Essential Aftermarket Towing Accessories

[Zoe Saldana]

Says the person who making it apparent that they have a lack of knowledge about the how's and what's of towing with a truck that has a coil rear suspension.
Sadly even being within spec for towing and having the WDH adjusted correctly the nose of these truck will still point at the stars, that not a problem if your just towing during daylight hours. If you try to crank the bars down enough to level the truck the rear end goes light which causes stability issues.

You don't know how a weight distribution hitch works.
PLEASE stop posting misinformation.

Watch this:

How A Weight Distribution Hitch Works

Sometimes weight distribution hitches can be difficult to wrap your brain around everything that’s going on when you hook one up to your truck and trailer. T...

www.youtube.com

 

[Riccochet]

You don't know how a weight distribution hitch works.
PLEASE stop posting misinformation.

Watch this:

How A Weight Distribution Hitch Works

Sometimes weight distribution hitches can be difficult to wrap your brain around everything that’s going on when you hook one up to your truck and trailer. T...

www.youtube.com

A WDH transfers weight from the drive axle back to the trailer axle and steer axle via leverage of the torsion/tension bars. Or tension chains if you use an Andersen. This doesn't prevent sag. For instance, lets say your tongue weight is 1000 lbs. WDH may transfer 300 lbs off of the drive axle. You are still going to deal with 700 lbs of sag plus the weight of the WDH, cargo and passengers. The best you can hope for is a level truck when hooked up. But level now means you are about 3-4 degree off from stock. That effects your headlight alignment. That doesn't negate the fact that leverage also comes in to play in the reverse sense that when you go over a dip or hump in the road you are compressing and releasing tension on the spring bars. When all that weight comes back down on the rear suspension it's going to compress more, and then spring back more. Creating that porpoising effect.

It's not rocket surgery to understand that the Ram 1500 has a soft rear suspension due to the coil springs. This has been known since the truck was introduced with rear coils. This is what gives it a superior unloaded ride quality over GM, Ford that use leaf springs. Maintenance has nothing to do with it. A brand new 1500 off the lot is going to sag and bounce with a load on the drive axle. I've owned and towed all over the southeast with 2 new 1500's from 2013 to 2021. It's why I now tow my 31' 8000# travel trailer with a 2500.

Ram 1500 is a great truck, and they tow ok'ish when stock. No way in heck I'd be towing 10,000 lbs with one even if it's rated for it.

 

[Zoe Saldana]

A WDH transfers weight from the drive axle back to the trailer axle and steer axle via leverage of the torsion/tension bars. Or tension chains if you use an Andersen. This doesn't prevent sag. For instance, lets say your tongue weight is 1000 lbs. WDH may transfer 300 lbs off of the drive axle. You are still going to deal with 700 lbs of sag plus the weight of the WDH, cargo and passengers. The best you can hope for is a level truck when hooked up. But level now means you are about 3-4 degree off from stock. That effects your headlight alignment. That doesn't negate the fact that leverage also comes in to play in the reverse sense that when you go over a dip or hump in the road you are compressing and releasing tension on the spring bars. When all that weight comes back down on the rear suspension it's going to compress more, and then spring back more. Creating that porpoising effect.

It's not rocket surgery to understand that the Ram 1500 has a soft rear suspension due to the coil springs. This has been known since the truck was introduced with rear coils. This is what gives it a superior unloaded ride quality over GM, Ford that use leaf springs. Maintenance has nothing to do with it. A brand new 1500 off the lot is going to sag and bounce with a load on the drive axle. I've owned and towed all over the southeast with 2 new 1500's from 2013 to 2021. It's why I now tow my 31' 8000# travel trailer with a 2500.

Ram 1500 is a great truck, and they tow ok'ish when stock. No way in heck I'd be towing 10,000 lbs with one even if it's rated for it.

Please stop spreading misinformation.

 

[Riccochet]

Please stop spreading misinformation.

No one here is spreading misinformation. It's sad that you refuse believe the facts.

 

[crash68]

You don't know how a weight distribution hitch works.
PLEASE stop posting misinformation.

Watch this:

How A Weight Distribution Hitch Works

Sometimes weight distribution hitches can be difficult to wrap your brain around everything that’s going on when you hook one up to your truck and trailer. T...

www.youtube.com

So you post a video that backs what I just stated? (golf clap)
I know how they work along with the physics that make them work along with how to adjust for the load. There's no misinformation, if anything I set many people on the correct path to properly setting up a 1500 to push the towing spec right up to the proverbially "line in the sand"

A side note you might want to check yourself on how you reply.

 

[Zoe Saldana]

No one here is spreading misinformation. It's sad that you refuse believe the facts.

I only post facts; not fear.

 

[cbird02]

Beer, for when you get there.

Ding ding ding..we have a winner!

 

[tron67j]

Perhaps one thing to clarify is that bags can help with returning a ride to factory level, the whole headlight thing. But they are not designed to increase the vehicle's GVWR so as long as the intention is not to exceed that rating, bags can be added if the person has bucks laying around.

