Just got my first 5th wheel, moving from a bumper pull. I bought a 12.5k trailer with 2500 pound pin weight. I am pulling with a 2018 Ram 3500 diesel which has a pay load of 4200. I am well within the payload of the truck and with good margin and the truck appears to be pretty level when hooked up with the trailer. I only drove the setup once coming back from the dealer and noticed a lot more sway than I would have anticipated. Would air bags be a good investment for me and would they help with this even though the truck does not necessarily require leveling? thanksmatt

Haven’t heard of using bags for sway. Tail wagging dog sensation? 5th wheels rarely sway. Start with basics ie tire pressures at max, brake controller setup. If the truck is nose high you may need bags to level

I would check tire pressure, truck and trailer. You should not have sway issues with a FW. If you are towing nose-high, maybe a little movement, but still should not make you uncomfortable. You should not need air bags towing your empty weight you mentioned. If you load the trailer heavier, with pin much heavier, you may need support to level the load.Jerry

By your quick numbers Im guessing your spouting brochure numbers. Totally worthless.You need to load the trailer up and hit the scales. Get true accurate weights, then let us know what you have. I suspect with fiver sway, youe either not level or way pin light. The only other possability is that your trailers axles are not true to the pin. If that were the case that fiver would be back to the dealer in a heart beat. That is a rarity though so Im guessing your setup is not level.

The dealer set it up. It is pin high. They said it was ok that way and that's load in trailer should bring it down. Now that its loaded I will try it again. The sway was quite noticeable and worse than I ever has with my 29 foot TT and I towed that in 35 mph winds before

Having FW loaded up, will increase pin wt, which will help. If you are towing more than 2 inches nose-high, it is not going to tow right. It will shift wt to the rear axle, and can cause chucking/trailer jerking the truck. You need to get it level as possible for best towing.Jerry

First 5th Wheel--Do I Need Air Bags??? | Good Sam Community

garyp4951
Explorer III
Apr 20, 2018
JIMNLIN wrote:
New 2018 truck with new tires can sometimes cause sway till the tires are broke in especially all terrain type tires with the larger lugs and voids.

I would bet this is your swaying problem. Firestone Transforce tires are known to do this for a few hundred miles. 70psi front, 80psi rear is what I run in mine.
rhagfo
Explorer III
Apr 20, 2018
bowler1 wrote:
Well...the tech had a party to make it to and was in a rush. He did not even look at the truck and camper hooked up until I asked him to sue to the fact it was so obviously not close to level. Not sure how much the loaded weight will bring it down. Will see this weekend

With a pin high and lite condition you might feel sway with a 5er. Level it and get it weighed so we can see where you are at.
Allworth
Explorer II
Apr 20, 2018
Not if you have enough truck!
packnrat
Explorer
Apr 20, 2018
one thing not seen sofar.
what type of tires are you running on both the truck and trailer?
manf tend to skimp on them. factory tires are not as good as what can be bought on the open market .. even same brand and lable, factory rubber has less plys and tread to reduce over all weight.
bowler1
Explorer
Apr 18, 2018
Well...the tech had a party to make it to and was in a rush. He did not even look at the truck and camper hooked up until I asked him to sue to the fact it was so obviously not close to level. Not sure how much the loaded weight will bring it down. Will see this weekend
azrving
Explorer
Apr 18, 2018
laknox wrote:
bowler1 wrote:
It was way nose high from the dealer which is why I questioned them. It towed poorly and in bumpy spots of the highway it felt like it was porpoising. Definitely not the experience I was expecting with a 5th wheel. I definitely knew it was there

How much is "way nose high"? If more than 2-3", then it needs correction and, IMO, you have one lazy dealer not to have adjusted it better.

LYle

Not lazy and not beginners. When you goes back at a later date they will sell him and axle flip or subframe and claim that they never ran into that problem. :)
laknox
Nomad
Apr 18, 2018
bowler1 wrote:
It was way nose high from the dealer which is why I questioned them. It towed poorly and in bumpy spots of the highway it felt like it was porpoising. Definitely not the experience I was expecting with a 5th wheel. I definitely knew it was there

How much is "way nose high"? If more than 2-3", then it needs correction and, IMO, you have one lazy dealer not to have adjusted it better.

LYle
laknox
Nomad
Apr 18, 2018
donn0128 wrote:
By your quick numbers Im guessing your spouting brochure numbers. Totally worthless.
You need to load the trailer up and hit the scales. Get true accurate weights, then let us know what you have. I suspect with fiver sway, youe either not level or way pin light. The only other possability is that your trailers axles are not true to the pin. If that were the case that fiver would be back to the dealer in a heart beat. That is a rarity though so Im guessing your setup is not level.

What he ^^^ said...

Easy to check gross axle alignment with a string-to-king pin, though king pins have been known to be off-center by upwards of an inch, or more, as reported here.

Lyle
JIMNLIN
Explorer III
Apr 18, 2018
New 2018 truck with new tires can sometimes cause sway till the tires are broke in especially all terrain type tires with the larger lugs and voids.
Pop-Pop_C
Explorer
Apr 18, 2018
Wait till you are loaded. Check air pressure in all tires. May need more weight on the nose.
Take on a trip first. Good luck have fun. Oh. With that beast the e should be no problem,

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