Help with sag when pulling trailer. Thanks

Pulling my trailer with 4 bikes hanging over the tailgate. Running Bilsteins 5100 with the front leveled. Installed the Timbrens bump stops, but I wanted to see what other options I have instead of getting airbags? Thanks.

 

Post a picture of your setup loaded. Do you have the ability to add a Weight Distribution Hitch. I have WDH to pull my travel trailer. The WDH redistributes weight from your back axle to the front axle and trailer axle. You load up the torsion bars so you sit at a stock height. Check Craigslist, you could probably find one for $100.

Random video here. One thing he doesn't show, measure your 4 fenders before you start. set the preload so your truck sits at factory height with the bars engaged. Airbags are the last thing I would consider. They tend to burst at the most inconvenient times according to towing forums,

WDH also make your ride a lot more enjoyable and smooth.

Weight Distribution Hitch Explained - YouTube

 

Purely cracking a joke here, but the dude's trashcan size exhaust tip has me questioning everything he says....

 

Ok sorry, I didn’t watch the whole video, I’ll add 2 more. The pic is my setup. The trailer weighs 3100lbs.

https://youtu.be/C5ZmUSc2AW0

https://youtu.be/w9Dgxe584Ss

 

You can check into roadmaster active suspension. It will help with sag and towing and is an option other than air bags. Other than that, you could look into replacing the leaf springs or do an add a leaf if you are towing a lot.

 

What he said....I have the Roadmaster Active Suspension installed on my 2020 Crewmax but haven't had the opportunity tow our 27ft TT since I installed. I already have a Husky Centerline TS weight distribution hitch and besides distributing the weight to the front of your truck and back to some of the TT, the hitch definitely eliminated trailer sway for me and improved handling while towing.

 

Black SumoSprings on my truck. Maintenance free and work great, wouldn't go any other way.

 

I tow a 7500lb boat with a tongue weight about 700lbs. I have a little squat on the truck but only enough that the truck has a leveled look and not tail low. My truck is not leveled. If you’re towing regularly I’d recommend losing the level and the truck most likely won’t sit tail low with that little trailer. When we start adding a bunch of suspension add ons it’s usually not as good as staying stock if you’re towing. You leveled and now you’re trying to counter the level with more suspension goodies. Toyota put a rake on the truck because they made it to tow. The pro is made to be off-road which is why it’s lifted.

 

I agree that a properly set-up WDH is your first priority.

You could also consider mounting your bike rack on the trailer bumper, but you will have to forward bias any gear loaded into the trailer to off-set the bike load. This is not something you should do blindly. Once you've loaded the bikes and all the typical gear into the trailer, probably a good idea to weigh the trailer and it's tongue weight to insure tongue weight is still about 10% of trailer weight.

Loading the bikes on the trailer axle(s) would reduce the Tundra's payload directly by the weight of bikes and rack. But, don't get too excited...the weight of the WDH has to be counted directly against your payload.

 

Thanks for the heads up on possible mounting bikes on trailer hitch.

 

I went with the Timbrens, but maybe I need a heavier duty set?

 

To each his own, but when I used a 4-bike rack on the rear of a single axle travel trailer, I found that even nominally sized bumps caused the rack to bounce pretty bad due to the lever effect, even with a WDH and airbags on my F150. That is just my own experience. If you have a two-axle trailer, perhaps this is a non-issue.

 

I have a heavy trailer, so to be comfortable I have a good weight distribution hitch, Dobinson's HD springs, Roadmaster HD active suspension, and yellow HD Sumo spring bump stops. I loaded over 2200# in the bed yesterday and was still a solid 1" from making contact with the Sumo springs. I guess you could say it dropped 1.25" with over one ton in the bed and 1200# of that was at the rear with the tailgate down, probably about 600# actually on the tailgate itself. If you want to haul a load squat free I highly recommend this setup, also rides like a Cadillac full or empty. Thanks, Bilstein 5160's!