My adversion to bagd is that I like simplicity to keep my wallet from leaking money, and since we always have something happen on our trips (cousin's trailer broke weld on spring to axle this last trip) I want to minimize the chances I have a problem. I buy more truck than I need so I don't worry about things like bags and the additional mechanicals involved. Yes, ride suffers but I accept that.

However, when I read questions about bags to increase payload capacity, it is generally because the writer is at or over their PC and the answer is always a firm no, bags won't do what they want them to do. In those instances you need more teeth; don't try to use a Velociraptor to do a T-Rex's job.

 

[Justthebutler]

I only post facts; not fear.

YOUR facts; are not, THE facts lol

 

[John Jensen]

I only post facts; not fear.

You post comments (make statements) without any facts. Give us a source of your info or something, anything.

 

[ramffml]

I tried the airlift 1000, didn't like them. Even at 5 psi they change the unloaded ride quality, and reducing that even further just caused squeaking noises and eventually they would fail due to the membrane rubbing on the coil. Worst of all, they did not fix my porposing. They were ripped out after 2 trips (literally ripped, just stuck a knife in them and yanked them out in pieces with a pliers).

Not a fan of them. I think the danger of using them is that an inexperienced driver can visually correct an imbalanced load without actually correcting the imbalance. If you use them in addition to a properly setup WDH, just to tweak the height a little bit, fine, but you shouldn't need to use them. Neeeding to use them is a sign that you got something off somewhere.

I am a fan of the hellwig, I have mine set to the stiffest setting year round. Never towed without it so I can't compare stock towing experience there. I just prefer the cornering ability now.

My preference is to use a WDH only, to correct an imbalance. If you're using a WDH and still sagging crazy amounts, then you just need a bigger truck or your WDH needs adjusting or your trailer is loaded hitch heavy etc, very easy to see what's going on that way.

A little sag is perfectly fine, that's the entire point of the factory rake on these trucks.

I also found that the Anderson fixed my porposing, whereas the husky centerline did not.

My pair of pennies.

 

[Jim BB]

best upgrade I did to my 1500's was Air Lift 1000 in coil air bags. Cheap and really helped remove porpoising.

I agree i put that system in to my truck and i toe about the same TT as toy and it does not even squat

 

[gofishn]

i see you guys have yet to use the "Ignore this Idiot" feature for certain folks.
Though, givng credit where credit is due, their obviously drivel does illicit a lot of
justifiable indignation and helps to keep a thread alive, even if it its completely off topic.

I love the Ignore feature:
Enjoy being able to read your replies without having to read their stupidity.

 

[star_deceiver]

i see you guys have yet to use the "Ignore this Idiot" feature for certain folks.

If I ignored all the idiots this forum wouldn’t be half as interesting.

On topic: Check your spare tire; grease the hell out of your ez lubes; make sure you’ve packed condiments (you only forget the mustard once…)

 

[Justthebutler]

On topic: Check your spare tire; grease the hell out of your ez lubes; make sure you’ve packed condiments (you only forget the mustard once…)

100% especially the condiments LOL. I always end up with a shop fridge full of random condiments every season from all the times I forgot

 

[gofishn]

100% especially the condiments LOL. I always end up with a shop fridge full of random condiments every season from all the times I forgot

Huge, outside area rug.
Saves a ton of cleaning inside the camper.

Powerful, Portable vacuum.

Young Kids.
Saves, a ton, of bending over & steps.
Hey, take this over there.
Grab that there.
Pick this up.
Dig this out, form underneath the seat.
Make that top bunk.

Got to say, having young flexible humans, with no arthritis, is a huge plus.
Dogs, no matter how well trained, just aren't the same.

 

[chopperdog45]

Huge, outside area rug.
Saves a ton of cleaning inside the camper.

Powerful, Portable vacuum.

Young Kids.
Saves, a ton, of bending over & steps.
Hey, take this over there.
Grab that there.
Pick this up.
Dig this out, form underneath the seat.
Make that top bunk.

Got to say, having young flexible humans, with no arthritis, is a huge plus.
Dogs, no matter how well trained, just aren't the same.

Absolutely. Those "patio rugs" are great. We were recently camping in the Savannah area and we had a couple of rain storms come through and the area rug kept us from coming in and out of the camper onto a soggy, muddy grassy area. Well worth the cost.

And I 100% agree with the little helpers, too. "Son, can you run into the camper and grab me the cheese for the burgers? Oh, and another beer too, please."

 

[Justthebutler]

Got to say, having young flexible humans, with no arthritis, is a huge plus.
Dogs, no matter how well trained, just aren't the same.

 

[Riccochet]

Something else I take camping is dewalt cordless mini leaf blower. I have the 20v max version. Use it to blow off the patio rug, roof and slides, vehicles. Just great for clean up.

 

[Malodave]

I have one of these to know how much weight is being put on the Truck.

Fixed Height Ball Mount

The Weigh Safe Fixed Height Ball Mount measures tongue weight, similar to the award winning Weigh Safe Adjustable Ball Mount.

www.weigh-safe.com

Malodave