Forum Discussion

GaryS1953's avatar
GaryS1953
Explorer
May 19, 2023

Will Air bags make a big difference?

So we've had a 21'5th wheel for 16 years, and love it, but it's getting long in the tooth, and it's a little small, so we bought a 2012 Shasta Revere BH, 27', 31' with the hitch. We took it on our first trip this past week and had a real problem with the truck bucking up and down and also swaying. It's 5777 dry weight, and our Chevy is a half-ton, rated up to 9400 lbs. Anyway, we made it to our destination, but I felt so uncomfortable driving it do the swaying and shaking. The camper came with an old equalizing hitch, but not sway bars, the owner said he had never felt he needed them. I called a local hitch place and had them install a Curt hitch with integrated sway control, and thought we were all set. It DID help a little with the sway but didn't seem to help much with the bucking. Any little bump we went over the truck bucked up and down and, and the steering wheel felt like the truck was over loaded. I called the hitch dealer back and he said I probably need to have airbags or something else done to strengthen the suspension. My question, would that make a huge difference? My wife says she can't ride in this truck if we can't solve this problem as the bucking and vibration makes her sick. Mind you, we've been across country several times with the 5th wheel. We had occasional bucking with that, but only when we went over severe bumps like a bad bridge transit for example. I've got $700 invested in the hitch, with little to show for it, and the airbag would cost about $1000. Well worth it, if it works, but not if it only makes a little difference. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!
  • Durb's avatar
    Durb
    Explorer
    May 19, 2023
    Could be the installing dealer didn't hook the hitch up correctly and you do't have enough tension on the bars; it has happened many times before. New friction hitches like yours are paint on paint and wearing in could help with the anti-sway.

    Air bags might help with the bouncing, but they may have a tendency to lighten the front end of your truck. First thing I would do is measure your wheel wells, front and rear, to the ground, and make sure the measurements are close to the same with the trailer hooked up and the spring bars installed. Could be you will have to adjust your hitch head to add more tension to the bars.

    You should weigh your trailer. You might find it is far more than 5,777 pounds, and is nearing the zone where your truck is insufficient. Make sure your tires are aired to the max and your truck's shocks are good. There is plenty of stuff to check before spending money.

    I can empathize, my wife told me the same thing with a poor riding fifth wheel.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    May 19, 2023
    Well, airbags are $350 and a 2 beer install if you’re a better drinker than mechanic…lol.
    But seriously a simple bolt on accessory. Just like most other options that would help in the same regard.
  • eHoefler's avatar
    eHoefler
    Explorer II
    May 19, 2023
    Need to have the hitch properly setup, you are not transferring enough weight to the steer axle. Air bags will not help, might even make it worse.
  • blt2ski's avatar
    blt2ski
    Moderator
    May 19, 2023
    Not enough hitch weight? That is typical of the issues you mentioned in my experience.

    Marty
  • valhalla360's avatar
    valhalla360
    Navigator
    May 19, 2023
    Empty weight is irrelevant and payload often runs out before tow rating.

    Swing by a CAT scale and find out what the real weights are (loaded as if you are going on a trip). Take 3 measurements (after the first, you can do re-weighs for like $3, so probably $20-25 total).
    - Fully hooked up with the WDH connected.
    - Hooked up but disconnect the WDH bars.
    - Just the truck.

    With this info, you can determine the actual weight of the trailer and the actual hitch weight. Then you can determine the hitch weight and if the truck is overloaded.

    On the door of the truck are stickers that provide overall and per axle payload ratings.

    It might be that the trucks rear suspension is overloaded or it could be the opposite and the hitch weight is too low. If it's too low, airbags won't help.
  • JRscooby's avatar
    JRscooby
    Explorer II
    May 19, 2023
    Any time I'm reading a question about towing, see the words like "dry weight listed as x,xxx" I wonder how somebody can expect to tow well when they have now idea what weight towing, and how it is distributed.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    May 19, 2023
    Grit dog wrote:
    Well, airbags are $350 and a 2 beer install if you’re a better drinker than mechanic…lol.
    But seriously a simple bolt on accessory. Just like most other options that would help in the same regard.

    And to add to this, you don’t actually say if the truck appears to be carrying a lot of hitch load with the wdh or if it’s sagging.
    But having issues with both sway and bucking, I’d make sure the new hitch is doing its job first. You are likely around 7klbs on the trailer and “should” be seeing 900lbs or better tongue weight. Which will squish down a set of half ton springs pretty good.
  • GaryS1953's avatar
    GaryS1953
    Explorer
    May 19, 2023
    blt2ski wrote:
    Not enough hitch weight? That is typical of the issues you mentioned in my experience.

    Marty
    I'm not sure what you mean. Could you elaborate? Here are the specs for the trailer:


    Trailer Specs

    Hitch Weight 663 lbs
    GVWR 9463 lbs
    Dry Weight 5777 lbs
    Cargo Capacity 3212 lbs

    Vehicle Specs

    4WD:
    Double Cab, 5.8 V8
    9600 lbs / 4354 kgs – 5.3L (3.42 axle)

    Thanks!
  • GaryS1953's avatar
    GaryS1953
    Explorer
    May 19, 2023
    Durb wrote:
    Could be the installing dealer didn't hook the hitch up correctly and you do't have enough tension on the bars; it has happened many times before. New friction hitches like yours are paint on paint and wearing in could help with the anti-sway.

    Air bags might help with the bouncing, but they may have a tendency to lighten the front end of your truck. First thing I would do is measure your wheel wells, front and rear, to the ground, and make sure the measurements are close to the same with the trailer hooked up and the spring bars installed. Could be you will have to adjust your hitch head to add more tension to the bars.

    You should weigh your trailer. You might find it is far more than 5,777 pounds, and is nearing the zone where your truck is insufficient. Make sure your tires are aired to the max and your truck's shocks are good. There is plenty of stuff to check before spending money.

    I can empathize, my wife told me the same thing with a poor riding fifth wheel.
    The hitch dealer did the install himself, and he had a ton of great reviews. He did a lot of measuring, front and rear of trailer as well as front and rear of the truck, several times and make several different adjustments. It certainly seemed like he knew what he was doing. I checked my trailer tires this morning and they were all about 65 PSI, and they are rated at MAX 80, but I'm not sure if that's cold. I added 5 lbs to put them at 70 ps1. Truck tires were 34 front and 32 rear. Specs call for 35 cold, so I brought them up to that. Could that little bit have made a significant difference?

    Thanks!

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