Towing without Air Suspension

[TAL2GK]

I currently own a '21 Longhorn with air suspension and love the way it tows. For reasons not necessary to get into here, I may need to get a new truck and am considering a Rebel. It's difficult to find a Rebel with Air Suspension, though it could be custom ordered that way.

My question is - how big of a benefit have I been getting these last three years having load-leveling suspension in the back and how much impact will having 700 lbs on the tongue (plus maybe 100-200 lbs in the bed) have on a truck without air suspension? I don't want to look like I've got the Carolina Squat and all the handling problems that come with it.

Also - if anyone knows - what package does a Rebel need to have to come with ventilated seats? That's a must with leather/vinyl in the south.

 

[Bt10]

You should have very little (2"?) Carolina squat with a properly set up WDH with 700lb tongue weight. Which makes me hope you had properly set up a WDH on your current air susp' truck?

 

[TAL2GK]

I do not use a WDH at the direction of my trailer manufacturer. It is an all aluminum enclosed car hauler and WDH would potentially damage the trailer.

The other problem I'm seeing with trucks on lots is there are very few that have the tow mirrors from the factory. I'm looking into integrated aftermarket solutions. I don't want to go with the bolt-on trailer mirrors.

 

[mrclortho]

The standard suspension will handle a good bit. I tow a 7,500lb TT but use a WDH. You can add aftermarket air bags for less than $200. My last Ram had them and my Gladiator has them.

 

[OCD Solutions]

I was going to say, prior to the factory air suspensions, I had Firestone airbags on all my 1500/2500 trucks for 20+ years. They are an excellent solution and it doesn't take long to figure out how much air you need for any particular load. I never bought the on-board compressor setup but played with several trucks that did and I never saw the value in it. I was always loading up at home where I had a compressor and now I have a cordless compressor under the back seat that would work to air up if ever needed while away from home.

 

[Sascwatch]

Without airbags I was constantly getting flashed by oncoming drivers while towing my 7x17 enclosed trailer with tongue weights of 500+lbs. Loading my atv (700lbs) into the bed of my truck was enough to do the same.

Put on over 11000 miles last spring towing the previously mentioned trailer loaded with household furniture and other belongings, some loads heavier than others. With the air lift 60828HD I had minimal squat, I made sure to inflate them prior to hooking up to the loaded trailer and never lost any air on the 5 loaded trips I made. Ran 5-10lbs of air empty and up to 40psi loaded to minimize squat.

The airlift bags do not fill the entire coil spring on the rebel so you get an inch or two of travel before they assist with the load. This also means your unloaded ride quality isn’t affected as much. I run the minimum 5psi when unloaded and barely notice anything even on the rough bush roads.

 

[BigBuss54]

I currently own a '21 Longhorn with air suspension and love the way it tows. For reasons not necessary to get into here, I may need to get a new truck and am considering a Rebel. It's difficult to find a Rebel with Air Suspension, though it could be custom ordered that way.

My question is - how big of a benefit have I been getting these last three years having load-leveling suspension in the back and how much impact will having 700 lbs on the tongue (plus maybe 100-200 lbs in the bed) have on a truck without air suspension? I don't want to look like I've got the Carolina Squat and all the handling problems that come with it.

Also - if anyone knows - what package does a Rebel need to have to come with ventilated seats? That's a must with leather/vinyl in the south.

I have a 21 Rebel and I tow a 6500 pound camper. The sag isn’t ridiculous. But it did bounce a lot going over the bridges on the highway. I recently installed SumoSprings. They work. They eat up every bounce you would get while towing. Unfortunately it stiffens up the ride big time when not towing. I’ve been thinking about cutting them down a little so that they do not sit right on the axel. Maybe give it an inch of space or something.

 

[dh66]

I have the Timber Grove "air spring assist" airbags in my 2021 1500 BH. They are great. I just got a 2024 and will be moving these over.

19'-20' RAM 1500 — Timber Grove Enterprises, LLC

timbergroveenterprises.com

I tow roughly 10K lbs a couple times a year and use the airbags to level the truck. Tracks straight and very stable towing.

 

[2022RamBigHorn]

I have a 2022 ram 1500 bighorn quad cab with the 5.7 hemi and 4x4 without air suspension, its rated for ~8100lbs and I tow a 10ft flat bed trailer with 2 atvs and 1 side by side (total weight is about 5500lbs). Will this snap my frame without a weight distribution hitch? My current set up is a 2 5/16 inch ball and the hitch has a max weight of 750lbs of tongue weight.

