Chuck chuck chucking

There is no getting rid of of the chucking. RR tracks, road joints, bridge transitions, all have an unpleasant effect to one degree or another as each axle of the truck & trailer pass over them.

Too bad road surface joints & bridge transitions are not at 45 deg angles.

I've had chucking since day one. Installed a Morryde and that help some. Pin is 20% and won't be any heavier. Towed with two different trucks. I currently use a B&W and have used an Andersen rail mount. Absolutely no difference in the with between the hitches or trucks in any combination.

I only get chucking on certain types of rougher roads. I get a slight push pull on bridges. 90% of the time it's fine.

Had a TT before and the towing was horrible. Two trucks, several different WDH's and the jerking never left.

I figure there's gotta be some kind of give and take. Even my 5x10 utlity trailer loaded with 4000 lbs of gravel tugs on the truck.

There's no one size fits all remedy. Everyone's towing with a different trailer with a different truck.

" Just that little movement in the hitch makes one heckuva noise."

No slop in a B&W. I had a RBW and it was scary at times!!!

It's always the same old dance. Get Bilstiens, get air bags, your hitch is noisy, adjust your brake controller, ignore it (that's a new one). Fact is, all fifth wheels have different towing dynamics and some chuck worse than others. Mine didn't chuck over glass smooth roads but in my area those are very few. Having your wife hold her chest while in the passenger seat translates to more than hitch noise. This was my condition with zero hitch noise. Ignoring it wasn't an option. The trailer when it hits a bump rotates due to the dual axles and causes the pin to push down and forward at the same time. Your air pin box is allowing your pin to push down but is doing nothing for the forward motion, chucking.

Shocks will not address the chucking problem. Think about it, your truck is being pushed back and forth by the trailer. Why would a vertical suspension component that is disconnected from the energy path of trailer to truck make any difference? They would make a difference regarding the forces when the truck goes over a bump reaching the cab. Might be the reason why many feel they help with chucking.

Air bags could help with chucking if they were aired to the max plus your pin box bag. This would make a stiff joint to the ground and would reduce the trailers tendency to rotate. If the pin doesn't push down then it isn't pushing forward. This is an impractical scenario as the energy the trailer and truck generates when going over bumps needs to be dissipated elsewhere such as frame flex and tire deflection.

There are solutions, gonna be expensive.

Veebyes wrote:
thomas201 has a point. Aggressive braking & quick starts off the lights will produce chucking. If the truck is doing even a little more braking than the trailer the pin is going to come forward. If you want to drag race coming off the light the pin is going to then slam backwards. Just that little movement in the hitch makes one heckuva noise.

If the pin/hitch are worn from tens of thousands of miles roll forward till you feel the clunk then accelerate.

Thanks, but my problem has nothing to do with starting/stopping. The chucking (push/pull effect) I am experiencing is when I am driving down the road at a steady speed and going over the expansion joints on a concrete highway.


B.O.

thomas201 has a point. Aggressive braking & quick starts off the lights will produce chucking. If the truck is doing even a little more braking than the trailer the pin is going to come forward. If you want to drag race coming off the light the pin is going to then slam backwards. Just that little movement in the hitch makes one heckuva noise.

If the pin/hitch are worn from tens of thousands of miles roll forward till you feel the clunk then accelerate.

Much ado about nothing. Just ignore it and the problem will go away. Chucking causes no harm. Try driving a tube trailer with a partial load and minimal anti-slosh plates for a lively ride. I never drove a 5er until after I retired, so I do have a different view on ride quality. Smooth driving skills can probably help as much, or more, than equipment.

4600 Bilstein shocks. You will like them .

B.O. Plenty wrote:
Thanks for all the replies. My truck is a long box dually with the original shocks. Probably due for replacement. Don't have airbags on truck. Don't want them. Tried them on my last truck, got tired of fussing with air. Sits nice and level when hitched. I do have Timbrens to keep it from slamming on and off the overloads. They do help. Hitch is the best I've had. No slack around the pin. I'll spin the base 180 degrees which will move the pin as far ahead as it will go and try that along with a set of Bilsteins. I'll let everybody know. Thanks for the ideas.


B.O.

You =don't= have to move the hitch all the way forward; this =is= some adjustment. I might try half-way first and see how that works. I have my Companion as high and as far forward as I could get it and, according to B&W, for =my truck, it only puts the pin 1.75-2" ahead of the rear axle, but I also have a short box. I =am= contemplating moving the side plates down 1 hole as I'm a tad nose high and have right at 9" of bed clearance. My old Komfort had a short 8" of bed clearance and I =needed= it getting in and out of my boondock site. I moved sites with my KZ and don't need near the clearance.

Lyle

With a TrailAir pin box you should keep an eye on the bolts at the pivot point of the jaw. The door side bolt head and about 1/2" of threads and washer were laying in the bed of my truck. Drilled out the bolt, removed with an EZ out and applied blue LocTite to the threads of a new grade 8 bolt and installed.