WD hitches on trailers with aluminun frames

I had a WD & then a Hensley Arrow on an 27' Award TT. It had a galvanized frame & I was told not to put too much pressure on it with the Hensley or I might bend the light weight frame. I love the Hensley, absolutely no swag when trucks pass.

I now have a 2010 Earthbound Morrison & use the Hensley. The Earthbound has a steel frame.
There is an owners Facebook page Earthbound RV Trailers & we had our first rally in Shipshewana last week.

Hi btcruzer,
Good for you! I don't believe you will be disappointed. Our Dillon has the same floorplan as your Morrison, minus the sofa (and 4 feet of length). We really like the big rear bath and just the general way it's put together. I especially like the tight seams where the counters and cabinets meet the walls. Everything shows care with the assembly.

I also noticed our trailer has Hepvo valves instead of P-traps for the sink and shower drains. http://www.hepvo.com/ No worries about gray water bubbling up in the shower if your gray tank gets too full. It's the details like this that still impress me.

If you want to see Earthbound's website, it's still available on Wayback Machine

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://earthboundrv.com

I've looked around there and you just click on various dates highlighted with the Blue dots. Start with the oldest date with a "dot" and you can see the progression of line.

As for my Dodge, we had a Lance slide-in camper for 4 years before we got our Dillon, hence the airbags. We traded it in in August of 2009, ordered the Dillon, and waited until August 2010 to pick it up. Earthbound was moving from Elkhart to Marion (and probably was running into financial difficulties at the time too.) But the wait was totally worth it. We were looking at the Airstream 25FB, but we now have more room inside (no rounded wall to ceiling area) and nothing to rot, like Airstream floors are wont to do.

We just sold our truck and bought a 2013 VW Touareg TDI (diesel). With a 7700 pound towing capacity, it should handle our 5400 pound (GVW) Dillon with ease.

Hope you have a great time with your Morrison and if you have any questions, ask away and I'll do my best to answer them. During our yearlong wait I was in at least monthly contact with David Hoefer of Earthbound asking questions and getting answers. He asked my opinion of various item and I hope I helped with my opinions. Bummer they didn't make it.

Kirk

Sir, I went to the Bal/norco site you listed. I'm even more happy. The entire frame is steel. I checked the brochure and found "all aluminum framed , vacuum bonded construction(walls, floor, roof and interior walls) and a mention of "engineered Norco frame " BUT no mention of aluminum frame. In my defense, the trailer is low, the ground was wet and it LOOKED like an aluminum frame. I will be back under it ( inside with a creeper ) when we do the pre-delivery inspect. Yep, this thing looks to be a good thing.

Sir, that is really great to hear from an Earthbound owner. Thursday I bought the 2011 Earthbound Morrison that I mentioned above. I had checked and found that the tongue was indeed steel so that was a big relief to me. I spent an entire day in, on top of and under the thing and I am impressed. I don't pick it up till next week -- out of state. I haven't decided what hitch I need. Still thinking I don't need weight distributing, but looking for a tidy, effective sway control. Surely, you didn't need those airbags on a 2500 Dodge with your Earthbound?!

I have a 2010 Earthbound Dillon and its frame is made of steel by BAL/Norco http://norcoind.com/bal/products/oem/ultraframe/index.shtml . I use a Hensley Cub so there is no problem with a WD hitch.
Too bad Earthbound is out of business; they made a superior product and you can't go wrong by buying one.
Kirk

Thanks for the info. That explains the site issues.

Good luck on your search for a new camper.

JBarca -- Earthbound is now out of business - so no help there. The trailer is at a dealership and I'm a bit tight with a nickel so I doubt this will develop into any concern. Just having concerns about this possible problem makes a purchase less likely. Heck, my toyhauler is really looking nice.

Passin Thru wrote:
Sure are. The Propride(tm) is one of many and this is not a promotion for one, just know about them.

Uh, no. A $2300 hitch is not a reasonable consideration. If that were the only alternative I'll just by pass the trailer and keep towing the toyhauler with my Equalizer -- but thanks for the info. passin thru

Hi BT,

Your question on A frame strength is a good one. I tried to go on the Earthbound site and it is not working. I can get the main page but can't go anywhere http://www.earthboundrv.com/ Maybe their site is down tonight

Suggest maybe doing this.

Find the VIN number of the camper and call Earthbound direct. Not the dealer as they are not the ones to back the warranty. Be straight up with them you have concerns and explain you are very interested in the camper and want to know the max loaded tongue weight and the max size WD bar that is intended to use on this model and what they will warrant the TT for. Also tell them what suspension truck you are going to use.

Odds are high that they agree that 10 to 15% loaded tongue weight of the GVW up to GVWR is the industry standard as a towing recommendation. If they do not agree with that, that is even more of an issue.

If they give you the run around and don't know, now you know what you are up agasint. Ask if the can mail you the response or email if they actually give you a weight. An answer of, We have not had any problems with this from other customers does not answer the question.

These light weight campers may or may not have issues pending what kind of analysis was done. Aluminum done correct with the right structural shape and reinforcement is not a problem. The question is, what analysis and field testing did they do?

We had another forum member try this on another brand they gave him the run around. I'll leave him and that company name out of it. This was after he bought it. So now it is up to him to figure it out.

I have seen A Frame redesigns go bad. Years back weight was not so much an issue and TT's at times had heavier frame rails and header support. It may have been thought to be overkill until they took the strength out and problems arose.

Hope this helps

John

Sure are. The Propride(tm) is one of many and this is not a promotion for one, just know about them.