First Tim 5r dissapointed

[gzach]

My wife and I just purchased a 30' 2008 Rockwood Signature Ultralight Model 8285SS. I pull it with a 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 5.9 Diesel. I had the dealership install an Airsafe hitch. The one he installed was the Airbox Model 18018. The reason I wanted an Airsafe hitch was because my wife suffers from very severe migraines and anything I can do to keep the ride comfortable was a good idea.In my research I had done it seemed like the Airsafe was the best choice. We picked it up in Menomenee Falls Wisconsin and have had it for 12 days travelling the I 94. I am so dissapointed. Whenever I stop and start it makes a big jerking and clunking noise which cannot be good for the vehicle or the 5th wheel. Then there is the forward backward jerking. I believe this is called chocking??. At one point I told my wife that I felt as if I were riding a horse. I know that the Interstates sometimes are pretty bad (I am used to Alberta highways which are amazing)but are not these hitches supposed to take care of or at least cushion the extreme bouncing and jerking. The installation of the hitch is fine and the pressure in the air bag is OK. In the middle of the green guage.
I am used to pulling a bumper pull with a load levelling hitch and never had such a bad towing experience.
I am new at pulling a 5th wheel so I would really appreciate some input and maybe some solutions. Is this typical of pulling a 5th wheel. Is it my truck, 5th wheel combination. Is it the hitch. I Please help as I am so dissapointed with pulling the unit already.
Thanks Guys
Gill

[TXiceman]

A friend on mine wa having a horrible ride from his GMC dually 4x4. The truck pulled his toy hauler fine. HE got a new Hitch Hiker and it was a terrible ride. He tried two different air ride hitches and the ride was worse. He finally had a Mor/Ryde ID suspension put on the trailer and it rides beautifully. Morryde weighed the trailer and set up the rubber suspension based on the weights. The trailer was not balanced between the two axles and was causing the problems.

SO Mor/Ryde IS may be the solution.

ken

[NC_Hauler]

wirenutz wrote:
NC Hauler, it was a choice of GO BIG, or stay home with the light duty trucks, I needed a MDT to pull my trailer across country as I move from job to job building America, and living full time in our trailer.
tsetsaf, I believe the OP's truck is a dodge 2500, I was not aware that air ride seats would fit in such a low and small cab?

I understand why you did what you did...but again I was just stating that one doesn't need to tow a 14,500# 5er with a MDT.....There are 2014 2500's out there that can handle those now and do it comfortably and safely..just like a 3500 SRW truck and easily, the 3500 Dually. One things for sure, if you ever move up to a heavier 5er, you already have the truck...but the 5er will cost you then:)

[wirenutz]

NC Hauler, it was a choice of GO BIG, or stay home with the light duty trucks, I needed a MDT to pull my trailer across country as I move from job to job building America, and living full time in our trailer.
tsetsaf, I believe the OP's truck is a dodge 2500, I was not aware that air ride seats would fit in such a low and small cab?

[tsetsaf]

I have a similar truck and have towed for a while. Here is how I have obtained a buttery smooth ride.

Start with truck:
Bilstein Heavy Duty shocks all the way around
Firestone ride-right helpers in the back; with your trailer you will probably only be running about 20psi in the bags.

Now for the trailer
Some sort of equalizer spring ie Ez-flex
Balance the tires
Make sure you are towing level
air ride pin box- I like fifth airborne

Also you can replace your vehicle seats with air seats to help your wife.

[Idahosrt10]

Sounds like you could need more pin weight.

[larry_barnhart]

I helped a man install the trailair pin box on his MS fifthwheel during a winter a few years ago. On the trip home they exoerienced chucking that was not before the air pin box. He was waiting for his wife at a shopping center and decided to look at his hitch. Trailer was at an rv park. He noticed the sliding bar was adjustable. He adjusted it later and not more chucking. We figured the air was allowing the fifth to float up and down on bumps and when the front of the fifth went up because of the air bag the pin would go back and then forward as the weight was lifted. No more problems.

chevman

[fj12ryder]

It doesn't seem right to me that you can move that hitch and get a clunk out of it. That just seems like something isn't quite kosher, but if there's a lot of play in that hitch it sure seems like that would contribute to chucking.

