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Ride and handling
About once a week someone asks, “my truck rides.....What can I do to help it? Well you can throw thousands of dollars at the problem which may or may not help. I suggest to you that you do some basics first and then maybe throw the dollars.
If you have just purchased a used trailer and/or 5th wheel the first thing you do is check the tires. There should be good tread and no obvious defects. They should be load range E. If the trailer is more than four years old, change them all regardless of how they look. Then check the pressure in the tires. Load range E tires on the Montana all take 80 pounds of pressure. TV tires should be at manufacturers specs. We often hear of people reducing pressure because it “rides better”. That can be a contributing factor in bad handling, decreased fuel mileage, premature tire wear and blowouts. The TV manufacturer puts those numbers out for a reason. Follow them!
Make sure your trailer is properly loaded. You want about 20% of the total weight of the trailer on the hitch. A 13,000 pound trailer should have a hitch weight of about 2,600 pounds. It should certainly be no more than 3,250 (25%) and no less than 2080 (16%). You can check by weighing your rig hitched and unhitched at a truck stop or perhaps your local dump or transfer station.
After you weigh it, measure it. Make sure that the rig is essentially level side to side. If not, move gear from the low to the high side or leave some at home. I have heard some people say on this forum, “What do you put in all of those cabinets.” The best answer may be “nothing”.
Adjust your hitch so that the trailer is basically level front to back. I would try for no more than an inch or perhaps two out of level. If it is significantly low in the front, air bags may be the answer. I added those to mine. If it is significantly low in the rear and you can’t adjust the hitch height, you have a problem. Montana designs its trailers for the height of a 4x4 and if you are low in the rear you must have a lifted truck. IMHO a lifted truck has no place hauling a fifth wheel.
Finally, change the shocks or insure that they are good quality with plenty of life left. If all of that doesn’t work then maybe you could consider the expensive modifications .
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It also seems they're only made for GMS/Chevys & Fords. Probably figure our Dodges ride so good, they'd not get design and engineering costs back.
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