advice for a new 5er owner

[accordionman]

hi all , looking for a litle info . we just recently purchased a Copper Canyon 269-RET. we are towing it witha Ram 2500 HD Hemi . pulls nice ,but on these Pa. roads it does a lot of "chucking" i know this can be normal for a fifth wheell a times . when my 5er is hitched to the tow vehicle , it does not set at a level position . do any of you folks out there have this problem? i have another hole to go down ,but bottom of camper would be too close to the truck sides .it isn't really bad off the level , but will the rear tires take the extra weight ? i have a Pullrite Superglide hitch . they do maje a 3 inch spacer to bring the hitch up a bit . do you think this could help my problem or is it just a wash ? any info comments welcomed

[rhagfo]

Picture would help a lot, nose up will not help chucking at all, the closer to level the better.
Trailer got shocks?? If not consider adding them. Flipping the axles under the axles, is likely not an option, as they most likely under the springs already.

[danimal]

I have the same nose-up trailer profile with my truck. I have been told that there should be 6" bed rail clearance for the 5er and my hitch head is on the 2nd bolt down. I haven't found a way to rectify this problem either maybe someone could reply for both of us. As far as chucking, I do not experience that too much and we have the basic reese pro series slider with a slide bar latch.

[DieselMatt]

I'm interested in the answer as well since mine will kick around a bit too.

[Festus2]

There are two way of adjusting the hitch - pin box set up to either raise or lower the 5th wheel. If you want to lower the nose of the 5th wheel, you can (a) lower the hitch and/or (b) raise the pin box. Both of these adjustments depend upon how many holes you have to "play with" in your hitch and your pin box.

As was mentioned above, you need to maintain approximately 6 in of clearance between the truck rails and the overhang of the 5th. I would suggest that 6 inches would be the minimum that you should have.

"Flipping the axles" may be a possibility but it does result in your 5th wheel sitting significantly higher than normal and may not be possible to do on all units.

Ideally, your truck and 5th wheel should sit level as possible so as to distribute the weight evenly on both axles, wheels and tires.

Chucking can be reduced by installing a new pin box - something like a MorRyde or 5th Airborne. MorRyde seems to be more popular but not sure how much more effective it is than the 5th Airborne. I have the latter and it does a great job of reducing - not eliminating - chucking as well as smoothing out the ride in the truck. You will get positive comments from those who have the MorRyde.

[tileman]

We had the same thing not riding level.
I moved the pin box down 1 bolt hole now it was nose high :(

So I moved it back to the original holes then I moved my hitch up one bolt hole and all was good and I now have about 6" of bed space from the trailer to the truck bed.
Also I took all my measurements from the bottom of the trailer frame to the ground.

[CWSWine]

I also had a lot chucking and found that running my fresh water tank empty help a lot since the tank sits all the way in the back of the 5th wheel. I did install a Mor/Ryde hitch and it took out about 95% of the chucking and we are very happy with the results.

Current
2013 Chevy 2500HD Diesel LTZ - LTZ Plus - Nav - 20" Rims
2014 Keystone Cougar 28SGS 5th Wheel
Also
1958 Corvette Blue with White Coves
Sold:
2011 Travel Jayco Trailer - Rear Kitchen 24RKS foot.
Towing with 2112 Chevy 1500

[Festus2]

We had the same thing not riding level.
I moved the pin box down 1 bolt hole now it was nose high :(

So I moved it back to the original holes then I moved my hitch up one bolt hole and all was good and I now have about 6" of bed space from the trailer to the truck bed.
.

tileman -

If you move your pin box down one hole then the 5th wheel's nose is going to rise as you found out. If you move the hitch up one hole then the same thing is going to happen - the nose on the 5th wheel will rise.

I don't understand how, if you moved the hitch up, that caused your 5th wheel to become level as I thought your 5th wheel was already nose high. Wouldn't moving the hitch up one bolt hole result in raising the nose of the 5th wheel even further?

Must be too early in the morning and I think I may need another cup of coffee. But all of this really doesn't matter since you ended up with everything being on the level.
:D

[tileman]

tileman -

If you move your pin box down one hole then the 5th wheel's nose is going to rise as you found out. If you move the hitch up one hole then the same thing is going to happen - the nose on the 5th wheel will rise.

