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Old 10-09-2019, 10:18 PM   #1
penra
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Best upgrade for ride while towing?

My truck pulls my rig beautifully but not perfectly and I'm considering a couple of options for upgrading. When driving on some California highways I get a bouncing going. It's minor but annoying. If I hit some rough patches (like the transition from bridge to highway) it can give us some serious jerking.
I'm thinking of an air ride pin box or air bags for the truck. I'd love to hear from this forum about which might have the best result or even if there is another avenue to consider?

Specific pin box experience would be helpful since there are several options.
thanks!
 
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Old 10-10-2019, 06:08 AM   #2
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Best addition I made for ride comfort was the MorRyde pin box. Getting the correct rubber shear is important.
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Old 10-10-2019, 06:58 AM   #3
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We have a Trailair pin box. I don’t think there is much difference in any of the air ride pin boxes. They all will help with your ride. Pick one.
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Old 10-10-2019, 09:19 AM   #4
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We're MorRyde pinbox fans also. Had them on both our rigs.
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Old 10-10-2019, 10:07 AM   #5
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Two years ago, 1/2 way into a 7,000 mile trip our backs were "toast" because of all the chucking and bucking. Had a Reese 5th Airborn shipped to the Campground and installed it. Remainder of the trip was totally smooth...all of the chucking and bucking was gone.

Last year we did a 9,120 mile loop of America, I 80 east from Calif. to I 76 in Ohio to Hershey, PA. Then Philadelphia, down I 95 to St. Augustine, I 10 to LA, and I 5 to Sacramento. Some very bad roads and bridge transitions, didn't even know the trailer was there!

Decided on Reese because it was less money than Trailair. Also like that the airbag is inside the hitch, so it s protected from UV.
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Old 10-10-2019, 10:14 AM   #6
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Am I reading the OP's question correctly that there are actually 2 different issues? Sounds like he's dealing with bouncing and chucking.

Bouncing can be reduced with the air bags. I have them and are great for smoothing out the ride. Chucking is a hitch issue. I have the Andersen to I don't have any chucking or clunking.

Seems like if your hitch has just enough slop in it to allow for chucking then a sharp bounce, like in the bridge transitions, will accentuate the chucking.

If your hitch is tight so you don't have chucking then the jerking feeling in those sharper transitions is mostly inevitable. The air bags help.

Anyway, I may not have correctly understood the issue but there are ways to minimize, though not eliminate, the roughness
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Old 10-10-2019, 12:18 PM   #7
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Second on the Anderson, I added sumo springs to the rear of the truck for the bouncing NOT FOR WEIGHT, but for bouncing they help ALOT and for the price its a pretty solid route.
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Old 10-10-2019, 12:24 PM   #8
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By 'chucking' do we mean the feeling of being slightly pulled back and forth? I don't have any clunking at all, and no noise from the hitch.
So I looked closer at my pin box and it's a Lippert Road Armor which has a sizable rubber plate between the king pin and the hitch. I don't think there is any gap or looseness between the hitch collars and the king pin, it looks very snug.
I looked at the Morryde pin box and it's very light compared to the Trailair! 32# vs 148# shipping weight. I don't think I would gain much from the Morryde.
Now I'm thinking I should start with air bags and see if that smooths out the ride.
Actually I feel like I shouldn't be complaining at all because it's not that bad.
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Old 10-10-2019, 12:38 PM   #9
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Yeah, sounds to me like air bags would help a bit. I think I know what you're experiencing. When you go over variances in the road it can feel like the truck and trailer do a little tug of war as each set of wheels sequentially hit the same bump. I don't see that ever going completely away. However, my airbags do help relieve it. I've experimented with mine and right now 30psi seems to provide the best overall fix.
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Old 10-10-2019, 03:29 PM   #10
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We are long timers and do a lot of road miles over our excellent interstate and TPK systems. We have the trail air BD 3 Hitch , Air bags and the best addition the Mor Ryde IS system/ Those are pricy additions but I don't think the ride can get any smoother.
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Old 10-10-2019, 05:19 PM   #11
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I went a different route than air bags. I don't have chucking, but the bounce on the bridge abutment transitions was annoying. I replaced the single camper spring over the main spring rear spring pack with a 5-leaf spring. It engages the same way the factory camper spring did. So when you're empty, they don't do anything. I haven't taken the Montana out with it yet, but I towed my heavy gooseneck dump trailer (weighs 6k dry) loaded up to about 14k and it was a lot smoother in the bounce department. We have a camping trip planned next weekend so I'll be able to the a sense of the ride improvement then with the Montana.


It also improved the rear sag. I hitched up in the driveway and the truck rear end drops about an inch when it makes contact with the upper springs pads and then barely moves another 1/2"-1" from there. The factory set up dropped 3" (about 1" below level).
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Old 10-10-2019, 05:20 PM   #12
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Here's a comparison of the two:
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Old 10-10-2019, 07:17 PM   #13
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Had the 5th air borne on my 2007 3000rk.. Haven't bit the bullet on the new 2018 yet, but have to say air ride hitch and airbags are the best thing you can do for comfort.
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Old 10-11-2019, 07:39 AM   #14
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I use a goose box totally eliminated chucking and bridge transition much better also
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Old 10-11-2019, 01:21 PM   #15
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the bouncing will be greatly reduced with going with the I/S system. won't correct the other issues.
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Old 10-11-2019, 07:38 PM   #16
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I had a setup similar to you 2 trailers ago with the SRW GM and the Timbren SRS system worked fabulous without all the install and air setup. Look at the reviews, I had them on a 2013 Silverado Duramax and a 2016 dually duramax they delivered big time! I have recommended them to a few Ford fans I'm friends with and they hailed thier praises as well.
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Old 10-11-2019, 07:41 PM   #17
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What exactly does the Independent Suspension include? How do I get it?
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Old 10-11-2019, 08:06 PM   #18
penra
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Quote:
Originally Posted by squirtswallower View Post
I had a setup similar to you 2 trailers ago with the SRW GM and the Timbren SRS system worked fabulous without all the install and air setup. Look at the reviews, I had them on a 2013 Silverado Duramax and a 2016 dually duramax they delivered big time! I have recommended them to a few Ford fans I'm friends with and they hailed thier praises as well.
Did you install front and rear?
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Old 10-16-2019, 01:11 PM   #19
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Installed a Trailair before out trip through Michigan. Glad I did. I wanted some damping between truck and trailer.
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Old 10-16-2019, 01:37 PM   #20
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Did an Andersen hitch on this one and was surprised how different it was. No chucking on rough roads and smooth pushing or pulling depending on what I am doing.

I do need air bags though, found that out on the CA and MS freeways.
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