Do air bags on the pickup help improve chucking from the 5ver?

[PhoneDude 8289]

I second what FiverBob said about the air hitch. I switched from a rigid mount Reese 16k to the trailersaver bd3. pulling the 5r the bd3 made a world of difference. I would say about 95% of the bucking and jaring are gone. Way more $$$ than the Reese but well worth it

[Rhagfo]

Originally Posted by BriaLynne

We have a 2005 Dodge Ram 3500 SRW long bed, Cummins, 48RE 4-speed automatic, pulling a 32' Domani 5th wheel by Carriage. MorRyde shock absorbing pin box. GVW 12k, approx 2k on the pin. When the trailer is coupled, the pickup bed settles 5" and is level. The primary leaf springs have settled to the point where the overloads have some weight on them but they have a lot of arch in their shape. The ride quality is poor with the trailer chucking against the hitch, constantly. I am considering adding rear airbags to the truck.

I would like to hear from anybody who has actually done this and can compare the ride before and after airbag installation. Thanks in advance.

BriLynne

Two things
#1. Have you measured the amount of settle, 5" is a huge amount for a 2,000# on a 3500! I have a 12,000# GVWR 5er, and I only settle about 2" with about 2,200# of pin. I also done sit on the overloads, still have about 3/4" to 1" of clearance. Springs seem awfully soft for a 3500.

#2 When was the last time you replace your shocks? I installed Bilstien 5100's on my 01 Ram 2500, and it made a big difference. I then installed shocks on the 5er, even better!

I don't run Air Bags and have no intentions of installing them.

[glennwest]

Don't know if 5" but my truck rides fairly high in rear and is level when hooked up. It is a lot of drop. This is with a 2012 Silverado 3500 hd dually

[majorloser]

I have a '10 Ram 2500 Megacab with the Cummins and a Pullrite Superglide hitch. I changed the rear suspension out to a Firestone R4Tech system. It seem to work really well with settling down the rear of my truck and keep the load level since it work automatically based on the load applied to each side of the truck rear axle. I was also able to lower the rear of my truck so it sits level at all times, even loaded. Granted, my 5vr is only just over 9K pounds.

The biggest help I got from get my trailer to haul better was raising the trailer up further on it's axle mounts and lifting the pin box up to it's highest mounting holes on the trailer. This ended up getting my trailer really close to sitting level when hitched to my truck. Rear end went up 2 inches and the front went down 2 inches. Before I did that the trailer sat pretty high on the front.

When you apply brakes or accelerate with an un-level hitched 5vr, the weight transfer to the truck can be much more severe. Even with panic braking I have no problems.

[glazier55]

I have ford f 150 getting palimino 6601 truck camper weight 1735lb manufactor says truck is fine for weight I also called northstar checked similiar weight model they said f 150 was fine should i be putting in air bags and if yes what brand

[jesilvas]

Originally Posted by glazier55

I have ford f 150 getting palimino 6601 truck camper weight 1735lb manufactor says truck is fine for weight I also called northstar checked similiar weight model they said f 150 was fine should i be putting in air bags and if yes what brand

I would make a new thread; BUT, that camper is about 1700lbs DRY! What is the GVWR? Because the website doesn't list one.
What year truck, trim level, cab and bed length, motor, diff, and trans does it have?
Most likely, it will be overloading your truck.

[caissiel]

That camper is to heavy for my F250 and I have the camper package spring pack. The heaviest Gross weight camper I would put in a F150 is 1200 lbs.
Air bags will lift it but soften the ride and it will sway. Helper springs is the way to go and make sure the truck has rear sway bars on the axle.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by caissiel

That camper is too heavy for my F250 and I have the camper package spring pack. The heaviest Gross weight camper I would put in a F150 is 1200 lbs.
Air bags will lift it but soften the ride and it will sway. Helper springs is the way to go and make sure the truck has rear sway bars on the axle.

None of which will change the factory weight carrying capacity.

[sk734]

Originally Posted by rollondown

I added air bags - RideRites- when I built my dually. What I do is air them up until I'm just off the overloads.
I replaced the stock shocks with Bilsteins as well. The only "Chucking" I have can be attributed to the slop in the hitch itself. I have a Superglide with reese rails mounted in the bed. There's movement in the area where the superglide feet go into the bedrails and get pinned.

My Superglide on my last truck came with special rails made by Superglide and there was no slop in the attachment point you refer to. IMHO you might want to change your rails.

[PhoneDude 8289]

I have read that someone took an inertube from a bike and cut out pieces of it. After cutting out holes for the slots in the rails placed these pieces over the slots where the hitch would mount and pin the hitch in. He said it took out most all the slop and noise the hitch was making. There are pictures he posted with his reply

[steelpony555]

Hmmm I think everyone is giving remedies that will still only mask the problem. When you have chucking with a 5er I think that means something is out of wack. 1st I would make sure your rig is level. Then you'll have to play around with moving some weight around. I know it is kinda hard with a 5er but sometimes people with rear kitchens can put a whole lot of weight on the rearend making their hitch weight go down. Some folks don't carry a whole lot in their basements making for a light hitch weight. A couple hundred pounds can make a big difference in how your trailer tows. If you are towing with a full tank of water try using only a 1/2 tank. If your hitch weight is only 2000 lbs I think that is a little light for that trailer espcially if you are close you your gross..... The other ideas are all good and will still give you a better ride, but you got to kill the chucking first.

[RustyJC]

Originally Posted by steelpony555

Hmmm I think everyone is giving remedies that will still only mask the problem. When you have chucking with a 5er I think that means something is out of wack.

I would respectfully disagree. Consider the scenario where the truck and 5th wheel are traveling over a stretch of concrete road where the slabs are cupped (low in the middle, high on the edges). As the truck climbs a slab, it will tend to slow which results in the 5th wheel PUSHING the truck. Conversely, as the 5th wheel climbs the slab, it will PULL BACK on the truck as it slows. Therefore, you have alternate pushing and pulling forces being transferred between the 5th wheel and truck. Nothing is out of whack here; however, a pin box (such as the Demco GlideRide) or hitch with controlled fore/aft compliance will absorb most, if not all, of this fore/aft force before it is transferred to the truck or 5th wheel.

Rusty

[steelpony555]

I agree there are roads out there that will cause the same effect, but if you have it all the time then I still think there are adjustments to be made. My rig is roughly his gross weight and all I have is a Reese jaw type hitch. On most hwys she runs down the road smooth and that has been with a dually and single wheel truck. But my pin weight is more then 2000 lbs, probably closer to 2400 lbs. But then too my trucks have never settled 5 inchs, which seems a lot. I still think it may be worth his time to play with moving weight around and put more weight on the front. I mean it's worth a shot before spending a lot of money on other things.

[Bill Davey]

Recently installed Ride-Rite Firestone air bags on my 2012 Ram 3500 DRW Max Tow. Previously had installed a Mor-ryde pin box which eliminated about 75% of my chucking. The air bags have leveled the truck and eliminated almost all the rest of the chucking. Without bags, the truck would drop 4.5" with a pin weight of 2800# and put me just slightly on the helper springs. I think the truck was actually bouncing and rebounding up off the helpers on large bumps. The air bags have the trailer and truck within 1" of level and the truck is about 1" above the helpers.

Short answer, air bags helped my truck a lot in combination with the Mor-ryde