 

[dh66]

The same truck w/ 3.92 gear ratio is over 11K lbs. No change in the frame. It can handle it. Other than the fuel economy the occasional times I tow 10K lbs the truck handles it great. I do find the Timber Grove air bags greatly improve the balance/setup better than a WD hitch (I've been using a Weigh Safe hitch). You don't want a rear squat with significant weight behind.

 

[2022RamBigHorn]

The same truck w/ 3.92 gear ratio is over 11K lbs. No change in the frame. It can handle it. Other than the fuel economy the occasional times I tow 10K lbs the truck handles it great. I do find the Timber Grove air bags greatly improve the balance/setup better than a WD hitch (I've been using a Weigh Safe hitch). You don't want a rear squat with significant weight behind.

In my area, the airbag systems fault out a lot due to the cold. Mine has the 3.21 gears and the hitch itself on the truck is rated for 1250lbs of tongue weight. My max payload is 1902 since its the basic bighorn with no added features minus bed lights, bed liner, bed cover and trailer brake controller.

 

[Belvedere]

I heard too many horror stories from 4th gen guys. Figured I could live without the added cost of factory air suspension.

I had Firestone air bags on my previous Nissan, and it towed great. Started with Airlift 1000 in-spring bags on my Rebel. Wasn't real impressed, and switched to Timber Gtoves. It tows great and I can level each rear wheel just a little better with my RTT.

 

[2022RamBigHorn]

In my area, the airbag systems fault out a lot due to the cold. Mine has the 3.21 gears and the hitch itself on the truck is rated for 1250lbs of tongue weight. My max payload is 1902 since its the basic bighorn with no added features minus bed lights, bed liner, bed cover and trailer brake controller.

forgot to say it is a tandem axle trailer in case it makes a difference.

 

[Sascwatch]

I have a 2022 ram 1500 bighorn quad cab with the 5.7 hemi and 4x4 without air suspension, its rated for ~8100lbs and I tow a 10ft flat bed trailer with 2 atvs and 1 side by side (total weight is about 5500lbs). Will this snap my frame without a weight distribution hitch? My current set up is a 2 5/16 inch ball and the hitch has a max weight of 750lbs of tongue weight.

If you are breaking frames with a bumper pull trailer you are way over rated capacity.

A bumper pull trailer will add its weight to the rear axle, a weight distribution hitch will help put some of the tongue weight on the front reducing how much the rear of the truck sags and providing a bit more steering axle weight which never hurts.

 

[Willwork4truck]

No idea what he was towing but that doesn't snap frames, especially where his did. It's so rare that unless it is rusted out or seriously (like 3x payload) overloaded it *almost* never happens.

 

[Willwork4truck]

At first I thought the broken frame issue was limited to rusty Toyotas or early Silverados but then I saw this. Guess it can happen without a monster camper on it...
That picture was from a 2016 thread on "dieseltruckresource.com". Poster gave an update, see below:
"Coming to the end of the broken frame saga. Chrysler said warranty on the broken frame was a no-go. They couldn't figure out what caused it, but just knew it couldn't be their fault. That's a joke.
Local dealer stepped up and purchased the 24 month old truck at a decent price and put me in a new 2016 Limited. Nice truck, that I think I could come to appreciate.
It really didn't come as a surprise to me that Chrysler Corporate was trying to avoid the incident, but it was a pleasant surprise the way the local dealership stepped up to solve the problem. They even sent my old truck over to a neutral shop, to let me take off all the aftermarket goodies that will fit on the new 2016. I guess that's why I continue to do business with them, despite Chryslers flaws.
Only thing left to do is change my sig on the forum.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Is what the shop found...

 

[2022RamBigHorn]

If you are breaking frames with a bumper pull trailer you are way over rated capacity.

A bumper pull trailer will add its weight to the rear axle, a weight distribution hitch will help put some of the tongue weight on the front reducing how much the rear of the truck sags and providing a bit more steering axle weight which never hurts.

I do have the class IV on it and the frame will snap? Which weight distribution hitch do you recommend installing on the trailer? I do put a 800lbs ATV in the bed of the truck with no issue yet with the frame.

 

[Willwork4truck]

So anyway, coming from towing horse trailers and travel trailers for 30 years, the specs you gave should be fine with a 1500. Just some rear squat which is correctable with a WDH or rear air bags, as has been mentioned.

 

[2022RamBigHorn]

So anyway, coming from towing horse trailers and travel trailers for 30 years, the specs you gave should be fine with a 1500. Just some rear squat which is correctable with a WDH or rear air bags, as has been mentioned.

On the bright side, the heaviest that trailer would be is 5500, most of the time it will just be 1 side by side and 1 atv with proper placement for weight distribution. Trailer itself is ~1900lbs, the side by side is 1600 and an 800lbs ATV is 4300lbs total.