5th Gen Towing - reducing sway and sag

[Milly]

I wanted to create a thread where I could document changes I plan to make and have already done to improve the towing feel.

My truck: 2024 Laramie non air, non ORP, 3.92’s, 5.7l e-torque. 4x4. Crew cab, short box, 275/55r20’s

Towing: 2021 Solaire 243bhs travel trailer. Loaded tongue weight: 680lbs. 29’ long. I use the propride WDH. (I don’t tow often, maybe 8-10 trips per year. Typically 1.5-2 hours away) but it’s the reason I primarily have a truck.

I have owned several rams over the years with my most recent a 2023 2500 bighorn horn 6.4l. Great truck and towed amazing. It was just too much truck for daily driving and the family and myself found that we really missed my previous 1500. It was a 2020 ram 1500 big horn night edition.

With my 2020 1500 I was always chasing a way to fix trailer sway. It never felt comfortable towing so that is why I made the move to a 2500. I had installed air lift 1000’s and did a Hellwig 7709 in the middle setting. Nothing was working so I finally ordered the propride. It allowed me to feel steady around 62mph but anything more and it would start swaying enough to notice it and let off the gas. A few times I had to ease on the trailer brake to get it back in line.

Fast forward I love the new Laramie with all of the features and bells and whistles. I know that I am going to run into the sway issue again so I am going to try everything I can to get it right.

Current mods:
-TufTruck 1211 HD rear coils
-5100 rear shocks
-motofab rear 1” spacers
-Timbren bump stops(I have a set but not installed)

Future mods:
-ORP front coils
-5100 front shocks (setting 3) (should gain 2” of lift)
-Mopar 2” lift upper control arms (ordered)
-Hellwig 7793 rear sway bar (ordered)
-xl, D, E rated tires (still researching)


Pic below is my camper and my 2020 Ram 1500 Bighorn.


Pic below is my new 2024 Laramie

I know that there will be some sway no matter what I do and even on the 2500 there was some on high wind days.

My goal is to reduce it so that I can feel good going 65mph-68mph. (No white knuckles this time please)

So far the rear 1211’s and 5100’s have made a huge difference in daily driving. Much less body roll and I have that “truck” feeling.

I plan to go get my camper for the first time with this truck later this week as we have our last camping trip of the year this next weekend. I will have to get more pics and throw in an updated pic of how it currently sits with the 1” extra rear rake.

 

[Milly]

Curious if others have chased down TT sway and what you have found to be the most helpful.

I realize that maybe i will never get it 100% and maybe the answer is a smaller camper but I want to try other things first to see how it impacts towing.

 

[Milly]

I got these in so I am going to try these out before doing a full coil swap. They’re the motofab 2” leveling blocks. They go on top of the coil over so it shouldn’t mess with how the truck drives and feels. Also this is a cheap way for me to get back towards level to figure out if 2” is too much or not enough.

Just waiting on the mopar lift upper control arms before tackling.

 

[Gren71]

A fella on another ram forum has raved about this wdh and its anti sway. Its got me interested.

Ive also found the hellwig + higher inflated rear tires have made a big difference in reducing sway from crosswinds / passing vehicles

 

[Milly]

These are the upper control arms I ordered.

 

[Milly]

A fella on another tam forum has raved about this wdh and its anti sway. Its got me interested.

Ive also found the hellwig + higher inflated rear tires have made a big difference in reducing sway from crosswinds / passing vehicles

Hey thanks for stopping over. I’ve already tried and still own the WeighSafe and now a propride and really love the ease of use on the propride. So simple to hook and unhook. Spendy but made a big difference with sway.

Let me know how those 893’s work out.

 

[Milly]

Got my splash guards installed tonight.

You can also see the rake as it’s 1” higher in the rear than stock.

 

[bigdodge]

I wanted to create a thread where I could document changes I plan to make and have already done to improve the towing feel.

My truck: 2024 Laramie non air, non ORP, 3.92’s, 5.7l e-torque. 4x4. Crew cab, short box, 275/55r20’s

Towing: 2021 Solaire 243bhs travel trailer. Loaded tongue weight: 680lbs. 29’ long. I use the propride WDH. (I don’t tow often, maybe 8-10 trips per year. Typically 1.5-2 hours away) but it’s the reason I primarily have a truck.

please tell us your trailer weight fully loaded with everything you will be taking with you.
also include the truck fully loaded.

 

[Milly]

I need to scale it to see numbers for the new truck to get my hitch set right so I will post numbers once I do that.

 

[Milly]

Unloaded
F: 36 1/2
R: 40

Full Tongue
F: 37 1/2
R: 38

WDH
F: 37 1/4
R: 38 1/2

I set the bars on the propride wdh at 3” long. I think if I go to 2” long that will get me F: 36 3/4 and R: 39”

The 30 mile drive home from storage the truck felt good. No sway until I hit around 64mph. It was only 2-3mph winds this evening though. But over all pleased with how it handled.

