Chucking

[DadsHemi]

I hope this person didn’t get scared off…..

[DadsHemi]

Originally Posted by Greg1780

FYI,
I was looking at the Anderson hitch but when I contacted Keystone I said I own a 2021 Montana Model: 3813MS. Keystone said using the Anderson hitch could VOID about my frame warranty. Keystone does not recommend the Anderson hitch.

There was a big discussion about this when Keystone put that info out there.

[Ttman]

We have an older 2002 Montana 3280RL and tow with a 2009 F-250 with a Pullrite auto slider 5th wheel hitch. We had bad purposing and chucking, so I switched out the pin box for the Gen-Y Executive 5th wheel king pin bix. Its a torsion flex design and took most of the roughness out of the ride. I still plan to get airbags on the truck to help smooth things out even further, but I’m very impressed with the Gen-Y. I would also agree with one of the other responses, its better to be front heavy than back heavy when hitched up and towing. Being light on the front causes the trailer to have leverage to pull up on the truck amplifying bumps and making the truck less stable when towing.

[team bradfield]

Originally Posted by mhs4771

Some may disagree, but I say "It's impossible to totally eliminate Chucking". Most chucking comes from the TV and RV hitting seams in the highway at different times, especially on Concrete highways.
The best you can do is to soften the effects of chucking, and the Mor/ryde pin does a very good job and an air ride hitch or some other form of cushioned hitch helps. With the Andersen your connection between TV and RV are pretty solid.
My opinion on chucking only.

Agree, our last rig we had a air ride pin box, now we have a mor-ryde, I actually think the mor-ryde is better, but as one mentioned, load distribution is very important.

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by mhs4771

Some may disagree, but I say "It's impossible to totally eliminate Chucking". Most chucking comes from the TV and RV hitting seams in the highway at different times, especially on Concrete highways.
The best you can do is to soften the effects of chucking, and the Mor/ryde pin does a very good job and an air ride hitch or some other form of cushioned hitch helps. With the Andersen your connection between TV and RV are pretty solid.
My opinion on chucking only.

I agree. You never really get rid of chucking. You can mitigate it with a new pin box designed for that purpose. It appears many folks really don’t understand what “chucking” is. It has nothing to do with your hitch causing it. It has to do with the physics of push/ pull caused by bumps and humps in the road on your truck and 5er. As your trick hits a bump it slows your truck for an instant, and your trailer is moving faster than your truck for that instant, causing it to push your truck. As your trailer hits the same bump, your trailer slows for an instant, causing your trailer to pull on your truck as it has slowed going over the bump. The rougher the road the more chucking you will have, and may experience more porpoising. On a nice smooth road you may not experience any chucking. Obviously, this is a simplified explanation. Porpoising is the up and down motion, mostly caused by bumps in the road but weight distribution can also cause porpoising as well as an unbalanced or over taxed suspension on your truck. The Lippert Air ride pin box system dampens both porpoising and chucking. There are others that have similar dampening qualities. Air bags i have found also help to smooth out the ride. I have ridden with more than one person that swore they had no chucking. They all had some chucking, some more than others. Slop in your hitch hook up is not chucking, but the slop has a similar feel. Slop in your hitch can be very dangerous, so if you have slop, excessive movement in your hitch you need to address it immediately. I have the Lippert Air ride system and it made a huge, huge difference in dampening the chucking but on rough roads I still have some. I would suggest you do more research on different pin box remedies and pick the one you think will give you the most dampening qualities for both chucking and any porpoising and shock from bumps in the road.

[Casey and Jim]

Originally Posted by Rfirth

Hello, my husband and I are new to RV life. We just got a 2022 ford f350 with an andersen hitch. We are pulling a 2021 montana high country 335bh.

We are using the rota-flex lockout kit but the truck feels like its jerking forward and backwards quite a bit. I'm just curious to know if this is normal and if this is something yall experienced as well.

Any advice or guidance yall could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Our 2018 RAM 2500 diesel with rear coil springs pulls our 2020 3120RL using an Andersen Ultimate hitch with the Andersen ball at its lowest setting. Our rig is lighter than yours and pulls smoothly. Navigating extra rough stretches like I-65 south of Birmingham, AL is the exception. Growing up in the Rust Belt, pot holes were also called Chuck Holes!

