I want to tow a 5,000 lb. travel trailer that has what feels like a heavy tongue weight. My truck is lifted and when braking with this trailer attached, the back end of my truck feels unstable.
What can I do to beef up my suspension in order to "safely" tow this particular trailer?
Anyone out there had a similar problem?
Please let me know what I can do to improve my towing capacity.
Thanks...Scott
P.S. I'm new to the TS so I'm not sure if this issue has come up in the past.
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2001 Tundra, Black, Tuff Country 5" lift, 33" All-Terrains, Stealth Mode with No Decals
I would suggest air bags and a WDH if ya don't have one already.
the weight you have posted is reasonable with a Tundra. I take it you have weighed it and verified this? Have you scaled it and verified how much tounge weight.
Toh hole should jump in and assist as well.
I have weighed the trailer with water onboard, and it does weigh 5,000 lbs.
I have a DrawTite WDH with 1,000 lb. spring bars.
What is "Toh hole should jump in and assist as well?"
Anyway, I don't know what the tongue weight is but it must be plenty.
When I first hooked up the trailer, I pulled foward and hit the brakes and the back end took a dive and bounced. I felt it was from a soft suspension, but?
Air bags sounds like it would help. Anything else we are missing?
Scott
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2001 Tundra, Black, Tuff Country 5" lift, 33" All-Terrains, Stealth Mode with No Decals
tom hole and rocky mtn ray are the towing forum moderators and are very knowledgable.
We all go over to rv.net and reference material there as well.
with the 1000 lb bars you should be good to go you are adjusting them up to make the tow vehicle level?
Air bags are easy to install and will assist in stabilizing things, not to increase carrying capacity though.
Herbicidal is a great resource as well he tows a outback trailer that weighs close to 5600lbs or so. he is on the go with it alot.
I will look into the air bags and try to get the tongue weight measured so I know what I'm up against.
If the air bags can make the suspension a bit stiffer, then it may be more stable on the road.
Scott
Yep I won't tell anyone I aired my air bags up to 40lbs the tires up to 50 and hauled 1400 lbs of railroad ties in the bed today to the dump cause it would create a lot of hate and discontent. But it was very stable and can do it for short distances.
Yep I won't tell anyone I aired my air bags up to 40lbs the tires up to 50 and hauled 1400 lbs of railroad ties in the bed today to the dump cause it would create a lot of hate and discontent. But it was very stable and can do it for short distances.
That sounds pretty reasonable to me. The guy that put 3000-4000 lbs in the bed is the one that worries me.
I love reading stories about Tundras doing truck things. The "I took a Mustang today" posts get old after a while.
I want to tow a 5,000 lb. travel trailer that has what feels like a heavy tongue weight. My truck is lifted and when braking with this trailer attached, the back end of my truck feels unstable.
What can I do to beef up my suspension in order to "safely" tow this particular trailer?
Anyone out there had a similar problem?
Please let me know what I can do to improve my towing capacity.
Thanks...Scott
P.S. I'm new to the TS so I'm not sure if this issue has come up in the past.
I don't have a lot of experience with lifted trucks. Actually, I have none. From your posts, it sounds like you are doing all the right things, but still end up with a system that is ill behaved.
First question that came to mind is what does the weight distribution shank and head look like on a truck that high up? I am near the bottom of my Reese drop shank already with no lift. With 5" of lift, I would need a shank with an additional 5" of drop. That's a lot of drop, but should still work.
I would go to the scales and get some weights. That will tell us how the WDH is performing. I thought mine was perfect until I weighed everything and it was not.
So, go to the scales. The kind with 3 seperate pads (truck front axles, truck rear axles, all the trailer axles). Pull on with the WDH engaged. Get a weight. Then disengage the WDH and get another weight. The pull off, unhook the trailer and weigh the truck by itself. From those weights, we can determine exactly how well the WDH is working.
Also, post a picture (side shot) of the whole rig and a close up of the WDH setup.
We'll go from there. I added airbags and it helped, but they didn't help very much until I got the WDH set up properly. They could make it worse.
Sowens
They have moved your post to the correct location and Tom has jumped in and verified what I mentioned get the weights.
Eventually I will remeber to suggest getting pics as well so we can actually see if its riding level and how much drop you require with a lift on your rig.
Thanks for the great ideas. Unfortunately, I am starting another semester at Palomar College on Monday and also working full time. I am going to be pressed for time, but I will get those pictures as soon as possible.
I live in San Diego, CA. Do you know where the nearest three-axil scales are in my area?
I thought my Dad and I set up the WDH to make sure the truck and trailer were level and did not dip in the front or back. With the WDH and spring-bar attached the truck actually went down an 1/8" in the front and appeard to be level.
Again thanks for the info and I will private message you guys when I am able to work on my truck and tailer.
Talk to you soon,
Scott
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2001 Tundra, Black, Tuff Country 5" lift, 33" All-Terrains, Stealth Mode with No Decals
I am not familiar with the '01 model, so this is a shot in the dark, but what you describe as the rear end getting light and unstable is typical in a lifted vehicle without ABS that is not using an extension on the brake proportioning valve rod bracket. Look at your rear diff from the rear of the vehicle and see if it has a rod that goes from one side of the diff housing, to the brake proportioning valve. If it does have a rod, and you do not have ABS, then you need an extension for the bracket that holds the rod to the diff housing, this extension has to be the additional length as the lift, as an example, if you used 1" blocks to lift the rear, you need to make an extension 1 inch longer than the original.
The brake proportioning valve is designed to increase the braking force in the rear wheels as you add load to your truck. The bed moves closer to the axle and the rod moves the adjustment in the brake proportioning valve increasing force.
When you lift it, the rod moves the adjustment in the brake proportioning valve the opposite way from carrying a load, and that diminishes braking force to the rear wheels. Depending on how much you lift, it can get downright scary and dangerous, the trailer can easily push you across an intersection on a red light.
If this is not the case, simply disregard. If this is the case, let me know and I'll send you pics on how to make the bracket.
Towing capacity question?
Re: Towing capacity question?
Linear Mode
