That's the place, right lane was brutal, left was a little better but not by much.

 

New 5er here. Is it normal for a "chunk" noise when stopping and taking off? I have the 16k slide hitch. I "assume" its just the pin moving front to rear in the hitch since it cant be super tight or it would bind.
Also anyone with a '15 SD diesel, what airbags did you get?
Im having a hard time determining which ones will fit around my hitch.

 

The clunking when stopping is play in the hitch, it will happen all the time if you aren't using enough trailer brake so the truck is doing most of the braking.

Denny

 

This gets discussed a lot and this thread is long so what the heck, I'll add an observation.

What I have noted is the truck/trailer match-up seems to make a heck of a difference (not to take away from the hitch issue) when it comes to chucking. I have had the experience of having a one combination truck (dually) and chucking fiver where when I changed to a heavier fiver the chucking all but completely vanished. It was so dramatic we could not believe it at first.

Then we took that same fiver and put it on a different truck (SRW) but with exactly the same hitch and set-up and the problem is back to a moderate degree. Just saying there are a lot of factors in play here.

Steve

 

My new AUH is supposed to be delivered tomorrow and just got a set of Firestone airbags on Friday. Planning a 500 mile trip in the end of June and a few more this fall. Not a lot of time off before I leave so I may keep the Timbrens on for the June trip and change to the airbags before the 2nd trip in another month. Should give me a good before and after comparison.

 

if you are using a hitch with the Ford 5th wheel prep package, make sure the the hitch tightens good to the pucks. I was getting a clunk when taking off or stopping, and had to tighten the castle nuts down more.

 

Go with an andersen. It is really a dream to tow with.

 

My AUH arrived and is installed in the same rails I used for my old Reese. There was a issue with the pin hitch and Anderson said they are sending me a new one. Leaving on a 500+ trip towing the 5er on Sunday. Looking forward to feeling the difference.

 

I'm driving a 15 F350 dually, it has the FX4 package. I replaced the factory shocks with Bilsteins at 30K miles, eliminated a lot of ride issues over expansion joints unloaded and loaded.

Am running Airlift air bags with on board air. Have had good luck with these on three tow vehicles, a 2005 Excursion, 2007 F350 SRW, and my current 15 truck.

We use a B&W fifth wheel hitch and trail-air pin box on our 2014 Montana 5th wheel. This didn't completely eliminate chucking but has cured by 50-75%. We added shock absorber kit to the trailer and that number has gone up to 90% or greater reduction in chucking.

Yes, there are roads out there that will kick our asses, no matter how much mods we've done. However we found this to be a huge improvement.

We are about to have a new trailer built, you can be sure it will have independent suspension, disk brakes, and the trail-air pin box, along with the 17.5" wheels with suitable tires for the load.

It's a toss up between Augusta RV Luxe 42RL or a New Horizons Majestic M45DB5SS. Both are willing to work with us on specific floor plan changes or mods with the features that are important to us.

-Mark

 

What he said!

 

If you go that way right now. They are fixing the joints on the road. Yes!

 

I believe that the roads are just getting worse. I have a very simple setup with air shocks, 16k Reeves hitch, Gateway 5th wheel 11,000 to 14,000. And have found here in New England that the worst thing are bridges that some states seem to avoid repair. Mass a prime example.
If you take I-84 west out of CT into NY and jump on the NY thruway with or without a trailer you will be wrenched and shaken badly. Road conditions have deteriorated.

Yes there are a lot of things you can do to dampen your rig, but the road haven't gotten any better.

just the old guy babbling on.

 

I don't know if they are getting any worse or we just know what ones to avoid

Denny

 

Roads around here will shake the ceiling off the interior of fifth wheel. It did ours

 

Air bag in the hitch here. Bounces at times but takes out the hard hits.