which pin box? air or not when pulling with hdt

[steiny93]

2013 cyclone 3950 awaiting delievery
we will be pulling it with a volvo 610 (semi which has been converted and singled) reese 32k 6-way on the truck

since its a class 8 (semi) the general belief is that you can harm the frame of the 5er due to the stiffness of the semi's suspension; makes sense i guess, as the suspension of the semi isn't going to flex much with only 4k of pin weight; it is singled but that tail is still very stiff

i don't really want to swap the hitch so looking to swap the pin box on the 5er

i'm thinking air; but not ruling out Mor/ryde
- Trail Air; will not be able to retain the pretty trim around the pin box
- 5th Airborne; i believe i can retain the trim
- Mor/ryde; cheapest by about $250; not sure if this would provide enough cushion

thoughts; opinons between these three?

 

[jimtoo]

My personal choice would be a Trailair pinbox. I have one and it just takes all the shock out instead of transferring it to the trailer frame. Another thing you might think of,, a friend with a SOB did this with a Volvo, is have a bed or part of bed made and add about 4--5000# of steel or weight to the tractor rear. Do you have air suspension on the Volvo, if so you could add a regulator maybe to lower air pressure on the rear.

My 2 cents.

Jim M

 

[steiny93]

the volvo has air bags; they are based on height not pressure so it is as 'squishy' as one could exspect; but its still rather stiff
also running a full tow chassis on a 230" wheel base so its as smooth as an hdt could be; but it definately has a different impact profile then say my 2500hd does

i'm leaning towards the TrailAir; my only worry is that my hitch isn't much higher then the bed of the volvo
comparing the TrailAir to the 5th or the Mor it appears that the TrailAir has a longer and lower overhang in regards to impacting the bed of the chassis (it 'appears' to stay at the same height as the 5th plate for a ways back vs. the others)

does that sound right?
thx
jeff

 

[porthole]

Personally, if I was going to use a HDT I would go with an air ride hitch.
Most air ride hitches use 2 air bags. That is half the pressure required to get a similar lift to a single air bag pin box.
Makes for a smoother ride.

I have had a MOR/ryde hitch - no air hitch
TrailAir pin with no air hitch

I now use a MOR/ryde pin box and a Hensley air hitch.

That Cyclone will be heavy if you load it up and it will surpass the rating of the TrailAir.

The MOR/ryde is also rated for 18K, but you can change out the spring. The MR pin box uses the same rubber shear springs that are used in the independent suspension.

 

[crazybanshee]

Sorry Steiny can not help you on this one. I run the trailersaver TS2. Have had it for 8 years with out any problems. Would recommend it.
Doug

 

[beardedone]

I think this has been discussed on the HDT section of the Escapees forum. There is a hitch used by some of their members that (I believe) is called an ET hitch which has good reviews.