TRUCK AND TRAILER PRODUCTS
Shock Absorbers
Over the years we have had to research different types of shock absorbers for our cars, mini-motor homes, trucks, and trailers. Over 15 years, ago we heard about the 4-Way Shocks with the coil springs made by Trail Master. We ordered a set for our 1979 Ford F350 pickup truck and a set for our Silver Streak Trailer. The shocks that fit our truck are Model Number 113032 for the front, and Model Number 136732 for the rear. These have performed extremely well over the 17 years on the truck, especially with our Goodyear truck tires that are 12x16.5 - 12 ply all the way around. During that time, we have only had to replace the front shock on each side once. When we called the company, they sent out a replacement shock under warranty for us, and we are very pleased with the quick response.
At the same time, we also installed on the Silver Streak Trailer a set of 4-Way shocks with the coil spring, and the Model Number is 632092 with another reference number of P 8014. In 1999 when we were returning from Strawberry Reservoir in Utah after running the Soldier Creek store and marina for the summer, we were parking the trailer at a site and noticed that one shock was dragging on the ground. After inspecting it we saw that the shock bracket on the trailer had broken allowing the shock to drag on the ground. We took off the damaged shock and after we got home we had a welder come out to our house and he welded on a new bracket. A year later we had to replace the bracket on the other side of the trailer and since then we did not have any other problems.
We found that in adjusting these shocks with the coil springs it takes some time to get the setting just right so on the trailer we set the length of the front shock to 9 inches from the tip of the stem to the center of the bolt hole at the bottom of the shock, and the rear shocks were set at 10 inches. When we had to make a new bracket, we used a 1/4 inch steel plate that is 2 inches wide and 6 inches long bent at 90 degrees, making an "L" shape bracket 3 inches by 3 inches. A hole was drilled 1-1/8 inches from the end to the center of the hole. From the photos below you will see the old shock and bracket that we had to replace, the coil spring was just transferred to the new shock.
We have gotten several inquiries about the trailer shocks and since have found out that these are no longer available, but if you call the company maybe they have something close to the previous model number. Their contact information is Trail Master at 400 W. Artesia Blvd. Compton, CA 90220, and their phone number is 877-695-7812.
Their website is: http://www.trailmastersuspension.com
Carburetors
Over the years, we have had to replace parts on our truck, and many times the Ford Parts Department can no longer get the part.
Several years ago we replaced our four-barrel Holly carburetor with an after-market replacement. It was the exact replacement, and no additional throttle kit was needed. We bought it at Summit Racing and saved money over buying it at our local parts supply store. We have ordered carburetor kits and other items and have always been pleased with their service and fast shipping. You can find their website at: http://www.summitracing.com
Davis Instruments
Back when we bought our trailer in 1980, as the years passed we continued to add more items to make our rig better. It was only after a year that we bought our first Davis Weather Station. We wanted this because of the places that we traveled to and also because when our 6-foot satellite dish was up, we wanted to get an alert to high winds so that we could lower it down.
We bought a long aluminum three-piece telescopic pool pole that raised from 5 feet to 15 feet and mounted brackets on the side of the trailer so that we could mount the weather station. The pole was easy to store in the camper because it went down to 5 feet.
Our first weather station could measure wind speeds, along with temperature, humidity, and other options. This was a great unit and when we were at Lake Havasu in Arizona, a severe alert came from the fire station blowing a loud horn to let all boaters know to get off of the lake because of high winds. We heard the horn, and our weather station was measuring wind speeds of over 30 mph, so we were able to lower the 6-foot satellite dish safety on the trailer roof.
Other people at the trailer park were not that lucky and several people lost their awnings because they left for the day of boating and fishing on the lake.
When we sold the trailer we took our weather station with us and mounted it on a pole at our home. We did upgrade this unit to the wireless Vantage VUE with all of the features along with a rain collector.
It is fun to see the stats on the weather station, and we would recommend this product. You can see by the photos that we added bird spikes to our TV antenna, and the weather station and rain collector. This helps keep the doves and pigeons from landing on the antenna and rain collector.
Go to their website at: https://www.davisinstruments.com
