LightShip 4 Now Starting Customer Evaluation

[turbopilot]

More on Canopy Modes.

I have been reminded by LightShip folks that any use of intermediate canopy positions is for camping only not towing. Also the current gaskets and seals around the canopy and tub are only effective in the canopy full up and full down position. At intermediate positions of canopy travel large gaps open up to the outside particularly around the windows and the doors.

So any use of intermediate canopy positions to conserver HVAC power usage would have to be done by filling those large gaps. Clearly it can be done with more canopy and tub seals but those seals would be exposed depending on canopy position and would not be cosmetically appealing. A large pressurized air gap seal around the perimeter of canopy could be one future option. Aircraft have used air pressurized seals for years and the work very well. Such a seal would seal off the cabin at any canopy position.

 

[turbopilot]

Curt 17052 Round Bar Weight Distribution Hitch

I have been working several issues with LightShip 4 that with the help of the LightShip staff are hopefully behind us and will likely not be an issue for future owners. Somebody has to blaze the trail. Will detail later.

I did find some time to fine turn the Curt 17052 Round Bar WDH. Everyone will have to do this for their tow vehicle and LightShip set up but the process is the same, the settings may vary.

My LightShip, as delivered had a very light hitch at 690 lbs. This measurement was as delivered before anything was added. Overtime as I have added the necessities to camp so that hitch weight has increased to about 820 lbs. I am now going to add a spare tire to the Geararge so by the time I am done my hitch weight will be slightly more than 10% of the GW of the LightShip maybe 11%. Having loaded up LightShip 4 it was time to recalibrate the Curt WDH.

There are a couple of ways to measure Front Axle Load Restoration (FALR). You can weigh the front wheels as you adjust the Curt round bars or you can measure front fender height to dial in the number of chain links you need to hit the manufacturer recommended FALR. I picked front fender height.

Ford's recommended FALR is 50%. That means you want the front fender height to be halfway between the unloaded height and the loaded height. The unloaded height is the front fender height before any weight on the hitch. the loaded height is the height of the fender when the full weight of the hitch is on the ball without any tension on the Curt round bars.

For my F-150 PowerBoost the "no load" height was 37 5/8". The "fully loaded" height was 38". After some trial and error I determined that "6 chain links" between the bar and the hook on the frame gave me a fender height of 37 7/8". This is about as close as you are going to get with increments of big chain links.

Once you know how many links are needed to achieve the manufacturer's recommended FALR it is time to learn how to set up the WDH every time you hitch the LightShip to the tow vehicle. The Curt chain and bar system is such a PITA. I hate it. But it is the only system approved by LightShip. For the last 4 years I have operated my Airstream with the B&W Continuum hydraulic WDH. With that system you just hand pump an hydrauic system to a PSI that equals your FALR goal and you are done. When you want to take it off you just dump the pressure.

But the Curt Round Bar system is old fashioned, last century bars and chains that require you to spend a lot of time on your back underneath the LightShip to hook it up. It is what it is but the technology is in vivid contrast to the Lightship.

With that rant here is how you hook up the Curt WDH once you know your settings.

1. Level the LightShip. When LightShip 4 is level the bottom of the hitch cup is 19.25" off the ground. That number should be the same for all LightShips. Remember that number

2. My Curt hitch ball attached to the PowerBoost measures 23 1/2" to from the ground to the top of the ball.

3. Extent the hitch jack so that the base of the ball cup is around 24". Enough room to slide the ball under the hitch.

4. Back up your tow vehicle over the ball. Then drop the hitch on the ball just enough to capture the ball but leave most of the weight on the tongue jack.

5. Lock the ball.

6. Extend the jack 4" pulling up both the LightShip and the tow vehicle.

7. For my setup that is just far enough to get the 6th link of the chain over the hitch pin. Hook up the chain link and pin it.

8. Now you can full retract the hitch jack and stow it.

If you set up the FALR correctly you should have the Front Axle Load Restoration dialed in. Remember all these numbers are for my LightShip tongue weight and my Ford PowerBoost FALR requirements. If you don't have a PowerBoost or if you have a different weight on the hitch the numbers will change. It all begins by finding the FALR for you tow vehicle and measuring the tongue weight of your LightShip.

Now for the editorial. I am not convinced all this is worth the effort. 100 lbs of gear is on the back of the tow vehicle to move the PowerBoost front fender from 37 5/8" to 37 7/8" with 820 lbs on the hitch. I am doing it right now because I have too much to do and it takes a lot of time to prove it is unnecessary. It would take a lot of testing to prove my bias and I don't have all the equipment typically used by the SAE and the manufacturers to set these FALR targets. I can see that it is needed for trailers with tongue weights over 1,000 lbs. But the PowerBoost is a 7,300 lb truck with 820 lbs on the hitch. There is no requirement by Ford to get to a FALR if you have 820 lbs of cargo in the bed. But for now I will follow the rules and guidelines.

