What King Pin Box gives a smoother ride?

Hello...I want to upgrade my pin box to either a Demco, Mor-Ryde or 5th Airborne. Can I get some feed back from Wildcater's on their preferences.
My Unit is a 2005 Wildcat 29RLBS, Chev 2008 2500HD Silverado Ex.Cab. Duramax 6.6 V8 Turbo Diesel with Allison Trans.,Reese Super Slide Hitch, Lippert 1621 Pin Box.
Thanks

Hello dutchman and welcome to the site.

You are going to get many answers to your question. Have you upgraded to the equa-flex center point yet? We have a 2006 29rlbs and after installing the equa-flex, I'm not really sure of I need to change out my pin box.

We bought our WC with the MOR/ryde already on, and being our first 5er, I can't compare to what it was with the factory setup. That being said, we haven't had problems with the MOR/ryde either. This spring, we added Equaflex and that smoothes out the ride a lot.

I have the Trailair King Pin Box on ours. It has made a difference on the ride. On I-295 around Richmond, Va. is one of the roughest roads that I have traveled. Without the Trailair it was bad. With the Trailair it made a big improvement. Of course the I-295 north bound will cause a Hover Craft ride to rough.

We're interested in this also, as we would like to change our pin box.

Anything that will stop the lurching will be a very big improvement, but we want to be sure we have a good product.

I chose the Demco due to it's design, no rubber pieces and no air-bags to keep up with. Plus shocks and air-bags are more for up & down motion rather than front to back (chucking).

I agree with shooter.

Having said that...if you need one you'll probably be happy with any of
them...it's a personal thing. I figured the less parts there are
the less things there are to break.

Our Cat came with Trail Air. One trip up 95 through South Carolina made me start looking. We settled on the 5th Airborne. Yesterday we completed 3500 miles with the new pin box. We are as happy as can be. Numerous times on our trip my wife commented that had we left the old pin box on, we would have jarred something loose (maybe teeth). It was a real pleasure. Combined with the sidewinder, I couldn't ask for more. Good luck with you choice.

I am very satified with my Trailair, but then I have never tried anything else either. I can't justify spending that kind of money just to see what "might" be better. And a lot depends on weight distribution of the overall load. If it really bothered me a lot, or if I was into full timing, I would probably pony up some big $$$$ for a true air ride hitch istead of just the pin box.

I'm wanting to get the Trailair Rotoflex just haven't taken the time or saved up the money yet. I really don't have any trouble with chucking except on really rough roads or bad bridges.

Our WC didn't come with the Trail Air, although they had some units on the sales lot so equipped. Our last unit didn't have as much chucking problem as we are now having. I have looked at our hitch and after 80K+ miles we have wear in the jaw.

Next week we install a new hitch with dual pivot (our current hitch is single pivot, and a pain on unlevel ground, especially when boondocking), a new MorRyde pin box and new shocks. I have noticed that our shocks are a little soft which I think would contribute to chucking, or increased feel of the chucking. I also think with a little wear on the jaw of the hitch there would be a little more slippage it the hitch connection which could magnify the feeling of the chucking. After reading posts on several forums, reviewing manufacture's information, talking to Tweetys, etc I went this way. I really don't think there is that much difference in the different king pins. I didn't have enough information on the Trail Air Roto Flex to make a judgment, and thus didn't consider it. It was really a toss up in my mind between the MorRyde and the Demco. I couldn't really find any info on comparisons of the two on the same unit.

We will leave early next month for New Foundland and about 3 months of travel on all types of roads. We will find out if all of this was worth it. If it takes some of the "jar" out of DW's arthiretic back, it will be worth it.

I have had the Fifth Airborne for several years now and am very pleased with it. Just make sure that you have the right size shock and the air bag is in the correct position. It can be adjusted forward or back. It's based on your pin weight. It has made a big difference.

We had trouble with chucking right out of the gate (taking it home after buying it). After 3 years we had a chassis rail failure, had it rebuilt with 3/16" rails, now no more chucking. My wife made a comment, on our first trip after the fix, how smooth and jerk free it was. Attribute the problem to too much flex in the chassis rail.
(Forest River & Lippert said "Too Bad, So Sad" about our chassis rail failure)

WXTravelers what year model and unit and do you have. Sounds like you had it fixed the right way. While it is bad that it happened, your info could be usefull in preventing a problem with another cat. Thanks.

Chucking was really bad on our 27'. We where wondering if we made the wrong decision about a 5'r. After reading here and elsewhere, we chose the Demco Glide Ride. NO more problem!! Pulled it about 2000 miles and it has made all the difference in the world! Highly recommend it.

http://www.demco-products.com/rvtowingmarine/glideride.html

Rich5117 - We have an '06 RKDS. Re the chassis rail failure. We always had a lot of bounce on our trailer. Looking in the mirror the trailer always seemed to be moving up and down. The chassis rail was flexing. Way more than it was suppose to. Again, if your screws seem to be headless or pulled out of the underbelly, under the bedroom, and the panel is lose - you have a potential problem. You have way tooooo much flex. Either have it re-inforced or replace it with thicker walled material. Better piece of mind and better handling trailer. After failure our 1/8" wall tubing was replaced with 3/16" higher rated tubing. We still have flex, but only 1/2" or so. Not the 1 - 3" or more that we had before.
Hopes this helps.

