Bumping/Chucking - Montana Owners Club

leemedic · 04-06-2013, 03:54 AM

I have a 40' Montana, 2006 Ford 350 dually diesel, full bed, Curt 20K hitch, Mor/ryde pin box on the 5er.

Since I am new to towing a 5th wheel, how much fore/aft chucking/bumping is normal? It makes no difference when I am on I75 just cruising 60 mph or pulling it at 30 mph on city streets I get constant "Chucking/bumping". Is this normal? What is normal? I am used to pulling a 34' Sprinter TT with a Hensley hitch and there was NO bumping/chucking.

racerjoe · 04-06-2013, 03:57 AM

looking at your picture,you may be to far behind the axle. It will do what you are saying,especially a unit that long.there is a lot of tail weight and not enough hitch weight

leemedic · 04-06-2013, 04:11 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by racerjoe

looking at your picture,you may be to far behind the axle. It will do what you are saying,especially a unit that long.there is a lot of tail weight and not enough hitch weight

It is hard to see in this small photo but the Curt is over the rear axle. If you now look closely you can see the Mor/ryde pin box sloping forward to the cab of the truck.

H. John Kohl · 04-06-2013, 04:40 AM

I first reaction is the rubber cushion in the Mor/Ryde pin is too light allowing too much slop. I suggest you contact Mor/Ryde and talk to them.

**DQDick** · 04-06-2013, 04:43 AM

I don't have your hitch, but just pulling down the road I'm not bothered by mine. I use a Reese slider with a 20k head but I don't see how that could be the difference. Since the drive slopes it's hard to get a feel for how you're riding going down the road. Is the rig pretty level? John beat me in, but his idea to contact Mor/ryde is a good one.

steves · 04-06-2013, 04:57 AM

I have a F350 dually and have no chucking except on the worse of roads where the paving sets up a harmonic effect. Looking at you picture, it looks like your nose could be raised to level the rig. Perhaps the lean forward could be your chucking issue?

**Rondo** · 04-06-2013, 05:00 AM

Darnell-- Since you had a TT before this it is a totally different tow when you have the fifth wheel. You are going to get some bounce no matter what hitch or pin you have. It's just part of physics. You don't have those stabilizer bars and etc that most TT have with their hitches with a fifth wheel. You didn't mention which model your Monte is. You also have a pretty heavy Monte there just from the photo. As John said, contact Mor/Ryde and see what they have to say. They or you can change out the rubber cushions relatively easily and that may be the problem. I think Steve may have a point also. The nose of the Monte looks like it is running low on the hitch. You may have to either change out the hitch height or drop the pinbox one hole to make it ride more level.

Mrs. CountryGuy · 04-06-2013, 05:45 AM

Load balance COULD have some effect as well. Where is your fresh water tank? Do you run fully loaded?? If the tank is in the back that makes a difference.

bethandkevin · 04-06-2013, 06:14 AM

Looking at you pic and comparing to mine, your hitch head looks ok. My pin is directly below the nose "point". I agree, your nose looks low and the truck nose high. That said, if you get a lot of bounce, you get a lot of "humping" in the center of the rig at the hitch. This will definitely create chucking. As with Dick, I have very little chucking unless on a poor road surface. I agree with contacting Moryde as well, they are the experts

leemedic · 04-06-2013, 07:22 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by BethandKevin

Looking at you pic and comparing to mine, your hitch head looks ok. My pin is directly below the nose "point". I agree, your nose looks low and the truck nose high. That said, if you get a lot of bounce, you get a lot of "humping" in the center of the rig at the hitch. This will definitely create chucking. As with Dick, I have very little chucking unless on a poor road surface. I agree with contacting Moryde as well, they are the experts

I Will call them Monday. Thanks

Tom S. · 04-06-2013, 09:29 AM

As John Kohl said, if your MorRyde pin box is the one with the rubber mount, yours may not be stiff enough for your trailer weight. It's not difficult to replace. I upped ours from a #4 to a #5 and it made a big difference. Rubber part was $80 give or take.

leemedic · 04-06-2013, 11:53 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Tom S.

