Which air pin box??

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PHS79

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Dec 27, 2009
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194
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Wisconsin
My parents sold their "old" 5er and bought another brand new 5er. The only thing that dad is missing is the 5th Airborne pin box that he installed on his Jayco. So now his is looking to get another air pin box, which one is the "best"?

Dad said he is thinking about getting a 5th Air Borne again since it never gave him any problems in the 20,000+ miles he towed with it. But I figured I would ask here to see what you guys thought of all the different brands.

Thanks!
 
That's sort of like asking, "What is the best brand of ___________ (fill in the blank)?  I have the TrailAir and like the performance. Before it was installed, I could watch the pinbox move up while the end cap of the trailer was moving down.  All that flex was being absorbed by the frame.  Since the TrailAir, the movement is absorbed in the air bag and shock absorber.  I'm sure any of the various systems totally  out perform a solid pinbox.
 
Pick the one he thinks will do the job for him.  There are slight differences in design, nothing to get excited about.  They all do the exact same thing.  Dampen truck to trailer movement.
 
Thanks guys!  I figured that most of them did pretty much the same thing, but with almost every one having a different design I just wasn't sure if some were better than others or if some models had design flaws or issues.

I did find the 5th Air Borne that will fit for $640 shipped.  So I kinda think that is the way dad is going to go. But if anyone else has any input, please post away.
 
Dad called this morning, I had told him about an article in Trailer Life about different pin boxes (which I just read last night) he said that my mom had the mag and he was going to get it from her. He called a couple hours later and said that he was probably just going to go with the 5th AB since he knew the hitch and had good luck with it, and he also like the fact that the air bag was hidden, so no UV rays or other things could get to the bag.

He said the best price he had found was $750ish. I did a little searching and found the model that he needed for $637 shipped to his door. So I called dad and he said just to order it. While placing the order I did a quick search for coupon codes and found a code for $20 off. So the total was $617.XX shipped to his door, with an est arrival date of the 21st. I personally think that I managed to find a great deal, considering most sites have the hitch priced around $800.
 
Sounds like you got a great price. We use a TrailAir and the best price I found was around $900 from my daughter who worked for an RV dealership.

I think they all pretty much do the same thing and from what I've seen they're about as over-built as they can make 'em.  I personally wouldn't drag another 5th wheel around without one.
 
Side question - what tools are generally required to install these?  And, is there typically a lot of adjustment?
 
End wrench, socket and torque wrench.  That does not take into consideration removing the old or installing the new pin box.  My Trailair weighs about 200 pounds so it was a two person job.
 
Thanks.  I apologize for the novice question.  I've been thinking about installing one of these, but I wasn't sure if there was much fitment required beyond just bolting it up.  Seems like the bolts are on sliders that allow up/down adjustment.
 
I can't speak for anything other than the TrailAir since that is what I have.  The TrailAir has a series of holes that must be aligned with the series of holes on the trailer's pin box mounting flanges.  Pick the set of holes that line up while giving the best level of the trailer based upon the truck's hitch height.  I did a temporary mount, hooked it up to the truck, raised the landing gear and then determined whether the TrailAir needed to be moved up or down to achieve a level trailer.
 
You can do like I did.  In installed mine in Lake Havasu City during spring break, since it takes two bodies to do the job I wandered down the lane and found a couple of strapping young men burning off energy throwing a football and asked them if they would give me a hand. The plan was for myself and one of the young men to hold the upper piece in place and have the other stick the bolts in.  "They" figured that it would be better if the 50ish "old man" was the one who put the bolts in and they would do the heavy lifting.  I had nothing to prove so I let them strain their backs.

After you've got the pin box bolted up at the appropriate level there isn't much to it other than keeping the air adjusted.  Keep in mind that outside air temperature and operating temperature will affect the ride level of the airbag.  For instance if it rides correctly when it's 10 degrees outside it will probably be way too high when it hits 70 degrees.  I've often thought about installing an extension tube and attaching it to the underside of the rig somehow so that I don't have to climb up into the truck to add or remove air.  So far I haven't been motivated enough to actually do it though as air adjustment really doesn't happen all that often.
 
I not only added an extension to the fitting, I put in a T fitting and a ball valve.  I ran flexible nylon line to the front storage compartment of my 5th wheel and mounted a 12V, 100PSI air compressor (Harbor Freight special).  Now, I just push  a button on the front of the 5th wheel to air it up, or hit the pin in he normal fill port to release excess air.
 
Interesting, my kingpin weight is 3,640 pounds and the nominal pressure on my TrailAir is roughly 54psi. I guess it would depend greatly on the leverage moment exerted on the swingarm of the pin box.
 
The pin box came in last Thurday and we got it all installed on Friday.  The easiest way for us to do the install was to put the pallet forks on the tractor, place a couple 2X4's across the forks and then just lifted it up into place.  The 2X4's made it easy to move the hitch around without scratching the paint off. From start to finish it was installed in about 30 mins, then dad had another 30 minutes remounting the wiring and safety break away.  I was surprised, 6 bolts had to be torqued to over 200 ft lbs (either 210 or 220, just dont remember). Dad couldn't find his big torque wrench, little one only went to 150, so I ran home and got my Snap-On that goes to 250.  When we were cleaning up I found his big 300ft lb wrench laying on a shelf...  So at least for some pin boxes it does require some specialty tools, since most people don't have a torque wrench much less one that goes over 200ftlb.

Now with everything installed its just waiting to be used when my parents leave for NC and SC in March.
 

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