "pulls" as it tow by (a way of stating advantage in an earlier post by the OP). This is a lessened effect. It has not been unusual in my experience to get out at a stop and have the vehicle door ripped away by winds I was pretty well unaware of. Winds that cause tractor trailer and especially 5ers to have to pull over and wait out. FE is great, but safety trumps it. Careful specification of the tow vehicle is what maximizes design advantage as to lowest fuel burn. The typical towing penalty for a travel trailer is 40% from solo where the rest is the same. Up to 50% is the range. For an A/S it can trend down to 30% in the same scenario, but one must be painstaking to establish the best mechanical baseline. . Last edited by slowmover; 07-09-2015 at 09:56 PM..