Jump to content

Are "air ride" hitches necessary or worth the extra cost? Which Brand?


yourpcgeek49

Recommended Posts

I have a life-long friend that has been in the vibration /balance / predictive condition monitoring field for over 40 years and I have worked many "projects" together to mitigate various "mass-motion conditions".

 

In the past shock & vibration analysis involved specialized instrumentation equipment and a lot of number-crunching by "geeks" that charged a lot because it often took a lot of time to setup the test and then crunch the numbers AND then make sense of the numbers......

 

Hang in there with me............It seems that the Air-Hitch wars might best be served with the application of a bit of...........Science.........you know ACTUAL measurements to compare shock say the HDT frame compared to the shock at the fifth wheel hitch pin in REAL-TIME.

 

With the advent of the current Ipads. Iphones and nearly free aps it seems like a fairly simple matter to record Real-Time (time-stamped) 3-axis G shock measurements that will PROVE what is the true value derived from various hitch configurations is..... or,,,,,,is-not.

 

I have a couple of fifth hitches but presently do not operate any fifth trailers ( my small toybox is a tt)

 

Ipads and or Iphones have 3 axis accel-sensor chips built in that operate a a fairly low-freq but since we are mostly looking for low-freq hi-amplitude shock loads the simple Iphone sensors should work well.

 

I own some fairly Hi-Tech Vibration equipment and have sampled a few trailer "events' but for the most part my measurements point to a couple of "throttle-adverse-events" that the dummy (me) induced shocks into the trailer NOT related to the hitch........

 

Just something to ponder.......

 

Drive on..........(here is to less shocking events......)

97 Freightshaker Century Cummins M11-370 / 1350 /10 spd / 3:08 /tandem/ 20ft Garage/ 30 ft Curtis Dune toybox with a removable horse-haul-module to transport Dolly-The-Painthorse to horse camps and trail heads all over the Western U S

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe Henry will chime in here. If I remember right he had a 5'er pin built as a load cell. He has a bunch of info on loads and forces on it.

That would be outstanding

"JOE DIRT"--1994 Volvo WIA64TES VED12, 425HP, SUPER 10, SINGLED, 370 REARS, DOMETIC AUXILLARY A/C, ONAN QD10000 GENNY
2006 Fleetwood Wilderness Advantage AX6 40ft
"I'm not in right now.......I'm out finding myself. If I get back before I return, leave me a message and one of us will get back to you..??"

I'm right 97% of the time.........and nobody cares about the other 4%

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The good thing for you is that the potential damage to the gooseneck frame elements are hidden by the front end cap. Your frame flexing is giving you a good ride.

Why would you say something like that?

"JOE DIRT"--1994 Volvo WIA64TES VED12, 425HP, SUPER 10, SINGLED, 370 REARS, DOMETIC AUXILLARY A/C, ONAN QD10000 GENNY
2006 Fleetwood Wilderness Advantage AX6 40ft
"I'm not in right now.......I'm out finding myself. If I get back before I return, leave me a message and one of us will get back to you..??"

I'm right 97% of the time.........and nobody cares about the other 4%

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alie&Jim's Carrilite, on 28 Jun 2015 - 6:12 PM, said:snapback.png

Maybe Henry will chime in here. If I remember right he had a 5'er pin built as a load cell. He has a bunch of info on loads and forces on it.

 

 

Alie & Jim......

 

Great point.......Obviously Henry has a fair amount of skin-in-the-hitch-game.....

 

If I were to guess... I would assume that it is likely indeed that Henry did do some load-cell testing on his hitches because "geezer-engineers" may have fair computer skills and the computer may say that the loads and stresses are A-Ok but..........Geezer-engineers still love to load-the-gee-wiz out of machines and then stand back and see how many parts yield. fracture and how many rivets pop-off.........just a habit geezers seem unable to get over........The result of actual testing often is that the "machine" exceeds expectations.....novel concept that is often not present in many modern "machines"......

 

Anyhow... most Load-Cells are intended to measure Force........and on a fifth hitch the Forces will be considerable so the lLoad-Cell(s) would need to be able to measure calculated forces AND a somewhat higher force above the calcs. know in as a formal engineering term......"Fudge-Factor"......

Larger Load-Cells tend to have slow-response times for measurements due to many factors........so large Load-Cells are not very good choices to measure high-rate-shock-events such as testing the "suspension-qualities" of a air-ride hitch.

 

If you consider that a fifth-hitch trailer utilizes the hitch as a major suspension component of the entire trailer it is obvious that high-rate-mass-movements should be measured and considered to allow better understanding of options to optimize trailer and tow vehicle operations....

 

Common "Mass-Movement" (Shock & Vibration) measurements typically involve three classes of units....... Velocity, Displacement, Impact

 

Velocity is........Is the speed (ie: In/Sec) of the mass-movement.

 

Displacement-----Is how far the Mass-Movement travels (ie: mils)in a given cycle.

 

Impact......Is how hard (Force) (g's) the Mass-Movement accelerates and decelerates.

 

Humans by nature are fairly poor at sensing "engineering-units" ..........

Examples:

 

Speed...... not very good, look how many folks drive at the posted speed limit.......

 

Mass-Management......Folks are not very good, look at how many F250's are towing +20,000lb trailers......

 

Impact......Don't ride with me in the Freightshaker when I am having a Lazy-Left-Foot-Bad-Clutch day.....

Anyhow it might have some merit to consider some basic Real-Time testing of the various fifth hitches AND Trailer AND tow vehicle combos.......

 

Now how simple is “Suspension-testing” well.............sorta not …...in that the formal engineering term, “The-Devil-Is-In-The-Details”......that is to say that the fifth-hitch is just one of the many components in the total big-picture involving the tow vehicle and trailer combo.......

