The Repairs are done and she tows like a dream

After the Bruce Peninsula, we headed into London to visit an Airstream Dealer to get the low point valve repaired.  Luckily Marvin MacGyver plugged up our broken valve with a wood cork to keep pressure in the lines, we were able to have water, which made Sharon very happy, considering the Bruce National Park was pretty rustic.  However it needed to be fixed permanently, and Can-Am RV was the only Airstream dealer in Ontario.  I was happy to see their name pop up when I was looking for dealerships and realized they were just a ferry ride away from us.  I have seen many facebook posts about how great Andy Thomson and his Can-am dealership are.  Andy often posts himself on Airstream forums and he is always giving advice and talking about how to safely tow, setup weight distribution hitches and the pros and cons of new towing systems which claim to solve all the old problems of towing.

In the meantime this gave us the chance to visit our friends Eric and Leslie in London.  We had a great evening, they gave us the tour of their new dream home and we sat out at the fireplace, poolside at their newly finished resort-style backyard.  Kinda like a trip to Mini-Vegas.  It was amazing and a lot of fun catching up with old friends.

I dropped off The Studio on Wheels the next morning and they weren't sure if it would be done same day.  So we headed to Hamilton to visit Sharon's brother Brian and his family.  Brian and Erica cooked up a beef tenderloin and Erica made her legendary mashed potatoes.  wow what a feast!!

The Airstream was ready and they even added a rock guard to protect the valves from future damage.  We were hooked up and looking for a few RV supplies when I saw a guy inspecting my hitch, the look wasn't good.  I said "Are you Andy!", and he nodded and I shook his hand.  I asked how my setup was.  He said it could be better.  The Shank was to long and that I was basically towing all on the hitch and not getting any benefit from my WD bars.  I told him I couldn't get a shorter shank when I purchased this hitch.  Andy made some suggestions about what else needed changing and told me they have shanks custom made.  He said he could see about getting us setup right away.  Which he did.  So we toured the new and used Airstreams, while the truck and trailer went into the shop (big mistake as Sharon was talking about trading in our little guy for a bigger one...they called it twofootitis!). 

An hour and half later Andy pops out and says lets go for a ride.  He drove out onto a double lane section where he weaved back and forth like there wasn't a trailer behind us.  He told me the rear end is now sitting at the same height with or without the trailer on, and the front end is pushed down 5/8 of an inch, which means the weight is now being distributed.  I did notice the difference right away.  The steering is much more responsive and there isn't anymore bounce when we hit bumps.  I pulled out onto the highway and didn't realize I had accelerated to almost 120.  Whereas before anything over 100 was done cautiously.  Of course I backed off, as the tires are still only rated to 65Mph.  I guess the next project is bigger, better wheels!!!