Cushioned Ball Mount?

[Janets Husband]

In the past week there was mention made of the problem of frame failure due to useing a tow vehicle that had suspension that was too stiff in relation to the weight of the trailer, in combination with out of balance wheels. I would assume the tung weight is the issue.
I have reason for concern if this proves to be a large problem, I have a Chevy 2500HD truck towing a 2900lbs Argosy Minuet.
The factors involved as I can tell would be; stiff tow vehicle suspension, light weight trailer, vibration caused by out of balance wheels (OFBW), old trailer frame.
I can see that this argument has some merit and the question is, how does one adress this problem? Is it something I should address?
The dynamic system analisys required to solve this question far beyond my capabilities, so I will have to use the old SWAG method.
I would guess that you should keep your wheels in balance, a very tough task at best.
Inspect your frame, which again it tough because of the belly pan.
The third thing would be to isolate the vehicle from the trailer.
I have found a 4 way cushioned ball mount thats looks promissing.
Please take a look and let me know what your thoughts are, about the hitch and the problem as a whole.
http://www.etrailer.com/Merchant2/me...egory_Code=cbm

[overlander63]

Gary, it looks interesting, but has no provisions for weight distribution. That is something that would have to be addressed, but the mount looks like it has promise.
For those who don't/ won't click links, here is the mount:

[uwe]

Looks to me like this one is only dampening fore-aft movement, not bumps going vertically into the a-frame.
Also, it might work for a Minuet, I believe it's weight limits would exclude it for use on anything larger than that.

[Janets Husband]

Terry

The Truck is about twice as heavy as the trailer, and the suspension is so stiff that weight distrabution is not an issue.

Uwe

It cusions both direction in the vertical and horizonal planes.

The specs:
Shanks are 2"x2" tube with 1/4" wall thickness. Hitch pin hole receives a standard hitch pin (not included). 1" Hole for Ball. Maximum trailer weight of 5,000 lbs. Maximum tongue weight of of 500 lbs.

It is light weight but would be in my ball park.

[till]

Gary, here is another option that I have thought about.

Air ride hitch

[TomW]

Originally Posted by Etrailer

* Acts as a shock absorber

IMO, this device acts more as a miniature suspension system as opposed to a shock absorber because the Polyurethane Cushions would have a spring constant instead of dampening coefficent. A dynamic analysis would probably show two systems fighting each other.

Originally Posted by Etrailer

* Proven effective in reducing bounce and rhythmic vibrations

A link to the proof would be a nice touch since "reducing" is somewhat subjective. My gut feeling is that the rhythmic vibration's frequency would simply be shifted & not necessarily minimized.

I do, however, think the driver would notice something different if he/she were using this drawbar. But, if both the tow vehicle, and towed load have their own suspension systems, my gut feeling is that vibration capable of affecting the frame will still be there. I don't think that Etrailer's offering will make it worse though.

Tom

[Inland RV Center, In]

Gary.

If you cannot soften the suspension system, then you have but one choice left.

Inspect the A-frame frequently and be on the lookout for sheared rivets on the front hold down plate.

Andy

[Tinsel Loaf]

Gary
We use a commercial air hitch. I made a post and picture of it on the forum, check it out. It is the answer to your question.

[Janet H]

here's a link to the air ride hitch company. It looks redesigned.

[TomW]

BTW, that's the same hitch Tedd mentioned. Its different than the one with poly bushings, but I can't decide what I think about it.

Tom

[Inland RV Center, In]

Never too late to learn.

How do you use torsion bars with an air hitch?

Andy

[Janets Husband]

Originally Posted by TomW

BTW, that's the same hitch Tedd mentioned. Its different than the one with poly bushings, but I can't decide what I think about it.

Tom

I know what you mean, the more I think about this problem the more questions I have.
I think what Andy said is a great idea though; "Inspect the A-frame frequently and be on the lookout for sheared rivets on the front hold down plate"

A few questions I have come up with are;
How do you couple two completely different suspension systems which have different response frequencies?
How do you do this without causeing additive oscillations between the two systems?
Can you dampen the oscillations in either of the two systems by useing any coupling method?

[Silvertwinkie]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

Never too late to learn.

How do you use torsion bars with an air hitch?

Andy

Not sure if the lower weight units had the ability, but I saw a 2000lb hitch weight unit on the site that had provisions for the weight bars, which in my case also does the sway control (dual cam HP system). I wonder if it has any impact on the ability of the dual cam to do it's job.

[CanoeStream]

Andy -- Is the 'front hold down plate' the vertical steel plate with many rivets just above the A-frame and below the front window that connects the shell to the frame in that area?

Tinsel -- This is your link I believe: Unbelievable hitch addition

We've had quite a number of questions about the Air Ride hitch but I'm not familiar with any number of conclusive answers from experienced users... BUMP!!

[till]

Andy,

I would think that using this attachment vs. the standard ball mount that comes with, would allow a weight distribution hitch to be used.


I had a PDF of the set up instructions some were, but can not find them now.

I would like to see this set up in action

Sorry I didn't think the picture would be soooooo big.

[George Jr.]

What about the removal of a couple of spring leaves to soften suspension?

[Janet H]

removing springs... not practical - but a creative idea.

We only occasional pull the Minuet w/ Chevy 2500 HD but we routinely tow a heavy equipment trailer and so we need all suspension we can get. Whatever we do will have to be easily removable.

Has anyone with a light weight trailer and a heavy weight truck used one of these "springy" recievers?

[john hd]

velvet ride shackles may soften the springs enough.

otherwise, you might need to add some weight to the bed of the truck to get the springs to work.

ask garry if he thinks putting a vintage harley in the bed would be enough weight! i find my '55 panhead adds just the right amount of ballast!

john

[campcollector]

If you know Gary you know he carrys a pile of stuff in the bed of his truck.

If weight in the bed will soften the ride he has already done it man! Tents, stoves, generators, chairs concrete blocks.....etc etc.....