New Coil Springs

[Jake1215]

It says on the tire and load sticker 1490lbs and on the one with the VIN it says front GVWR 3900 and rear 3900 which is 7800. I know the 1490 includes what's in the bed and passengers and everything else but i don't imagine that would've been almost 1500 on the hitch with it being a 2 axle trailer and completely empty. Even with the slide being out front.

 

[Jake1215]

I had a 2010 with the same issue. Great ride when empty, but when I hitched up my trailer it sagged more than I was comfortable with (with a WD hitch) so after arriving in Florida on our first trip out I went to an AutoZone and picked up a set of airlift 1000s which were super easy to install inside the coil springs (I did in an hour by myself on my campsite) and it made a world of difference. I pulled my trailer many times and for many miles afterwards with no complaints. I would typically run them with about 5 pounds when not towing so-as not to affect the ride qaulity, and then pump them up to about 30 pounds when towing, which kept the truck perfectly level and gave a nice firm ride. I would highly recomend the Airlift 1000s as a solution to your problem.

Just looked that up and it said i have to run an air line? I don't have a compressor or any air components at all in this truck so I'm assuming I'd have to get compressor and solenoid and all that as well?

 

[danielmid]

Just looked that up and it said i have to run an air line? I don't have a compressor or any air components at all in this truck so I'm assuming I'd have to get compressor and solenoid and all that as well?

If you wanted to build it all in yes, otherwise you can use a portable 12v compressor, or gas station, it really requires such little air for the 1000s that it's very fast.

 

[09SilverRam]

Just looked that up and it said i have to run an air line? I don't have a compressor or any air components at all in this truck so I'm assuming I'd have to get compressor and solenoid and all that as well?

I run mine to a Schrader valve in the wheel well. You could also go back to the license plate area.

Then you just use a 12v compressor and tire gauge you already own.

 

[Ratman6161]

It says on the tire and load sticker 1490lbs and on the one with the VIN it says front GVWR 3900 and rear 3900 which is 7800. I know the 1490 includes what's in the bed and passengers and everything else but i don't imagine that would've been almost 1500 on the hitch with it being a 2 axle trailer and completely empty. Even with the slide being out front.

FYI, this may sound counter-intuative, but adding your front gross axle weight rating + your rear gross axle weight rating, you bet a number er that is actually greater than your GVWR. Example: on my 22 2500, the GFAWR is 5500 and the GRAWR is 6390 which adds up to 11,890. But my GVWR is 10,000.

1490 is really not very much payload for towing a Travel trailer. My former GMC 1500 with 6.2L and 10 speed had a payload of 1650. By my calculations that was going to be marginal at best for our new travel trailer. That's even considering we travel relatively lite and only two people. Our trailer is a 30 footer that's 7034 empty and about 7600 loaded. Our tongue weight is 941 empty and 1008 loaded. We have a large front slide out a d also a front kitchen, but still that works out to a tongue weight of a out 13.2% which is right in the good zone.

Finally, a CAT scale is your best friend for answering these questions. It's quick, easy and cheap and until you get real weights from a scale, it's all guess work and speculation.

In the end I upgraded to a RAM 2500.

 

[06 Dodge]

FYI, this may sound counter-intuative, but adding your front gross axle weight rating + your rear gross axle weight rating, you bet a number er that is actually greater than your GVWR. Example: on my 22 2500, the GFAWR is 5500 and the GRAWR is 6390 which adds up to 11,890. But my GVWR is 10,000.

1490 is really not very much payload for towing a Travel trailer. My former GMC 1500 with 6.2L and 10 speed had a payload of 1650. By my calculations that was going to be marginal at best for our new travel trailer. That's even considering we travel relatively lite and only two people. Our trailer is a 30 footer that's 7034 empty and about 7600 loaded. Our tongue weight is 941 empty and 1008 loaded. We have a large front slide out a d also a front kitchen, but still that works out to a tongue weight of a out 13.2% which is right in the good zone.

Finally, a CAT scale is your best friend for answering these questions. It's quick, easy and cheap and until you get real weights from a scale, it's all guess work and speculation.

