Ohmman's Airstream Adventures

[ohmman]

For an Airstream - if unhitching is needed to use a supercharger - how long does it take to unhitch and re-hitch?

I have weight distribution so there are extra steps, but it's still under 5 minutes on each side of the transaction. It's not a big deal. I am more concerned with finding parking for the trailer in the parking lot than I am with the unhitching/rehitching process.

We get out of the car, my wife puts the wheel chocks in while I start lowering the electric tongue jack with one hand (pulling the toggle). The other hand unhooks the safety chains, breakaway cable, and 7-pin connector. By the time I'm done with that, my flip foot (see upthread) has lifted the tongue. Then I unhook the bar locks, swing the bars perpendicular to the car, and can usually open the ball lock straight away. Sometimes I have to slightly lower the tongue to open the ball lock because the car has been lifted and it'll jerk if I drop it, but my sway bars require very little lift in order to be in calibration. So most of the time, I just unlatch the ball lock, raise the tongue enough to slide out, and drive off to charge.

 

[cpa]

Ohmman,

You need to make a video like this:

 

[ohmman]

Ohmman,

You need to make a video like this:

An all-time favorite!

 

[ohmman]

We are out on a trip with the rig, and things are not going as well as on previous journeys. The car still displays range remaining, without which I’d be canceling and calling roadside. But the lack of turn signals is extremely concerning.

 

[aesculus]

We are out on a trip with the rig, and things are not going as well as on previous journeys. The car still displays range remaining, without which I’d be canceling and calling roadside. But the lack of turn signals is extremely concerning.

Sounds like the dreaded MCU1 failure.

Since you are in the early stages a reboot did not restore the turn signals? Some have reported it was just the interior indicators and the actual turn signals still worked.

 

[shikk]

Yikes, sorry to hear @ohmman. Yours and @JimVandegriff experiences were what inspired me to pick up a trailer myself for a cross country trip we're starting next week. 8, 5, and 0.16 year olds in tow . Have already taken a few practice runs out. Thanks for all the information you two have shared, they helped a lot.

As aesculus said I've found even when the MCU is completely dark a lot of the vehicle functions are still working. It once locked up and even during a reboot while in motion I was able to use turn signals and enagage park/drive.

Good luck, hope it doesn't ruin your trip.

 

[ohmman]

Thanks. Turn signals are definitely dead, as are most other features. The good news is that it’s “stuck” in trailer mode, so that should remain enabled for the trip. We just completed a 9 mile hike near Mt. Shasta and are making the best of it.

 

[Solarman004]

I'm really sorry to hear about this, Ohmman. With everything else going on, you don't need the added stress of an MCU failure. I hope you are able to make it through the rest of your vacation. Good luck.

 

[idoco]

Bummer.

When we first started towing with the MX, I was a bit worried about problems that couldn't be easily handled on the road. Especially since in many cases we were nowhere near Tesla SC's.

Now with 15k miles towing behind us (pun intended) I'll share my emergency contingency plan with you.
1. Take a deep breath
2. Be flexible with your plans. If you arrive somewhere a day or two late it's not a big deal in the scope of things.
3. Rent a pickup truck with a hitch receiver to finish your trip and have someone local flatbed the Tesla to somewhere safe until a Tesla towing contractor can pick it up at a later time. It's can be easier and more expedient to deal with local towing and temporary storage than have to work with Tesla's timetable.

Luckily we've yet to need it (fingers crossed).

P.S. Coincidentally our 2013 Model S in the SC awaiting for a new MCU as we speak. Luckily it's still under the extended warranty. The MX has another year plus on the extended warranty (2 year).

 

[Merrill]

Mark, sorry to hear of you problem I have had several MCU issues in the last 6 months screen going dark, or almost dark but rebooting has always fixed it. Hope you can still enjoy your trip.

 

[steilkurve]

Thanks. Turn signals are definitely dead, as are most other features. The good news is that it’s “stuck” in trailer mode, so that should remain enabled for the trip. We just completed a 9 mile hike near Mt. Shasta and are making the best of it.

That sucks. Happy to hear you’re still making the best of it and hiking!

Reminds me of the severed wheel sensor cable that marred my first towing experience. Cause was an improperly tethered cable after a half shaft change. Towed without regen on used breaks. Wasn’t unsafe but certainly unpleasant.

I myself am scheduled for an MCU2 upgrade. Hate to have to pay but have concluded it is part of the Tesla journey and will give me a slightly better experience.

 

[steilkurve]

Thanks. Turn signals are definitely dead, as are most other features. The good news is that it’s “stuck” in trailer mode, so that should remain enabled for the trip. We just completed a 9 mile hike near Mt. Shasta and are making the best of it.

Hey @ohmman. Hope your X is functioning normally again. Did you get an MCU swap/upgrade?

Back to Airstreaming if I may. Question for you. What PSI do you keep your Sport tires at? Asking cause my Bambi now has more rides under its belt and I’m noticing stuff coming loose. Rivets popping and the like. I’ve read some attribute that to the mere fact of all the shaking while travelling, some to WD and others to high tire pressure. I’m at 81 PSI as per the label on the trailer. However, that’s the max. The other school of thought is basing tire pressure on load which according to the Goodyear chart would be half of that given my trailer’s weight. My hesitation is range of course. I may lower a bit but not that much to avoid further reducing how much I can tow without charging. Have you kept yours at the max PSI? Thanks in advance for your insights.