[GoPackGo]

I agree with NC Hauler. I tow #14,000 with my dually that weighs somewhere over #9,000 and I don't have chucking issues at all - but I attribute that to the air ride hitch and (mostly) to the Mor/Ryde pin box.

[NC_Hauler]

wirenutz wrote:
mine did the same thing, only I had the air hitch and the air pin box as well, the problem was my trailer was 14,400 pounds and my truck weighted about 7500 pounds, a dodge 3500 SWD diesel, after changing out my truck to a MDT a freightliner FL-60, no more chucking, I still have the air ride pin box but not the air ride hitch, BTW the freightliner cost way less than a newer truck would of cost me, it has air ride cab, air ride seats, my wife suffers from the same thing, with the 7' back seat that lays down into a bed she can crawl back there and take a nap http://www.pinterest.com/pin/551339179353517264/

You needed a FL-60 to tow a 14,400# 5er with?? I towed a 14,000# 5er with a 2500 until I purchased my first dually in 05'..Never had an issue with chucking or anything else for that matter, though the 2500 was overloaded... Your truck may have cost "way less" than a new truck, but I can take mine through drive throughs and still can park about anywhere I want to and is my daily driver....I understand that the big compartment would be nice, but even with my dually, towing a 16,000# 5er, I have zero issues with chucking or anything else for that matter...I would think you possibly purchased the FL due to it being cheaper and knowing that it would easily handle the weight of your 5er and afford you more room to make your wife comfortable..nothing wrong with that at all.

The dually I have now weighs 9100#, the 5er, 16,000#, zero issues with chucking...don't believe that difference in weight ratio means that much, or every truck out there towing a 5er that weighs more than the owners truck would be having the same problems and I haven't read that much about it...

[TXiceman]

I am running a Trailer Saver TS3 (air ride hitch) in the truck and a Mor/Ryde pin box on the trailer. Between the two, the chucking is pretty much minimized.

Ken

[wirenutz]

when I had my dodge i filmed a 10 mile stretch of freeway travel with the air ride hitch and air ride pin box, interesting was the air ride pin box reacted much more than the air ride hitch, the hitch picked up the slack on the bigger bumps, now that we have changed trucks (Freightliner FL-60) the truck weights almost as much as the trailer, we still have the air ride pin box, but have a solid hitch, what I am leading to is I am convinced that a trailer that weights as much as the truck will tow real smooth with just the air ride pin box, remember nothing has changed about the trailer, well added some more weight, only the truck has changed

[ckwizard777]

You need more pin weight.
If your water tank is up front fill it!

[GoPackGo]

Gill - I have a Hensley air hitch and also a MorRyde rubber pin box.

An air hitch will not help much with chucking, which appears to be your problem. An air hitch is designed to eliminate the sharp up and down motion that can result when your truck goes over bumps or potholes and then the trailer does the same thing a second later.

The MorRyde Pin Box is specifically designed to eliminate the back and forth chucking that occurs when the truck moves away from a stop or brakes are applied, or anything else that results in a jerky back and forth motion. Take a look at their website and you'll understand. Basically, they insulated the king pin by surrounding it with a big rubber donut. And it works. The donut absorbs the forward and backward shocks.

My rig rides great. The air hitch and the rubber pinbox work well together to eliminate most of the 'jerkiness' that results from traveling down the road. In fact, it's kind of interesting to look up at my inside rear view mirror and see the pin box assembly jiggling around - Not much is transferred to me at all.

Best of luck to you.

Tim

[gzach]

Thank you everyone for all the helpful suggestions.We are in Medora MT and will be leaving on the 8th. When I hook up I am going to check the level right away.
We don't have the unit fully loaded because we just brought the bare minimum with us. When we get back to Lethbridge we will load it and I can drive to the scales to weigh it. As for the sloppiness in the hitch I did notice that I can move the top of the Airbox and it clunks when I do. I think my main disappointment is in the Airbox.I have sent an email to Airsafe to see what they can do. Will let you know what happens.
Thankyou for all of your help. You guys and gals are great.
Thanks again