This is interesting. We have a 2009 29rlbs and like others we experience some chucking. It isn't real bad but it's there. We have the Trail Air pin box that has the rubber spacer. We are wondering if it is worth the investment to make the change to either the Demco Glide Right or the Mor-Ride. Also wondering which might be the better choice. It looks like the Demco would take out the chucking but would it be as soft a ride as I have now. Then the Mor-Ride looks like it might take out the chucking and give the softer ride..I don't know much about the 5th Air Bourn. That might also be a good choice. Any thoughts out there are appreciated. Thank YOu !

Duke,

I see you are a few miles up the street from me ...

We had a Demco on our Wildcat and I purchased a Demco to install on our new 5th wheel (it had a different pinbox or I would have just transferred the Demco - my loss was Tom's gain ....)

I pulled our new camper for the first time yesterday (it is 11,400 lbs dry) and I did not really notice much chucking but could feel some on pavement joints (bridges, etc.) I know the Demco will take care of that.

All of them do a good job, I picked the Demco because there are no air chambers or rubber pieces involved in its operation, just a very heavy duty metal pendulum - a simplistic but very effective approach.

We have the Demco/Equaflex combo. I personally think they work together better than either one standing alone.

If you have a short box TV, you won't be able to totally eliminate the chucking. The shortened wheel base contributes to the chucking problem. However, you can fix it to the point where it's no longer an issue by changing the pin box and softening the suspension of the trailer.

TC

Duke wrote: We have the Trail Air pin box that has the rubber spacer.

Hi Duke,

Do you also have the equa-flex installed in your axles? I would think if you add the equa-flex you will have almost no chucking at all.

We have the equa-flex and just installed the Demco pinbox and pulled the camper up to Gettysburg on Rt 30. 30 is really bad due to all the trucks and we could really feel a difference with the demco & the equa-fles.

Tom,

Glad the Demco is working out for you. We are heading to Hershey PA next weekend for our maiden voyage .... I have to install our Demco first (our pinbox has 12 bolts holding it on). We'll be at Hershey High Meadows ...

Thanks Guys! We were at the Hershey show and noticed that the Montanas had the MorRide pin box and was wondering if maybe that was the better pinbox. Sounds like the Demco works good. We do have the Equa-Flex and Trail air pin box. Just finished a 9300 mile trip to Washington,Oregon, Northern Calif and Waterton Glacier Park. The trailer wasn't terrible but it does have some chucking. Always looking for ways to inmrove the ride. Actually I think my TT with the Hensley pulled better. No chucking and no sway. We do like the 5th wheel, all the head room and storage and it is nice towing because it is up close to the TV..All the extras on the WC was one of the reasons we went this way. Electric jacks, electric awning, Equa-Flex, Trail Air pin box. I know we really paid for them , but it was nice to have all this on the trailer. Also the black tank flush is a nice feature. Looks like I got away from the pin box issue. Sorry. I think the MorRide and the DEmco are close in price, not sure about that. I do know I have not had need for the slider with the new design of the front cap. I guess we have put about 12000 miles on the WC so far and haven't needed the slider. I really like that. Sure is nice talking with everyone here on the forum.. I appreciate the feedback. It really helps in making decisions..

We have the 5th Airborne Sidewinder and like it. It works well for the short bed guys

I just finished installing a new Demco on our 5th wheel. What a pain .... there are 6 bolts on either side of the pin box and I had to get it in the upper set of holes (I ended up pointing it straight down and using a hydraulic jack to lift it in place to get the back top bolt holes to align. Then we lifted it from the front to get the other holes to align. We got 10 of the 12 bolts in but had to use the hydraulic jack with 4x4s pointing up on the king pin itself to finally get the last 2 bolts in. Took several hours - a very tight fit.

It was much easier to change out on our 'Cat. Only 8 bolts and the frame wasn't as tight a fit. Plus that one weighed less (Lippert 1621 versus a Lippert 1716 ....)

Well worth the hassle though. I had my dad and brother help with the lifting - I owe them now ....

As I recall my 31TS pin box is able to have the length adjusted forward or backward. Will this adjustment help with the chucking and jerking or is this adjustment there only to allow for clearance??

btaylor0,

I suspect that it only adjusts the height and is to level the 5thwheel
when hitched. Ours is/was fairly flat, nonetheless we had quite a
bit of chucking on some roads at some speeds. It's a function of
the road surface and the little hills that are in it. The truck
goes up a little hill, the trailer is going down a little hill, and
they collide at the kingpin. The truck goes down a liittle hill,
the trailer goes up a little hill, and they jerk at the kingpin.
California built I-5 using sections and then glued them together, other
states did the same. When driving a road like that with the sun
setting behind you, you can't see the joints well out of the
windshield, look behind in the mirrors and you'll see that cliff you
just drove over.

Hope this helps.