Community Forums

TheOldMan76 · 12-08-2015, 01:55 PM

Read quite a few posts that refer to "chucking". Can someone explain?

Mr_Fixit · 12-08-2015, 02:26 PM

Forward and backward jerking felt in the cab of the truck due to the interaction of the fifth wheel and the hitch would be the way I would describe it. Much worse in some rigs than others.

Steve

dwhit · 12-08-2015, 05:48 PM

As a 5'er newbie I have same issue. I nearly fractured my neck from whiplash bringing camper home 126 miles. Caused by bad roads, camper bouncing out-of-sync with TV, RV loaded unevenly, various other things including Global Warming.

I've read a lot about this problem in various threads. Suggestions include:
1) Replace expensive hitch with more expensive air-ride hitch
2) install shock absorbers on towed camper axles to reduce bounce
3) air bags installed on tow-vehicle rear axle

Today I had a pal over who tows RV's around for a living. He noticed my camper wasn't level as hooked up to tow vehicle. We lowered hitch 3" and moved hitch forward 2" (ahead of axle) on a 26klb Husky hitch that allows such adj's. If I lower the hitch further the king-pin housing may hit my box sides during jackknife so I'll have to watch that closely. I have 6" between RV and p/u truck sides in an eight foot bed. Pal guarantees results but may not fix issue completely. Front of RV to rear of RV still 1" higher up front when hitched. Test drive tomorrow with fully loaded XLR. I'm hopeful it reduces chucking even a bit. It's way-huge fatiguing. I might die.

brobox · 12-08-2015, 05:59 PM

It's what friends do to me on football Sunday when my team (Denver Broncos) win.

Mr_Fixit · 12-08-2015, 06:12 PM

Our last fiver was not that bad, unless road was bad. Not sure yet on the one we just bought. I put shocks on our last one and it did reduce chucking in that case by about 75%. It is hard to predict as some match-ups are terrible and some not so bad at all.

Have you weighed your truck without and then with your tow to see how your weigh distribution is? It might help to take a look at that.

Steve

DonDee · 12-08-2015, 06:14 PM

What a Woodchuck does, if he could that is.

Mr_Fixit · 12-08-2015, 06:41 PM

Some lame humor seems to have invaded this thread!

Steve

Scottybdivin · 12-08-2015, 06:53 PM

It can be minimized with an air ride pin box, like a 5th Aireborne. I always felt like my air bags on the truck also aided a little, although not their primary function.

Mr_Fixit · 12-08-2015, 06:59 PM

Be nice to get some pin weights, before mods in the event there is a cheaper way to reduce the problem.

dwhit · 12-08-2015, 08:43 PM

Yes, I'm hoping to do some weighing tomorrow...

Nana25K · 12-08-2015, 09:50 PM

Our original rig was a 5th wheel and it was horrible when we started out. No expensive changes needed. We redistributed our weight so our pin weight was correct and put new shocks on the rig. No airbags, air hitch etc needed.

Cumminsfan · 12-08-2015, 11:47 PM

I have chucking on my 5th wheel. Added a MorRyde and it helped with 50% of it. I'm at 20% pin and really can't change that. Also put shocks on the 5th wheel. I figure it is what it is. Sometimes it's bad but most times it's just another day towing.

I also had chucking on a prior TT. 12.5% tongue weight. Tried every trick in the book. Never got rid of it. It was bad all the time.

Prior to that had a shorter, lighter TT and it towed like a Caddy. Sometimes I just think it's part of the game. Some do some don't.

SkiSmuggs · 12-09-2015, 05:31 AM

I had chucking until I leveled my fiver in a two-step process. I replaced the EZ-Flex equalizer upgrades with the OEM MorRyde CRE 3000 equalizers which raised my fiver a inch. And then I replaced the solid pinbox with a MorRyde pin box set to the maximum height. Now the fiver is level and chucking is barely noticeable.