I have a new-to-me Class C, a 1997 Four Winds, 23ft long.
Often, when I enter a gas station or other driveway, I drag my butt on the pavement. Technically, I drag the hitch (see pic below). I'm afraid this will get worse when I'm towing my 7x14 trailer that will carry my motorcycle. I also want to go onto dirt roads and perhaps a tiny bit offroad to do some boondocking.
This picture shows the problem:
And how low the hitch has been placed is making it worse:
My options seem to be:
I'm sorting through the options and, as this is my first RV, I'm learning fast.
A few notes and tips I've learned from others:
But the problem is made much worse with the hitch placement. My question to the folks here is whether the hitch can be raised in some way. The visible part appears to be attached to a long bar that appears, in turn, to be attached to the frame. Is there a hitch design that isn't so low? It looks like that alone would give me four more precious inches.
Then again, with the wheels and airbags, maybe lifting the hitch isn't necessary. Perhaps I should spend only a bit of time and money since I expect this to be my training rig to be upgraded within 24 months.
Thoughts?
Edit: got the pictures in
Often, when I enter a gas station or other driveway, I drag my butt on the pavement. Technically, I drag the hitch (see pic below). I'm afraid this will get worse when I'm towing my 7x14 trailer that will carry my motorcycle. I also want to go onto dirt roads and perhaps a tiny bit offroad to do some boondocking.
This picture shows the problem:
And how low the hitch has been placed is making it worse:
My options seem to be:
- add castor wheels
- raise the vehicle permanently with a lift kit; I've identified one for $2k (installation extra) that will do the job
- raise the vehicle on-demand with air bags
- raise the hitch
- a combination of the above
I'm sorting through the options and, as this is my first RV, I'm learning fast.
A few notes and tips I've learned from others:
- the lift kit will bring up the entire rig by 5", front and back
- the geometry of this type of vehicle does not allow for many good options (agreed! who designed this with so much cabin behind the rear wheel?); the person who mentioned this to me stressed getting castor wheels no matter what else I do
- like the castor wheels, I've been advised to add airbags no matter what as this helps firm up the rear when loaded with the trailer; this person also suggested foregoing the lift kit and just going with the castor wheels and air bags because lifting the entire rig will make the steering less safe. This makes sense to me and I'm leaning toward this (castor wheels plus air bags, no lift kit).
But the problem is made much worse with the hitch placement. My question to the folks here is whether the hitch can be raised in some way. The visible part appears to be attached to a long bar that appears, in turn, to be attached to the frame. Is there a hitch design that isn't so low? It looks like that alone would give me four more precious inches.
Then again, with the wheels and airbags, maybe lifting the hitch isn't necessary. Perhaps I should spend only a bit of time and money since I expect this to be my training rig to be upgraded within 24 months.
Thoughts?
Edit: got the pictures in
@Lwiddis thank you.
@opnspaces thank you for the welcome and also thank you for posting the pictures. I went back to the original post and tried it myself to learn how to do it. But I still appreciate your gesture.
I'll definitely go more on an angle to lessen the problem.
I just checked underneath and I'm discovering some things. I bought the rig from a dealer who accepted it as a trade-in from the original owner. I never got to talk to the owner.
But it's clear that the owner towed something because the rig came with the hitch and he bought the V10.
Actually looking underneath showed me several interesting things:
1. it already has castor wheels. See picture below. I haven't had a reason to look behind the rear skirt and they are invisible looking directly at the rear because of the skirt. That's niceโone less thing to install.
2. it does have leaf springs and they are mounted atop the axle. Thus, it appears I can put a spacer there and an extra spring.
Peering underneath showed me the castor wheels:
So, given that I still want extra height, it seems the new short list in rough order of preference is:
1. install a spacer
2. install another leaf spring
3. install a rear stabilizer from Hellwig
4. install new, stronger shocks (but only if necessary)
5. install air bags
6. install front stabilizer
7. install a front-and-rear lift kit
It seems to me doing 1 + 2 + 3 get me really close to what I want. If not, I replace the shocks and add the air bags and front stabilizer. It seems that the full lift kit (with its high cost) isn't necessary at all.
Did I miss anything?
It seems likely this will give the rear 3 extra inches. The rear will be higher than the front but that shouldn't cause a problem, correct?
@opnspaces thank you for the welcome and also thank you for posting the pictures. I went back to the original post and tried it myself to learn how to do it. But I still appreciate your gesture.
I'll definitely go more on an angle to lessen the problem.
I just checked underneath and I'm discovering some things. I bought the rig from a dealer who accepted it as a trade-in from the original owner. I never got to talk to the owner.
But it's clear that the owner towed something because the rig came with the hitch and he bought the V10.
Actually looking underneath showed me several interesting things:
1. it already has castor wheels. See picture below. I haven't had a reason to look behind the rear skirt and they are invisible looking directly at the rear because of the skirt. That's niceโone less thing to install.
2. it does have leaf springs and they are mounted atop the axle. Thus, it appears I can put a spacer there and an extra spring.
Peering underneath showed me the castor wheels:
So, given that I still want extra height, it seems the new short list in rough order of preference is:
1. install a spacer
2. install another leaf spring
3. install a rear stabilizer from Hellwig
4. install new, stronger shocks (but only if necessary)
5. install air bags
6. install front stabilizer
7. install a front-and-rear lift kit
It seems to me doing 1 + 2 + 3 get me really close to what I want. If not, I replace the shocks and add the air bags and front stabilizer. It seems that the full lift kit (with its high cost) isn't necessary at all.
Did I miss anything?
It seems likely this will give the rear 3 extra inches. The rear will be higher than the front but that shouldn't cause a problem, correct?
