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Old 09-03-2016, 06:33 PM   #101
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Definitely mirrors exactly what has been discussed\discovered\experienced here on the forum.

Fishy.
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Old 09-14-2016, 09:57 PM   #102
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I am definitely going to check mine & follow this thread. Tim
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Old 09-15-2016, 01:43 AM   #103
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No, I don't think that's it. The Tri-Glide lower jaw has turned out to be a poor design. It suffers from cracking welds. Which can cause things to come apart at about any time.

Did Trailair used qualified welders to assemble the Tri-Glide to assure welds were made correctly?

Having worked in powerhouses for over 30 years...I would have to think that Trailair did not choose to use Certified Weld Inspectors to examine the welds and assure they were done correctly. And probably didn't do at least a random sample of x-ray inspection of the welds.

So then you wind up with the situation many of us has found themselves in. Having to replace the Trailair lower jaw.

That in no way means yours is under rated. You just need to check it and see.

Just thoughts,

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Old 06-24-2018, 04:52 PM   #104
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Trailair hitch

Quote:
Originally Posted by azdryheat View Post
This is the Trailaire Tri-Glide. The lower section is the Tri-Glide and is supposed to dampen the back-and-forth jerking (chucking) motion with greased rollers (behind the 3 zerks). 2 of my 3 rollers failed. One more failure and my trailer would have departed the truck. I haven't seen a Voltage that didn't have this hitch.

Here is my new hitch minus the Tri-Glide, which is no longer in production.
Just bough t this voltage 2013 3905 used hardly used we love the trailer but towing it don’t like the chucking and when we hit bad spots in the road or dips it is awful it like body slams the truck . Had a KZ 40P for 10 Year’s weights are a little different about 1000 pounds gross and 540 more on the tongue had a 5th airborne hitch and it did not do this ? Any suggestions on what I should do. Question with the new hitch with out the slide does the trailer still rock back and forth from front to back going down the road
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Old 05-23-2021, 07:08 PM   #105
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Exclamation Trailair tri glide falure

Took my 2014 Voltage 3990 to dealer for minor repairs. when i pick it up i noticed the king pin plate was not evenly spaced. on closer exam by techs, it had 2 of the 3 rollers broken off at the welds! I am very thankful i even got it to the dealer safely, Apparently this is not a new issue since i see comments back before my unit was even built!
would like to hear from any one who has had the same problem with the triglide,
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Old 05-23-2021, 07:27 PM   #106
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bearthomas View Post
Took my 2014 Voltage 3990 to dealer for minor repairs. when i pick it up i noticed the king pin plate was not evenly spaced. on closer exam by techs, it had 2 of the 3 rollers broken off at the welds! I am very thankful i even got it to the dealer safely, Apparently this is not a new issue since i see comments back before my unit was even built!
would like to hear from any one who has had the same problem with the triglide,
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2014 F450 Platinum
2018 Husky 23k hitch

Mine and my father in laws failed in same area. Trailaire would not admit there was an issue but they’re no longer making it. We both replaced it with the non-triglide model.
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Old 05-24-2021, 11:02 PM   #107
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Interesting that this topic came back up recently, as… guess what happened to me today?

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Towing from Wisconsin to northern Minnesota today… traffic suddenly slowed on a 2-lane highway, and as I applied the brakes, I thought I detected a harder-than-usual “thump” from the rear. Didn’t think a whole lot of it, as I’ve experienced similar before during hard braking when the rig shifted forward on the Tri-Glide. Continued on for another 100 miles or so before reaching my destination for the evening.

Dropped the landing gear, unhitched, pulled away in the truck, and then began my setup as usual. As I approached the front to wrap the power-cord around the pin box… my eye caught sight of the king-pin plate hanging down from the rear. Oh crap, I know what this is…

After finishing my setup, grabbing some late lunch, and resting a bit… went out to inspect the situation. Sure enough, the rear weld(s) have given way, and it’s hanging on by a single pivot point in front.

Well hell… got online, and began searching for RV parts or service centers, but who’s gonna stock pin boxes for these things except maybe the big-box stores like camping world? 4 phone calls later, I confirmed my suspicion… no one.

Closest Camping World stores are over 2 hours away, so I began calling them. The one closest to my planned route has none in stock… and the next one that’s another hour from them have none either, but advised there was a Gander Mtn store 2 hours south of me showing a single FlexAir 18k pin box in stock.

Called them, and they confirmed they have one there. Transferred me to the service department to see how soon they could install it… no joy. At least 2 weeks, before they could squeeze me in. Oh, did I mention I’m supposed to be in South Dakota this weekend? And since it’s a holiday weekend, there probably isn’t any where around that has available sites in case I can’t get going?

