atwowheelguy

On a recent trip, my fourth ever towing my toy hauler camper, I experienced for the first time what I think others describe as the pogo effect on a short section of interstate hwy.

Would air bags help my ride and handling any?

Here are the numbers on the last trip:

Top of wheel well to ground measurements:
............................Front...........Rear
Unloaded.............36-1/4"..........37-1/8"
Loaded w/o WD....36-11/16".......35"
Loaded w/WD.......36-1/2"..........35-3/8"

So the front went up 7/16" with the load, and came back down 1/4" with WD, so a final rise of 3/16".
The rear sagged 2-1/8" with the load, and came back up 3/8" with the WD, so a final sag of 1-3/4".

The final setting resulted in 2-1/8" clearance between the axle and the jounce bumper.



I didn't weigh it this trip, but on a previous trip when the truck and camper were weighted more heavily, the truck was 180# under GVWR and the rear axle was 50# under GAWR with a 780# tongue weight. Of course, with only one motorcycle in it this time, the tongue weight may have actually been higher, but there was less weight in the truck.

WD hitch is an EAZ Lift with 1000# bars, three washers, level bars in the 7th chain link.

Would an air bag help the ride by lifting the rear?

brulaz

This has happened to us a couple of times over the years.

Think it has something to do with spacing between bumps in the road and the spacing between your axles. Changing speeds can help some.

A stiffer suspension would probably help (shocks, air bags), but then you would have to live with the stiffness the rest of the time. We have stiffened our suspension for other reasons, but still get that porpoising.

We slow down or speed up to reduce it as much as possible and just live with what's left as it's pretty rare.

wdbates

I pull a Vortex 210 toy hauler (8000lbs GVWR)and it has a 800lb+ Tung weight. I bought 1400lb tow bars replacing the 1000lb ones thinking it would make a difference and it did, but I still had the bouncing. My measurements were very close to yours and I am convinced that Air bags are only way to go for me.
I bought the air lift 88200 with the internal bump for 321 bucks From SuperDutyTrucksprings. Air lift also has a 50 buck rebate going on now as well for anyone thats looking. Best deal I have found

scootdawg

I pull a 5th wheel (8289ws), and the first few times out on some bad roads this would happen. Adjusting my speed corrected it somewhat, or the road just evened out. I recently put Airlifter 5000 on and took the 5th wheel down the crappy road and it smoothed right out. Not perfect but it did reduce a lot of it. I put 50lbs in the bags. I have a 2014 Screw Ecoboost.

acadianbob

Some roads do that to you no matter what you do; especially concrete roads with expansion joints.

The best thing I did to eliminate that issue was to go to LT tires. P Metric tires have a LOT of sidewall flex. That flex affects yaw, roll, and pitch.

meaz93

Those are the best...IMO. They work flawlessly and have built in bump stops where you can run 0 psi if you wish when not towing! I've had Firestones,...and they worked fine. Nothing like the Loadlifters though. A must mod if you tow!

Air Lift Company

You are on the right track with air springs to solve the pogo effect while towing. Personally I recommend the Ride Control product. To me, it has a better ride than the Load Lifter product especially while unloaded. However if you are concerned with a low pressure situation the Load Lifter Ultimate bellow style product would be a better option. You wont be disappointed with your purchase.

atwowheelguy

At full load, I still have 2-1/8" of rear suspension travel remaining. Is that enough? Do I need air bags to give me more suspension travel?

I can see that the excitation frequency (speed of crossing the expansion strips) may be near the natural frequency of the truck suspension. If that is the case, changing the spring rate by adding air bags would change the natural frequency. Changing the shock absorbers would also change the natural frequency. Or just changing the excitation frequency (slow down) to get away from the natural frequency would have the same effect. Why would air bags be the BEST solution. Check the video.

scootdawg

Speaking from little experience with and without the air bags, I would get the pogo effect on a few roads, but over bridges mainly. I did put copper HT3's on the truck also, and after taking the 5th wheel for a ride, the pogo effect was drastically reduced. Slowing down, speeding up, if you know your load, you can over come the effect. I like the tires and the airbags. If I knew now what I should have prior to buying the F150, I would have bought a 250 or 350. But listening to the RV dealer and truck dealer, they both were like "oh, yea no issues with a half ton, easy pull". It is an easy pull, but a beefer truck with a beefer suspension would fix the issue.

atwowheelguy

I'm not sure how close my situation is to yours. I am within all the weight limits on my truck when towing the loaded camper. My question would be: How much rear end squat is too much? My wheel well is down 1-3/4" from the unloaded height, but still has 2-1/8" of suspension travel remaining.

Is that a Cooper HT3?
Looks like a good heavy duty tire. I'm sure they would change the effective spring rate and the natural frequency of the truck suspension. I would rather stay with the P tires if I can. How is the unloaded ride and gas mileage compared to your stock P tires?

I'm getting 26 mpg hwy and 17 mpg local and I like it.