A number of people have asked for a report on my Morryde IS upgrade experience and first impressions so here you go.

Dropping our 38FL:

MORryde service hours are 6am - 2:30pm and they ask that they can start first thing on the first day of the 2 day install. That means our Redwood needs to be ready to go 6am “day 1”.

Many people stay in their couch while MORryde work on their rig, but we didn’t like that plan because they are very near a train track and we like our sleep. Also there is not much to do in the area for fun. We decided to drop the coach off the day before so they have it first thing and we won’t need to get up that early. Organized to stay in a Bed & Breakfast near by. Well at least that was the plan.

Regarding the drop off part; I thought we could drop the coach off up to 3pm and we would be good to go. We rolled in about 2:45pm not knowing that they needed our truck to measure and weigh the rig but everyone that could do that had already left at 2:30pm so we would still need to be back the next morning, yes at 6AM! So much for that plan…..

We negotiated a return time of 9am-ish with our truck so they could get things going, because 6AM really would not be realistic. Everyone agreed that was reasonable for both us and them.

We dropped our Redwood and headed to the B&B. It is in Middlebury about 20 minutes away. Since we already had the disk brakes from the factory the install time should be a bit shorter than the full 2 days anyway. All should be good, or so we thought.…

Reconciling the breakfast part of the B&B and the weight and measure:

We got to the B&B and it looked very nice. Owners Bruce and Sherry gave us a very hospitable tour and intro of their property.

They told us breakfast was at 9am. OH BOTHER! We explained our conflict with the MORryde install and said we are flexible we’ll just pass on breakfast the first day. Since our priority is the MORryde upgrade we need to forgo breakfast the first day and just head over to the service center.

After some well “discussion” with them we decided we better make a plan to both deliver the truck for the weight and measure early enough for MorRyde to start the work and take part in the “breakfast” part of the BnB. Again, so much for that plan.

In the end we worked out to set a wake up alarm, a vary rare event for us, and make sure to be at MORryde around 7:30am with time enough to get back for the 9am breakfast. That gets MORryde going 90 minutes earlier and us back to the BnB in time for us to enjoy breakfast.

Weight and measure before:

MORryde weighed all four wheels hooked up to the truck. Each wheel was around 3,600#, very balanced both left to right and front to back. They also measured the couch and it came in at 13’1”. We opted for the 8K version of the IS system, unhooked and went back for breakfast.

The breakfast:

Sure am glad we didn’t skip the breakfast, it was exceptional. In fact I can tell you we stayed at the McKenzie House Bed and Breakfast 3 days and breakfast all 3 days was exceptional. If you are getting work done at MORryde and don’t want to stay in your coach I have no reservations recommending this establishment. Our room was large and very comfortable, the bed was super comfortable and both the hot tub and pool was clean and well maintained. The owners Bruce and Sherry were very friendly and made us feel right at home.

Work complete:

When we returned to pick up the coach MORryde again weighed all 4 tires and measured the coach. The weight distribution now has shifted towards the front axle. In total we picked up about 300# and the front wheels are about 900# heavier each. Rear wheels now weigh in at 3,200# and the front wheels are about 4,100#. I’m not really thrilled with that because the maximum load capacity for the G614 is 3,750# so even with no water in the grey tanks the front tires are out of spec.

I have been waffling on upgrading the tires and wheels to 17.5” “H” rated tires but I now see that my tires are mounted very close together so that may not be possible. If I can not do that I will try to find 16” tires with a higher load capacity. Not sure if that is possible, but that is for another day.

On the height side the coach measured out at 13’2”, so it picked up 1”, no big deal.

Bonus cargo shelf:

I have a 38FL so outside storage is very limited. In order to make accessing the storage as easy as possible I decided to have them install a cargo slide. This is going to work great, but will require rethinking how I pack the space. Overall I think it’s going to be a real asset.

First impressions:

According to MORryde, the first 200 or so miles are the break in period and the ride should improve after that. We decided to do a short 100 mile pull just in case we ran into any issues, but boy what a difference they make. Going on and off bridges isn’t perfectly smooth, but the ride is significantly better. We also went over some railroad tracks and on some very bumpy roads and we both agreed the ride is much better.

Now I will solve the G614 load capacity issue and figure out the storage area.

I look forward to putting many miles on these upgrades.

Ken
Glad you are happy so far. I am curious why they would set it up so the fronts are heavier.and not balanced as you had prior to the install. Did they actually shift where the tires sit. If they moved the front set back or closer to the rear tires it would change the weight on the fronts. This would also add some more pin weight

Ken the 215/75R17.5 is within .2 of an inch in OD. No problem

Titan Guy,

So if there is enough clearance of .4" between my wheels you are saying I can upgrade to 17.5" tires that are "H" rated?

If there is enough clearance now. There will be no change with the 17.5.
Where are you getting clearance of .4"?
I was looking at the picture of the IS and it appears the front and rear tire are very close together?

The front and rear tires are very close together. Exactly the same spot as from the factory. The .4" comes from your .2" larger "outside diameter" (OD) increase to 17.5" wheels. That would be times 2 since both front and rear would increase by .2"

Did I not get that right?

That is not necessarily right. The Goodyear G614 LT235/85R16 G has an O.D. of 30.7. The Westlake ST235/85R16 G has an O.D. of 31.7.

Depending on the brand of 17.5 most are in the 30.5 range.

Either way the 17.5 will fit just fine.

The .2" is O.D. the radius is the actual so .1 x 2 = .2 difference

Ok, so perhaps they will fit but then the next question is what is the increase in load capacity?

The load capacity of the 17.5 H is 4,805 @125psi so 1,000 lbs more capacity than the G Goodyear.

I like that, thanks!

We may look at getting the MorRyde IS installed on our 38FL next year around Rally time, we will see how it goes.
Our 2nd year of factory warranty will run out in July 2016.

I had the Mor/Ryde IS on my last Redwood and am not sure I got $3k in value out of it.
I liked the system, no problems, smoothed the ride.

A lot of you are stating a "smoother ride"...Is that for the RV or for the Truck pulling the RV?

What gains do you achieve with the Mor-Ryde versus the Trail Aire?

Just curious...I still have Trail Aire and so far, I don't seem to recognize an issue.

GipCTravelers

The overall ride and handling of the rig improves quite a bit with the IS. Also, very little moves around in the coach. We leave the coffee maker, toaster oven and towel holder on the stove counter at all times.
Biggest thing for me besides the ride is that I have no suspension worries about shackles, springs, etc.
Minimal Maintenace, a couple of grease fittings. I personally will never have another fifth wheel without it.
Just my .02.

Oh, and we have the atria glide hitch and AirLift bags on the truck. Don't need the bags for weight, have them on for ride qualities.

The IS (Independent Suspension) smooths the ride of the trailer, has nothing to do with the Trail Air.