Help on suspension upgrades for a camper application

[DerikMill]

2020 Ram 2500 crew 4x4, hauling a new Arctic Fox 811 slide in camper. Installed Firestone Airbags but still get a lot of sway or roll. Anyone have experience with what can be done to decrease that feeling, I know the rear coil springs becomes more of an issue with modifications.

Thanks All

 

[tron67j]

Buy a 3500. That camper, weighing in at 2800 pounds plus, is very much over your max payload capacity before you put anything in it or you even get in the truck. Bags only raise the bed up but do nothing to fix the fact that your suspension is unable to cope with the weight. You can't fix the problem with parts and money.

 

[danielmid]

OP might be right at payload limits with the dry weight, need the truck sticker to be sure though.

 

[nlambert182]

I'm sure he's over on even dry weight. Not many 2500s with a Cummins will have that sort of payload capacity. Likely over on payload and axle once loaded.

OP - the roll comes from a few things. 1) Coil spring suspension, 2) Lack of dual wheels for a wider stance, 3) overload.

I agree with @tron67j . You are all up in 3500 territory. If you get a 3500 SRW you may get under the payload rating, but may still experience more roll and sway than you like because of the single wheel but it should stiffen up.

I wouldn't suggest trying to add airbags or some sort of "helper". That only masks the problem and won't help the axle.

 

[zrock]

Definitely have to step up to a 3500. From working in a campground for years i never seen anyone run a arctic fox camper on a 2500. Quite a few of them said a 3500 is still a little small for some of their units..

 

[tron67j]

I'm sure he's over on even dry weight. Not many 2500s with a Cummins will have that sort of payload capacity. Likely over on payload and axle once loaded.

OP - the roll comes from a few things. 1) Coil spring suspension, 2) Lack of dual wheels for a wider stance, 3) overload.

I agree with @tron67j . You are all up in 3500 territory. If you get a 3500 SRW you may get under the payload rating, but may still experience more roll and sway than you like because of the single wheel but it should stiffen up.

I wouldn't suggest trying to add airbags or some sort of "helper". That only masks the problem and won't help the axle.

I missed the Cummins listed in the about section, definitely way over on payload capacity by at least 1,000 pounds just in dry weight. And good call out on dual rear end, that is critical to having a much better ride.

 

[DerikMill]

OK sounds like I may have to buy a new truck, dont really want to. So could I change my springs to 1 ton springs to help the situation? Don't really want a dually as my truck is my daily driver also.

 

[CanuckRam1313]

OK sounds like I may have to buy a new truck, dont really want to. So could I change my springs to 1 ton springs to help the situation? Don't really want a dually as my truck is my daily driver also.

You could change anything you wanted to, to try and mask the real issue.
Putting lipstick on a pig doesn't make her prettier

However, you're over the rating, period. That puts you, your occupants, and anyone on the roads around you in a possibly compromising situation.

If you're going to do this, do it the right way!

Get the right vehicle for the job, or downsize your trailer to meet the load capacity of your existing truck so you're a safe operator.

These are your two best options IMPO.

 

[nlambert182]

OK sounds like I may have to buy a new truck, dont really want to. So could I change my springs to 1 ton springs to help the situation? Don't really want a dually as my truck is my daily driver also.

Technically yes you could change the springs but it won't get you where you need to be. A 2500 just isn't designed for this kind of weight. There's nothing you can do to "fix" the issue aside from moving to a 1 ton dually. That's a LOT of load on the truck. Like we've all said, anything aside from that is trying to mask a problem.

 

[danielmid]

OK sounds like I may have to buy a new truck, dont really want to. So could I change my springs to 1 ton springs to help the situation? Don't really want a dually as my truck is my daily driver also.

Isn't the 2500 coil and the 3500 leaf? You'd literally have to rebuild the back half of the truck. Not saying it's not possible, but if you're asking if that's possible it might be out of your wheelhouse.