As John Kohl said, if your MorRyde pin box is the one with the rubber mount, yours may not be stiff enough for your trailer weight. It's not difficult to replace. I upped ours from a #4 to a #5 and it made a big difference. Rubber part was $80 give or take.

Tom, how do you know which rubber mount you have in the assembly?

bethandkevin · 04-06-2013, 12:05 PM

If the mount turns out to be the issue, I would push for warranty due to the age of the coach.

racerjoe · 04-06-2013, 01:15 PM

It is over the axle. but from my own experience, I would take this and scale it to see if you have enough over the axle. You should have a recommended hitch weight and then go from there. There is so much behind the trailer axle that could cause it. Is your moride new? if it is then you would have to pursue other options. Rondo and others are correct also. A 5th wheel is a whole lot different if you are not used to it. But,it should not or hardly have any bucking or chucking issues

ols1932 · 04-06-2013, 02:26 PM

When my hitch was installed, Ford and the RV Sales people said the center of the king pin should be locked on the hitch just ahead of the rear axle. If I remember correctly it's between one-half to one inch ahead of the rear axle. Having said that, we experienced a lot of chucking and bouncing until we had the Trailer Saver TS3 air ride hitch installed on the truck and put MOR/ryde's Individual Suspension (IS) axles on the Montana. Sure did wonders for the overall ride of the rig and the Ford. You'll never get rid of every little bit of chucking due to the construction of the highways, but the IS eliminates the bouncing of the rig.

Orv

Countryfolks · 04-06-2013, 03:24 PM

Consider the mechanics involved as the TV and 5er react to different obstacles. Mor-ryde pins don't do much for up-down movement. They do a lot more for back and forth. This is because of the design, the rubber is not very thick, probably no more than 1/4"-3/8" up down movement available. You'll get more damping from an air ride type pin/hitch. I've seen mine bounce up to 5-6 inches at the pin and it converts back-forth to up-down.

leemedic · 04-07-2013, 03:30 AM

Well tomorrow I will be hitching it up again, and take a close up pick of the Hitch/Pin location to the rear axle and post here. The unit is brand new and the Mor/Ryde came with the Montana. The chucking is not an occasional bump, but is pretty consistent anytime we are moving.

8.1al · 04-07-2013, 03:46 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by leemedic

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Tom S.

As John Kohl said, if your MorRyde pin box is the one with the rubber mount, yours may not be stiff enough for your trailer weight. It's not difficult to replace. I upped ours from a #4 to a #5 and it made a big difference. Rubber part was $80 give or take.

Tom, how do you know which rubber mount you have in the assembly?

I'm not sure there is a way to tell which mount is in there but if you look at the hitch in the area where the round nylon pieces are you should see where they have been sliding front to rear. You should see travel of about 1" each direction. Shorter means too stiff,long means too soft. Why don't you call Morryde and talk to them, they are very good to work with

Tom S. · 04-07-2013, 04:22 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by leemedic

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Tom S.

As John Kohl said, if your MorRyde pin box is the one with the rubber mount, yours may not be stiff enough for your trailer weight. It's not difficult to replace. I upped ours from a #4 to a #5 and it made a big difference. Rubber part was $80 give or take.

Tom, how do you know which rubber mount you have in the assembly?

It is cast into the rubber. Trouble is, I can't remember where! I'll see if I can find the old one I removed and look.

Ozz · 04-07-2013, 04:28 AM

Tom, it is on the up-side face of it. Like you can read it assembled, NOT.
I sent away for a different one, I think a 4, but CRS has attacked me, my rig is a 3400RL. I got Stiles' old assembly off his Big Sky, it was too stiff. I will see if I can find it in my photo's. I have a picture of everything...somewhere...

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