Best Pin Box?

Burbman,

I've never deflated the air bag on my 5th AB until she went into storage. I do check every time we take a trip to make she it's at proper psi.. Run w/ B&W Patriot, but you should eb gooooood to go w/ the More Ride

Thanks for the input guys...so after selling the TC last week we started looking and pulled the trigger on a 2008 Heartland Big Country 3250TS. Needs some TLC but not nearly as much as the Lance needed...Missing items that the dealer promised to resolve include the bathroom faucet and pin box...I guess it got scavenged sitting on the lot. Of course the dealer is getting the cheapest box he can find, so I asked if he would let me pay the difference to upgrade and he agreed.

I called Heartland and they confirmed that the original pin box would have been a Lippert 1621, so I'm going to go with Mor-Ryde. I like the idea of air cushioning, but also agree about the air bag. The Reese advises that you deflate the bag when not in use, meaning one more thing to check when you hitch up. I liked the TrailAir but same issue plus having the bag exposed to UV does not equal longevity. thanks for the feedback about the Mor-Ryde, i'm going to go with that one. GVWR on the trailer is 14k.

Now to buy a hitch.

Here's the floorplan:

I have had two on the same model 5er, both Alpenlite 34RLR.

The first one had the Trailair pinbox. We lost that trailer after 2 years use that included a trip to Alaska to a Wyoming blowover. The second 34RLR came with a 5th Airbourne pinbox. Still have that trailer.

Without question the Trailair pinbox was better riding. The reason is simple. The Trailair allows much more travel than the 5th Airbourne. The Trailair hinges forward. The 5th airbourne hinges back (not much travel at all).

The only negative about the Trailair is that the airbag is exposed to the elements. Sun & dry rot is a real concern. Sun cannot get at the 5th Airbourne at all.

We went from the standard pin box... to the Lippert Tri-Glide... to the Lippert Flex Air... to the MORryde..

MY OPINION is that the Morryde is far better of a pin box....

The Tri-glide was nice but was a PITA to keep up with, MOST don't even know about the grease zerks UNDER the darn thing.... And it lost air every once in a while... They were also prone to failure...

My Tri-glide was replaced for FREE by Lippert due to failure..

The Flex Air was the Tri-glide without those roller pins to fail.... That too was ok, but would also loose air..

The Morryde is just a NICE smooth ride.... with very little maintenance..

I don't know if anyone can tell you what the 'best' is, but 2.5 years ago our trailer was towing just fine with the standard pinbox, but I was concerned when hearing about people having frame problems, so I looked into the different pinboxes, and decided on the Lippert Trailair. I can watch the shock absorber in action in my rearview mirror floating in the truck bed. It holds air very well and use it with a Demco Autoslide hitch.
JK

You will get a lot of "opinions" on this, and many will be from a person with experience of the only pin box they have ever had on their first trailer. We have had several 5ers with different pin boxes. Some have had a rigid pin box. The current trailer had a Demco Glide Ride.

With the Demco, it reduces chucking but the links need replacing after about 20,000 to 30,000 miles. The link bushings wear and you start to get clunking when you start or stop, and it has some side play. We are using a Trailer Saver TS3 air ride hitch in the truck.

The best pin box we have had was a Mor/Ryde pin box. It helps to reduce chucking and is durable.
https://www.morryde.com/products/rubber-pin-box/


Some people who use the air ride pin boxes are happy with them, but it stays with the trailer when you sell it. With an air ride hitch, you can use it in different trucks and different trailers.

Ken

I'll kick this one off. I have a Reese 5th Airborne 20K for our 2013 Arctic Fox 27-5L. As long as it will hold air it's performed well for us. No chucking, bouncing . I also have the B&W Companion hitch which helps also. I will have to admit we don't put as many miles on it as a lot of folks here might, maybe 2000 a year. Good Luck
Bill