 

Testing is a bit like diving........how deep do you want to go..........

 

Drive on.......(Low-Impact)

97 Freightshaker Century Cummins M11-370 / 1350 /10 spd / 3:08 /tandem/ 20ft Garage/ 30 ft Curtis Dune toybox with a removable horse-haul-module to transport Dolly-The-Painthorse to horse camps and trail heads all over the Western U S

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess I'm in the market for an air pin box now.

"JOE DIRT"--1994 Volvo WIA64TES VED12, 425HP, SUPER 10, SINGLED, 370 REARS, DOMETIC AUXILLARY A/C, ONAN QD10000 GENNY
2006 Fleetwood Wilderness Advantage AX6 40ft
"I'm not in right now.......I'm out finding myself. If I get back before I return, leave me a message and one of us will get back to you..??"

I'm right 97% of the time.........and nobody cares about the other 4%

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will throw my 2 bits in here and speak from personal experience. In a nutshell, I was in an accident, totaling the 4700, the pickup in front that cut me off and the car in front of him that I shoved him into sideways.

 

My rig jackknifed. The Trailsaver air ride hitch was badly bent but not broken and the jaws held onto the trailer. The wrecker towed the 4700 and the trailer still hooked up a few miles to the storage compound.

 

There are excellent hitches around but this TS hitch stood up, that's all I ask so the Volvo has another TS and it works just fine.

 

Weight of the rig was 32k lbs and the speed was about 30 mph. So someone with a slide rule can work out G forces, impact etc.

 

With the Volvo, air suspension, air hitch, air ride cab, the truck rides fine and the trailer riding on the air hitch and with Moreryde IS, it rides fine as well.

 

If it's not broke don't fix it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would like to reply to this topic. I have pulled with a f250 hard hitch ,now i have a vln 660 with trailersaver hitch. Camera on the hitch,you can see it working. Truck weighs 19,000. trailer 21,000. 3 air bags in the hitch , pin weight is 5500. heavy sob. Very happy with my trailersaver. But i have a friend who has the ep by Henry . If i were looking now i would buy the EP now because all of the features. easier to hook up and disc . And cust service. And i have never met Henry . just my 2cents worth

 

2001 volvo 660 single.430hp autoshift 2011 Mobile Suites 38rssb3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Just wanting to put in my 2 cents worth.....I am the proud owner of a Class V Airsafe bumper pull setup. I tow a flatbed trailer, 7x20', with anything you can imagine on it from a forklift to 1 ton diesels.

My vehicles I've used with this hitch:

1. 2005 GMC 1/2 ton, Ex-cab long bed. Coincidentally, has airbags on it.

2. 2000 Ford F350, crew cab long bed diesel.

3. Trailer is 7x20 deck, 10,000# rated. All sorts of loads from junk to 1 tons.

 

If the hitch is on the truck and it goes in for a service, or just anywhere when pulling, it always starts a conversation!

 

Is my Class V worth it? ABSOLUTELY! Would I ever tow with my solid hitch again? Not if I can help it.

Seriously, the difference is night and day. It's the difference between a Yugo and a Rolls Royce. If your trailer is at another location, it's very simple to use. Air up to 100#, hitch up, put your load on it, then dump air until the parallel bars are just above level. Simple. In fact, I am trying to buy a Class VI(6) just to have the shocks, although you could add shocks to the 5 if you want to using some simple hardware and truck cab shocks. At worst, carry a little air tank with you or visit a gas station. Most bags will handle 250-500Psi before bursting, so putting 100# in and then adjusting won't hurt a thing. I use a jump pack with built in compressor, carrying it with me when I have my hitch used, just in case.

 

Now, I will also add this.......

The Airbags on my 1/2 ton made an amazing difference boath loaded and unloaded, hauling in the bed or hauling a trailer. By far and away the best modification I've ever done to a vehicle. Make sure to use DUAL controls, it makes a massive difference. Adding the bags took out a lot of axle wrap issues in addition to just making it better. 10-15# when empty, anywhere from 30-90 when loaded, depending on the load and the road. Rides better with more load and more air.

 

The next thing I did....

Added air suspension to my trailer! I have the Flying Tiger setup, model FTS200, bought it on Ebay for under $300 delivered. As of now, there's still some available on Ebay, too. It's a $1500 system everywhere else. This replaces your equalizer setup in your suspenion. There are other versions of stuff like this, one using rubber from Dexter, much simpler, but nothing like the Flying Tiger. So, in my 1/2 ton, I have air on the truck, air on the connection, and air on the trailer. The differences? Well.....Imagine towing and nearly forgetting you're towing, it's that good in that combo.

 

On my 1 ton, I want to add air bags to it, so then there would be air everywhere on it, too. I towed 1200+ miles using the diesel and the 1/2 ton on the trailer and it made it ride like a Cadillac. Smooth, controlled, no bucking at all, just the airbag hitch at that time. Since adding the airbag setup on the trailer, it's even just that much better. Plus, I can adjust the height at will using a portbale battery powered compressor, great for low cars. It's not much adjustment, but it's enough at times to make a big difference. My next step will be to add shocks to the trailer and then the NeverFail bushing setup.

 

Basically, are the air hitches for bumper pulls worth it? In my mind, absolutely, no doubt, not a hestitation to invest in one again.

Add air to your truck, no matter what truck it is, as that will make a massive difference as well. Suspension reacts faster, ride is smoother, not as much axle wrap, easier/better launch, better traction.

 

Yes, I tow a lot, usually anywhere from 250-750 miles in a day when I tow. The difference is very simple, before air, you get home and you're beat up. After adding the Airsafe in the mix, well, it's just 100x better. Yes, you need longer chains and a longer wiring hookup, I use/made extensions for both.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...