New 5th Wheel Rough Ride

[Worthmo]

This summer I upgraded from a 33' bumper pull to a new 36' Rockwood 2891BH 5th wheel. One thing I have noticed is how rough the ride is with my new 5th wheel. The day I drove off the dealers lot with with my camper the heavy glass insert popped off the fireplace on my 30 minute ride home. I have the Andersen Ultimate hitch so I don't feel it is a chucking issue but the camper is bouncing and causes the truck to bounce. I had air bags installed on the truck but the bouncing continues to be an issue.

We went on a camping trip this past weekend that was 1.5 hours from our house. When we arrived the fireplace insert again had popped off, I had several drawers that opened, TV arm swung out, and items in the cabinets had fallen over. The camper has the torsion axles so I was expecting a much smoother ride. Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated.

2018 Chevy Silverado 2500 Duramax, 2021 Rockwood 2891BH, Andersen Ultimate hitch

[DieselDrax]

Check the tire pressure on the trailer, is the pressure listed on the placard lower than the pressure in the tires? Over inflation will contribute to an excessively rough ride.

[Worthmo]

The tires are Goodyear Endurance that have an 80psi cold rating. The tires are nitrogen filled at 80psi cold.

[acadianbob]

Originally Posted by Worthmo

The tires are Goodyear Endurance that have an 80psi cold rating. The tires are nitrogen filled at 80psi cold.

We "upgraded" to GY Endurance tires this summer. The sidewalls are notably stiffer IMO. We notice much more evidence of things "working loose" in the trailer since the tire change.

[DieselDrax]

Originally Posted by Worthmo

The tires are Goodyear Endurance that have an 80psi cold rating. The tires are nitrogen filled at 80psi cold.

80psi is the pressure needed for MAX load, it is not the recommended pressure unless that is the pressure listed on the trailer's tire placard. What I asked is if the tire pressure is higher than what is listed on the trailer's tire placard. If the trailer has a relatively high CCC and the trailer hasn't been loaded with much then running with the tires at sidewall pressure unnecessarily will contribute to a harsh ride. Just like if you ran the tires in your truck at sidewall pressure with little to no load.

[Richbo69]

My fireplace glass always pops off in my TT. I started taking it off and wrapping it in heavy blankets and putting on the floor before any trip. Would hate to have it shatter. Figured if it is gonna end up on the floor anyway, might as well wrap it an put it there to begin with.

[Worthmo]

The "Tire and Loading Information" sticker on the side of the camper shows 80psi for the cold tire pressure. Is this what you are refering to as the placard?

[DieselDrax]

Originally Posted by Worthmo

The "Tire and Loading Information" sticker on the side of the camper shows 80psi for the cold tire pressure. Is this what you are refering to as the placard?

Indeed, thanks! That is the pressure needed for the trailer's GVWR and the OEM tires. You could get the trailer weighed at a local CAT scale when it's loaded and ready to go, then inflate the trailer tires based on Goodyear's inflation charts for your weight. That may help or it may just be the nature of the beast.

[Lins]

We have torsion axles on our TT and they are not smooth when compared to standard axles.

[Jim34RL]

I would look at the total package of your trailer and tow vehicle with any attachment to allow you to tow the trailer! They all interact with each other do to the dynamics when towing a trailer.

Now what air pressure do you have in your truck tires?

What air pressure is used in the air bags on your truck?

Have you weighed the trailer and tow vehicle on a certified scale?

Is the Anderson hitch properly secured to the tow vehicle's bed? If there is any slop in the connection this will cause issue when towing!

When I tow I try and avoid the chuck holes that can occur in the pavement. I know that this is not always possible, but avoiding the large ones really help.

For your trailer the 80 PSI is cold inflation pressure for tries based upon the total maximum load of your trailer, otherwise GVWR. This is on the tire inflation label on your trailer! You can lower the air pressure of all of the tires based on the weights from certified scale. I do for my towing needs.

I have weighed my truck and trailer, the tire air pressures have been adjusted to support the loads that tires carry. I use the tire manufactures load capacity tire rating charts for the trailer and truck tires.

Another feature that I have found to work for me is the TrailAir King Pin Box. This has a air bag and shock absorber that helps to decouple the proposing between truck and trailer thus improve the ride of both vehicles.

I also have a very securely mounted hitch in the bed of my truck that has no play (slop) when mounted in the bed. Clamping the king pin securely when connected so, there is no fore aft motion between the hitch jaws and king pin.

