Noise in hitch

When we picked up our new fifth wheel it towed home real smooth and quiet. Upon getting it ready for first trip as I went to check tires found out dealer had tires at 60lbs, (which really aggravated me because all I heard from salesman about check tires before each trip, also may add when we first looked at coach one tire was flat which I asked them to check for leak, well you guess what it was flat again). I aired tires up to max air pressure which is 80lbs, rating on tire and trailer. Now trailer rides a lot rougher and hitch is a lot nosier king pin appears to be wearing too. Reese's 16000 hitch. Any suggestions?

Do you have a nylon disc on the hitch plate and some grease on the pin ??

have nylon disc but no grease on pin. will give that a try, thanks.

Loading the trailer with all of your stuff will also change the weight characteristics. Your pin weight is probably higher and might be causing more movement.
I wouldn't think the increased air pressure in the tires would be the problem.

Do you still have the OEM pinbox? If you do, you need to upgrade it to a Mor/Ryde or some othere pinbox. Also, what truck are you pulling with? You may need to add airbags. The truck and trailer need to set level when hitched up.

Truck and trailer are level, have what ever come with Reese 16000 pound hitch and 2013 3455RL, sorry new to fifth wheels have had travel trailers up till now

trailer came with Mor/Ryde pin box.

roland31160 said:

When we picked up our new fifth wheel it towed home real smooth and quiet. Upon getting it ready for first trip as I went to check tires found out dealer had tires at 60lbs, (which really aggravated me because all I heard from salesman about check tires before each trip, also may add when we first looked at coach one tire was flat which I asked them to check for leak, well you guess what it was flat again). I aired tires up to max air pressure which is 80lbs, rating on tire and trailer. Now trailer rides a lot rougher and hitch is a lot nosier king pin appears to be wearing too. Reese's 16000 hitch. Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

If the tires aired up to the proper pressure, the rig is going to ride a bit rougher than it did with with soft tires.
Unfortunatly your tires must be at 80lbs to support the weight of the trailer. When you saying it is rough, are you hearing creeking and popping or is the trailer bouncing and jerking?

If it is popping and groaning, I agree greasing the king pin should help that. The king pin should have a light coating of general pupose grease on it anyway IMHO. Mine was completely dry when I got my rig and caused some creeking and groaning.
If the trailer is chucking and bucking, consider getting an air-ride suspension pinbox, such as Trailaire or 5th Airborne. Your standard Moryde will smooth the ride to a degree, but air bag type pinboxes soften the ride even more, for your comfort and also save wear and tear on the trailer. JMHO Trace

Thanks for your input, I guess a new pin box will be on my list for future purchase. Right now got get over purchase of fifth wheel and garage to park it in. Plus enjoy it some.

We had some chucking noises in our hitch - DH was continuously adjusting the screw on the front of the hitch (not a Reese) to get the fit to just the correct snugness (sorry, being very non-technical, here).
That helped some.

This year, we took some of the squishy/non-slip shelf liner and put that under the hitch (between the hitch rails and the removable hitch itself). That has done WONDERS! Very little noise when braking/starting out now, no more clicking. Our noise was apparently coming from the ~1/32" slip where the hitch met the truck - not around the king pin.

Not sure if that would help your situation or not, but was a cheap fix, for us.