[Rfirth]

I want to thank you all for your input. I didn't realize there was sooooo much to learn about RVing. I thought we were ready but it looks like we have a lot to learn. The ride seemed to smooth out after about 45 mins of driving so IDK if it was the road, the truck or us just getting used to towing. We had a great first camping trip with only a few minor hiccups. The auto leveling system wouldn't work and when we connected the black tank #2 flushout it eneded up flooding the back bathroom.....we took it in stride and figured it out. So with that said, thank you again for all of your help/input.

[Kyle and Lisa]

Originally Posted by Rfirth

I want to thank you all for your input. I didn't realize there was sooooo much to learn about RVing. I thought we were ready but it looks like we have a lot to learn. The ride seemed to smooth out after about 45 mins of driving so IDK if it was the road, the truck or us just getting used to towing. We had a great first camping trip with only a few minor hiccups. The auto leveling system wouldn't work and when we connected the black tank #2 flushout it eneded up flooding the back bathroom.....we took it in stride and figured it out. So with that said, thank you again for all of your help/input.

We occasionally have the same issue "on rough roads", simply slow down and it goes away, then resume your speed, ours is 65 mph on the highway at all times.

[TGT]

Originally Posted by WeBeFulltime

Before you throw $ at it maybe you should calculate your pin weight. Not enough pin weight will cause chucking. May just be an issue of weight distribution. Just the opinion of a retired trucker. You SHOULD ideally have 19-24% pin weight.

What he said! I have a 32' low deck gooseneck (about 40' long overall) rated at 14K. Unloaded pulls smooth as silk. Load it rear heavy and will beat you to death in your back. Shift weight forward and smooths right out. We also have a 2005 3280RL, and just pulled it 1000 miles to Louisiana, and no chucking issues at all. I made sure that it was loaded so I had sufficient pin weight. Could hardly tell it was back there.

If your carrying a full load of fresh water in your rear tank, that can easily cause you to be tail heavy and like mentioned by WeBeFulltime, poor weight distribution can beat you to pieces. Some of these units don't have a lot of additional carrying capacity either, so what you load and where becomes real important for ride and safety.

We pull with a 2004 F350 Powerstroke 4 door long bed dually with a B&W companion hitch when hooked to the fifth wheel and the B&W turnover ball for the gooseneck.

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by Rfirth

I want to thank you all for your input. I didn't realize there was sooooo much to learn about RVing. I thought we were ready but it looks like we have a lot to learn. The ride seemed to smooth out after about 45 mins of driving so IDK if it was the road, the truck or us just getting used to towing. We had a great first camping trip with only a few minor hiccups. The auto leveling system wouldn't work and when we connected the black tank #2 flushout it eneded up flooding the back bathroom.....we took it in stride and figured it out. So with that said, thank you again for all of your help/input.

FYI, “chucking” is a horizontal movement. “Porpoising” is a vertical movement. Not enough pin weight will cause porpoising. Chucking is caused when you hit a bump in the road, causing a instantaneous slowing of your trailer as it goes in and out of the dip in the road, whether a hole, bridge expansion joint, that pulls on your truck, causing a back and forth “chucking” motion. There are pin boxes available that are made to dampen these effects like the Lippert “air ride” pin box. They help tremendously, but do not completely eliminate it. Happy trails!

[twindman]

And some roads seem to have a rhythm between the cracks that can match up to the length of the trailer, etc. I10 near New Orleans was so bad I had to slow to 45 and it still was bad. I was ready to leave the interstate and asked someone at a gas station about going on. They said the bad stretch ended right there. Strangely about 4-5 years later it was still bad!!

[Montana Bob]

Originally Posted by twindman

And some roads seem to have a rhythm between the cracks that can match up to the length of the trailer, etc. I10 near New Orleans was so bad I had to slow to 45 and it still was bad. I was ready to leave the interstate and asked someone at a gas station about going on. They said the bad stretch ended right there. Strangely about 4-5 years later it was still bad!!

You are exactly right about roads and a rhythm. There s a bridge at the Outer Banks and it is terrible,no matter what I am towing.