Improve body roll with high heavy load

I have a 22 tundra sr5 TRD and loaded it up in Alaska. Camper topper, propane, awning, 7 gal of gas mounted to the cap, and 20 gal of water, batteries and a fridge/freezer plus all my gear in the bed. I did add aftermarket airbags as well, i just fill enough to level the feont and back. Never had an issue with body roll anywhere I went i guess due to speed limits and lay of the roads. I just moved to the southwest, and on the drive thru Canada, never had an issue, but in the lower 48 the speed limits are like 20mph higher than alaska and Canada.

So thru a canyon in Montana I had the most booty puckering experience driving thru a canyon, felt like I was going to roll, even semi trucks were passing me and I was going as fast as I could.

Once a week I now commute thru a canyon both ways, and it's a little better since I've downloaded a bit, emptied out the gear from the bed and drained the side aux gas tank. I'm in the process of rearranging the weight distribution of the batteries, water tank, and fridge so they're all against the bed wall instead of the fridge stacked onto of the other two. But is there something else I can do/upgrade to improve road handling without compromising what I've found to be great off road.

I think it's pretty clear putting larger tires may be out of the cards for me, hopefully not

 

Roll can be mitigated with heavier stabilizers but the real fix is stiffer springs.

 

How do you have the airbags plumbed? Are they tied together with the same airline?

 

They're tied to a common valve. Hmm, is this a problem? I guess I can see one squishing air into the other. But I usually don't run them more than 8psi to level the truck.

 

exactly. They are doing nothing when you turn. Install another fill port and have 2 lines

 

This. Air gets pushed from one bag to the other in a turn and negates any spring rate increase from the bags. Separate valves is the way to go.

Also, perhaps look in to heavy duty stabilizer bars (sway bars). I'd start with the rear sway bar; AFE makes an adjustable rate sway bar with 70-100% higher spring rate than stock. When I say spring rate - that's exactly what sway bars do is add spring rate to a corner when in a turn. Hellwig also makes an adjustable rear sway bar that is a little less expensive.

While I'm not in a 3rd gen, I've run airbags and upgraded sway bars on my truck for years. Even with a heavy load in the bed, I can still out corner most the vehicles that I encounter in the twisties. I frequent a mountain road next a reservoir that's basically 15 miles of turns and sweepers; it flat out surprises me how stable the vehicle is going 10-15 mph over the cautionary corner speeds (except three turns - those can get a little dicey..). My shock absorber choice also makes a big difference. I've run a few different setups, but the Bilsteins with digressive valving make for the best handling for the price, while a linear rate coilover with adjusters still edges it out in the handling department.

So it depends on your budget, but I'd start with plumbing the bags separately and upgrade the sway bar.

 

TRD sway bars make an improvement, get the rear one for sure.

 

Dude thank you! I just got a few qd valves and immediately I could tell a difference. Just for the heck of it I did my canyon commute to the office and I could FLY through the corners, never had to hit my break even a little bit.

One thing I noticed while I was under the bed is it does look like my 3rdgen trd offroad might have a sway bar. Not a truck guy myself but I pretty sure this is it. It doesn't go below the rear diff like the red TRD sway bar, instead it goes across.

So hopefully I can skip this one and just plan on springs and shocks

Thanks again!

 

Yeah your coil sprung truck will have a sway bar both ends