380FLR Towing

Erich63

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Joined
Jul 8, 2024
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Hello, I'm pretty new to the 5th wheel towing and to this forum. Purchased a 2022 380FLR in the fall, have made two 2000 mile trips and numerous 300 mile trips. Towing with a 2020 GMC Denali 3500 DRW and B&W Companion hitch. Most of the time it tows like a dream, but on occasion will hit a bridge that really gets the rig to bouncing badly and also hit some stretches of I80 where the expansion joints about beat us to death. i have researched Firestone air bags, but see some threads that indicate those are more for leveling the ride than maybe controlling bouncing or smoothing the ride. Any suggestions?
 
Hello, I'm pretty new to the 5th wheel towing and to this forum. Purchased a 2022 380FLR in the fall, have made two 2000 mile trips and numerous 300 mile trips. Towing with a 2020 GMC Denali 3500 DRW and B&W Companion hitch. Most of the time it tows like a dream, but on occasion will hit a bridge that really gets the rig to bouncing badly and also hit some stretches of I80 where the expansion joints about beat us to death. i have researched Firestone air bags, but see some threads that indicate those are more for leveling the ride than maybe controlling bouncing or smoothing the ride. Any suggestions?
Absolutely!! Do yourself a favor and spend the dough on the EZ-Flex equalizers. I've put them on my last two 5th wheels, and the trailer no longer feeds back to the truck over bridge approaches and frost heaves. I may be biased, but I think it is one of the "best-bang-for-your-buck" improvements you can make. I have no financial interest in the company, just a very satisfied customer.

Now they won't do anything for the ride of the truck over rough pavement and such, but they will eliminate the push/pull from the trailer.
 
Our fifth wheel (sold) had the EZ-flex equalizers from the factory. Didn’t do anything for the ride in the truck over bridges and such. May be easier on the trailer though.
Our TT rides much better than the fifth wheel.
Rich
 
Hello, I'm pretty new to the 5th wheel towing and to this forum. Purchased a 2022 380FLR in the fall, have made two 2000 mile trips and numerous 300 mile trips. Towing with a 2020 GMC Denali 3500 DRW and B&W Companion hitch. Most of the time it tows like a dream, but on occasion will hit a bridge that really gets the rig to bouncing badly and also hit some stretches of I80 where the expansion joints about beat us to death. i have researched Firestone air bags, but see some threads that indicate those are more for leveling the ride than maybe controlling bouncing or smoothing the ride. Any suggestions?

I've installed Firestone or Air Lift air bags on my last three trucks and love them. I have the onboard air compressor so that I can change the air pressure on the fly and even dump the air when I get to my camp site. I've also installed the Trailair pin box on the fiver and pump that up to about 60 psi for traveling. Lastly, I've installed the comfort ride shocks on my new Reflection. The combo of all three of these things together has been quite impressive on how it rides going down the road and over all the washboard roads that we use to get to our boondocking locations. The airbags on the truck provide way more advantages related to ride and towing comfort other than just leveling.
 
I've installed Firestone or Air Lift air bags on my last three trucks and love them. I have the onboard air compressor so that I can change the air pressure on the fly and even dump the air when I get to my camp site. I've also installed the Trailair pin box on the fiver and pump that up to about 60 psi for traveling. Lastly, I've installed the comfort ride shocks on my new Reflection. The combo of all three of these things together has been quite impressive on how it rides going down the road and over all the washboard roads that we use to get to our boondocking locations. The airbags on the truck provide way more advantages related to ride and towing comfort other than just leveling.

I just ordered the Curt (formerly Trailair) Flexair pinbox to replace our Morryde rubber pinbox. The Morryde was good to reduce chucking but did nothing for the bounce from road bumps, particularly from bridge transitions. The airbag and shock absorber in the pinbox, hopefully, should reduce the bounce in the 380FL-R.
 
Do you and your RV a favor and get an airride hitch. yes they are pricey but you will never regret the purchase.
 
Do you and your RV a favor and get an airride hitch. yes they are pricey but you will never regret the purchase.

Those are great if you don't need a slider hitch for a short bed truck. If I had a LB, that is the direction I would have gone.
 
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Those are great if you don't need a slider hitch for a short bed truck. If I had a LB, that is the direction I would have gone.

I'm not a short bed kinda guy but just wondering....why an air ride pin box like the one I have (Trail Air) wouldn't work with a slider hitch? It seems like it would work fine actually since it's on the camper and would work with any truck mounted hitch including a slider.
 
I have a '21 380FLR and went full circle on pin boxes. Sliding Rubber > Flex Air > Gen-Y Exec > Sliding Rubber.

Yes, there is sometimes a lot of bounce with the sliding rubber, but I found the same to be true (and worse) with the Flex Air. The shock on the flex air would bottom out (yes the bag was at proper PSI). The Gen-Y was actually the best, but I had to get rid of it because it brought my nose too high causing me to drag quite often.

The main reason I switched boxes initially was due to the pin boxes making contact with the bed rails of my Retrax bed cover. Ended up getting rid of it and going Truxedo and back to the MorRyde. You'll find some of my journey in my post history here.

I hope your experience with the Flex Air is better than mine. I think the best bet for the bouncing is the Hensley Trailer Saver, but I don't have the factory puck system (B&W single-mounted attachment instead) so I've been dragging my feet on it.
 
I pull my 380FL with a Chevy Duramax DRW. When I see and cross bridge transitions, cattle guards etc. I manually engage my trailer brakes as I'm crossing. Seems to take most of the bucking out.
 
I'm not a short bed kinda guy but just wondering....why an air ride pin box like the one I have (Trail Air) wouldn't work with a slider hitch? It seems like it would work fine actually since it's on the camper and would work with any truck mounted hitch including a slider.

Poohbear was referring to (and I was responding regarding) an Airride hitch, not a Trailair pinbox. The Trailair pinbox, with a capture plate, will work fine with a slider hitch.
 
Question for all of you that have air bags on your trucks. Do you set them to your desired psi before the RV is hooked up or after? I've always done mine prior to hooking up the 5er and have found that the ride is optimal around 35 psi. I don't have an on board compressor just two separate shrader valves I located at my license plate bolts. While at a campground recently the guy next to me was hooking up to leave and after he was all hooked up he used his compressor to fill & check his air bags. A few days later when leaving I decided to check the psi after the RV was attached and was surprised to see it read well over 100 psi with the RV on the truck. Thoughts on this? Am I doing this wrong?

Screenshot_20230121_200807_Photos.jpg
 
I used my air bags on our old truck to level the load, so wasn't really concerned with pressure. When the load was level, I quit adding air. But I always added air with the trailer hooked up, obviously. :)
 

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