Trying to improve the ride

[kenz]

This past summer we purchased a new 5'er, a rear kitchen model. We always liked rear kitchen floor plans, as our second 5'er was a rear kitchen model. Problem was with the first version all the bouncing and bumps would systematically rearrange the cupboards and make a mess of things. It came with no shocks, so I added shocks, swapped different types of shocks, even tried different tire types. Got no where. Eventually traded it for a mid kitchen model which served us well for many years.

When we bought the current rear kitchen I knew worst case, exactly what to expect. But also hoping that 13 years of development and the fact that it has the E-Z flex equalizers on it should make a difference. Now everything in the cupboards do move around, but not as much as before. But the trailer on occasion bounces like a rubber ball. More or less depending on the road type. I have loaded it light, then loaded it heavy in the front, no difference. I've been told to add shocks, also been told shocks do no good at all. I would have to go with the latter, as experienced with the earlier 5'er.

My question, would going to a whole different suspension help enough to warrant the cost? Like the SRE/4000 from MOR ryde, or the Center point from Lippert? Or even going the full monty with MOR ryde IS suspension system or Kelderman air ride set up? I know realistically its gonna bounce a little no matter what's underneath, but just want to keep all the tires on the ground.

 

[Foto-n-T]

I think that it has a lot to do with the leverage moment created by the location of the axles themselves.  I agree that shocks aren't gonna do much good, our last rig had shocks on it and anything aft of the axles needed to be bolted down if you didn't want to find it scattered. Our latest rig is a triple axle which I think does help but what really does the trick in my opinion is an air-ride kingpin.  We installed a Trail-Air a few months after purchasing this toy hauler and I wouldn't own any 5th wheel without one now.  The shock dampened air bag on the kingpin REALLY smooths out the ride not only on the 5th wheel but the truck as well.

The main reason I installed the air-ride kingpin was that with our truck having an 18k drive axle on it the ride on the hitch is pretty stiff and I didn't like the idea of beating the feathers out of the bow of the rig going down the road. Now if I look out the rear window or the mirror going down a bumpy road I see the bow (and in relation the stern) just "floating" along.  I've been known to forget to adequately pre-trip the garage and leave an empty pop can or some such sitting on one of the counters back there only to find it right where I left it 300 or so miles down the road. I'd look into a TrailAir before I spent a whole bucket of money on replacing a suspension system, although doing an air-ride conversion to all three of my axles does sound enticing, it would be kinda cool to be able to dump the bags and squat the whole thing down a little lower to the ground when parked although installing an escalator might cost just about the same.

 

[lavarock1210]

What is your pin weight percentage?  If you get it in the 25% range you should see a big difference.  Also if you balance the tires on the trailer it will help. A shock dampened air bag on the kingpin will also help but recommend the other items first as they do not cost much.

 

[BruceinFL]

Amen to the Trail-Air air ride kingpin. Does the trick for us.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

We had a rear kitchen trailer with Mor/ryde but it was a 1990 model. It still suffered the rearrangement problem, though we learned to secure things well-enough it wasn't a major problem (just a nuisance). Much better than the previous spring suspension rig, though. All Rvs suffer it to some degree - even our fancy motorcoach with a mid-kitchen does it now and again.

I personally think that shocks help a lot, but its not a panacea.  It should, however, cut the rebounding dramatically. Couple that with an air bag type 5W hitch, e.g. the Trail-air, and I think you will see a marked improvement.

 

[mike1poles]

For reasons other than ride (afterward that too), we had the Mor/rdye IS system installed on our Cedar Creek 36RD5S. We weight 16700+ per Lippert and Mor/rdye. We at different times, had two new 8,000# axles fail and do extensive damage to the body, and a third was on the way, all within two months and less than 1500 miles, Lippert tried, but as the saying goes, "no cigar"! We had had enough fear and stress from failing axles in the two months, to last us more than a lifetime, (the wife said she was NEVER going anywhere with Lippert axles under our 5th wheel again), that's why we when with something totally different!! Anyway on Nov 7-8 we had the IS system installed, also their pin box. The first 100 miles did not show much improvement, but after that, you could not even feel the 5th wheel. Bridges, RR tracks, just holes in the road, smooth! We felt the truck, but never even felt the 5th wheel, the wife said said could not believe the difference, and that says something. Cost, they used the hubs from our 8000 # axles, (the last ones that were on, were less than 2 weeks old), our total "out the door" cost was $3710.25, for both the IS system and the Mor/ryde pin box, the pin box was $750.00. The cost included a "snowbird" special of 10% off parts, it runs between Nov and March, which makes it worth while, also. We are VERY happy with the Mor/ryde IS system, and for a few dollars more they can put disc brakes on and if needed the hydraulic actuator and plumb them in, if you desire. We were going to go with disc brakes, but after talking with the service guys, and the fact the our old axle hubs were less than two weeks old, they suggested to use what we had, the disc brakes can be added later anytime, and it saved us that expense, now.

Dexter Axle, also has a true air ride system that is similar to the Mor/ryde IS system, checked it out also, but went with Mor/ryde.

Hope this helps God bless,
Mike