Lippert unveiled a number of innovations at RV Open House this past year that I’m still unpacking and one of those is a coil spring suspension system for fifth wheel trailers. Dubbed the Touring Edition suspension and marketed through Lippert’s Curt division, this new suspension could be a remarkable improvement in towing experience as well as extending the life of the fifth wheel.

Typical fifth wheel suspension systems

For the most part, fifth wheel suspensions consist of leaf springs with an equalizer beam between them to help level out the load. Leaf springs are the most traditional type of suspension and essentially consist of thin metal beams that form leaves. To increase capacity you add additional leaves.

These leaves are bound together and bolted, on one side, to a hangar that is welded to the chassis. On the other side they’re bolted to the equalizer which is a rocking beam type of thing that helps equalize the load.

This is a very simplistic look at this type of suspension and there have been all sorts of gadgets and upgrades to them over the years to help them perform better and last longer. The very basic units installed by a lot of manufacturers are done so because they’re really cheap but offer limited travel and very little isolation from the road.

Cars haven’t used leaf spring suspensions in decades and even some modern trucks have gone to coil spring suspensions. Because of the demand by buyers that towable RVs be as inexpensive as possible, leaf spring suspensions persist.

You wouldn’t find any modern vehicle that didn’t have shock absorbers and more advanced suspensions but it’s difficult to find a fifth wheel that uses much more advanced suspensions than the Ford Model T.

Curt’s existing independent suspension which can be found on trailers like the Ember RV Overland Edition.

Curt coil suspension

Curt unveiled a new coil suspension system for fifth wheels at Open House that offers a significant move forward in towable suspension systems. While there have been better suspensions available for fifth wheels for some time the fact that Lippert and Curt supply the vast majority of towable RV chassis on the market is where this is significant.

This new system uses coil springs and a hydraulic shock absorber which is like what you may have in a passenger vehicle. The SUV you drive likely has a similar system.

These coil springs are attached at the apex of a trailing arm system and a crossmember so the axle essentially swings up and down in response to the bumps in the road.

Since the system is stronger the springs can actually be made a bit softer so that means that your trailer isn’t going to be as jarred and shaken even on some rougher roads. Further, the hydraulic shock absorbers further reduce motion which helps ride comfort.

Lippert’s Vice President of OE Engineering Tim Schultz was recently interviewed on the system and shared some feedback.

“What we realized after towing them - the safety and the feel - is really superior to traditional trailer suspensions.” “We realized there was a need for a more mainstream version.”

This lines up similarly to the Curt coil spring suspension that companies like Ember RV have been using in specific models. In fact Josh Winters from Bish’s RV has shared just how differently these models tow than traditional trailers.

This newer suspension uses beam axles instead of being independent which does lower cost and weight but still provides significant performance improvement.

Further, the coil spring suspension also provides almost double the wheel travel over traditional leaf springs.

Other advances

There have been other significant advances announced by Lippert in the past year regarding fifth wheels as well, the most significant of these is the anti-lock braking for fifth wheels.

You almost can’t buy a car without this type of safety technology yet you almost can’t find an RV with it. Lippert is working to change this by making an affordable and reliable system available for towable RVs and I can’t be more emphatic about the fact that this is a big safety advance.

Anti-lock braking allows you to better maintain control over the vehicle and trailer when road or driving conditions become compromised and you need to quickly stop.

Conclusions

Honestly, by improving the ride and sure-footedness of a trailer you’re going to find them lasting longer just because the horrible roads in this country won’t have as much of an opportunity to jiggle them to pieces. This newer coil spring suspension is a big advance in towable suspension technology.

As mentioned a more advanced system than this is already in production by Curt and available on things like the Ember RV Overland Series. That variation is fully independent, as opposed to having axle tubes. It is an even better system but is costlier and heavier.

This solution from Curt will definitely improve the towing and ride quality of trailers without being quite as expensive. Honestly, if I were shopping for a new fifth wheel I would honestly hold out for one with this suspension.

How soon will that be? It may be a few months or even a model year as this system makes its way through production and design at RV manufacturers. And, of course, it won’t be available universally as many RV manufacturers are still going to favor the cheapest solution.

Curt also indicated that this may be available in the aftermarket so, if your fifth wheel has a cheap suspension and you want to upgrade, this may be available.