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Old 09-26-2012, 06:45 AM   #1
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bumpy ride

Hi I have a 28 ft long 288rls travel trailer and pull it with a 09 gmc 2500 hd extended cab pickup. when driving on certain concrete roads we get bouncing. Does anyone else experience this ? and is this a problem with a 5th wheel? wondering if this can be fixed with different shocks or weight transfer ect? Thanks
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Old 09-26-2012, 06:51 AM   #2
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Yes, Yes, & I tried shocks on the trailer & setting up my hitch different and it made no difference. It is the highway, some highways are milled down to fix the problem.
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Old 09-26-2012, 07:48 AM   #3
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It is not just a problem with 5th wheels, as I've experienced with a travel trailer as well. From what I understand, it has to do with the distance between the bumps or cracks in the highway. There are some sections of road where the interval between the cracks sets up this pattern between the tow vehicle and the trailer that results in bouncing. These are freeze/heat cracks built into the road, just like the ones built into your sidewalk. Unfortunately, while they keep the road from falling apart, they can make for a bumpy ride. There is a section of road we travel to get to a favorite State Park that sets up the bouncing for us like no other road we've been on. The first time I went over it, I actually pulled over to check the trailer as I thought I had something drastically wrong.

I've seen some suggestions for shocks, or in the case of TTs, getting an extension on your hitch which will change the distance between the tow vehicle and the TT. But I'm not sure how successful those remedies are. I'm sure others will contribute to the discussion based on what they've done that works. Once we find a road like that, we just try to go an alternate route the next time.
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Old 09-26-2012, 09:46 AM   #4
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Some sections of the road just are that way! There is a section of I90 I drive fairly regularly for work. In a regular old car it is terrible; I would hate to pull my trailer though that section. When I come across a bad road section I just change lanes, to until I find a smooth lane. Yesterday on my way back on I90, I came up on a guy with a cargo trailer, he was nice and pulled to the right lane and the trailer just started bounce like a mad man. His rear trailer wheels appeared to be off the ground more than they were on the ground.
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Old 09-26-2012, 09:58 AM   #5
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Driving a long stretch of Indiana highway, I remarked to my hubby that it felt like I had square wheels! It felt like when you got a bare spot on your big wheel tire and created a hole. Weird!
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Old 09-26-2012, 10:24 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevinh View Post
Hi I have a 28 ft long 288rls travel trailer and pull it with a 09 gmc 2500 hd extended cab pickup. when driving on certain concrete roads we get bouncing.....snip
Kevin,

Welcome to the Jayco forums

As mentioned, some highways do contribute to the lack of TV ride quality when towing any type of trailer, even when the TV/TT combination is perfectly matched. Here are a couple of other items that may contribute to poor TV ride quality/handling:

* Improper tire inflation. Upgrading to an LT tire (in lieu of "P") enhances TV handling.
* Upgrading the TV's shocks can reduce the transfer of some highway pavement conditions.
* Incorrect WDH sizing/rating.
* WDH adjustmet...., improper weight distribution will have an effect on the TV's suspension and how it reacts to pavement conditions.
* Traveling with fluid in the TT tanks.
* TV and/or TT weight limits being exceeded.

Just food for thought.

Bob
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Old 09-26-2012, 10:27 AM   #7
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Giddy Up. It's "The Horse"!

It's "the horse" as I call it- feels just like you're riding a bucking bronco. It happens at the expansion joints on concrete roads and caused by heavy truck traffic. Sometimes you can reduce or eliminate the horse by either riding in one of the inner lanes (on multi-lane roads) or driving slightly to the right/left of the center of the lane (when you can safely do this). The bouncing can become rather harmonious to the point where causes it to become amplified. When it's really bad, I've had to slow down or hope there's a long overpass or bridge which usually provides some momentary relief from this phenomenon.
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Old 09-26-2012, 11:02 AM   #8
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I88 IN Illinois from the Aurora Toll plaza to just past Naperville road will shake blood out of your body. Concrete roadways seem to be the worse. It is the distance between axels that helps make the crappy roads seem so much worse.
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Old 09-26-2012, 01:22 PM   #9
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We have experienced it too, best you can do is slow a bit and literally ride it out. My F-I-L warned my wife about it on a trip and she went way out of her way to avoid that stretch of road but on the way home forgot and we rode the bronco for the 5 mile stretch and felt like we had square wheels, got back to the regular piece of road and it all went away, smooth as glass.
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Old 09-27-2012, 04:46 PM   #10
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That sensation was pretty bad on my last TV but I think it was in large part to the softer setup of the suspension. I am sure that there were times that I could have charged admission to the bouncey hut that was my truck and see how long it took to make the first customer toss their chips! ha ha!
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Old 09-27-2012, 06:59 PM   #11
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I have had that problem too. Just have to "ride" it out.
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Old 09-27-2012, 07:11 PM   #12
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I plan on adding Roadmaster. http://www.activesuspension.com
I been doing a lot of research on this product and have talked to a couple people about it and it seems like a great product.
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Old 09-28-2012, 03:22 PM   #13
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I plan on adding Roadmaster. http://www.activesuspension.com
I been doing a lot of research on this product and have talked to a couple people about it and it seems like a great product.
I found the Roadmaster took out almost all of the bounce I would get from uneven road surfaces while towing my 26BH. I'll still get some bounce on the really bad stretches of road, but nothing like before I put the Roadmaster on.
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Old 09-29-2012, 08:28 AM   #14
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I88 IN Illinois from the Aurora Toll plaza to just past Naperville road will shake blood out of your body. Concrete roadways seem to be the worse. It is the distance between axels that helps make the crappy roads seem so much worse.
Oh yeah! We experienced that last weekend. It's now the running joke in the truck with the family. When we start bouncing we all start going "AH AH AH AH AH" with the bounce in the road. My little 3 year old just starts cracking up when we do that.
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Old 10-01-2012, 10:04 AM   #15
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Thanks everyone for the info, I did notice that slowing down did help some. Happy camping!
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