First trip with new Solitude...How to deal with harsh ride on rough roads

[JKellerJr]

I agree with everything said. Without cushioning somewhere the ride can get rough. I use the Goosebox which has an internal airbag and 2 shock absorbers built in. Of the different combo's I have used over the years it definitely has given me the best ride.

[Second Chance]

Welcome to the forum Eric

The B&W Companion is an excellent hitch - it just doesn't absorb any motion. Hence the rough ride on rough roads.

An air bag hitch will absorb a lot of the up and down motion that you experience while driving on rough roads - especially those with expansion joints. There are a couple of different companies that make them. I'm only familiar with the Hensley (Trailersaver) hitches. I had the Hensley BD3 for my Reflection. It mounted to standard bed rails in my old truck. When we bought our heavier Solitude, we sold the BD3 and bought the new Hensley BD5 which is made for heavier 5th wheels like the Solitude. It uses the standard factory Ford or RAM puck system so it drops right in.

Here is a video I took of my old Hensley BD3 hitch. It's a very basic video filmed on very smooth roads but you get the idea of how the hitch absorbs vertical motion.


The hitch isn't cheap. I think I paid $3,000 (or $3,500?). But, it's very well built and will give you what I consider the smoothest ride you can get towing a 5th wheel. Standard hitches with "hard" connections transmit 100% of the motion of the 5th wheel to the truck (and your back). Air bag hitches absorb a lot of this motion.

You can also get air bag and shock absorber pin boxes that will also absorb some of the vertical motion. I chose an air bag hitch rather than an air bag pin box because the hitch has much larger air bags to absorb more motion. I also wanted a hitch I could use with any 5th wheel in case I change to another RV down the road.

Others may claim a "standard" (non air bag) hitch will smooth out rough roads but simple physics tells me otherwise.

Good luck!

X2^^. We have a compromise solution in the form of a dampened pin box. Not nearly as effective as the Hensley hitch would be, but helps a WHOLE lot!

Rob

[gulfstreamg5]

Thanks so very much to everyone for your responses! What a great group of people!...
I called Hensley this afternoon. Pricey to be sure, but in spite of that I was just about sold until the issue of weight came up.. The BD3 and BD5 are both right in the ballpark of 300 pounds... One of my daughters is away at college which means that at least four times a year the hitch needs to come out to make room for furniture, etc.. I can handle the 175 pounds (divided in two when taken apart) of the Companion. I'm not so sure about the 300 pounds... Jim made a very good point about his F350 suspension hitting the overload spring. I took a good look at the rear suspension today and noticed that the only part of the spring that does not have road grime on it appears to be where the overload spring was contacting the buffer that is installed up on the frame. Yikes. It sits level with plenty of spring travel available when the load is static. But it must be taking some incredible jolts on the bad bumps. Makes me think I'll start with air bags on the truck and move upward from there...
THANK YOU everyone! I'll let you know how this turns out...
Eric

[bertschb]

The BD3 weighs 160lbs according to their web site. I took it part once to remove it and that sounds about right (80lbs per piece).


The BD5 is a little larger and also heavier. I couldn't find the listed weight for the BD5. But, if the BD3 is 160lbs, I would guess the BD5 is 180lbs. Just guessing.

I landed on a quicker and easier way to remove/install the hitch (or any hitch for that matter). I bought a $99 ceiling hoist from Harbor Freight and mounted it to the ceiling of my garage. I just back the truck in, lift the hitch out and drop it onto a furniture dolly and roll it to the corner of my garage. It takes about 5 minutes and involves NO lifting at all. Feels like cheating every time I use that hoist.

Regardless of which hitch you get, I'd recommend the ceiling hoist if that works in your garage/shop. Why lift 175 pounds if you can lift zero?

[gulfstreamg5]

That’s interesting! Aaron from Hensley told me 285 pounds for the BD3... if he was mistaken then that hitch has my full attention! Great idea for the lift in the garage but unfortunately the layout won’t lend itself to that fix... thank you!

[lawdes]

I have the Moryde pin box which takes a HUGE chunk out the bucking and chunking...it really works well and don’t have to worry about air pressure, seals etc. use it with a B&W hitch.


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[gulfstreamg5]

Thank you for that info.. I’ve heard many good things about that pinbox. The rv is at lazydays in Tampa for some first trip warranty work... I’ll look into the Moreryde...!

[gulfstreamg5]

I’ve heard good things about the flex aire pin box as well. Not sure how anyone decides ... big investments if you make a mistake...

[bertschb]

I have the Moryde pin box which takes a HUGE chunk out the bucking and chunking...it really works well...

I agree!

I had the MORryde pinbox on our Reflection. It does a great job reducing fore-aft (horizontal) motion which causes "chucking". Our Hensley BD3 air bag hitch reduced the vertical motion. The combination of the two made for a very smooth ride and helped to protect the 5th wheel at the same time.

The Trailair Rota-Flex pinbox that came on our Solitude from the factory works similarly to the MORryde. Helps reduce horizontal motion. We bought the Hensley BD5 air bag hitch to reduce vertical motion. Again, it's a great combination.

It's all about reducing the motion transmitted from the RV to the truck!

[Debmark]

Please let us know how that works out for you. I'm very interested.