Desperate for airbags or something to eliminate rear sag

Spring . . . . . Bars.

Whether the OP gets stiffer springs or not doesn't change the fact that his WDH isn't doing its job currently. Stuffing stiffer springs or air bags under the truck and leaving the WDH as is is like putting lipstick on a pig. I might look good and level, but its not good and the ride/stability will not improve much.

 

Axle weight will also be a problem. I am betting his rear axle is over-weight as it sits in the photo as well.

My rig with the trailer:

Steering Axle: 3620lb
Rear Axle: 3780
Trailer: 6540
Gross: 13940

Total trailer weight: 7410lb
Trailer Tonge weight: 870lb

My rig without the trailer with me an a few things in it:

Steering Axle: 3470
Rear Axle: 2760
Gross: 6230

Truck Rating:

Steering Axle: 4000lb
Rear Axle: 4150lb
Gross: 7200lb

I had about 300lb in the bed when I ran the trailer over the scales. I am heavier on the steering axle when loaded, the front height is about the same so I am comfortable that the hitch is right where it should be.

Squat is nothing to be afraid of. It is what gives your truck a great ride.

My camper is published as 5,500lb empty. I think that this is a crap number. There is no way I have 2,000 pounds of stuff in there! I would believe 1,000 or even 1,200lb. My water/sewer tanks were even empty when I weighed it.

Mine squats 1.75" with the trailer hooked up. It sits level when empty. I am running an Equalizer hitch with 1000lb bars. Here is a picture:

 

I agree. My Limited barely squatted towing a 22ft enclosed car trailer with a car inside.

 

The idea of a Sport having softer springs is a little odd to me. Wouldn’t a sport indicate better on road handling and therefore stiffer springs? I could see an Off road or Pro having softer springs for better off road ride and articulation, but not a Sport which should lean more toward on road performance.

 

Sag isnt bad. However hitting the bumpstops on the freeway kinda sucks. Driving around curvy roads is also a hell of a lot nicer with support springs

 

Good post!

Squatting is required for the wdh to engage. No matter where you start from, the suspension has to compress to engage the bars.

in order to make the compression less, you need stiffer bars that don’t have to bend as far to hold the load.

 

My supervisor at work called them 'helpers'. they help haul more weight he said.

 

Reading this thread.... I'm a new 2022 owner (Limited Trim) and picked up my camper for the first time tonight and got upset by amount of sag. Seems like adding air bags is my only option? (I don't want a lift at all). Measures 4" from the fender to the wheel with my WDH hitch on (1000lbs bars). 7.5" with no load (See thumbnails of these measurements). the WDH hitch is only taking out .25" of the .75" of front fender lift when the bars are used. So, maybe I can adjust that a bit more for this truck to get that closer to half of the .75",but still, I'm worried about our long drive in July if I don't do something about this sag.

Has anyone installed after-market air-bags? Does Toyota have a factory self-leveling option I should consider?

My 36' camper is 8,000lbs dry

 

You have the same problem as the OP. An 8000 lb dry trailer has probably a 1200 lb tongue weight when loaded. You should have minimum 1200 lb bars. I believe Equalizer goes from 1000 lb to 1400 lb bars. Your tongue with propane and batteries is easily over 1000 lbs and is crushing your wdh bars

RV dealers are notorious for doing a crappy job setting up wdh’s

 

If you front axle is not right about where it was before hooking up your hitch is out of adjustment.
I have done bag and I have done SumoSprings. I would go SumoSprings again if anything. However, both of these options overloaded my rear axle while not putting the weight back on the front like it should.
Do it right or you may find yourself very much regretting it at some point in the future.

 

Your trailer is too big for a halfton.

 

I wasn’t gunna go there

 

I think adding airbags would definitely help especially combined with weight distribution hitch.

 

Agreed, 8,000lbs does sound like bigger truck territory despite manufacturers claiming 15,000lbs or whatever towing capacity..

 

It's always payload that runs out first. Sure, the third gen has a couple hundred pounds more than the second gen but it also has a lower RAWR.

