2013 FX2 Towing on Bump Stops
 

I have been trying to improve the handling and ride quality of my truck while towing my RV. I am within the payload and axle weight limits of my truck with this camper (If I can find my scale tickets I'll add them to this post). When towing I find the ride to be unacceptable. It's so bad it takes the fun out of using the RV. In an effort to combat these problems I've completed 3 upgrades so far in order to try and improve things.

First, I installed a helwig rear sway bar which helped immensely with stability while towing. The sway bar took the 'squirmy' feeling out of the rear end of the truck when towing and it does an amazing job at improving corning while unloaded. The next upgrade was a set of bilstein 4600 rear shocks, which firmed up the ride a little. And the final upgrade was an Air-Lift 2000 system. Which improved the ride comfort a little while towing, but not by much.

What I noticed this weekend was that with the camper hitched up, using an equalizer wdh, the truck is sitting on the bump stops. In the pictures you can see the marks from where it has been contacting the axle. This can't be right. I believe this is why I have such a bone jarring ride when towing. I'm also concerned that because the truck would have been on the bump stops when the wdh was first installed, that it also may not be setup correctly. That said, everything looks pretty level when hitched up.

With about 40lbs of air in the air bags, I come off the bump stops, but only by about an 1/4in. Also adding air to the bags seem to negate the benefit the equalizer bars. I notice more sway which makes sense, because the hitch head is higher with air in the bags there is less tension on the bars. It seems to me that if the truck was not sitting on the bump stops while towing, my shocks and springs would soak up more of the bumps and I would have a much nicer ride.

I took a pictures of the truck, unloaded, sitting in the garage. I only have about 1.5in (maybe less) of clearance between the bump stops and the top of the axle. This just doesn't seem right to me. Does anyone else with a 2011-2014 2 wheel drive have these same bump stops and clearance? Or should there be more space between the axle and the bump stop? I bought the truck used a few years ago, and I'm wondering if the previous owner may have installed some sort of aftermarket load leveling device in place of the factory bump stops.

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you have Timbren, not oem bump stop

Timbrens AND airbags. An odd combination.

Did you buy the truck used?

As mentioned, those are Timbrens, not OEM bump stops. The Timbren is basically a big bump stop that's meant to engage when you tow or haul to keep the rear from squatting too much. Since you have air bags, you really don't need them. Remove them and see how it does.

You guys are the best. Yes, I did buy it pre-owned. So the previous owner must have installed these. I'm not 100% comfortable running without any bump stops (even with the air bags), I wouldn't want to bottom out and damage something. I'll pick up a set of OEM bump stops and see how it goes.

After reviewing of a few other threads, it seems like a lot of folks here really like Timbren. But I dont understand how anyone could tolerate the ride feel they give when engaged. Maybe these are off-brand or the rubber has gone hard or something.

Thanks again!

Well, a fully loaded truck engaging timbrens or any other suspension enhancement is going to ride rougher than stock empty. It has to in order to compensate for the increased load. I don't say this often but "It's a truck".
I have no issues with ride quality when I hook up my fifth wheel and I'm still on stock OEM shocks. The Timbren SES prevents the squat and I don't have to fiddle with air bags. I have had bags before and they did the job I just don't like fiddling with the pressure to get everything just right.

There are plenty of horror stories about air bags and WDH not getting along and you even state that you have experienced increased sway induced by over inflating the bags.
There are a lot of videos that explain how to setup the combination safely.

If it were me, I would stick with the timbrens to test just zero out the bags and see how it feels with the timbrens fully engaged.

You can do whatever you want. though, it's your truck.

No, don't run without bump stops. I dont think people were suggesting that.

Double Post

I have timbrens too and love them. Air out the air bags to nothing and use that for a while. Then try it with the air in the airbags. So what you like better.
If you air up the air bags to level your truck when hitched up. The timbrens don't even touch or come in play. A truck is a truck and will be harsh to some extent.

adjust the WDH to take more of the load from the rear to transfer to the front. That may mean raising the hitch ball higher on the hitch itself, in order to keep the TT level. TBH adding bags and timbrens is a band-aid to setting the WDH up right, especially when the end goal is to improve the ride.

My truck with TT hitched up rides better than empty, since the WDH aids in distributing the weight and the trucks are meant to ride a little better with a load in the back anyway.