Re: [A/S] Front-mounted hitches some warnings

[chasm@xxxxxxxxx]

I am not sure how many of you have actually used a front hitch to spot an
airstream.  I have.  and on a Suburban.

the first time I lowered the hitch onto the ball in the front receiver, 
the front end kept going down, down and down.  I finally stopped when the tongue
was about 6" off the ground and backed off to look at what I had, 

almost flat front tires (with 42psi) and the under hitch almost on the ground.
ok, we can fix that...  I got out a couple of my ebay and back parts room
robbing specials... wheels that go on the jack stand bottom.

jacked it up onto wooden blocks, raised the jack, installed the wheel, dropped
the jack pole and got the wooden bblocks out of the way.
then lowered the tongue as much as possible (remember, never carry a heavy load
on a forklift, high... always low)  reduces torguing on the jack pole/stand
whatever.  got SWMBO behind the wheel and had her start pushing it slowly,
stopped immediately, the wheel bogged into the hard packed caliche/gravel and
almost bent the jack out of its mounting on the tongue.

ok, this is not going to work, told SWMBO to turn it around and we spent an hour
spotting the trailer.


point is, the front springs on sedans (such as SUVs) are very weak for comfort
driving.  we should have put the weight transfer bars onto the front hitch
(frame mounted) and then we might have been able to do it.

However, that 800-1000# tongue weight might have torn up the front end of the
Suburban. I do not know.   

NOW, if you are always going to have smooth concrete, then it MIGHT work.
there is no really good way to beef up the front end suspension of a suburban.
a 4x4 pu set up to carry a 5er has extra springs, etc on the front end and would
have little problem with the tongue wt of an A/S IF YOU USED A WHEEL under the
jack!!!  otherwise, that 500lb wt limit is going to show itself as you
deconstruct it on the driveway.  or, as we like to say, you are going to let the
smoke out of it....

get the one with an aluminum wheel.