Looking for info on Trail-Air Hitch

[mrmagoo]

I figure this topic has been discussed previously somewhere in this forum, and I have been looking for it but have not been able to find it.

I have a 2005 Duramax Crew Cab short box 4x4. I have a 16K Draw-Tite (Reese) slider hitch.

I am getting close to ordering a new Bighorn 3670. One option available is the Trail-Air Hitch. I am not exactly sure if this is something I want to spend the money on. Some dealers have stated that with the Equa Flex suspension the Trail-Air hitch is not necessary.

I really like the looks of the ABS hitch cover, which I would have to give up if I go with the Trail-Air hitch.

I would love some candid opinions. Is it something I should seriously consider?

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[jimtoo]

mrmagoo,

I have a 3055 and would not be without the Trail-Air hitch. Have had it on two units now. I also have the Equa Flex and it is great. The cover is just for a little cleaner line or looks... the hitch is for comfort.

By the way,,, I should be magoo,,, since last name is mcgee,,, Grandpa was Fibber..

Jim M

 

[cookie]

I have a Trail-Air pin box. Love it. Will never be without one. That ABS pin box cover will do nothing for your comfort. Order it. Most dealers have no experience towing. They only sell.
Just an opinion from a Trail-Air user.

Peace
Dave

 

[RollingHome]

I have a Trailair hitch whic I will almost give you and beat anyone's price.... But I also must look myself in the mirror. Please go to the General Forum and Read at my post. TV to BH clearance and see the nightmare I am going thru. If you still want my Trailair at less then cost, let's talk. Tom

 

[TXBobcat]

mrmagoo
Here is my take on a Trailair, which I have.

If your going down the highway and there will be some bounce the TrailAir will take a lot if not all the bounce out. This relieves the pounding on the pinbox which is connected to the front extended part of the trailer. This will relieve a lot of stress on the front part of your 5er. If you have air bags on your truck that takes the bounce off your truck but you still have an impact on the front of the trailer. Go down I-10 outside of Shreveport LA and you will understand what I am talking about.

If it were me I would get it. Infact I would look into the Trailair Triglide. That would take care of bounce and chucking. Contact Ray LeTurneau and see what he thinks about his.

Eh Ray...

BC

(goin Canadian)

 

[rick_debbie_gallant]

Here is my 1 cent worth. I just put on the "fifth airborne" pinbox and love it. I was also able to remount the abs nose for that "go fast, streamlined look. Just had to move it forward a bit. I put my air thing-a-ma-bob in the nose with an extension. Works for me.

 

[jmgratz]

mrmagoo
Here is my take on a Trailair, which I have. Go down I-10 outside of Shreveport LA and you will understand what I am talking about.


(goin Canadian)

Don't mean to correct you but I-20 is the one that goes through Shreveport, La. I-10 goes through Baton Rouge, LA.

 

[DXprowler]

For me a TrailAir pin box, along with dual pane windows, was one of the must have's when we bought our BH. Go with it, you'll really appreciate it down the road!

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Here is a link to my Trail Air conversion. //heartlandowners.org/showt...ight=tri+glide

I personally like the Trail Air but I have had issues with the rear of the pin box cutting into the rails for my Truxedo cover. I've made all possible adjustments to eliminate the problem but have only been able to reduce it while keeping the towing height and clearance necessary to stay level going down the road.

Another downside of the Trail Air is the paint work. Terrible prep and the paint peels off. Especially the edges of the metal. No primer is used and it's not powder coated. As you can see by my original post, I took care of that problem. Mine looks as good today as it did when I did the work last summer.

I sure do like to watch it in the rear view mirror and see it working to improve the ride and recuce shock to the trailer frame.

Would I buy another one? Not sure. I might look at Demco's hitch and comparison price shop and check the quality of the finish on the Demco.

 

[mrmagoo]

Thank you for all the input... I have to admit, that now I am just as confused --maybe even more confused than I was when I posted the original question.

I want reduce the stress between the Truck and the Camper...

I do have rails for my Tonneau cover... and I don't want to have problems with them.

I currently have a shortbox 2500 duramax... but expect I'll be upgrading that in the future. I love my Chevy Duramax, and I am thinking of going with a longbox next time around. The issues that have been posted on various threads are not giving me the warm fuzzy feeling I was kinda hoping to get.

I don't plan on getting the V tailgate, because once parked, we put the tonneau cover back on the truck and use it for storage... I definitely DO NOT want to deal with the possibility of damaging the Rig or the Truck when hooking up... that is just not an option... that would be a deal breaker on purchasing the new Rig.

I also don't want a 'rust bucket' pinbox... I don't do body work... etc... And I don't want to have to deal with having the pinbox repainted.

If there are 'quality' issues with the exterior appearance, and there are also potential usability issues with certain TV configurations, I am surprised that Heartland is still putting the Trail-Air pinbox on their rigs... I have heard how GREAT Heartland is to work with and that the really do strive to excel in customer service and customer sat. I believe I will be placing a call to them to get their take on this -- directly from someone in customer service.

