silver buckle

With an 2017 or 18 Q7. Canam a Canadian shop
has reinforced the hitches and tells me no problems with mid-size airstream's

Stevereddy

silver buckle

Thanks for the info....The airstream is 5580 dry and loaded about 6800 lbs.

DB22

dreadlocks

and? Do you think all those semi trucks are rolling around with empty trailers?

OP: Check out the RedArc Elite brake controller, nice and minimal.. You'll want Air Suspension since you cant hookup a WD Hitch unless you have CanAm modify the hitch.

NABS4

kry226

CanAm is well-known and respected in the Airstream world for doing exactly what they say. They will ensure your rig is set up just right to tow well. I've met Andy at a rally, to which he towed a 34' triple axle Airstream with a minivan. If there's one place in North America that can do this right, it's CanAm.

I do not know Andy and I have no affiliation with CanAm. But we are Airstreamers and have crossed paths several times and I've read a lot of his writings. I have never read of a bad experience from an unhappy customer. YMMV.

silver buckle

Thanks for the info. I am on the airstream forum also and have seen some posts about canal. I'll contract them we I get my car.
Any thoughts on the air suspension ? Some say it a must have for towing.

dreadlocks

You dont want your tow vehicle sagging *** for a multitude of reasons, stability being a large part of it (ie, bouncing arround after hitting a bump).. Air Suspension keeps everything nice and level even with 700lbs of tongue weight hanging off the back.. Without Air Suspension the only other good way to level out the TV is with a Weight Distribution hitch, which the manual explicitly says dont do.. the mods CanAm does to the hitch strengthens it so it wont break with a WD hitch, without the mods someone on these forums reported nearly breaking the receiver clean off going over a speed bump slowly w/a WD Hitch.

Plus the air ride when towing is going to be far more comfortable, and you MK2 owners get all wheel steering which would help reversing a large trailer significantly..

these are your options from worst to best:

• Spring Suspension w/no WD, Your *** will sag and your front end will be lifted.. At best you'll look like a tool with more trailer than brains.
• Spring Suspension w/WD Hitch, Requires Modifying the Hitch, You'll be level but connection/disconnection is alot more physical and mental work. (tension bars are not for the meek)
• Air Suspension w/no WD, No Mods needed, no reconfiguring hitch for various loads.. everything is automatic and you can tow anything within spec.
• Air Suspension w/WD Hitch, Requires Modifying the Hitch but with a good Anti-Sway WD Hitch it would be the most stable and should significantly increase your towing capacity.. CanAm was towing huge airstreams with this setup.. IIRC like 9000lb trailers w/shorter wheelbase touareg's

IMHO if your buying a Q7 to be a Tow Vehicle, you'd be a damned fool not to get one w/Air Suspension.. I've towed alot and often put Helper/Towing bags on the vehicle to improve stability, comfort and tire wear, pumping em up and airing em out manually was inconvenient at least, vehicle drove like crap if you forgot to deflate the bags and inflating them to right pressure was a trial and error thing.. but they helped greatly when heavily loaded and were completely worth it. You cant install Helper/Towing bags on a Spring Suspension Q7 from my understanding so its not even an option.. Air Suspension gives you all that and more, while being completely automatic.. The best tow vehicles have air suspensions, thats just how it is.

AlbertQ7

A quick look on the airstream website and I can't figure out which model trailer is 27' and anywhere close to those weights. An important spec you haven't shared is the tongue weight of the trailer. What is that spec? The MKII Q7 is rated at 7700lbs towing, with a 770 lb hitch weight. I bet you will be near or over that max hitch weight with the airstream. If you're close, you'll have to be careful when loading the trailer to not add too much weight in the front of the trailer. However, that is a catch-22, since you want at least 10% of the trailer weight on the tongue for stable towing, and closer to 15% is even better. If you are loaded at 6800 lbs, you couldn't go over 11% tongue weight before exceeding the Q7 hitch weight. You risk either being overweight or having a relatively light trailer tongue weight which leads to bad sway problems.
All that said, my 21' Lance travel trailer is ~5500-6000 lbs loaded, but with a heavy tongue. I'm maxed out on the hitch weight, and I have adaptive air suspension. I am running a sway controller (but no WDH). The car tows it amazingly well, even in Utah over pretty significant passes and even with some pretty strong winds. I have not had any "tail wagging the dog" difficulties.
OH, and YES, adaptive air is awesome and I think a "must-have" for towing a big trailer!