I don't understand how, if you moved the hitch up, that caused your 5th wheel to become level as I thought your 5th wheel was already nose high. Wouldn't moving the hitch up one bolt hole result in raising the nose of the 5th wheel even further?

Must be too early in the morning and I think I may need another cup of coffee.
:D


Yep but the holes in the pin box moved it up like 3"
But the hitch only moved it like 1" 1/2 or so. :)

There was more space from hole to hole on the pin box.

[grampscamper]

I know it is important to have a 5th wheel level. I also towed a little off level for a while when we first got our 5th wheel. I adjusted the hitch to get as close to level as possible but the biggest improvement was adding a Mor ryde pin box.

[airforceret]

If chucking continues to be a problem once you get it leveled out as best you can, take it to the CAT scales and get some weights taken. You may find you just need to rethink how you are loading your trailer. Good luck...

[MarkS]

Airforceret,

I'm curious, what do you look at with the scale weights. Which way improves chucking? More weight on the pin or less? Is there a ratio it should be?

PS - Thanks for your service.(tx)

[abneynormal]

that is the advantage of a air ride freightliner we don't have the problem. the mor ryde or the pin box with air ride would be a good solution. if you really want to test a rv go across Louisiana. good luck

[JRTJH]

that is the advantage of a air ride freightliner we don't have the problem. the mor ryde or the pin box with air ride would be a good solution. if you really want to test a rv go across Louisiana. good luck

Or Indiana, or Ohio, or Michigan, or Illinois, or .......

[airforceret]

Airforceret,

I'm curious, what do you look at with the scale weights. Which way improves chucking? More weight on the pin or less? Is there a ratio it should be?

PS - Thanks for your service.(tx)

Sometimes there is little or nothing much you can do about chucking because of a number of factors (one being the wheelbase), the kingpin tolerance within the jaws of your hitch, etc. without going to an aftermarket product as mentioned by others here. I've heard that long bed trucks have less than short bed trucks, but I couldn't tell you if that is true or not.

As for weights, you are looking for that optimum pin weight that provides for the best ride. Too heavy and it will bounce and bottom out, too light it will bounce and be unstable. The trailer should have a recommended pin weight and that should be your initial target. A little heavier IMO is better than a little light.

[warsw]

Getting a 5th/W trailer level really helps to remove chucking. In order to maintain the clearance over the bed of the truck and get my trailer level I ended up putting a 2" lift on the trailer. Very easy and inexpensive to do and by doing so I have very little chucking. I was looking at installing a very expensive hitch that had air bags to absorb the shock but, by leveling, it was no longer necessary.

[turbopilot51]

Another vote for MOR/ryde pin box. Helped with chucking on my Alpine. "bouncey:

[Jim W]

Airforceret,

I'm curious, what do you look at with the scale weights. Which way improves chucking? More weight on the pin or less? Is there a ratio it should be?

PS - Thanks for your service.(tx)

Mark,
The best suggestion that I know of is to weight the truck and trailer combination. Once this is done you can than determine if the weight differences are spread %wise over the towing combination.

As an example my weights are for the front axle 4940 LBS, 95% of front axle load, Rear axle 5160 LBS, 86% of rear axle load, trailer axle are 8140 LBS and the Gross Combined weight is 18,240 LBS. Truck and trailer do sit level. With this spread I did have some chucking; but not much until I drove on West Virginia roads and was almost shaken apart both truck and trailer. We have since then installed a Trail-Air pin box which has an air bag and a single shock absorber which controls motion in two planes. We still get some chucking between the king pin and the jaws of the hitch but not much and this has been acceptable.

Jim W.

[Barbell]

Longbed 2WD with airbags and Mor/ryde hitch on Montana 3100RL. No problems so far although Texas roads gave it a good test.

[rhagfo]

I have about zero chucking, biggest improvement Bilstien 5100's on the truck. The rest was shocks on the 5er, both axles.
I don't have or need bags. I run about 19% to 18% pin weight.

[Jim7411]

I replaced my stock pin box with the 5th Airborne and the chucking problem is now history. Looks like you already have plenty of advice on leveling the rig.