Is Addition of Air Safe Hitch Substantially Worthwhile?

[Kevin245]

We picked up a lightly used AirSafe hitch of off eBay last fall and it makes a huge difference in the ride. We also picked the WD adapter bar new on eBay for $20 + shipping.

When you ad WD you are required to derate the hitch capacity by 25%, so buy more capacity than you need.

We'll never tow without it. A very well built unit.

[snakyjake]

The WD is a good question... Doesn't the WD transfer the weight forward of the hitch?

If you are going off road or have poorly maintain road, I can see the airbag or torsion hitch having value.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by snakyjake

The WD is a good question... Doesn't the WD transfer the weight forward of the hitch?

If you are going off road or have poorly maintain road, I can see the airbag or torsion hitch having value.

1. Yes, it transfers tongue weight from the tv rear wheels to the tv front wheels. You also need the wd hitch to level the tv/ trailer combo for proper towing. That is what is meant by "weight distribution".

2.Yes, the rougher the road the more useful the Airsafe, but, there is road shock transmitted to the trailer from the TV on any road.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by snakyjake

The genyhitch.com torsion hitch is another alternative.

I looked at the Gen-Y Hitch. From what I can tell it does not have any shock absorbing function. Am I missing something?

[hickory]

I really like my Airsafe cushion hitch. Eliminates the shock or bounce from the rear off the truck being transferred to the hitch of the trailer.
Tow with a 2011 Ram 2500, towing a 30ft. Classic with a slide.
Things don't move around in the trailer.
Hickory

[Bluto]

I too enjoy the ride with an AirSafe. I have pulled Airstreams for the past 29 years. I purchased an AirSafe hitch about 5 years ago and will never go back to just a regular hitch again. It really makes a big difference in the ride in the TV as well as the trailer.

[snakyjake]

Originally Posted by Lumatic

I looked at the Gen-Y Hitch. From what I can tell it does not have any shock absorbing function. Am I missing something?

My guesses...
That's what the torsion does. The "shock" is when the trailer hitch and the vehicle hitch have opposite forces/movement. The torsion allows independence and dampers the movement. The air hitch sounds like it just dampers the shock, but doesn't allow independence (which means you would have more shock to damper). It would seem to me the key difference is the independence.

[Lumatic]

I did not see the torsion hitch you are talking about at first. Looks like it does exactly the same think as the Air-safe.

[Moflash]

The trailer moves independent of the tow vehicle with Airsafe installed. Rough or smooth road u can look back and see it working especially on the concrete Interstates it makes a big difference.


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[m.hony]

Takes out the porpoising on badump badump badump concrete expansion joint highways-
Easier on your neck and back-


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[Zybane]

Since weight distribution bars are under tension, doesn't that accomplish some of what the Air Safe does? Having a weight distribution and an air safe seems to be overkill. That's like an extra two feet length added to your trailer and a couple hundred pounds of weight.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Rgentum

I'm towing an AS 27 FC with a Ram 2500 diesel. On it, the Ram has twin air bags with the rear axle and a Blue Ox SwayPro WD hitch. So far, I haven't experienced any noticeable towing issues.



Query: Would adding an Air Safe hitch be substantially worthwhile?



On the one hand, their videos look impressive, eliminating the humpty-dumpty, up & down motion upon hitting bumps in the road, smoothing out the ride. On the other hand, given the AS/Ram setup I have, would the Air Safe make all that much difference?



Furthermore, in talking with the Air Safe salesman & after reading several comments on this list, it's clear that the Air Safe model I would need would be their Class V - 05000, which sells for over $1,000; furthermore, I would also need one of their WD drop bars, which is over $100 --- an expensive addition.



I'm also a little miffed in that when I do an Air Safe search on Google, I find several dealers that were selling these for around $600 a year or two ago, but when I contact them, they say they no longer carry the Air Safe line. What seems to have happened is that Air Safe stopped selling through dealers & now only sells through its own partner-distributor, and my guess is that in the process, Air Safe increased its prices significantly.



Bottom-line: Given my AS 27, Ram 2500, etc., would the addition of an Air Safe be worth $1,100-$1,200? So far, I'm unconvinced but seek your independent opinion.

Some vehicles are worse than others once hitched to a trailer. Not always a size/weight function.

Dial in your WDH at the scale. I'd start with TV Steer Axle weight being the same solo or hitched (same day). Record your hitch changes. More than or less than that on another day.

Tires on TT to max sidewall pressure. Only change TV tire pressure according to scale readings and door sticker range. Pressure increases of 10% needs more air.

Work with what you have. Keep those air bags at dead minimum.

Contributor Robert Cross has an admirable number of posts and pics on setting up his rig. Recommend a search on those.

FWIW, I tow a 35' vintage kin Silver Streak with a 2500 Dodge diesel. Not nearly as good a suspension as an AS. New shocks, and the proverbial glass of water left on counter not spilled after 400-miles of state and US highways.

I've seen no need for an Airsafe. A Hensley or ProPride hitch is far more worthwhile. Same for 16" LT tires, Centramatics, and antilock trailer disc brakes.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by Zybane

Since weight distribution bars are under tension, doesn't that accomplish some of what the Air Safe does? Having a weight distribution and an air safe seems to be overkill. That's like an extra two feet length added to your trailer and a couple hundred pounds of weight.