Now I just wish I could come up with an answer that assured me that I was making the right decision for both the short and long term.

Sigh

 

[bill40]

I have the same set up as Ray, it does work but requires some touch up paint from time to time.You may want to look into the Hensley Trailer Saver TS3 hitch. There is a thread on this item. It is a bit more than a reg hitch ( like a slider) but the have a good history. I would have went that way but the co-pilot said it wasn't in the budget at the time.

 

[cookie]

Thank you for all the input... I have to admit, that now I am just as confused --maybe even more confused than I was when I posted the original question.


I also don't want a 'rust bucket' pinbox... I don't do body work... etc... And I don't want to have to deal with having the pinbox repainted.


If there are 'quality' issues with the exterior appearance, and there are also potential usability issues with certain TV configurations, I am surprised that Heartland is still putting the Trail-Air pinbox on their rigs...
Sigh

mrmagoo, you just read four positive posts regarding the Trail-air, one negative and one so-so. I am not surprised that Heartland is still putting the Trail-Air pinbox on their rigs. They work.
Just my two cents.

Peace
Dave

 

[RollingHome]

Mr Magoo, I bought a 2011 3670RL. I pulled it to my home from Salisbury MD. to PA (3-1/2 hours). I ordered the optional Trailair king pin box (KPB) at the time of purchase from Heartland. I pulled it with my Chevy 2500HD extended cab short bed truck. I have a Pull-Rite Superglide 18K hitch. Everything went fine... until I purchased a new body style Chevy 3500HD dually with 8' bed for safety sake and also to make my set up 100% legal due to towing capacities etc. The (2007-1/2 to 2010) new body style GM truck beds are 1-1/2" higher then the older (pre 2007-1/2) classic style. I installed the Pull-Rite exactly to the inch (26 1/2") from the tailgate edge of the box, this is what Pull-Rite instructed me to do. The center of the king pin is 1/2" in front of the rear axle. Your new 3670 will have a Lippert 1621HD king pin box unless you order the optional Trailair KPB. The Trailair Company states in writing on their web site to use a LO5 king pin box to replace a Lippert 1621HD KPB. Two years ago Heartland told me they stopped using the LO5 and switched to Trailair m/n M15 king pin box. The (medium) M15 is 6" shorter than the (longer) LO5. Heartland customer service told me they did this because the LO5 was causing the Pin Box Coupler (attached to the 3670 chassis) to impact the higher bed side rails of the new body style GM trucks and causing damage. However, this in turn created another problem for me or anyone with a new style 8' Chevy bed - it brought the 3670 so close to my truck that the lowered tail gate kisses the fiberglass on the 3670 when I hook up. I only have 16 1/2" between my rear bumper and the fiberglass trailer wall. I have to have an experienced set of eyes to guide me back at hook up time. If I am the slight bit off from being perfectly straight, the protruding corner of the tail gate will punch a hole in the fiber glass and/or damage my tail gate. I would never attempt to hook up by myself because of this. The Trailair KPB evidently worked fine on the older trucks but it is not working fine on my GM truck. The problem appears to be geometry; the LO5 & M15 KPB are both in the same plane. As I understand it, the Lippert 1621HD KPB angles down and is longer than the M15 which you will get if you order this option. In my opinion, Trailair needs to design a brand new KPB which has the same dimension and geometry the Lippert 1621HD KPB has. I am new at 5th wheeling and the 3670 is my first 5th wheel. Prior I had LARGE tow behinds. Because of my inexperience in 5th wheels and how they move and contort, I am reluctant to even tow my 5th wheel because I do not know what will happen when I "roll over a curb" while fueling or "twist in a gully" backing into a tight spot or or or. It is just my greeness, chickeness and conservativeness causing me to be extra careful and not tow my unit until my concerns are reduced or eliminated. I don't want to cause myself more grief. I too have a tonneau cover with an optional locking tailgate. I keep a 3000 watt Honda genny and other nice stuff in my bed (hidden from view) this stuff may be enticing to a thief so the V tail gate is out. If I had it to do all over again I would not order the Trailair KPB option because of what I'm going through. I believe if others buy an 8' new style bed their opinion may change too. I am now looking into buying a Hensley Trailer Saver TS3 hitch which helps reduce chucking and bumping and put the stock Lippert 1621HDE KPB on my 5th wheel. Here are some pics to help you decide.

 

[rick_debbie_gallant]

Here is my 1 cent worth. I just put on the "fifth airborne" pinbox and love it. I was also able to remount the abs nose for that "go fast, streamlined look. Just had to move it forward a bit. I put my air thing-a-ma-bob in the nose with an extension. Works for me.

