Pin Box Question
Hello everyone, I am thinking about adding an air ride pin box to my trailer. Wondering if anyone has any knowledge or experience with either of the following units. Trailair Flex Air 5th Wheel...
Forum Discussion
After reading all the posts on this topic, thought I'd post my experience in trying to get a "smooth" ride (this is my first 5er). I started with a 2006 Silverado 2500HD Duramax standard bed. The hitch was a Curt R16 with a slider. The fifth wheel is a 38ft with a Trailair RotoFlex. the first trip was horrendous! I cringed at every overpass. I didn't feel the horizontal chucking as much as the vertical chucking. The rig when attached is not the best with the trailer not being level (about 4-5" difference with the front being higher). I checked with my dealer for the possibility of raising the trailer and they could only find a 2" lift which would not be enough.
So I replaced the pin box with the Trailair Air Ride. The vertical issue was much better but now I'm feeling the chucking really bad. So I added the "Tri-Glide" part to the Air Ride pin box. Now the ride is much better but the "Big" bumps are still horrendous.
After all this I decided to look closer at the hitch. This model hitch has a "square" hole for a round pin(?). Also, the hole was 1/4" larger than the pin and the "bar" that locks the pin in the hitch is only 3/4" thick and the pin is about 1 1/5". This was causing too much movement in every direction.
About this time my wife asked me if I thought a Dually would be more stable. So now I have a 2013 Silverado Diesel 3500HD Dually :-) and had it lowered by 2". But still have the same problem but a little better. I have a friend who has a B&W Companion and how much he likes it. So I bought a new hitch which was noticeable better but still not smooth enough. So with the new hitch I took off the "Glider" and put the stationary pin back. The test drive was on familiar roads.
Here's what I noticed. I felt more bumps but they were slight. However the "Big" bumps didn't seem as bad as with the "Glider". The "Glider" smoothed out the little bumps but seemed to "amplify" the bigger bumps.
If you look close at how the "Glider" works, the horizontal motion is a slight "upside down" pendulum/arch. So when a large bump is encountered the force forward must overcome the pin weight before the trailer will "slide" forward. However when it moves far enough forward it will go over the "hump" and now you have a downward force with the hitch weight of the pin. This must be what causes the "amplified" big bumps.
OK, now I have 2015 Silverado 3500HD Diesel Dually. What a difference in the ride with and without towing. But still would like to eliminate the big bump issue.
Here's what I'm going to try next. Go back to the stationary pin, then try the RotoFlex pin box (which I have not tried with the B&W hitch). I still have the issue with the trailer not being level so I'm going to try a lift kit and possibly lowering the truck.
Since the ride with the stationary was better on the big bumps I think the new Flex-Air might smooth out the smaller bumps and possibly help with the bigger bumps.
Sorry for the LONG post but it's frustrating trying to fix a problem when everything you try is "yours to keep". No "trying" anything. So obviously I've got quite a bit of money invested in this issue and still haven't resolved it completely.
Mike
So I replaced the pin box with the Trailair Air Ride. The vertical issue was much better but now I'm feeling the chucking really bad. So I added the "Tri-Glide" part to the Air Ride pin box. Now the ride is much better but the "Big" bumps are still horrendous.
After all this I decided to look closer at the hitch. This model hitch has a "square" hole for a round pin(?). Also, the hole was 1/4" larger than the pin and the "bar" that locks the pin in the hitch is only 3/4" thick and the pin is about 1 1/5". This was causing too much movement in every direction.
About this time my wife asked me if I thought a Dually would be more stable. So now I have a 2013 Silverado Diesel 3500HD Dually :-) and had it lowered by 2". But still have the same problem but a little better. I have a friend who has a B&W Companion and how much he likes it. So I bought a new hitch which was noticeable better but still not smooth enough. So with the new hitch I took off the "Glider" and put the stationary pin back. The test drive was on familiar roads.
Here's what I noticed. I felt more bumps but they were slight. However the "Big" bumps didn't seem as bad as with the "Glider". The "Glider" smoothed out the little bumps but seemed to "amplify" the bigger bumps.
If you look close at how the "Glider" works, the horizontal motion is a slight "upside down" pendulum/arch. So when a large bump is encountered the force forward must overcome the pin weight before the trailer will "slide" forward. However when it moves far enough forward it will go over the "hump" and now you have a downward force with the hitch weight of the pin. This must be what causes the "amplified" big bumps.
OK, now I have 2015 Silverado 3500HD Diesel Dually. What a difference in the ride with and without towing. But still would like to eliminate the big bump issue.
Here's what I'm going to try next. Go back to the stationary pin, then try the RotoFlex pin box (which I have not tried with the B&W hitch). I still have the issue with the trailer not being level so I'm going to try a lift kit and possibly lowering the truck.
Since the ride with the stationary was better on the big bumps I think the new Flex-Air might smooth out the smaller bumps and possibly help with the bigger bumps.
Sorry for the LONG post but it's frustrating trying to fix a problem when everything you try is "yours to keep". No "trying" anything. So obviously I've got quite a bit of money invested in this issue and still haven't resolved it completely.
Mike