So, now down to Plan D… or is it E? Anyway, gonna drive the truck down there first thing in the AM, and get the box, so at least I’ll have the part. From there, I’m hoping I can get local shop or a mobile tech to replace it for me. If not, I’m hoping that I can simply remove the lower jaw of my TriGlide myself, and replace it with with the lower jaw of the new FlexAir. I know it’s gonna be heavy as… we’ll, hoping I can do it myself and be back on the road by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest.
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Old 05-25-2021, 01:39 AM   #108
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Use the tailgate of your truck as a workbench and lower jaw support. That’s what I did to make handling it a bit easier.
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Old 05-25-2021, 12:08 PM   #109
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What if you took it to a welding shop or had the welder come to you?


Or would you not trust it any longer?
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Old 05-25-2021, 01:54 PM   #110
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Originally Posted by franktafl View Post
What if you took it to a welding shop or had the welder come to you?

Or would you not trust it any longer?
That would be Plan F, or G… whatever I’m up to now. Haha.

The primary problem with that, as I see it, is… there’s no way to get to what needs to be welded without removing the lower jaw anyway. And then, yes… at this point, do I trust it not to happen again? Probably not, but at this point I don’t have a lot of options.

As of right now, I’m at Gander Mtn… sitting here in the parking lot, eating a breakfast biscuit, and waiting on them to open at 9 AM. Got up early, and got on the road about 2 hours ago… hoping like hell that the guy I spoke with on the phone didn’t lie to me, and that the part is here.

If so, I’m fairly certain that I can either find a shop to remove & replace it for me… even if it’s not an RV shop. I mean… since it’s the same type (if not same model), made by the same manufacturer (Lippert), and same mounting plates… with the right tools & equipment, it should be a simple 4-bolt off & 4-bolt on installation. If it wasn’t for the weight and the height of the mount, I could probably do it myself.

If I can’t, then the plan is to simply remove the lower jaw from the new one, remove my current one (containing the broken king-pin plate)… and mount the new one on my existing pin box, which I should be able to do myself if I have to.

Will update again later… wish me luck!
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Old 05-25-2021, 01:56 PM   #111
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You got this. I even contemplated welding the lower plate directly to the lower jaw as a worst case scenario. Good luck!
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Old 05-25-2021, 11:22 PM   #112
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Quote:
Originally Posted by franktafl View Post
What if you took it to a welding shop or had the welder come to you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by donzinger View Post
You got this. I even contemplated welding the lower plate directly to the lower jaw as a worst case scenario. Good luck!
Well Frank… Don… guess which option I ended up having to settle for? Hint, it wasn’t Plan A, B, C, or D.

So I walk into Gander Mtn… the parts guy says he knows about my call last night, there’s my pin box over there…

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I take one look at it, and say… “That’s not the FlexAir, that’s the AirRide.” He looks at it and says… “oh, I didn’t know there was a difference.” I knew right then I was in trouble.

So I show him the part number online that the guy looked up last night, and he checks his computer. Yep, it says they have one… he needs to check the back. After 10 minutes or so he returns, along with another guy (who I assume is his boss), and says the inventory is wrong, that since the show no availability on the one in front of me… someone must have mixed up the 2 items, and sold the other one by mistake. Great… glad someone got a good deal, but it ain’t gonna be me.

But, I’m in a bind, right? It may be a consolation prize, but I NEED a pin box, and this should fit, right? Something’s nagging me, but I can’t put my finger on it (Can you?)… so I buy it.

On the 2-hour drive back to the rig… an RV shop located directly across the street from the campground that I called & left a message with the night before called me back. (Yay!) I told them I had a new pin box, and that I needed a “simple” remove & replace job. They agree to help me, and would meet me right after lunch.

They arrive, and here’s where the story takes another turn…

As they’re getting things set up to remove the existing pin box, and I’m standing there beside it… looking at it from a profile view… it hits me: the new pin box is NOT a long-tow / long-jaw model like I need. THAT’S the nagging thing I missed earlier in the store.

I tell the guy this, and we immediately begin to take measurements. Sure enough, the new one I bought is a good 15 inches shorter overall than what I have… and the lower jaw itself is 13” shorter.

The “simple” remove & replace job plan just came unraveled.

I look at the guy and ask ‘what are my options?’ I can extend my stay for 2 more nights if necessary, but I HAVE to vacate the campground by Friday, as they’re booked solid for the holiday weekend.

After some discussion, a welding job seems to be the only option at this point… the question being what to weld? Can the original breakage be repaired, or a direct plate-to-jaw weld? While I tell him that I know of no one who’s been able to repair one of these, he seems keen for the challenge. Ok, I learned long ago to never tell an artist how to paint.

So we remove the lower jaw, and he takes it back across the street to his shop to clean it up a bit, and get a look. After some studying, he finds where the original breakage is, and agrees that a repair is unfeasible. You can see in the photo below that’s it’s not a weld that has cracked… but is a complete shearing of the mounting pin that the rear-roller sits on:

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With that settled, the plan is to now simply hard-weld the king-pin plate to the bottom of the lower jaw assembly. A couple hours later he returns with it, we mount it in place, and… provided the welds hold… I should be good to go.