By the way, the fit and finish is great. There was not one defect on the pinbox. Even though I have the abs nose cone over the pin box I still like the idea of having the air bag out of the sun and away from any harm.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Here is a link to my Trail Air conversion. //heartlandowners.org/showt...ight=tri+glide

I personally like the Trail Air but I have had issues with the rear of the pin box cutting into the rails for my Truxedo cover. I've made all possible adjustments to eliminate the problem but have only been able to reduce it while keeping the towing height and clearance necessary to stay level going down the road.

Another downside of the Trail Air is the paint work. Terrible prep and the paint peels off. Especially the edges of the metal. No primer is used and it's not powder coated. As you can see by my original post, I took care of that problem. Mine looks as good today as it did when I did the work last summer.

I sure do like to watch it in the rear view mirror and see it working to improve the ride and recuce shock to the trailer frame.

Would I buy another one? Not sure. I might look at Demco's hitch and comparison price shop and check the quality of the finish on the Demco.

The link in the original post seemes to be incorrect. Try this one. //heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/10622-Trail-Air-Tri-Glide-Retro?highlight=tri+glide

 

[mrmagoo]

mrmagoo, you just read four positive posts regarding the Trail-air, one negative and one so-so. I am not surprised that Heartland is still putting the Trail-Air pinbox on their rigs. They work.
Just my two cents.

Peace
Dave

After reading these posts. I have little doubt that the Trail-Air works and would function ok with my current truck.... My concern is that I hope to upgrade the truck the in the future, and in all probability, it will be another Chevy (Duramax) and a longbox. This (I believe) is the exact configuration that has been pointed out as causing issues in this tread as well and another one RollingHome referenced. I am trying to avoid spending my hard earned cash on an option that I will have to replace when I upgrade my tow vehicle...

I believe is has been acknowledge by all parties that this configuration is an issue, but I have not seen any resolution. It appears that the Trail-Air M15 and the new style GM Box is not an ideal marrage... and yes, I still feel this is a configuration that either Heartland should not allow to happen (i.e., don't offer that pinbox as an option) or they should somehow clearly indicate when ordering that this option should not be ordered with certain towing configurations.

I still love the layout and quality that I see in the Bighorn 3670... I just need to decide on the options I am willing to pay for.

I really do believe this 'riding on air' is a great approach... I just need to figure out what is going to work best for me now and in the future. Maybe looking into replacing the hitch... rather than the air on the pin box?? hum...

 

[RollingHome]

Don, If I had to do it over again I would order a 3670RL with the stock 1621Lippert KPB (as delivered O.E.M.) and the "pretty" white cover option. I would then put a Hensley TS3 Trailer Saver hitch in. My 2nd choice would be a 20K Air Saver Hitch. My 3rd. choice would be a 20K Air Hitch from Mountain Masters. You should also know, ALL Trailair KPB can stop bounce only (up/down). This is because they only cushion the up and down movement via a scissors action, because of necessities of design it is impossible for the Trailair to move fore and aft. The Air hitches on the other hand stop bounce (up/down, i.e. pot holes) and chucking (back/forth, i.e. rail road tracks). All air hitches use air bags and shocks to dampen sudden jarring movements. I have not found one unhappy owner of either the Hensley TS3 or Air Saver Hitch/s. The owner of Hensley Mfg., Ron Hensley stated "My only competition is Air Saver". My 3rd choice - Air Hitch has a really great idea of an incorporated piece of metal which captures the king pin and keeps the trailer from smashing the bed and gate IF the king pin slips out of a NON-LATCHED grabber a.k.a. un-intended "Dropping the Trailer". I want to do more research to see if I can incorporate this run away king pin grabber idea into a Hensley TS3.

I agree with your comments on the 3670RL. We did opt for the Cherry cabinetry with Godiva trim - Wow is all I can say. Got the electric reel for the 50 amp power cord - makes it easier to De-Camp. Opted for a low profile AC unit - lower and more BTU's. Opted for 2nd AC wiring - wish I ordered the 2nd AC. Electric awning - RV's too high for me to be manual. Central Vac - Patti said "it's not needed"... now she loves it ! Keyless electric door locks - Heartland was out of stock. ABS hitch cover - I missed the "not w/Trailair KPB" note. Toy Lock - deter bike & toy loss. Dealer installed options - Hose Sprayer next to toilet for cleaning purposes (it's hidden behind, nice). Generator inlet & and fused disconnect in front boy cave (the side one/s are man caves). I also had the dealer install a nice chrome dual tire filler kit on my back wheels. Now I can easily check and fill the back dually tires. I put on Rock Tamer mud flaps (from COSCO) and rear tire flaps to save the RV from road rash. I wish the 3670 had hydraulic (not electric) landing gear on the back. But what I wish most of is - I could use my new toy and not have to keep problem solving, I'm not whinning I'm just concerned

Tom

 

[RollingHome]

Don, I just saw something I missed. You have a Reese slider hitch. Air Saver company makes kits to retro-fit other brand 5th wheel hitches to a air bag hitch set up . They do fit Reese brand, maybe not the slider though. I was going to do this if I could with my Pull-Rite... no go !

Tom