 

[ohmman]

Hey @ohmman. Hope your X is functioning normally again. Did you get an MCU swap/upgrade?

Back to Airstreaming if I may. Question for you. What PSI do you keep your Sport tires at? Asking cause my Bambi now has more rides under its belt and I’m noticing stuff coming loose. Rivets popping and the like. I’ve read some attribute that to the mere fact of all the shaking while travelling, some to WD and others to high tire pressure. I’m at 81 PSI as per the label on the trailer. However, that’s the max. The other school of thought is basing tire pressure on load which according to the Goodyear chart would be half of that given my trailer’s weight. My hesitation is range of course. I may lower a bit but not that much to avoid further reducing how much I can tow without charging. Have you kept yours at the max PSI? Thanks in advance for your insights.

Hey there. The X is not yet repaired (looking at mid-August right now), but we did take the Airstream out to the Silver Fork Campground in El Dorado National Forest this week anyway. Great campground and a lot of fun.

I keep my tires at the prescribed pressure, which in my case is 65psi. Most of my "coming loose" stuff happened in the first couple of years. I do have three rivets to replace (I'm considering just buying a rivet gun and a bag of rivets to do it myself). However, we have a plastic container for "screws that show up out of nowhere" and while that got a few additions over the first couple of years, it's more stable now. I have also effectively taken 50% of the camper apart and put it back together, so I've fixed some of the problem areas just by the nature of that.

Not a great photo, but the campsite we had for the last half of our trip was great. It was over an acre in size and the Silver Fork of the American River was right behind us.

 

[ohmman]

Oh, one other thing - I installed more solar on the roof before this last trip. That was an experience.. I made a few rookie mistakes but overall it's a good setup.

 

[SUP THO]

Solar setup looks amazing!

 

[steilkurve]

Hey there. The X is not yet repaired (looking at mid-August right now), but we did take the Airstream out to the Silver Fork Campground in El Dorado National Forest this week anyway. Great campground and a lot of fun.

I keep my tires at the prescribed pressure, which in my case is 65psi. Most of my "coming loose" stuff happened in the first couple of years. I do have three rivets to replace (I'm considering just buying a rivet gun and a bag of rivets to do it myself). However, we have a plastic container for "screws that show up out of nowhere" and while that got a few additions over the first couple of years, it's more stable now. I have also effectively taken 50% of the camper apart and put it back together, so I've fixed some of the problem areas just by the nature of that.

Not a great photo, but the campsite we had for the last half of our trip was great. It was over an acre in size and the Silver Fork of the American River was right behind us.



View attachment 571220

Ok. Tx for that. And nice camping spot. I continue to be jealous of West Coasters!

 

[steilkurve]

@ohmman did you notice suspension height varying recently? When I installed my True Tow hitch, the top of the ball on the head assembly was 18". Trailer was perfectly level. Last week, I noticed the trailer has a bit of a grade to it. Measured and sure enough the top of the ball on the hitch is now 19". I readjusted the hitch and it's all good but it got me wondering if a software update would have played with heights (before 28.6 which has tweaked High and Very High settings from what I understand).

Alternatively, I inflated my tires to 46 from 42 after installing the hitch (can't remember for sure) but that wouldn't raise the whole car by an inch?

Or, I initially measured while the car was in Jack mode and the air suspension adjusted up as I started driving to compensate for the fairly big weight of the True Tow?

Either way, your wisdom would be welcome here.

 

[ohmman]

@ohmman did you notice suspension height varying recently? When I installed my True Tow hitch, the top of the ball on the head assembly was 18". Trailer was perfectly level. Last week, I noticed the trailer has a bit of a grade to it. Measured and sure enough the top of the ball on the hitch is now 19". I readjusted the hitch and it's all good but it got me wondering if a software update would have played with heights (before 28.6 which has tweaked High and Very High settings from what I understand).

Alternatively, I inflated my tires to 46 from 42 after installing the hitch (can't remember for sure) but that wouldn't raise the whole car by an inch?

Or, I initially measured while the car was in Jack mode and the air suspension adjusted up as I started driving to compensate for the family big weight of the True Tow?

Either way, your wisdom would be welcome here.

Hmm. I'm not sure - I cannot report my situation because my MCU is still dead and I have no control over anything. The car hasn't downloaded software, either, obviously. It's supposed to be going in for service on Wednesday, so hopefully I'll have some idea this weekend.

I can say with reasonable certainty that your tire inflation isn't responsible..

 

[steilkurve]

Hmm. I'm not sure - I cannot report my situation because my MCU is still dead and I have no control over anything. The car hasn't downloaded software, either, obviously. It's supposed to be going in for service on Wednesday, so hopefully I'll have some idea this weekend.

I can say with reasonable certainty that your tire inflation isn't responsible..

Oh. Not fixed yet? Did they not have the parts in stock? Did I understand from another thread you're upgrading the car to the LR+?

 

[ohmman]

Oh. Not fixed yet? Did they not have the parts in stock? Did I understand from another thread you're upgrading the car to the LR+?

Right, parts were on order. I just received an email last night saying they still haven't received them, either, which worries me.

Yes, I am planning to upgrade to LR+. I recognize there could be an imminent announcement on battery day about some major changes to the X, but unfortunately the timing doesn't work. I've planned a camping trip for the month of October to Utah and Arizona, having the kids work remotely, and my route requires the extra range. I'm waiting for the possibility of an end-of-quarter inventory promo with free Supercharging, but I'll have to pull the trigger at some point either way.