99% of the time nothing will move in the trailer when towing. We have left items out on the counters (forgetting to put them away) and they are still on the counters when we arrive at our destination.

Let us know what you find out?

[Daniel.mullins4]

Check trailer tow level, nose down may cause rear bounce due to less weight on axles

[Harkerr]

Might want to check tire balance

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Lins

We have torsion axles on our TT and they are not smooth when compared to standard axles.

Interesting.

I have found the two units I've had/have with torsion axles, ride considerably smoother than sprung axles.

To the OP... rough ride can be caused by several factors.

And, it seems worse to some and not so much for others. To compensate, I've known folks adjusting tire pressures to the LOAD, not simply to the MAX.
They also add either a cushioned pin box or hitch.
They look for better shocks on the tow vehicle and add shocks on sprung axles of the 5th wheel.

Air bags can increase the roughness effect depending on inflation.
Solid hitch connections (such as the Andersen) can transfer truck roughness to the R/V. And finally, the road system is most of the US is just plain pitiful. I've seemingly slowed my travels 10mph just because of road surface and don't get me started on bridge transitions.

I will say my 30+ years of 5th wheel owning, towing has been MUCH smoother than any bumper pull I ever hooked to simply because of pin placement in the middle of the bed and not to the bumper. (think lever)

[Daniel.mullins4]

I had a bearing failure on the torsion axle, can’t just replace the shaft, order was 3 months out, 3” axles are always in stock same day, so I replaced suspension to the Timbren tandem axle, didn’t bounce anymore [COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85)]Timbren Silent Ride Suspension for Tandem Axle Trailers - 3" Round Axles - 35" - 14K[/COLOR]

[JRHERE]

I upgraded to Goodyear Endurance 16" and run them at 80#s with no discernable change in ride quality. Have leaf springs and prox 12k load (9k on axles) on tag-along toy hauler. It rides and pulls surprisingly well.
If you match your tire pressure to the actual load and see no improvement, I'd return to 80 psi.
The tires like that 80 psi.
Are your truck shocks up to par for the load? Both ends? Truck tires max inflation? Try pulling your trailer with another tow vehicle and verify that the problem is the trailer. Rule something out.
The trailer suspension could be maxed out. As suggested, weigh the trailer axles and verify.
If travelling with water or holding tanks full, try it without.
Keep extraneous loads in the truck bed or front biased if in the trailer. Rear truck axle weigh will allow accurate pin weight calc.
One last thought is pin location. The hitch pin should be forward of the rear axle. Some short box trucks have strange mountings. As also mentioned above, the hitch ties to the frame. Probably is, but?
Good luck!

[cmalberto]

Has anyone mentioned the trailers suspension? What kind of suspension do you have. Maybe that needs to be reviewed/ addressed. My understanding is the stock suspensions are not tat great. Perhaps room for improvement.

[DieselDrax]

Originally Posted by cmalberto

Has anyone mentioned the trailers suspension? What kind of suspension do you have. Maybe that needs to be reviewed/ addressed. My understanding is the stock suspensions are not tat great. Perhaps room for improvement.

In the original post they said the trailer has torsion axles.

[ThruHiker]

We replaced our Castle Rocks with GY Endurance a couple of months ago. Our 5er has a GVWR of only 11500, so not a big unit. With the GYs at 80psi, it bounced and jumped behind me like a mad thing. After only 40 miles... on decent four-lane... I pulled over and dropped the tire pressures to 75psi. Night and day difference, we towed for another 1300 miles at that pressure with no problems. In fact, got home yesterday and we are hoping to get one more trip in up here before snow. Oh, and we have the torsion axles.

[Worthmo]

I've done the math with goodyear charts and I can't figure out why Rockwood is recommending 80psi. My camper is 9,148 lb unloaded. The max weight is right around 10,500 fully loaded and I'm going to try taking out some air pressure and test. If that doesn't work I'm going to try and go by a scale and get my weights to see if my PIN weight is too low.

[MikeRP]

There should be no bouncing. First thing I would look at is making sure you have enough weight on your truck.

The more weight you put on the front of the Rockwood, it will settle down.

You may just be too light on the pin.

Trailer loading is something we all forget about especially after I saw you added air bags.

I can tell ya my 2018 Ram 3500 SRW likes to be loaded heavy.

Let us know what you find.