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I can’t tell you how much he saved my ass this weekend. I apologized repeatedly for the unintended bait-and-switch job that ensued… and was sure to add a hefty gratuity to the final bill he gave me.

Of course, now I have this AirRide pin box still sitting in the bed of my truck… so I’ll need to make another 2-hour detour trip tomorrow morning when I leave here to return it. I don’t really want to, but considering it’s over $1,200… I’ll make the trip south, and then turn west towards North Dakota.

Gotta love adventures in RVing, right?
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Old 05-26-2021, 09:10 PM   #113
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Final update (I hope):

Successfully towed the rig from northern Minnesota to central North Dakota today… including the detour to return the pin box, which went smoothly. Could’ve done without waking up to THIRTY FIVE freakin degrees this morning, after mid79s weather the day before… but oh well.

7+ hours on the road with no issues, so I guess the repair-welds are good. Of course, that was the first thing I visually inspected at the first fuel stop, and again on arrival at the campground. No obvious issues.

I will say the ride was a bit “stiffer” without the benefit of the floating king-pin plate on the TriGlide rollers… but not overly harsh.
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Old 05-27-2021, 02:52 PM   #114
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Glad to hear you made it! I think that while I was driving it would have been all I could think of and every noise would have added to the amount of stress.

What's the plan now? Going to get a replacement and change it back to what it should be or keep what you have? I looked at the pictures of the repair and it looks dependable and looks like he did a good job although a little shaky on one side but...
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Old 05-27-2021, 11:00 PM   #115
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Originally Posted by franktafl View Post
Glad to hear you made it! I think that while I was driving it would have been all I could think of and every noise would have added to the amount of stress.

What's the plan now? Going to get a replacement and change it back to what it should be or keep what you have? I looked at the pictures of the repair and it looks dependable and looks like he did a good job although a little shaky on one side but...
Ha, yeah… trust me… for the first 100 miles, I was pretty nervous. I cringed & snuck a peek in the rear-view mirror at every railroad crossing, pothole, uneven highway pavement, etc. Eventually I relaxed, and it all seems to be ok.

I’ve arrived in the Black Hills country of South Dakota, and I’ll be here for the next 8 days… which is the first “long stay” I’ve had since I left Cody on May 1st. Finally a chance to rest & relax for a bit, with nothing on my schedule. No events to attend, family to meet up with… and no maintenance that I HAVE to do.

As for “the plan”… notice I said no maintenance that I “have to do”. But I’d be lying if I said that I was completely comfortable with the weld-repair. In my mind, I’m still thinking of it as a band-aid, and not a solution.

So I’m sure that, eventually, I’ll end up replacing it. I may give Lippert a call tomorrow to see if, at some point, I can order just the lower jaw assembly of the Long-Tow FlexAir pin box… and mount that to the upper box that I already have. I don’t see it listed on their site anywhere, but unless there’s something different about the upper portion of the pin box, I don’t need that part of it.

But either way… buying just the lower jaw, or an entirely new pin box… it would be a logistical nightmare. Unless I could by some stroke of good luck find one in stock someplace on my current travel schedule… I’ll have to find out how long it would take for them to ship it from Elkhart to wherever I’ll be in the west, and then figure out a place where I can be there long enough in case it gets delayed in shipping. Oh… and then find someone to install it for me without a 2 or 3 week delay to get on their work schedule.

So bottom line… we’ll see.
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Old 05-28-2021, 01:00 PM   #116
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I bought the lower jaw only for mine (not the tri-glide as they no longer make it) and it bolted right on.
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Old 06-13-2021, 04:37 AM   #117
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Just found this thread. We had the SAME issue as ATCGuy just recently coming back to MN from IN. "Chucking" was getting significantly worse as we drove. Found an RV repair place less than an hour on our route who agreed to stay open and look at it. Long story short, he ended up welding the plate to the lower jaw just like your guy did. I've pulled it a few more miles with the stiffer but adequate ride. I'm grateful to the owner of Will's Far-Go in west central Indiana for saving the day (if not also some lives).
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Old 06-14-2021, 08:54 AM   #118
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Last year mine cracked the upper jaw

Last year, I experienced a cracked upper jaw where the shock mount is. We were on a trip and had to call in a mobile welding service. He also welded a bead over the existing welds on the outer vertical factory welds as they looked suspect to him.
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Old 07-26-2021, 09:42 PM   #119
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I bought the lower jaw only for mine (not the tri-glide as they no longer make it) and it bolted right on.
Where and what one did you buy?
Getting my lower plate welded tomorrow.
I'm 1800 miles from home and not planning on be home until the first of Oct.
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Old 07-27-2021, 07:59 AM   #120
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Ordered thru Lippert. Just the plain lower TrailAire jaw. You will need your serial number when you call to ensure you get the correct weight one - mine is a 21,000 pound.
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