Chucking?
As I research more & more I keep learning & the latest thing is chucking? What the cheapest way to prevent it?
Forum Discussion
justme wrote:Itried wrote:Durb wrote:We had a Keystone Passport 25ft toyhauler TT that on certain roads would get to chucking and a bucking. So it's not limited to 5ers.neal10a wrote:
The bucking, or chucking is caused when you have irregular pavement like seams, pot holes, etc. When the chucking happens the truck and trailer are fighting each other-pushing and pulling so to say. When you hit a seam in the highway for instance, the trailer tires hit the seam and the trailer hooks or hesitates a split second putting drag on the truck. When it springs forward it pushes on the truck. When the seams or pot holes are in perfect harmony with the length between axles, it'll seem like your riding a wild bull. The more slop in the fifth wheel hitch the worse it will be, but even with zero slop it could still be noticeable on some highways. The idea with the king pin boxes with air bags/shocks/torsion rubber is to absorb and minimize this push pull effect.
Why don't travel trailers chuck? They travel over the same irregular pavement, seams and pot holes etc.
Travel trailers do experience chucking as well. However, Swaying in the wind or passing trucks is their bigger problem because of leverage difference between tow and 5th wheel hitches. The tow hitch has more leverage to sway or whip the truck. My tandem boat trailer experiences chucking on bridges and some cement highways that have frost heave and the expansion joints have become elevated. My 5th wheel trailer has minimized the chucking with a Trailair hitch.
I did a search for "chucking" in the travel trailer section of this forum. There were 10 hits. 9 of the 10 were about the differences (chucking) between fifth wheels and travel trailers and the tenth was from a poster that had a TT because it didn't chuck. Yet, over my time reading the fifth wheel forum there have been numerous threads regarding chucking problems and owners seeking solutions. I feel this forum would benefit from a detailed fact based discussion of chucking as a sticky. This would be of real benefit to frustrated new 5er owners looking for solutions. I've been there myself.
