JohnnyH

Now that I have my pacbrake bags, incab controller and prxb exhaust brake installed I have a few questions.

Do you air up before or after hooking up to your 5er/load?

Do you allow the bags to take enough weight so that the overload springs do not contact. I'm wondering what would yield the smoothest ride in that scenerio.

When unhitching what precautions do you take so that the truck dosent rise too much and hit the bottom of the trailer.

The "advertised" dry pin weight is supposed to be just under 2000 lbs, but I will probably be looking at a pin weight of about 2500-3000 lbs travel ready. Yes, I know the GVWR on my truck but all I plan to do is stay under axle and tire limits. I appreciate any input you all can give.

Thanks
John

TonyB

Either leave 5psi in the bags all the time, or air down to 5psi before loading. After loading, depending on weight, the bags will be compressed and increase air pressure. In my case, my 3200lb camper takes my bags from 5psi to ~20psi.

You'll have to experiment.

When I brought the camper home, I had ~20psi in the bags. I found the ride improved and side-side sway decreased if I had more than 40 psi in the bags. I've heard some RVers airing up to 80psi; it depends on your load and how your truck handles it.

Again, you'll have to experiment. The bags should not make the suspension rise more than 1-2 inches above stock height. It may be a safe practice to air down to ~20psi before unloading. Personally, I do not think you'll have a problem.

For the most part, that is what the law (dot) looks at. Now, if you are in an accident, some civil lawyer may look at GVWR vs. your load and try to make a case out of it.

Tony

SundayMoney

I run with 15-20psi in the bags all the time. The bags lose a couple psi per week and running more than the 5lb minimum psi keeps me from having to add air every week.

My fiver has 2000lbs of pin weight and I usually drop the psi down to about 12. That keeps the overloads from coming into play and smooths out the ride.

I don't even think its possible to put enough air in the bags to have them contact the trailer when unhitching. I have about 6-7 inches between the trailer and bed rails. Even at 100psi I don't think the truck rises that much.

Falcon1

I have a older truck. I run mine at 10 lbs all the time. Pin weight is around 1,500 Lbs. I usally fill mine after loading to get everything level which isn't much maybe 5 to 10 lbs more air. then she rides level and smooth down the road.

n2moto

Put the landing gear down on your trailer and dump the air pull out. Level your trailer. When you are ready to leave back under your pin if depending on if you had to raise or lower your trailer to level it and how much will determine if you can add a bit of air and raise the truck enough to hit the pin or not.

With my camper I run 45 on the right side and 40 on the left it sets the truck level front to back and raises the right just a bit for the crown of the road.