 

[nlambert182]

Yep. It's not a small task either. The 3500 SRW is leafs, and then the 3500 DRW has extra overload springs with perches welded to the frame. Much better off moving to a 3500 and in this case a 3500 DRW is absolutely recommended.

 

[Panduh]

Oops, sorry for the original post. I see it's not a trailer, it sits totally on the bed.

 

[stevenP]

That rolling sensation is exactly what I experienced too when loaded down. I came from a 3500, thought I would down size my RV, and truck at the same time. The 2500 equipped with a diesel can only handle about 2100lbs of weight. And it rolls and squirms under that very noticeably going down the road. Its the coil spring suspension. Its the strangest sensation, as if the truck was trying to rock back and forth.

 

[Andersoncma]

I have a slide in Phoenix pop up truck camper on my 2011 Ram 2500. Actually wet weight is only 2K lbs. I agree w others, you should have a 3500 or even 3500 dually
On my 2500 w my light camper, I went with Firestone Ride Rite bags, Hellwig rear stabilizer, and front stabilizer with dual Fox shocks. My setup handles my camper perfectly, but it only weighs 2K lbs.

 

[dieselscout80]

2020 Ram 2500 crew 4x4, hauling a new Arctic Fox 811 slide in camper. Installed Firestone Airbags but still get a lot of sway or roll. Anyone have experience with what can be done to decrease that feeling, I know the rear coil springs becomes more of an issue with modifications.

Thanks All

Are your air bags both filled with a single line?

If you had the two air bags separated each would help decrease swaying.

 

[18CrewDually]

Here's a thread among many on the topic. I'd also make sure like stated above the airbags are plumbed separately. Next step would be to add Helwig sway bars to help control the sway.

Post in thread 'Swaying problems with in-bed camper' https://www.ramforum.com/threads/swaying-problems-with-in-bed-camper.192870/post-2702948

You can see below, the issue is not only soft springs, but mainly the location by design. They're inboard alot from the frame, compared to a 3500 leaf sprung truck the springs are outside of the frame giving it way more stability.

 

[Subrolex]

If you don't want to buy a new truck then then you'll have to your suspension. I had a friend with a 07 2500 Quad Cab 4x4 5.9 Diesel and he bought a Lance bed camper. Lazy Days sent him to a Heavy Duty truck place for an upgrade. Basicaly hi truck turned into a 3500 or 4500. I dont remember off hand. He did have airbags as well and when he wanted to tow the boat, he had to have a 4ft - 5ft heavy duty hitch extension to clear the camper. This would be your cheapest way than buying a new truck

 

[danielmid]

If you don't want to buy a new truck then then you'll have to your suspension. I had a friend with a 07 2500 Quad Cab 4x4 5.9 Diesel and he bought a Lance bed camper. Lazy Days sent him to a Heavy Duty truck place for an upgrade. Basicaly hi truck turned into a 3500 or 4500. I dont remember off hand. He did have airbags as well and when he wanted to tow the boat, he had to have a 4ft - 5ft heavy duty hitch extension to clear the camper. This would be your cheapest way than buying a new truck

That's cool and all, but an 07 and a 2020 2500 are so vastly different that's not relevant. 07 had leafs for the main difference.

 

[nlambert182]

2007 to 2020 are an apples to football comparison. They're not even remotely similar in terms of suspension. You're not going to upgrade a 2020 2500 to a leaf sprung suspension without a whole lot of time and money. It's absolutely cheaper to swap over to a 3500.

 

[tron67j]

Taking out the very impractical option of tearing out the entire suspension and welding in essentially a 3500 set of components, the other point raised here is the dual wheels and the huge difference they make. That camper is extensively modifying the center of gravity for the truck and not having that calming effect that the DRW set up gives would ensure white knuckles all the time. Just not worth the higher probability of getting into trouble with the current vehicle. A quick search in my location shows about 1,000 2022-2025 used DRW trucks within 500 miles and over 200 within 200 miles. Not what OP probably had in mind, but it is what it is.