Rear Kitchen

[Crodad]

I have a Silverback 31RK(rear kitchen). I'm having things break in the cabinets, even the glass plate in the microwave broke. I ordered a Trailaire pinbox that is on backorder and I'm starting to wonder if that will really help.

Will a Trailaire pinbox help the ride in the rear of the camper?

trailair Pinbox

or should I get a Rota-Flex Pinbox?

[Tango__AE7UI]

I have a 28 ft fw with a rear kitchen.
Standard suspension and no shocks.
It is a 2007 model and we have never had anything break.
We don't do anything special to pack up for a trip.
1 ton truck with a B&W Companion hitch.
I leave the coffee maker and a toaster oven on the counter top and they are still in the same place when we stop.
My max speed is 60 since the ST tires are rated for a max of 65.

[Racine96]

I have a Columbus 34RK, nothing broke except a couple of coffee cups handles. My hunch is that the difference is on the suspension. Look at it in the webpage and compare it. You probably will see the difference.

[travelnutz]

Had 3 Carriage 5th wheels with rear kitchens and still have one of them and NOTHING has ever moved at all or broken including thin stemmed wine glasses in the across the rear upper cupboards. "E" range tires at 80 psi always but of course, Carriage always has had rear shocks on all their 5th wheels and TT's on all axles.

A few years ago we were traveling along with some friends who had a 34' Bounder MH on a 2 lane road and their engine quit and barely got the rig driver side even with the paved road as there was a ditch nest to the road. Rather than the wife and their 3 kids sitting along side the busy highway as dangerous as that can be, they along with my wife sat in our carriage 5th wheel and the hubby locked up the MH with the flashers going and got in our truck with me and our dog for going to town about 47 miles away. He'd called on his cell to make sure they had the things needed to fix it and drove back again as he's an automotive repair person for his work and knew just what he needed.

The 2 wives commented that wow! the ride was really smooth and quiet and as good as riding in a car and no sway at all and could talk like if they were just sitting at the dining room table at home. The MH wife said it was so much smoother and quieter than in their MH and it wasn't a very smooth road either as it needed re-surfing badly. I personally have never ridden in the 5th wheel and was curious and we had had MU's ourselves.

Proper suspension with adequate shocks makes a huge difference!

[mileshuff]

Never once had anything so much as move in our rear kitchen. I accidentally left a glass on the kitchen counter while traveling. It didn't even tip. 5'er does have lippert equaflex installed. Never any problems others talk about.

I've lined all of the cabinet bottoms with thin no slip padding. Keeps things from sliding.

[rhagfo]

Crodad wrote:
OK, I canceled my order for the Trailair Kingpin. I'm thinking about going the shock absorber route now. This may help the rear of the camper from bouncing as much as it is now.



Lippert shock kit

The kit is very nice and simple, but you will likely only get a couple years out of the shocks, as they are made in China. We just replace ours with Monroe 555001 shocks and it is smooth.

[slickest1]

We had an 2006 28ft Sierra Fifth Wheel with a rear kitchen. We had to tie everything down and put locks on the cupboard doors. Everything had to be packed just so. It did not have shocks.
We just bought an older 2001 Citation and it has a rear kitchen. We pulled it 200 miles home and over some rough road as well. I forgot and left the rod for opening the awning leaning against the wall in a corner and when we got home it was still standing there. The chairs were standing at the table un tethered and had not moved. This trailer has shocks. I don't know if that is the difference or just a better build but we were pretty impressed.

[Sonora108]

We own a 2013 Arctic Fox 27-5L 5th wheel with a rear kitchen. When we first got it I was concerned about the rear kitchen because of things I had read but we've never had a single problem with anything breaking. It did come with shocks on all four tires and a Reese 5th Airborne pin box.
Bill

[Crodad]

OK, I canceled my order for the Trailair Kingpin. I'm thinking about going the shock absorber route now. This may help the rear of the camper from bouncing as much as it is now.



Lippert shock kit

[sue_t]

Haven't had any breakage or discombobulation with our rear kitchen fifth wheel, even though we travel the Alaska Highway and hit frost heaves all the time. The shocks seem to do the trick.

Once I forgot to put the lid on the dog water bucket, and four hours of travelling later it was still sitting on the kitchen floor full of water.

[IBcarguy]

I'm sure that the pinbox will help soften the jolt and jerking from the trailer to the TV but if you still have issues you'll need to work on the trailer suspension. You are on the right track because you need to do something to soften the ride. If you are breaking dishes, you can image the stress it causes on your trailer over every bump in the road. The next thing will be leaks from seams splitting open from the rig being jolted around.

[filrupmark]

My parents had a RK Dutchmen in the mid 90's . My Mom bought plastic and called it fine China.

[larry_barnhart]

rhagfo wrote:


Well did your Alpenlite come with the Trailair Center Point Suspension?
If so I would say that has more to do with no breakage than the Aithitch.

I have watched some these 5er's from behind, and some bounce like a yoyo! one needs to control the bounce at the axle, the bounce at the pin is going top have less effect.

The trailair center point suspension came later. Probably when it first came out. My comments have always been I did not notice any difference because of the awesome air hitch. I did hit a rough section of road on a short cut 2 trips coming home from Az and things were moved in the cup boards and fridge. We have had no issues after using the main route.

chevman

[Fisher_Bill]

We're new to the 5er thing but we have a 28RK and we use plastic dishes and cups because of what we read about rear kitchens.

I will look to see if we have a way to add shocks though, the wife packs everything in small plastic boxes to keep thing from migrating while we travel and so far we have not broken anything but we only have about 10 hours of tow time on this unit so far.

Bill

[SH]

No issues with breakage in our Alpenlite either. The wife does take some care packing but nothing out of the ordinary. Stock pinbox but axles are shock mounted.