Air Ride Hitches???

[Montana_2843]

Any thoughts on the air ride hitches? We are new to the 5th wheel deal. I had a Hensley Arrow Hitch for my 27' trailer and it was great. We have a 2005 36RK Montana. It is placed on a seasonal site until I buy a new truck and a hitch to pull it. I traded 2003 2500 Avalanche and a 27' Cedar Creek to step up to the Montana.


Maggie & GV
No Truck
No Hitch
2005 Montana 36RK

[NJ Hillbilly]

Well at least You are doing things the right way, get the trailer You want then get the right truck.

As for the air ride hitch, there aren't many that use them. Some have upgraded to the air ride pin box (Trail Air) with good results but a majority have not changed anything. Air ride hitches are more of a necessity when You move up to a medium duty truck than with a pickup. These trailers tow very nicely and ride well both in the truck and the trailer.

Good Luck, Enjoy the new toy and the Forum.

Welcome



John

[Montana Sky]

I would have to agree with John, I do not see the need for an air ride hitch. Towing my 3400RL has not been a problem at all for my truck. The only difference in what hitch I have and from what others are using is because I have the shortbed Chevy Silverado. If you do choose to go with a shortbed I suggest going with the Superglide 16k. Nothing beats having a fully automatic hitch while traveling down these great roads of ours. Congrats on the new coach and good luck finding a truck to match.

[Go Pokes]

We pulled our 3400rl for several thousand miles with a Reese 20K, but after adding the EasyRider hitch the ride is much smoother and softer. Everyone noticed a big improvement in the ride. Our 18 month old granddaughter can now sleep in her carseat. Additionally, there is reduced stress on the 3400rl.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

I have no experience with an air ride hitch or the trailAir pin box but I am sure I would have no need for either. We have a 2500HD with the Duramax and use the Pullrite 16K Superglide to haul our Monty down the road. With the exception of a few bridge approaches or railroad tracks it has been a very smooth ride.

[ken]

I agree with all of the above comments. However, we put air bags on our truck and that helped with the bounce you get with a 5th wheel. Our truck is a supercab F350 with the 8 ft bed with overloads in the rear. I didn't need the airbags for the weight, but it helps smooth out the ride on concrete highways. I keep 50 lbs in them when I am towing. Camping World installed them.
Ken and Velda Taylor
Dahlgren VA
2003 3655FL Montana/Ford F350 Diesel

[Bill Hill]

We also just switched from a TT with a Hensley Arrow Hitch and moved to a 5er. We pulled a Wanderer 255RK for 4 years with the Hensley and for a TT it is the best hitch around. But now that we have the Montana, I can feel the difference and I like the 5er better. Since we have a short box 2500HD, we needed a sliding hitch and since we'd already spent the big bucks before on the Hensley, getting SuperGlide didn't feel outrageous. Actually, the wife & I both felt that having the automatic slide feature was a safety factor since neither of us would have to remember to put it in the "back" position. I haven't felt the need for an air hitch yet, but if we did, we'd go with something like the TrailAir pin box type to be able to keep using the SuperGlide.

I'm interested also in Ken's comment about the air bags helping in this regard. I'm considering getting them just because the heavy pin weight of our 2980 puts the back of the truck slightly lower than the front and I'd like to level it out.

[Dave e Victoria]

Somewhere in the archives, I did a long explaination of why trail air devices work. I does not have to do with the up and down motion over the rear axel. It works because it provides an elastic connection in the fore aft direction at the hitch point of the fiver. The rather odd design of the trail air hitch leaves people with the wrong impression of how it works. The best design around IMHO is the Morryde pin box.

I have the Trail aire on our Montana 3295RK and airbags on our truck. We have near 10,000 miles of towing over some really terrible roads. The airbags keep us level and provide a modicum of ride help for the truck contents. The trail air helps the trailer contents ride better and pretty much eliminates the jabs in the back generated by fiver hookup geometry on bad roads. But, I wish I had known about Morryde when I was looking for a pin box . It is cheaper, lighter, a better design, looks better and should be very effective.

[Montana_2304]

We have just ordered the Morryde rubber pin box, hope it helps with our F-550 and 3650RK ride. Will install it this April when the snow is gone here in New York.