In the end I upgraded to a RAM 2500.

Read this: https://www.motortrend.com/features/gvwr-vs-gcwr/ or this: https://www.curtmfg.com/towing-capacity

 

[mtofell]

GFAWR is 5500 and the GRAWR is 6390 which adds up to 11,890. But my GVWR is 10,000.

Yep, the GVWR v. Axle Weight debate is a long and deep rabbit hole and one that will fill the pages of internet forums until the end of the time. People always swear their neighbor's hairdresser's uncle is in prison for exceeding his GVWR and killing a busload of nuns but nobody can ever seem to produce any actual evidence. Next, everyone threatens your insurance won't cover you if you're in a accident... wrong again there. Your insurance company generally has to prove you willfully set out to defraud them to get out of a claim. Just doing something dumb isn't nearly enough. If people didn't do dumb things there largely would be no reason for insurance.

My whole take is that I don't like to exceed GVWR but being over by a few pounds isn't the end of the world from a safety standpoint as long as you are under your axle weights. The most I've weighed my rear axle at with 5th wheel attached and bed loaded with camping stuff is around 5900#. My axle is rated for 6500# and tires 3750#ea so I'm okay with that. Rumor has it back in 2014 the rear axle on my 2500 was actually the same one that came on the SRW 3500 rated for 7000# so I might even have more wiggle room than I think.

 

[Ratman6161]

Yep, the GVWR v. Axle Weight debate is a long and deep rabbit hole and one that will fill the pages of internet forums until the end of the time. People always swear their neighbor's hairdresser's uncle is in prison for exceeding his GVWR and killing a busload of nuns but nobody can ever seem to produce any actual evidence. Next, everyone threatens your insurance won't cover you if you're in a accident... wrong again there. Your insurance company generally has to prove you willfully set out to defraud them to get out of a claim. Just doing something dumb isn't nearly enough. If people didn't do dumb things there largely would be no reason for insurance.

My whole take is that I don't like to exceed GVWR but being over by a few pounds isn't the end of the world from a safety standpoint as long as you are under your axle weights. The most I've weighed my rear axle at with 5th wheel attached and bed loaded with camping stuff is around 5900#. My axle is rated for 6500# and tires 3750#ea so I'm okay with that. Rumor has it back in 2014 the rear axle on my 2500 was actually the same one that came on the SRW 3500 rated for 7000# so I might even have more wiggle room than I think.

I wasn't claiming any of those things. I was just pointing out to the person I was replying to that addingnthe gross axle weight ratings together does not get you your GVWR.

But since you bring it up, I do believe it's important to not exceed your GVWR. My reason is that the GVWR is the highest number the manufacturer will stand behind. I have no objective way of knowing how much, if any the truck can actually handle above that. I would just be guessing without any enginee4ing to back up my guess.

 

[mtofell]

I wasn't claiming any of those things. I was just pointing out to the person I was replying to that addingnthe gross axle weight ratings together does not get you your GVWR.

I didn't mean to imply that you did.... Just anytime axle weights and GVWR get brought up the discussion usually goes south. I'm mainly remembering towing message boards.

 

[Jake1215]

Well again, I appreciate everyone's help and thank you for sharing your knowledge.

For now. I got the shocks the other day and waiting until after the holidays to get the springs. I think for now I'm going with the TufTruck 1211 that someone had recommended and go from there. I considered the airbags but then if one pops pulling it, I'm screwed. If it holds it up a little better with the springs then cool. If not, then I tried and I'll have to wait until I can trade it in for a 2500 which I want to do anyway. Just don't have that opportunity at the moment. My choice is to beef it up and do what I can or just let the camper be a nice yard ornament and use it to get away from the girlfriend and kids for a few lol. I was a pretty decent truck driver for 8 years so I understand weight distribution in a semi but never really had to worry about it in a pick-up truck until I inherited this heavy ass thing. Seems to be the same but totally different at the same time. Hopefully the upgraded springs and the shocks and a WDH will help me for the time being. I won't pull it if its unsafe afterwards.