 

i pulled this camper with an F250 last season, but that truck wasn’t reliable. Bought the Tundra thinking it would pull the 8000, but didn’t consider tongue weight I guess. I felt the tundra had more power Pulling it down the road though. Shoot. Now I’m thinking I made the wrong purchase. . Love the truck, but it’s purchase was based solely on the ability to pull our camper a few times a year.

 

I'm sorry to say there are lots of differences between halftons and heavy duty trucks. Power isn't your only concern. The Super Duty also has beefier components throughout, bigger brakes, etc. It's a shame that Toyota won't get into the heavy duty world and reliability on the big three seems to be hit and miss. There are a few folks here who've gone to heavy duty trucks and haven't had too many issues yet. I chose to buy a smaller trailer instead.

 

If it tows it nice and it feels in control I wouldn’t worry about the sag that much. Being stable and stopping it with good control is what really matters. Id just be careful loading too much stuff in the truck. As you said maybe make some adjustments to your WDH. I know they’re all different but I can really see the bow in my Blue Ox bars when I have them hooked up, and I really need to jack up the tongue of the trailer and rear of the truck to even get them hooked up/detached with all the tension.

Over time you could look at using airbags or something similar to reduce the sag. Your trailer is a bit larger than I’d want for a half ton, but I’m assuming you’re probably still within, but at the absolute max of the trucks abilities. Maybe go get some axle weights on a scale when you’re loaded up for a better idea.

 

I have a 5400lb (dry) TT. Guessing it’s just over 7000lb loaded. I have a scale, tongue weight is 1000lb. That’s pretty heavy! I use a properly set up wdh (took a couple times to dial it in just right). When hooked up the front stays level, I sag just under 2” in the rear (so the truck is level due to front rake). To me that’s expected with a half ton. My 2019 ram 1500 did the exact same thing. The truck tows great. I prefer it to the Ram, much more low end power and better shifting.

i think you need to look at your wdh weight rating and setup. You should have no problem if it’s properly set up and the right size.

 

If anyone is buying a ‘22 for towing. Get a truck that has the load leveling air suspension package and tow mirror package. Adjust the sensors in the airbags from the factory setting to get the bump stops up a little higher off the axle. Tow machine.

Get the black wheels and a color matched mustache later.

 

Spent time to adjust the hitch last night and got an inch of sag removed. The front only lifts about a quarter of an inch now versus 3/4 of an inch before. Couldn’t get a tape measure up there but the bump stops look to be about 2 inches above the axle. Maybe slightly more.

i’m still researching aftermarket airbags to install, but the firestone ones at real trucks.com say they will fit on their website but I spent an hour and a half on the phone with them yesterday and they determined they will not fit as fire stones documentation only has them certified fit through 2021.

If anyone has experience with a set of airbags that are verified to fit the 2022s, please let me know.

 

As of right now all that is being used is land cruiser air bags that are 1000lbs as air lift and Firestone have not released any specific kits for the 22s

 

My truck set up. See post above for more info. Tow’s great!

 

That looks pretty damn good. The front still looks a little high to me but that could just be the wide angle of the shot.

 

Well, I was just looking at my trailer on the weekend and realized my WDH bars are not set the same on both sides. Back to the hitch shop.

 

The guys at real truck.com recommended these.

 

this is for the TACOMA though

 

Y’all need to learn how to setup a WDH properly. Pulled my 34’ 9k loaded TT with no problem and no bags.

 

I don't fully understand why airbags would help in these situations. The sag is just a matter of tongue weight, right? I would imagine inflating the rear wont necessarily put more weight back on front axle? Just because the truck is visually level doesn't mean the weights are ideal? Inflating/raising rear could add more load to rear axle? Would it add a little to front?

I tow enclosed car haulers so I can shift the car and gear around a bit to get right/safe amount of tongue weight. No sway but also not too light on the steering.

Just curious and looking for insight.

 

I think that lack of knowledge on trailering is part of the issue and why immediately throwing bags is the fix... And I'm not saying that in a rude manner... Learning the proper way to set up hitches and disperse weight is something that most don't know how to do, or even know is a thing... Doesn't help when your camper/trailer dealer doesn't take the time to show you either, and just sells you equipment and sends you down the road...