[A/S] Re: Roof Climbing

["Andrew Rogozinski" <andyrogozinski@xxxxxxxxx>]

Brett Hall.

The greatest cause, "by far" that wall panels or bulkheads move out 
of position, is lack of "proper" wheel balance, and or worn out 
axles, from 1961 and up. Contrary to opinion, the axle rubber rods  
become damaged by taking a "set", when the trailer has been parked 
for years, therefore becoming rigid with little or no flexing.

Correct running gear balance includes, the tire, wheel and hub and 
drum assembly. Anything short of that, "will" eventually cause the 
bulkheads, as well as many other things, to move and or become 
damaged.

Lack of proper balance, and or bad axles, will cause the following 
problems, sooner or later.

Shearing rivets, inside and out, cracked frames, cracked axle 
mounting plates, rear end separation, wiring failures, both 12 volt 
and 120 volt, water heater failures, furnace failures, air 
conditioner failures, cracked or severed A-frames, LPG leaks, 
internat water leaks, shell water leaks, vent covers opening by 
themselves, entrance doors flying open in transit, loose entrance 
door hinges, especially the single hinged doors from 65 to 72, door 
hinge failures on 64's and older, bulkheads being punched through the 
ceiling, range and oven failures, refrigerator failures, damaged 
furniture, fatigue crack the axle spindles, especially on older 
trailers, and to a large degree the Bambi's and Caravels, broken 
parts within the electric brakes, damaged bushings and clevis pins in 
the old disc brakes systems, blowouts, worn tires, premature shock 
failure, and the list goes on and on.

It is absolutely amazing, of the thousands of owners that neglet to 
properly maintain the running gear, or check their axles, which takes 
about 5 seconds to do.

Most shops stay very busy, repairing the above items.

Again, the above is "not" isolated issues. It is very common.

During my 40 years with the Airstream products, the above outlined
damages happen all to many times.

Safety is "THE" issue.

Balance the running gear correctly, and your Airstream will love you 
for it.

In the case of 1974 and older tailers, check the axles. 
Unfortunately, the compositition of the rubber rods in those older 
axles, has a great tendency to fail. That causes the trailer to 
bottom out when hitting even small bumps, which in turn, causes the 
same type of damage as the unbalanced running gear causes.

Damage to bulkheads because the roof was damaged, is way way down the 
list, and personally, I have never seen such as described by Brett. 
Not that it can't, but I have never seen it.

Andy
Inland RV Center, Inc.