Had tires set to 42 psi but the Tire sidewalls flex a lot which may be contributing to that little bit of sway.

We will see how this trip goes once I get the hellwig installed. It got too dark on me once I got it loaded so was unable to get pics.

5.7l 1500 vs 6.4l 2500 ….. the 1500 likes to downshift often and dropped to 5th a couple times to make it up some long slopes. The 2500 would drop a single gear and would just tug along. Definitely a difference in power but handling wise with the HD coils they felt very similar. Maybe a little more spongy on the 1500. Hoping by tightening up the wdh it will take care of that.

If I can get the front back to normal and the rear to come up a little then a 2” level would be perfect.

 

[Milly]

Present came today!

 

[Milly]

Installed but no noticeable difference on the first hole. Going to try out the middle setting. Was really hoping for an improvement when going around roundabouts.

 

[Gren71]

Installed but no noticeable difference on the first hole. Going to try out the middle setting. Was really hoping for an improvement when going around roundabouts.

Really!? Man…im in the middle of the thinner bar and noticed a difference. Perhaps your internal gyroscope needs recalibration

 

[Milly]

That could be true.

Idk though I feel as though it stayed the same. Maybe what I’m noticing is the front leaning through turns. I wonder too if sway bar links should be beefed up to match the bar?

I’m going to put it in the furthest hole in to see if I notice a difference. If I still don’t then I’m disconnecting it completely and will go for a spin. That should tell me for sure.

 

[Milly]

It does seem too that the hellwig bar puts my links at an angle towards the rear vs straight up and down like the oem. I’m not an engineer but that could have an effect on how it works maybe?

Middle hole would allow the links to be straight up and down and the 3rd hole the links would be angled towards the front of the truck.

 

[Milly]

It must be me but I tested the furthest hole and still didn’t notice a change. I’m going to remove it and put the oem back on.

 

[Milly]

I wonder if it’s the HD coils and 5100 combo that is doing more and that’s why I’m not noticing any change.

Oem is back on.

I’m going to order up a set of the xhds coils to test out. I might try out the variable ones this time.

 

[Gren71]

I wonder if it’s the HD coils and 5100 combo that is doing more and that’s why I’m not noticing any change.

Oem is back on.

I’m going to order up a set of the xhds coils to test out. I might try out the variable ones this time.

you got the 1in rear sway bar?

And i have the variable rate xhds sitting in my cart lol. Im betting the variable rate springs will be an improvement in ride quality and may even make the sway bar noticeable. If you still dont care for the bar id be willing to buy it off you. In the event the retailer wont take the return

I dropped my truck off to get an evap code un fudged so im at a tactical pause with the towing spring experiment

 

[Milly]

I luckily purchased through Amazon so returns are super easy.

It was the 1” bar. Definitely beefy and I was really hoping it was going to be a massive improvement with truck lean taking turns and roundabouts. I drove my truck to the store after putting oem bar back on and it’s legit the same.

I have the xhds in my cart too. The 351-905’s are not in stock so I may grab the 893xhds.

If it does lift the rear 2” like simcoe says then I might have to do 3” lift/level on the front.

Bilstein B8 5100 0-2.6" Front Lift Adjustable Coilovers with Mopar Coils for 2019-2024 Ram 1500 New Body

Bilstein B8 5100 0-2.6" Front Lift Adjustable Coilovers with Mopar Coils for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Ram 1500 New Body Part: 19RamASB Need a kit

www.suspensionlifts.com

They have the ORP coils and 5100’s they ship assembled at whatever height clip you want.

They do have a military discount if anyone is interested too.

 

[Gren71]

I luckily purchased through Amazon so returns are super easy.

It was the 1” bar. Definitely beefy and I was really hoping it was going to be a massive improvement with truck lean taking turns and roundabouts. I drove my truck to the store after putting oem bar back on and it’s legit the same.

I have the xhds in my cart too. The 351-905’s are not in stock so I may grab the 893xhds.

If it does lift the rear 2” like simcoe says then I might have to do 3” lift/level on the front.

Bilstein B8 5100 0-2.6" Front Lift Adjustable Coilovers with Mopar Coils for 2019-2024 Ram 1500 New Body

Bilstein B8 5100 0-2.6" Front Lift Adjustable Coilovers with Mopar Coils for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Ram 1500 New Body Part: 19RamASB Need a kit

www.suspensionlifts.com

They have the ORP coils and 5100’s they ship assembled at whatever height clip you want.

They do have a military discount if anyone is interested too.
View attachment 190406

The set of 5100s i just ordered have the adjustable front struts. My plan was to use the 2nd or 3rd rung to give just a little lift on the front. But if the xhds are better than the hds then I may end up going up a little more in the front to give the truck an oem rake + maybe 1”in the rear. I haven’t looked into how much each rung does yet though.