Bucking and cushioned hitches

[mtlakejim]

Now that we have a larger trailer we have noticed some bucking when on rough roads. I have the larger factory installed Ram hitch (built by Curt I think) and really don't want to change it out for something else. So I was wondering how much help one of the air ride pin boxes would help and which one is the best choice.

[Beau2010]

We probably have the same setup; hitch built by Curt in a '16 3500 dually pulling a 36' Montana with the standard Morryde hitch and nylon hitch plate. Have had absolutely no bucking or chucking with this setup regardless of the road conditions. Truck has 30,000 miles, at least half of it towing. You may have something loose; check torque on all bolts.

[mlh]

I have a Trailair hitch. I can watch in my rear view mirror the hitch moving 2 inches going down the interstate. I know it helps with the ride.
Lynwood

[rmthelen]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

Now that we have a larger trailer we have noticed some bucking when on rough roads. I have the larger factory installed Ram hitch (built by Curt I think) and really don't want to change it out for something else. So I was wondering how much help one of the air ride pin boxes would help and which one is the best choice.

Your post doesn't mention the make of your rig, if it is a Montana with the mor-ride pin box it should have minimal chucking. If it has the mor-ride, you more than likely have something loose either in the hitch or pinbox.

[dieselguy]

I never was overly impressed with the MorRyde pin box standard on Montana's. They are better than a standard pin box, but I'm a guy that always likes to try other things. I installed a Reese 5th Airborne pin box and prefer it over the MorRyde. It's very similar to a TrailAir, but the ugly shock deal is inside the housing instead of sticking straight up out front. It reduces most of the chucking and cushions the road shock to the fiver frame. I had a Glide Ride pin box on my 05 Montana ... it cut down on the chucking as well, but did nothing to cushion the bumps.

[BB_TX]

I have a 2007 Montana and an F350 with a Reese Elite hitch. It never had much chucking with the standard pin box except on certain concrete highways. Installed a 5th Airborne and it eliminated nearly all that chucking. Still sometimes a little on certain highways, but not nearly as much as before.

[mtlakejim]

Our brand new 381th came with a solid pin IE: no cushion at all. When we had a shorter trailer we never experienced any obvious bucking/chucking once we moved up to the 1 ton with the Curt hitch. The 381th is a lot more trailer and now we do feel some moderate chucking but only on rough roads (plenty of those in Arkansas for sure). It isn't real dramatic but would be annoying on long trips. I could see where it could be fairly substantial in cities like Memphis which has awful Interstate highways with some really bad buckled pavement. I am not so concerned with the ride as with the stresses that shock has on the 5th wheel, truck and hitch system.


There are four things I plan to update as soon as possible:
The pin box.
The tires.
Add tire monitor.
Add rear view camera.


I consider those priority safety and reliability updates.