Class IV and class V Airsafe units and meant to be used with weight distributing hitches/ The Airsafe hitch does not transfer weight the way a WD hitch does. From personal experience I can say the answer to your first question is no. The Airsafe hitch does add an extra foot to your TV. It does not add any length to the trailer.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by slowmover

. I've seen no need for an Airsafe. A Hensley or ProPride hitch is far more worthwhile. Same for 16" LT tires, Centramatics, and antilock trailer disc brakes.

I have not had a Hensley or a Propride. From what I know about them they do a great job of reducing sway and trailer handling but do not do anything about isolating road shock between the trailer and TV. I have never heard of anyone using both and since the hitch under the TV is attached in a different way it may not even be possible. Adding an Airsafe is cheaper than a Hensley or Pro Pride and does not require modification to the TV. I don't see how 16" tires, Centramatics, or disc brakes relate to an Airsafe hitch one way or the other.

[slowmover]

Spend your money as you will. The Airsafe would be well below the items mentioned in value for the dollar spent.

[Adiredneck]

I can only tell you my equipment and the experience I've had with it. We bought a 2014 27FB Classic new in 2014, and towed it with my 2001 Dodge 2500 Reg Cab 8' bed 4x4 with Cummins and 5 spd manual transmission. The AS dealer (Colonial) installed an Equilizer WD hitch. Result? Plenty of power, no sway whatsoever, and a good feeling of truck control over the TT; but the truck was my old farm truck, heavily sprung (even with AirLift bags in the rear), and rode like a deuce-and-a-half. Also, after every bad stretch of Interstate we would pull into a rest area and find pillows on the floor and multiple drawers and cabinets banged open in the Airstream. This was the status on both 3,000 mile round trips we took that year.

Mainly because of my wife's dislike of the harsh-riding truck, and in recognition of the fact that our pickup's main purpose in life was towing the Airstream and no longer hauling farm equipment off-road, we purchased a 2015 Ram 3500 Quad-Cab, 4x4, 8' box and Cummins with 6 spd manual. Although we had to order it to get our desired configuration (especially the manual tranny), the 2500s and 3500s we test drove all rode 100% smoother than my old Dodge. But, because of the obvious amount of shocks and bumps being transferred from the old truck to the AS, as witnessed by the drawers and pillows knocked around, I decided to get a class VI AirSafe - based on the 1200# TW and 9,000lb GTW of the Classic. A little overkill, but I tend to do that. It cost me around $1100 for the hitch and another $99 for the WD adapter; but since I now have over $80,000 worth of TT and $60,000 worth of TV, I figured $1200 to protect my investment was well spent - I didn't want to start popping rivets!

We did the exact same two 3,000 mile RT cross-country trips in 2015 as we did in 2014, with the combination AirSoft/Equalizer hitches; but this time not a drawer was opened nor a pillow out of place. And the truck drove and rode like a Caddy without even knowing it had a TT behind it. CAT scales gave me a 17,000 GCVW on each trip.

So, I can compare and contrast 2014 and 2015 and state unequivocally that the latter was a much better ride and trip than the former. But, since there are two big variables: new truck, AirSafe hitch, I cannot say with certainty which had the bigger influence on the improvement.

What I can and will say is that the AirSafe does *exactly* what its maker says it does. I could see the AS rise and fall independently of the pickup on rough stretches of road in the side mirrors; and when we hit a bump in the road, that was not passed back to the TT when the truck axles hit the bump, and was not passed forward to the TV when the TT axles hit it. So, smoother ride for both TT and TV, and a lot less wear and tear on some pretty expensive equipment.

Based on my experience, I would recommend the AirSafe for your combination. Safe travels and have some great Streaming!

Tim

[Zybane]

Ad, good write up. I think some people are under-valuing the AirSafe.

The amount of shock transferred between TV and trailer is quite high. This is shock constantly happening, wearing out trailer and TV components. Whereas sway control is only needed some of the time, shock transfer is needed all of the time.

I'm just surprised no one has come up with a WD/sway control hitch with integrated airbag. Say something like the ProPride P3 with an airbag in there somewhere, would be pretty sweet.

[dkottum]

Understanding that the length of truck front axle to truck rear axle, compared to length of truck rear axle to hitch ball connection determines the force of sway that is leveraged to the truck front axle.

Then it looks like the increased length of truck rear axle to hitch ball connection with AirSafe would increase the sway force leveraged to the front truck axle (on that same truck)?

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by dkottum

Understanding that the length of truck front axle to truck rear axle, compared to length of truck rear axle to hitch ball connection determines the force of sway that is leveraged to the truck front axle.

Then it looks like the increased length of truck rear axle to hitch ball connection with AirSafe would increase the sway force leveraged to the front truck axle (on that same truck)?

Not my experience.

[Drathaar]

We added an Airsafe class V when we went from a F250 to F350. With the F250, I would occasionally find popped interior rivets. In particular this happened when we travelled I-5 through California. With the new truck and Airsafe, we have not had another occurrence of a popped rivet. The trailer interaction with the truck seems much gentler.

My only complaint is the weight of the Airsafe and EQ hitch. To avoid blowing out your back, it is best mounted/removed with 2 people.

I think it was a good investment. We bought early in 2015, and the price to us (with shipping) was about $900.