Charlie and Sue

[RC and Samantha]

I don't know a lot about the Trail Air system, but I do know that Rob Cooley has one and swears by it.

Someday we hope to get the Morryde pin box. They did a seminar at the Rally in Goshen and it seems like a great upgrade for us. With having a rear kitchen model and a Big Sky we seem to get a considerable amount of fore and aft movement. I've had broken Corel dishes and cupboards pop open. Granted we've been on some really rough roads but still it would be great not to have the problems associated with the movement. On cement highways, and there are some really treacherous ones, we've felt like we had whiplash.

I'm sure that either one would be a fabulous upgrade and lend to a lot of comfort.

Glenn mentions the Superglide hitch. We also have one and love it. Morryde recently has worked with Superglide and now has a pin box for that hitch. If you end up with a short bed truck you may really want to consider it.

Maggie and GV, congratulations on your new Montana!

[Jeilering]

We are currently pulling our 3295 using a Trail Air hitch pin and Dodge 3500 dually. We have used this combination for the past two years and about 20,000 miles of pulling. I have found Trail Air pin to dampen the impact of hard bumps between the truck and the trailer. Because we use a dually I think there is a larger transfer of impact and the air pin hitch reduces the chances of damaging the trailer as well as smoothing out the ride. Having no experience pulling with a single wheel truck I can only guess the results should be the same..

[Montana_2843]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences. This was my first question as a new member and I am truly impressed. I have plenty of time to make my decision. We have a seasonal site on the St. Lawrence River in Clayton NY so we will not be hitting the road right away. Your kindness is truly appreciated.

[ols1932]

I purchased the Trailer Saver hitch in September, 2003. It has made full-timing much more relaxing. It has taken all the "pounding" out of towing. The king pin floats rather than pounds on the fixed Reese and Drawtite hitches. The Trailer Saver is pricey but I'm a believer in you get what you pay for. At the same time, I had Mor/rhyde axles installed on my Montana. The overall ride is much smoother, the rig doesn't bounce.

The neat thing about the Trailer Saver is that it fits right into the same rails as the Reese and/or Drawtite hitches. I had thought about the king pin modification but decided against it because I didn't want to add any lengthened extension to the front of the rig. I felt that it would cause more leverage pressure on the front of the rig. Could be wrong--have been before.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

gvtakinthe5th, I hate to change the subject on you but in your last post you said....

quote:[i]We have a seasonal site on the St. Lawrence River in Clayton NY

Lorraine and I have friends just outside of Clayton and we plan on visiting them this summer. They are about a half mile south of Clayton just off of route 12. We were wondering if you could recommend a decent campground in the area.

A couple we have been considering are...
Birch Haven Campground http://www.birchhavencampground.com/
Merry Knoll Campground http://www.merryknollcampground.com/

[Montana_2304]

Glenn and Lorraine,
Have been to Merryknoll each summer for the last five years, no frills, but clean and very well managed. The owners, Jim and Joann, are two of the nicest people you will meet and there is much to see in the area. We will be heading up there in June for about a week.We had stayed at McClear's at Black Lake years ago, guess you're familiar with that area.


Charlie and Sue

[Gypsy]

I'll add my 2 cents in favor of the Mor-Ryde kingpin replacement. I love it! It smooths out the bumps and jerks while towing on concrete or bumpy roads and saves my Corelle dishes. (I've broken some in the past, too, Patty )

I like the fact that I don't have to check the air pressure as you would with an air hitch, and there's no danger of losing pressure and being back to a straight kingpin-hitch setup.

I should note that I also have the Mor-Ryde independent suspension, so that may add to the smooth ride. And maybe the long bed and quad cab contributes to a rougher ride without the modifications - ?

[Montana_74]

We have the Trail-Air and are very satisfied. We had to travel I-10
between the Texas border and Lafayette, La many times and would experience the push/pull (bucking) movement to the extent that we were whipped when we got to our destination. You can never get the roughness completely out of the ride, but it is improved significantly.

The ride of both the 5er and the truck is really quite smooth.

I like the sounds that I have been hearing about the Mor-Ryde suspension. Believe it is worth looking at.

travel safe