Trail Air shock absorber

[Rogerfish]

Does the shock need to be serviced or replaced. How do you know if it is worn out?

[travelin' texans]

Saw this on the Keystone forum also.
What year is your Redwood? I would think if it was leaking oil or you've noticed excessive bouncing in the mirror replace it. Or if you've got lots of miles towing it replace it. Surely one short shock shouldn't break the bank. If I recall you can order them through Firestone as I believe they also have the airbag

[travelin' texans]

Replacement Shock for Trailair Air Ride and Flex Air 5th Wheel King Pins - Qty 1
(19 reviews) Price: $55.19 In Stock
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Replacement Shock for Trailair Air Ride and Flex Air 5th Wheel King Pins - Qty 1
Item # LC177223

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Lippert Components Accessories and Parts - LC177223
Replacement Shock for Trailair Air Ride and Flex Air 5th Wheel King Pins - Qty 1 Trailair Pin Box,Flex Air Pin Box LC177223
LC177223 - Trailair Pin Box,Flex Air Pin Box Lippert Components Accessories and Parts
Lippert Components Accessories and Parts - LC177223
LC177223 - Trailair Pin Box,Flex Air Pin Box Lippert Components Fifth Wheel King Pin
Replacement Shock for Trailair Air Ride and Flex Air 5th Wheel King Pins - Qty 1 Shocks LC177223
Lippert Components Fifth Wheel King Pin - LC177223
Accessories and Parts LC177223 - Trailair Pin Box,Flex Air Pin Box - Lippert Components
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Sorry link didn't show up, but this is from "etrailer" web site.

[ted 95]

if you are going to replace the shock add an extra. 2 side by side. you will need longer bolts and a bunch of flat washers. and you might have to trim a bit off the1/4' metal plate lip. it is a 45 minute total change over. what a difference. i was shown this trick by the inventor of the system. you won't regret it. NO bounce at all

[travelin' texans]

Originally Posted by ted 95

if you are going to replace the shock add an extra. 2 side by side. you will need longer bolts and a bunch of flat washers. and you might have to trim a bit off the1/4' metal plate lip. it is a 45 minute total change over. what a difference. i was shown this trick by the inventor of the system. you won't regret it. NO bounce at all

Just curious!
You state "no bounce at all", doesn't that defeat the whole idea of the shock/airbag setup? Might as well just use the original fixed King pin hitch if not wanting any bounce. Or just put 100psi in the airbag.
What's the advantage?

[Rogerfish]

I have 40,000 miles on a 2015 36RL including a summer in Alaska. Should that be enough to wear out a shock?

[ted 95]

What the shock does is help stop to upward motion. And having 2 it decreases this. This was suggested to me at Elkhart and it works. Is there still upward motion but not the bouncing

[Garyl53]

Are you saying that the shock mostly dampens when the airbag rebounds but provides very little resistance when the airbag is compressed? If the shock is designed this way I agree that multiple shocks would better reduce bouncing but if the shock is not designed that way then multiple shocks would also make it more difficult for the pin box to absorb forces and therefore they would be applied to the frame of the Redwood. Does anyone know if this is a custom specified shock used on the Flex-Air pin box?

[travelin' texans]

Originally Posted by Garyl53

Are you saying that the shock mostly dampens when the airbag rebounds but provides very little resistance when the airbag is compressed? If the shock is designed this way I agree that multiple shocks would better reduce bouncing but if the shock is not designed that way then multiple shocks would also make it more difficult for the pin box to absorb forces and therefore they would be applied to the frame of the Redwood. Does anyone know if this is a custom specified shock used on the Flex-Air pin box?

If you look at the Etrailer listing above it shows same part # for both Tri Glide & Flex Air.
As to the double shock setup, I've never seen nor heard of anyone on any forum mentioning that it was a better setup. I would think if it was that much of an upgrade that it would be offered as an option or at least others with heavy 5ers would be bragging it up.

[xtasee]

During the manufacturing process, all shocks are built with a certain "dampening rate" design with either dual action (dampening both directions) or single action (dampening one direction).

My humble opinion (which is probably not worth a lot) is that the shock was designed with the weight and bounce specifications that were tested and best results. If they needed twice the dampening, they could just design it in to the original or, (in the case of wanting an upgrade) the replacement part....