Air Ride 5th Wheel Hitch vs Air Ride Pin Box

[lastmart]

Good evening everyone, I am new to the forum and this is my first post! Please let me know if I missed any information!

My question is this: What are the pros and cons of having an air ride 5th wheel hitch vs an air ride pin box for the trailer itself?

I have Bighorn 3760EL (16k GVWR) being pulled by an F350 dually (23.5k tow capability). I'm not sure which setup would be better, but I do know which one would cost more.

I'm considering a Trailer Saver TSLB mounted on rails or one of the many pin boxes at 21k pounds. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[danemayer]

Hi lastmart,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

Trailer Saver makes a good hitch - we have a BD3 and it does a great job. Expensive. If we ever change trailers, it stays with the truck. We have changed trucks and just had it installed in the new truck.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of feedback on the various pin box choices as well.

 

[TravelTiger]

Pin boxes can also move from rig to rig, so don't think that it's an investment that disappears if you change trailers. We had the dealer move our 5th Airborne pin box from the old to the new trailer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lastmart]

Which ever piece I buy will definitely go to my next truck or trailer. For anyone who has used both, is there much of a difference? Does the expensive hitch make more of a difference than the air ride pin box?

 

[Jdnjdi]

Hi Lastmart and anyone else who is willing to help educate me!

I'd like to follow your path since you are months ahead of us...

We just bought a new Gateway 3650BH and a very low mileage used 2016 F350 Diesel with Duallies. The F350 has the tow package but not the 5th Wheel Package. We're looking at an Air Ride hitch since I have to buy a hitch and a pin is already there. Looking at the AirSafe brand and the TrailerSaver. Because we don't have the 5th Wheel Package we'll need to have rails installed and there appear to be two options: under the bed as Ford would have done it and above. It looks depending the on the rails adapters might also be needed, which I'd like to steer away from. I've been doing online research but hardly know where to begin.

1. Should I go to ford and have them install the 5th wheel package (or at least the under bed rails)? They don't seem to have Air Ride type hitches available so all they can do is the prep.
2. Based on weights, it looks like all I need is either Airsafe's Airbox (only two air bags - would like 4 but the multi-dimensional is a lot more expensive) Comparing Airsafe's AirBox and TrailerSaver's BD1 or BD3.
3. The TrailerSaver is a lot more expensive than the comparable AirSafe (which has 4 bags in the heavier models) and the AirSafe seems to have good reviews. Any feedback comparing the two would be appreciated.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi lastmart,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

You will gets lots of opinions on the hitch and pin box.

Be sure and check out our Heartland Owners Club. Join us at a rally when you can and meet lots of the great folks here and make friends for a lifetime.

Enjoy the forum and your new unit.

 

[Pizzaguy]

Welcome to the forum lastmart. The air ride pin box will be an improvement, and so would the hitch. The advantage to the hitch is that if you traded trailers, you would not have to be sure the pin box will interchange. We bought the air ride pin box first and it helped a lot. I then bought the Trailersaver TS3 hitch and use them both together. It is a great combination! I do want to say you will still feel the bumps in your truck as you hit them. What the air ride does is makes sure you only feel them once, and not a second time when the rv goes over them. I also see you mentioned the Traiersaver TSLB. That hitch is for a medium duty truck like a Freightliner. You will want the TS3 if you want to mount it in the box and rails. They will both help your trailers Lippert frame.

 

[driver311]

get an air ride pickup all will be fixed

 

[LBR]

get an air ride pickup all will be fixed

Agree...we have rear air suspension on our 03 Ford and don't feel the need for any more air ride addons for the CY itself....smooooth.

 

[mlpeloquin]

I have added air ride to my truck and it was not enough. It helped a lot, but after adding the Trailair Flex Air pin box we finally found the best ride. With the air lift your truck can be leveled so the head lights will not blind the on coming traffic. That was the main reason I got the air lift. The added benefit was a much improved ride, but not as much as you would think. The Flex Air king pin eliminated almost all the bucking and really smoothed the ride out. That being said, an Air Lift for your truck and ether the Flex Air king pin or a air bag hitch is the best.

 

[driver311]

no no total air ride. like a semi no springs

 

[LBR]

I have added air ride to my truck and it was not enough. It helped a lot, but after adding the Trailair Flex Air pin box we finally found the best ride. With the air lift your truck can be leveled so the head lights will not blind the on coming traffic. That was the main reason I got the air lift. The added benefit was a much improved ride, but not as much as you would think. The Flex Air king pin eliminated almost all the bucking and really smoothed the ride out. That being said, an Air Lift for your truck and ether the Flex Air king pin or a air bag hitch is the best.

Air ride means no coils nor leaf springs for a rear suspension.....just 2 huge air bags with the shocks.

 

[mlpeloquin]

Ok, but your talking one heck of a truck upgrade!

 

[driver311]

only about $1200