 

[Porterhouse]

FALR (Front Axle Load Restoration) is not a perfect recommendation for setting up a weight distribution hitch. Tow vehicle manufacturers use it only because they know that most of their customers are not going to take their rigs to the scale to weigh them. It's something they can do in their driveway. The better way is to weigh it, and to adjust your loading so that you don't exceed the rear axle rating and the GVWR that are stamped onto the door placard. I would recommend that the minimum spring tension be used to ensure this doesn't happen. Weight distribution hitches take weight from your rear axle where you need it for towing stability, and they will compromise your tow vehicle's handling ability.

 

[turbopilot]

Weight distribution hitches take weight from your rear axle where you need it for towing stability, and they will compromise your tow vehicle's handling ability.

That is the theory. I did four corner weights for the PowerBoost and my old Airstream. Dialing in FALR with actual wheel weights is the way to go but it takes a lot of time (and special equipment). Not something you can do on a CAT scale. We are dealing with large chain links to dial in the bar bending, so this is not a process where precision is going to happen. I found fender heights correlated very well with actual wheel weights particularly when you only adjustment is to go form 6 chain links to 5 links.

The real question is whether it makes a difference when you are operating at the bottom end of the hitch weight recommended scale of 10% to 15% of the trailer gross weight. In my case I am going to be in the range of 10% to 11% of the LightShip GW on the hitch.

At some point I am going to measure the weight shifts wheel by wheel with and without WDH. With the Airstream and a 900 lb hitch attached to the PowerBoost at 50% FALR we moved 180 lbs to the front wheels and about the same to the trailer wheels and pulled the sum of those weights off the PowerBoost rear axle. The impact will be less with a 820 hitch weight for the LightShip.

I am not the first to recommend a reconsideration of the "old rules" about using weight distribution hitches. Pebble Flow with a GVRW of 6,800 lbs and a hitch weight of 680 lbs (10% of GVWR) does not recommend or require a WDH.

 

[Blackstone]

Guess I need to do some more reading on this, as I’ve towed loads but nothing requiring WDH.

I also suspect my setup might be a little different, as my Cybertruck has air suspension all around and dynamically adjusts to keep itself level with loads in the back

 

[turbopilot]

Guess I need to do some more reading on this, as I’ve towed loads but nothing requiring WDH.

I also suspect my setup might be a little different, as my Cybertruck has air suspension all around and dynamically adjusts to keep itself level with loads in the back

If I had air suspension on my PowerBoost I would not use the WDH. There are F-150 kits to add airbags to the rear axle that are manually adjustable for towing. I may go that route.

 

[Porterhouse]

Ford states that hitch loads above 500 lbs. require a WD hitch. I believe they put a low number on this limit because they don't know what the customer is putting in the truck bed (ten bags of cement placed in the bed behind the axle will be the equivalent of increasing the tongue weight by 940 lbs.). If you have an empty bed you can go higher than 500 lbs. in my opinion. The limiting factor will then be the rear axle weight limit as indicated on the door loading placard. GM looks at it this way, and they allow a 700 lb. tongue weight before requiring a WD hitch on their 1/2 ton pickup.

 

[turbopilot]

IT IS NOT EASY BEING AN EARLY ADOPTER - NOT EVERYTHING GOES TO PLAN

I am now completing my first month of hands on experience with LightShip 4. This account of my experience would not be creditable if I do not document the problems. We have had some challenges in the first month of experience with LightShip 4. My approach is to wait to see how the issues are resolved before posting the new events. Some issues are easy and some are hard. Somebody has to be first to experience these issues and so far it appears the lessons learned by Lightship are being applied to future builds.

The biggest challenge we have had with LightShip 4 to date are intermittent electrical faults that appear to be arising in the hight voltage on board charger. LightShip has explained the fault is coming from vendor firmware in the on board charger. When this fault is thrown, it will take down the 12 volt DC/DC charger and other functionality. When the 12 volt DC/DC charger goes down, the 100 ah Renogy Lithium battery will deplete. That battery has a rather high constant load of around 7 amps. When the 12 volt battery depletes the entire "nervous system" of the LightShip goes dark. The HV voltage LightShip battery is the "muscle" but the 12 volt system powers the "brain" of the Lightship. When the 12 volt system goes down, the LightShip is "dead".

I was having the faults every 5 days or so since delivery. When the Renogy battery depletes the on board BMS of the battery takes it off line for protection. So the process of resuscitating a Lightship from a 12 volt shutdown requires some work. With luck I did have a 12 volt Lithium battery charger, so with instructions from Lightship I was able to bring the LightShip back up on line after each event. A confidence builder for the owner but a PITA.

LightShip is actively working with the HV batter charger vendor to correct the internal fault that is being thrown. But in the meantime I had a service visit by LightShip where a wiring change was made and new firmware loaded that has now stopped that fault from crashing the 12 volt DC/DC charger. LightShip 4 has been electrically stable for two weeks now.

As the early adopters deal with these growing pains, the measure of the company is how they deal with the problems. These problems are going to happen from time to time. LightShip is a very complex vehicle. So far LightShip is jumping on these issues right away and applying the lessons learned to the LightShips on the line.

We are currently working through a few other problems, but none of them are as serious as the 12 volt shutdowns. The problems are solvable and I will report them as they are resolved.

 

[turbopilot]

Just testing various ways to watch TV in the LightShip.