If towing - leveling kit okay or skip?

[Raymond Perkins]

I just read all the posts on the first page and it went from towing to aesthetics pretty quick. To answer the question at hand; leveling has little impact but not zero. My suggestion is a Husky spring bar hitch or similar set up. To much info and to little space to get into detail here but you tube videos are quite enlightening regarding your question.

 

[Raymond Perkins]

Hey guys looking at doing the same thing. My question is would a weight distribution hitch solve the problem?

Yes, I've got one on my 17 2500 Cummins and it makes all the difference in the world

 

[DeckArtist]

I'm going to be picking up a 2018 1500 crew cab 4x4 big horn next week. I'm definitely going to be replacing the stock tires on it but am also considering a leveling kit / small (if any) lift.

However, I have a travel trailer and I don't want to negatively impact the ride/safety of the rig while towing.

Is a leveling kit okay? Or will that compound the sag in the back (rear vs front height) when connect to a trailer?

Thanks for the info!

i’d skip the leveling kit. First of all it’s virtually impossible to “level“ a truck. Once you put the kit in, and even in some cases using Bilstien shocks, you’ll be riding down the road with your front end higher than your back with any weight in the bed or a travel trailer attached.

 

[Dieselhorses]

Deleted post

 

[E-rok]

i’d skip the leveling kit. First of all it’s virtually impossible to “level“ a truck. Once you put the kit in, and even in some cases using Bilstien shocks, you’ll be riding down the road with your front end higher than your back with any weight in the bed or a travel trailer attached.

Airbags........

 

[olyelr]

i’d skip the leveling kit. First of all it’s virtually impossible to “level“ a truck. Once you put the kit in, and even in some cases using Bilstien shocks, you’ll be riding down the road with your front end higher than your back with any weight in the bed or a travel trailer attached.

Impossible? Um, no, level the truck and.... well, its leveled!

 

[tron67j]

To add another thought that has come to me. Along with the proper weight distribution setup you also need to ensure you have the right type of hitch (assuming not a 5th wheel) on your truck to begin with. If it is too high it will increase the tongue weight because you are lifting the trailer off of one of its axles, and the same is true if your drop on your hitch is too low you will push down on the tongue and raise the rear of the trailer up. It's just as important that the trailer weight is properly distributed across all wheels as it is for the truck to have the proper weight distribution. There is a lot of good information here and hopefully it helps you, but at the end of the day your best bet is to go to a certified trailer hitch installer and have them ensure that your truck is set up for the trailer that you buy. Some of the trailer sales places have these technicians in house and will make sure that you are set to go. I remember when I took my truck down to a large sales lot in Florida. Before the salesperson would even take us out to show us trailers he first had a technician go over the specifications of the truck, and then would only show us trailers that we could safely tow. Once we had decided on a trailer they took all the steps necessary to outfit it properly and set everything from chain drop to brake adjustment before we left the lot. Hopefully you can find a place like that where you are.

 

[DeckArtist]

Impossible? Um, no, level the truck and.... well, its leveled!

I've yet to see one level. They all are shorter in the rear.


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[olyelr]

I've yet to see one level. They all are shorter in the rear.


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Problem is, when they are “level (by measurement) they appear low in the rear. Its just the way the truck is shaped.

Here is my truck that I “leveled”. Still has about a 1 inch rake (higher in the back), which was my plan...cant stand when the ass end looks like its sagging.

 

[DeckArtist]

That actually looks good. Yours is the first one I have seen that was done correctly, and I wouldn’t call that leveled. I am a master carpenter who can see things that are out of level at virtually any distance. Even with the shape of any truck on the market it’s not too hard to tell when the rear is shorter than the front regardless of actual measurements.


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[olyelr]

That actually looks good. Yours is the first one I have seen that was done correctly, and I wouldn’t call that leveled. I am a master carpenter who can see things that are out of level at virtually any distance. Even with the shape of any truck on the market it’s not too hard to tell when the rear is shorter than the front regardless of actual measurements.


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True. But thats the thing...if you actually measure it out and level it by measurement, it looks like the ass end is sagging. So whats really “level”? Personal preference, IMO.

 

[rwhjr]

That actually looks good. Yours is the first one I have seen that was done correctly, and I wouldn’t call that leveled. I am a master carpenter who can see things that are out of level at virtually any distance. Even with the shape of any truck on the market it’s not too hard to tell when the rear is shorter than the front regardless of actual measurements.


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His is the first one you’ve seen?

There’s countless trucks that have lifted the front a little using a “level kit” of which there are many different bands and types.....without making them higher than the back.


If I put a set of Bils on the front of a Ram set at 2.8” then yeah it’s gonna appear nose high. But a simple rear spacer could alleviate that. Or I could lower the Bils down to 2.1”.

either way I’m not sure how this guys truck is the first time you’ve seen a leveling kit that didn’t raise the front higher than the rear.

 

[olyelr]

His is the first one you’ve seen?

There’s countless trucks that have lifted the front a little using a “level kit” of which there are many different bands and types.....without making them higher than the back.


If I put a set of Bils on the front of a Ram set at 2.8” then yeah it’s gonna appear nose high. But a simple rear spacer could alleviate that. Or I could lower the Bils down to 2.1”.

either way I’m not sure how this guys truck is the first time you’ve seen a leveling kit that didn’t raise the front higher than the rear.

Most leveling kits raise the front 2-2.5”, which levels the truck by the numbers, but also makes them appear nose high. Thats why I went with only 1.5”, which retained nearly 1” of rake. Looks perfect to me.

 

[rwhjr]

Most leveling kits raise the front 2-2.5”, which levels the truck by the numbers, but also makes them appear nose high. Thats why I went with only 1.5”, which retained nearly 1” of rake. Looks perfect to me.

Oh it looks great. I agree with a tad bit of rake in a truck. Factory is entirely too much but I do like a little bit.

But yours isn’t the first I’ve seen. I think most that I see ratin .5-1” take most of the time.

 

[davalt75]

Just throwing my personal experience into the mix. Now, I'm a newbie to Ram trucks. Still waiting on my 2021 2500 Laramie with the Cummins to be delivered. But I've had two F250 diesels and I had a leveling kit and 35's on both and also towed a 35 ft. 8000 lb. TT with both. I added a 2" leveling kit to the front of both trucks and nothing in the rear. This still left a slight rake in the back but was close to level and looked much better in my opinion. With the camper hooked up and wdh attached both trucks sat "almost" level with the back only very slightly lower than the front. Pulling around 60-65 mph I never felt like I had any loss of steering control or like the trucks were light in the front end. That's just my experience. I've never used air bags so can't really.weigh in on which would be better.

 

[crazy jerry]

Not trying to be a jerk, but I really don't understand the obsession with leveling trucks. They look fine the way they are, slightly higher in the back. Its a truck, meant to put some weight in the back, then it sits level.
I think if they came level from the factory people would want to raise the back.
From a guy who works on them everyday, leave it the way it was engineered from the factory.

its a fad. nothing more. where it started or why, i just have no answer. most look nose high to me. wonder what that poor truck would look like with a real trailer hooked up