Looking for some advice from somebody that has towed w / without airbags.
I have a 2022 F450, towing a 21k fifth wheel fulltime. The ride has always been what I consider rough, mainily I think from the rear axle. Pin weight on this is around 4800 lbs and the rear axle just slams every minor irregularity in the road it seams, and it tends to porpoise a little bit which seems to cause some fore/aft chucking. New shocks have helped, but it's still there.

Hitched up, the truck squats just shy of 3" measuring from the top of the tire to the wheel arch. It is enough that the over-loads are fully engaged. I'm wondering now how much of the the roughness is attributed to being on the overloads? It I were to install air bags to limit the sag to say an inch or two and keep the springs off the over-loads, would this help with the ride? Would it help to reduce the porpoising?

i.e., would carrying some weight on the airbags and OFF the over-loads vs carrying it all on the springs & over-loads make the ride any smoother?

RV is a 2022 VanLeigh Ambition triple axle toyhauler with Comfort Ride slipper springs. I use a Gen-Y gooseneck rather than fifth wheel hitch / plate.

 

Staying off of the overloads by using something softer will relax the ride a bit.

 

I tow a fiver toyhauler with a pin weight in the 3600-4000lb range. I added Red Label Firestone airbags. Running them at about 40 psi before hooking up definitely does provide a better ride than without.

 

So what you're experiencing is the helper springs unloading, then reloading as you drive down the road. Under normal circumstances with your current setup you shouldn't be experiencing that, HOWEVER if roads are rough where you commonly drive, or you're driving at excessive speeds, you'll get it a lot. (Looking at guys that run 85+ pulling their trailers because 'well that's what traffic is doing!' yeah that's also why there's a passing lane.)

Airbags WILL lift you off the helpers, yes, and will therefore stop that from happening. It makes the helper springs useless. However, depending on the location of the airbags, you COULD be loading the axle on an area that isn't intended for such loading and could potentially cause other issues. In other words, if the airbags are installed on top of the spring pack (which is normally the location), you'd likely be fine. If you installed them inboard of the springs under the frame (I have seen a few installs like this), then you're loading on a portion of the axle tube that wasn't tested or intended to carry weight and COULD cause unintended flexing of the axle. Will it lead to a problem? Likely not, but I'm averse to risk so I wouldn't do it.

This is one of the few times I will advocate for the use of airbags. Just remember to air them down when you're unloaded - F450s already have a stiff ride, and forgetting to air them down will make it even WORSE. Found that out personally when my FIL forgot to air down the bags on his back when he had it - after that he made it part of his hitch up/unhitch routine - air up after hitch up, air down before unhitch.

 

With and without air bags on a single rear wheels, I felt the airbags did improve the ride on my F350, but does nothing for the porpoising. I added CRE3000 clones to our 10,000# tag RV and I feel that reduced the porpoising, not entirely but noticeable. Not the setup you have, but an actual point of real data, at least as real as my mind is!

Before I got airbags I had load levelers, which gives you about 1/2” before the overloads contact. That did make the ride more stiff, but it is a F350.

 

Thanks, I think I'll get them installed to try out. I've had the Firestone Red label bags for a couple years, but have never installed. I only tow as fast as the road lets me, but I max out about 68 and that's if the road is smooooth. Today on a section of I90 E of Toledo, I was litterally down to 48 - 50 for 5 or 6 miles. The road looked like it had been bombed and patches thrown in with shovels.

 

Sounds about right for Ohio in Construction Season. Ohio's State Flower should be the Oragious Barrelious. They come out every April 1st and last until December 1st.
When I brought my truck up from the Tampa area in July of 2018, I could tell without looking that I wasn't in the South after crossing the Ohio River. I-71 from Cinci to Columbus was under construction and rattling my teeth out. And don't even get me started on the retina-burning Klieg lights in the construction zones at 11pm at the south side of Columbus.

 

My 5th wheel pin weight was right around 4k lbs and I had AirLift bags on 3 different F350 duallies and I would run about 40-50psi when towing. My truck rode like a Cadillac with my 5th wheel hooked up. The front end was harsh on rough roads but there was no harshness from the rear. I would definitely inflate them until the truck and camper sit level and then just drive.

 

What kind of hitch do you have? Something like a MorRyde or gooseneck (either Reese or Ben-Y) might help.

I have air bags. I always thought 60psi was a sweet spot. Lately I find 5 or 10psi to be fine. At 60psi I think the RV porpoises more. At a very low psi I think the rig settles down and the ride while maybe a bit harsher isn't bad.

The thing is - bad roads produce bad rides; and there really aren't many good roads anymore, just parts of roads that are good.

Depending on where you fresh water tank is maybe add or drain some to help the ride. I think with more rather than less it puts more weight on my RV suspension which helps.

I have a Reese goosebox, so I get to make that adjustment too. And I have MorRyde's independent Suspension which smooths out the bumps but doesn't do much for the frost heaves & "waves" in the road.

 

Nah Oragious Barrelious is actually a type of tree, so it would have to be their state tree. The flower would be a near-offshoot, Oragious Conious.

Otherwise yea, Ohio sucks in construction season, and it seems there is ALWAYS construction down there.

 

But wouldn't a tree stay year 'round?

Ohio's Interstates are approaching 60 years old - the Turnpike is even older. Too much road salt put down for our lake-effect snows. All those steel beam bridges need to be replaced due to rust. And the concrete columns that support the beams have steel reinforcement in them that is rusting/swelling and breaking the concrete apart.

Seriously though, I wish I was the guy that held the patent on Orange Barrels. Even at 2 cents per barrel, I'd be a millionaire!
Or even the the contractor that places those 'temporary' concrete k-barriers. They put down millions of them every year in those 15-mile-long construction zones along Ohio's Interstates and Turnpike... figure they're 8' long, that's 660 of them per mile... Rich, I tell you -- RICH!!!

 

Sometimes those barrels DO stay up year round, but even then they tend to lose their leaves.

And I know Ohio's roads are old...but I have been passing through that state since I was BORN because my grandparents lived in southern Indiana, and EVERY summer there was lots of construction on the interstates. I don't think we ever went through that state without passing through 2-4 construction zones.

 

Air bags
40psi without fresh water
50psi with fresh water full.
Driveline axle is straight so universals are happy.
Just off of the helper springs not moving.

Rancho adjustable shocks setting 8 rear 6 front.

5th wheel - With moryde rubber pin box ( which was the best improvement over any other )

 

I've been in Ohio since 1959. That was BEFORE most of Ohio's Interstates existed. My Old Man moved our family from the Dayton area to the Cleveland area in mid-1962. That was FOUR YEARS before I-71 even existed! Before that, we lived at the south end of Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin, 1957-59.. That's waaaaay before the US Interstate system existed! I-90 was finally completed through the Cleveland area in 1977 after I graduated from High School... Yeah, I'm an Old Fart...

 

Love my airbags had them on for about 10 years now! I tow everything from a 5th wheel toyhauler to a dump trailer that I put my tractor into and tow. You will love them with a dually! Night and day also get an air ride pin box it will help with the chucking and will keep the cabinets closed in your RV going over rough roads.