Towing issue's

[Diesel Power]

OK i have a 04 LB DRW 3500 CC 4x4.

im towing a GN 44' elclosed race car trailer 3 axel with full living QT's, it is heavy and steel framed.

When i hook up the trailer it puts the truck down on the over loads and gives it a high front end feel when driving and steering feels sloppy.



anyway what are your suggestions, most of my towing buddies say that timbrens are the way to go. ThanksOo.

 

[mickeyblueyes]

Thats one way, another popular method is to install firestone or riterite airbags, They are inflated according to your needs ,when hooked up inflate to ~70 pounds of pressure when empty deflate to 5 lbs to keep the stock ride. They are easily installed at home. They can be bought on line for about 299~399. ,

 

[Gene Arnold]

I'm not familiar with "timbrens" so pardon me if I miss something important. That being said, are you using a good, heavy, load leveler hitch set-up? If not that could help. Air bags are good but won't solve all the issues.



Gene

 

[Grizzly]

I'm not familiar with "timbrens" so pardon me if I miss something important. That being said, are you using a good, heavy, load leveler hitch set-up? If not that could help. Air bags are good but won't solve all the issues.



Gene

I'm not familiar with a Load Leveler on a Goose Neck type hitch. Can you explain.



Diesel Power, your 3500 DRW may not be enough truck for a 44' GN trailer. You may need a 4500 or a 5500 CC (Cab & Chassis).

 

[JDietz]

You need a set of equilizer bars, 750# or 1000#, depending on the hitch weight of the trailer you are towing. Equilizer bars will transfer some of the load to the front of the tow vehicle, depending on how you set it up. I tow a 34' airstream, about 8500# loaded, and do not have air bags or timbrems, what ever that is, and have been towing for 20 years with no problem. My 04. 5 lwb Dodge is the best tow vehicle I've had. Very stable, no sway. On level road, with light wind, I get 14 mpg. If you have a goose neck this won't work.





04. 5 2500 lwb, srw, camper shell, stock except for Smarty jr

 

[CurtLee]

This is a gooseneck, equilizer bars aren't going to help.



Diesel Power, how much does the trailer weigh?

 

[Slow Six]

I tow heavy fifth wheels with mine. I installed the Energy Suspension bump blocks which make contact with the overload springs a lot sooner than the stock ones. These help some but I also installed the Firestone Ride Rite air bags with an on board compressor. I am satisfied with this set up. As mentioned above the air bags are an easy install.

 

[Mark31]

got any idea what you weigh?

 

[jelag]

We tow heavy with an 04, 04. 5 05 (3500's) and 08 5500... .

We've installed a piece of square tubing between the snubber and the frame where the overload contacts the snubber... . This takes up the space so the truck hits the overloads sooner... . same snubber just a longer bolt...

We've also mounted PacBrake air bags on the frame... we run the air bags at 5 psi when the truck is empty and up to 85 psi when loaded with 3500 - 4000 lbs on the goose neck or 5er hitch... . We've found that this combination allows us to level the truck... we use a small air pressure regulator off the air pacbrake air tank and just raise the pressure as needed to level the truck... .

 

[Gene Arnold]

Sorry, I didn't know you have a goose-neck. Have zero experience with one of those birds.

Gene

 

[Diesel Power]

loaded trailer weight is about 15,000. TW about about 3500+??



Thanks

 

[mberry]

I think your best option would be air bags. Just my opinion.

 

[icman95]

I don't have them, but I gotta believe airbags will do the trick to a point. If you're severly overweighting the truck, then you might be doing more harm then good. Commercial vehicles use them all the time for such purposes.

 

[Ross]

Get the AIR BAGS! I tow a 40+ footer that's about 23500 fully outfitted. My truck is a "star-gazer" without the bags. If you can afford the extra $$, get the on-board compressor and in-cab controller. Well worth it



Please... no comments about overloading my rig, I know that I am at risk, liable, a menace to society, yada, yada, yada...

 

[HBarlow]

Gen III Rams were apparently designed and built with longer rear leaf springs to provide a better ride than Gen IIs but I found the springs too soft when I was pulling heavy every day with my '06 3500 DRW. I talked with or listened to several fellow RV transporters and a few TDR members who had air bag setups and I noticed that all of them complained about leaking air fittings and tubing with air bags. I asked a friend and fellow TDR member about my options and he recommended Timbrens instead. He had owned both.

I purchased and installed Timbrens and was very pleased with the result. The advantages of Timbrens compared to air bags is less expensive to purchase, less complicated, less time required to install, and no maintenance required. The disadvantages of Timbrens: Stiffer unloaded ride, and not adjustable.

Your money, your choice.

 

[Hoefler]

If you are feeling sloppy steering and a light front end, air bags or any other helper spring will not help that. You need to move your goose neck ball forward to get some more of your tongue weight on the front axle. The air bags will help you carry the load better and level you out, but they will not move the weight forward to get the steer axle back on the ground.

 

[steved]

If you are feeling sloppy steering and a light front end, air bags or any other helper spring will not help that. You need to move your goose neck ball forward to get some more of your tongue weight on the front axle. The air bags will help you carry the load better and level you out, but they will not move the weight forward to get the steer axle back on the ground.

I agree... bags/blocks will not help an improper balance point.



The ball needs slid forward a tad... might want to measure it and see if it was installed incorrectly (too far rearward).

 

[Diesel Power]

OK thanks guys,



BTW my truck is built to handle 26000 GVRW, so with a rear support of some kind, it should be fine. right?

 

[jelag]

One of the things that I've done is to weigh the truck empty, per axle and with the 5er installed per axle... . We pick up almost 700 lbs on the front axle when the 5er is hitched, 3,000 on the rear axle, plus the 4,200 lbs per axle on the 5er.....

It was important to me, to get the axle's on the 5er close to the same, we did this by raising and lowering the hitch, and later by adding air to the air bags to level it all out...

We like to go down the road with the 5er almost level... . maybe a little tongue high so that if and when we pull in at night we can set down the air bags a little and level the trailer and go to bed... . of course when we park we really level the trailer...

We've found that on the work trailers that even distribution of the load is important as well... we used to pull a 20K trailer with our 04... we logged over 250K doing this. . but just felt we were just pounding the truck and trailer too hard... . we still have the truck doing in town work. . now at over 300K... .

The key issue I hate is the studded tire ruts in our roads... the width of a dually front axle, rear axle, and now trailer axles make this combination a very wishy/washy thing... on badly rutted roads your always fighting the need for one axle or another to either go into a rut or climb out... .

Hope this helps... .

 

[Grizzly]

I've never had air bags and don't want them. Every one that has them alway complain about the bags leaking air. I'd rather add more springs or install the Timbrans.



The springs on the 3rd gen are longer and wider for a better ride. They can also handle more load than the 2nd gen springs. I had two identical 3500 DRW Dodge trucks, my 95 and my 05. The 05 is rated to handle about 4800 pounds payload in the bed, which is much more then the 95. Also the 05 had less squat than the 95 with my, then, 11' 3" Lance camper on. The 05 also handled the loaded camper much better than the 95, stability wise. Both trucks went on many long trips with the camper, including Alaska.