Flex-Air clunks just like Tri-Glide. What the???

[5th_Time]

For 5 years, I had the factory Tri-Glide on the Redwood and have experienced all the banging people have discussed here on the forum. Over the winter, I changed out the Tri-Glide 18K for the new Flex-Air 18K. Installation was surprisingly straight-forward for such a large endeavor.

This past week, I used the Redwood on a first-of-the-year outing to Myrtle Beach and looked forward to trying out the "new and improved" pinbox. To my surprise, the Flex-Air banged and clunked almost as bad as the Tri-Glide and maybe even worse accelerating from a stop sign or traffic light. Now I'm checking out the hitch, but the whole hitch only has about seven parts...

Any Flex-Air owners experiencing this clunking issue??

[shrode]

I have the same setup: Flex Air & Reese Elite 18K. All good so far, but I only have about 300 miles under my belt. I was fortunate enough to have Redwood replace the Tri-Glide before I took delivery, so I never towed with one for comparison.

[Char & Steve]

This is why I stay with my nice simple Mor-Ryde pin box. I have no clunking or noise of any kind.

Steve

[Shane Wood]

I have 6000 M on the flexair and no noise whatsoever. I would check all bolts for proper torque

[brenkco]

I replaced my roto-flex with a flexair, not any banging or chucking for us.

Ken

[NW Snowbirds]

I replaced my Triglide with a flexair in March and then towed the redwood 1400 miles to get home this month. There was no comparison with noise and banging between the Triglide and the flex air. The Flexair was smooth and quiet when accelerating or braking. Lippert has had some problems with the rubber buffer pad shifting and moving in the flex air. I can see if the rubber buffer pad had escaped the pin box then the flex air would make similar noise to the Triglide.

[5th_Time]

Thanks for all your input about how good the Flex-Air is. I was expecting the "silent treatment" from my Flex-Air pinbox too.
Like I said, the only other place to look is to the hitch. Found out today that Reese makes a Shim Kit (#58514) for the Elite Series to take out some front to rear movement of the tilting center section. It's possible that all the years of banging/clunking of the previous pinbox pounded some clearance into the hitch components. I'll check next time the sun comes out...

[hoosierguy]

Originally Posted by 5th_Time

For 5 years, I had the factory Tri-Glide on the Redwood and have experienced all the banging people have discussed here on the forum. Over the winter, I changed out the Tri-Glide 18K for the new Flex-Air 18K. Installation was surprisingly straight-forward for such a large endeavor.

This past week, I used the Redwood on a first-of-the-year outing to Myrtle Beach and looked forward to trying out the "new and improved" pinbox. To my surprise, the Flex-Air banged and clunked almost as bad as the Tri-Glide and maybe even worse accelerating from a stop sign or traffic light. Now I'm checking out the hitch, but the whole hitch only has about seven parts...

Any Flex-Air owners experiencing this clunking issue??

Mike......... You've got to stop trying to beat those other guys off the line when the light changes.

Guy

[bergeman]

Originally Posted by hoosierguy

Mike......... You've got to stop trying to beat those other guys off the line when the light changes.

Guy

Or switch to a Ford, so you can't start off the line very fast.

[Ford truck guy]

I switched from the Tri Glide to the Flex Air and have zero chucking.. The ride is vastly improved

[5th_Time]

For Flex-Air owners using the Reese Elite series 5th Wheel: Researching blogs and contacting Reese Product Tech Support, here are several scenarios that could cause the clunking above:

1. There may be excess forward/backward clearance between the body and the shaft-mounted tilting center section of the hitch. Mine has about 1/8" clearance. If so, apply Reese Shim Kit #58514. Amazon stocks this.

2. Excess clearance may have developed between the T-Pins at bottom of the hitch's base arches and the Pucks in the frame rails under the bed - allowing the hitch to lift slightly and clunk as accelerator or brakes are applied. Follow adjustment procedure in the Reese installation manual to remove this clearance.

3. The frame rail mounted pucks (above) may be worn or loosened in the rail. Reese sells replacement pucks for this if they are worn.

4. The trailer brake controller may need to be adjusted higher. The truck may be doing too much of the braking - causing a clunk as the trailer's momentum pushes all the clearances and the pin travels forward during a stop. This also causes a clunk as the trailer's weight pulls all the clearances back allowing the pin to travel rearward on acceleration.

I'll keep you posted as I work to resolve the issue...

[RomanyLife]

Excellent info everyone, thanks. We are waiting for delivery of our new Flex-Air and it will be installed at our service center. Our Tri-glide clunks even more now, and it scares me. No WAY is that a safe thing to have. I cannot believe they leave these things on the highways.