Re: [SilverStreak] Silverstreak Fifth wheel in CA, and

[<waymark1@xxxxxxxx>]

A few questions below:
Al

-- thetansedan@aol.com wrote:

"The only mystery there is how in the world AS is the only survivor of all the 
orphans which in my opinion are all superior."

The simple answer is that Wally Byam was a marketing genius, and pretty smart 
about trailers, too. B The favorable points, the serious stuff, is:

-lighter weight/lower overhead clearance/narrower

-fully independent suspension (about 5" travel versus our 3"); FAR more
resistant to bad, roads, hazards, etc.
>>Q: What is the advantage of fully independent suspension on a trailer to 
justify its cost? I have a former boat trailer that has fully independent coil s
pring swing arm suspension.
>> All heavy vehicles I see have solid axle suspension. Most have leaf 
springs; some have air bags.

-the move to disc brakes

-double pane windows, etc.B 

-Huge numbers sold and big base of spares and new parts, even if A/S
disappears tomorrow.

Most of all, the iconic look.

The bad points are usually the problems that age reveals: framework that doesn't stand 
up; corrosion threats to the monocoque construction, interior materials deterioration, 
tail sag/separation, and, literally, problems grouped by decade that are all serious 
for the non-handyman owner. B The irritating stuff is just in trying to service ordinary 
items that are flat hard to access.

And, no, almost no one is willing to pay $100,000 for a travel trailer, and the current 
Airstream owner, Thor, is cutting corners and keeping prices high.
>> My 31' Supreme Saturn was just under $20,000 in 1979. What has happened to the 
fantasy dollar in 30 years?

B It's only a prestige brand in their likely view. (Read the stories about when, having 
taken over, they tried to cut costs by eliminating hundreds of rivets and how that 
backfired (beware of circa 1993 Airstreams). B Or the latest, "filiform corrosion".

>> "Filiform corrosion of aluminium alloys has increased drastically in the last 
10 years, in particular when manufactured articles are working in marine or industrial 
environments. This type of corrosive attack usually starts at coating defects or at cut 
edges following anodic undermining or cathodic delamination as corrosion mechanisms. As 
described in the literature, main controlling parameters are: water permeability and 
elasticity of the coating, oxygen diffusion paths, presence of salts, substrate chemical 
composition. In particular the metal coating interface is the critical point. It is well 
know that aluminium paint bonding is enhanced by treating the metal surface in chromate or 
chromate-phosphate baths and this kind of conversion coatings have also a beneficial effect 
in preventing filiform corrosion. .... The resistance to filiform corrosion was greatly 
influenced by wet adhesion, when it is poor the filament grows rapidly producing also a 
lateral detachment." ca!
 t.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1572800

>>Q: Is AS skipping one or more steps vital to successful coating?

I like them, might like to have one. B But the premium is too high, and you see yourself 
going down the road every other day. B I'd rather have a few more headaches in 
service/repairs at this point. B 

But I sure wish that we, like Avion, had gone to independent suspension. Or had the option 
of metal cabinetry for light weight, like Streamline. Or double-pane windows.

Triple axle on this '34 would be nice, as would disc brakes. Etc.
>> I had a triple axle stock/heavy equipment trailer and presently have a triple axle 
cargo trailer. I didn't like the stock trailer's axle setup. It was hard on tires.
>> It has 3 3500# axles shod with 50 psi load rage C tires. When cornering or maneuvering 
it looks like the front and rear axles' tires are about to be peeled off the rims. I can even see 
the wheels (and, I suppose, the spindles) flexing! Recently when towing this trailer loaded near 
capacity (10,000# on the axles) I could feel how hard the 1T, 454, 4.10:1 tow truck had to pull 
to drag it around in a parking lot.
>> I was much more favorably impressed with my 40' Spartanette, which has 2 5,600# axles. 
It towed well with a 3/4T 4WD Ford diesel pickup and a 1T Chevy, 350 Vortec, 3.73 (I think), van. 
It was not hard to pull around turns and even when a wheel came apart, blowing the tire out (an 
incorrect wheel, a Chevy car wheel) it didn't sway or jerk around. This was when the Spartanette 
was somewhat overloaded with our furnishings in it.