My Towing "Build"
10-02-2017, 09:39 PM
#21
The 5100s are a slight lift, right? I read somewhere that bilsteins aren't necessarily the greatest for towing, but so many here seem to love them. 4600s are stock height?
ill probably address the rear suspension a bit over the winter. Struts and some other add on such as timbrens, super springs, or RAS. Not quite sure yet.
We are going over over the bay bridge for our maiden voyage. That should be fun, lol.
ill probably address the rear suspension a bit over the winter. Struts and some other add on such as timbrens, super springs, or RAS. Not quite sure yet.
We are going over over the bay bridge for our maiden voyage. That should be fun, lol.
10-02-2017, 10:47 PM
#22
Originally Posted by BarmanBean
The 5100s are a slight lift, right? I read somewhere that bilsteins aren't necessarily the greatest for towing, but so many here seem to love them. 4600s are stock height?
ill probably address the rear suspension a bit over the winter. Struts and some other add on such as timbrens, super springs, or RAS. Not quite sure yet.
We are going over over the bay bridge for our maiden voyage. That should be fun, lol.
ill probably address the rear suspension a bit over the winter. Struts and some other add on such as timbrens, super springs, or RAS. Not quite sure yet.
We are going over over the bay bridge for our maiden voyage. That should be fun, lol.
I didn’t have a lift on my 2wd and had 5100. They were fine. Even with the truck squatting with trailer attached. Spend he money and buy them. Stage 3 had the best price for me. Install takes a couple wrench’s and 5 min per side. Even not towing it made it much more planted.
Not a stiff ride at all. Just less bouncy.
10-03-2017, 09:06 AM
#23
The 5100s are a slight lift, right? I read somewhere that bilsteins aren't necessarily the greatest for towing, but so many here seem to love them. 4600s are stock height?
ill probably address the rear suspension a bit over the winter. Struts and some other add on such as timbrens, super springs, or RAS. Not quite sure yet.
We are going over over the bay bridge for our maiden voyage. That should be fun, lol.
ill probably address the rear suspension a bit over the winter. Struts and some other add on such as timbrens, super springs, or RAS. Not quite sure yet.
We are going over over the bay bridge for our maiden voyage. That should be fun, lol.
The fronts are adjustable from stock to 2", and the rear have a longer stroke for up to 2" lifts, that is 0-2" front and rear, so they work in both stock setup and with a rear 2 " lift. If using the stock position on the front shock, there is no lift with them. Only for the first few days are they a bit higher, then they settle in.
I installed Sumosprings, and the only thing negative about them is they added a little bounce when I come to a stop hard enough to lift the rear of the truck, but in a smooth stop, no difference.
Nighthawk, what is up with your posts? Got some strange characters that are making it hard to read your posts.
10-03-2017, 12:18 PM
#24
Grumpy Old Man
I suspect he's using a word processor such as WordPad or Word to write his replies, then copy and paste into the forum editor, instead of using an ASCII editor such as Notepad or the forum editor.
If my post is likely to be long, then I try to remember to use WordPad to compose and write it, so it won't disappear in case of a power outage. Then copy and paste it into the forum editor. But the next step is to edit the post and edit out all of those strange characters you mentioned. He apparently skipped that last step.
I've often worked hard on writing a long reply using the forum editor, then before I get it posted something happens and it's gone. So I have to start over on writing it. Frustrating. So that's why I try to remember to use WordPad or NotePad to write a long reply, then save it often so it doesn't disappear when lightening strikes nearby and knocks out the power.
We don't get much rain here in the desert, but we often get thunder and lightning that causes a power outage.
10-04-2017, 10:58 AM
#27
Grumpy Old Man
The apostrophe is replaced with "’", so "I'm" shows up as "I’m". I suspect the app designer didn't use a pure ASCII editor to write the app. Says Smokey, the old retired software designer.
10-10-2017, 02:00 PM
#29
Senior Member: Will
Some updates, today was busy!
We've been outfitting the trailer with some storage, minor upgrades and maintenance, etc. I built a ladder to go with the rear bunk beds (turned out great, only cost about $25 for supplies!) and repacked all 4 bearings. If you pick up a used trailer of any kind, I can't recommend strongly enough to repack the bearings--and even if they have an EZ-lube setup (zerk fitting), take the time to take them apart and actually repack them. Mine were completely filled with 2 types of grease, clearly someone had fed a bunch of grease through the zerk at one point. It feeds from the rear (ideally) and should repack the bearings I guess, but I'm not sold on the system. I also discovered one outer bearing was completely missing a needle bearing and obviously needed to be replaced. Good peace of mind to know that everything back there is good to go.
With the trailer somewhat loaded up, I dragged the trailer over to the local elementary school (nice flat parking lot) and reset the WDH. Ended up flipping the shank to move the hitch ball up a bit and dialing things in. Ideally, I would have added a washer to the hitch head, but I didn't have any extra washers on hand so I ended up moving the L-brackets up one notch to achieve what seems to be a good setup based on the numbers. Here are my measurements:
Truck, no trailer, hitch head installed:
Front: 36 3/4"
Rear: 39 1/2"
Trailer hitched up, no weight distribution:
Front: 37 3/8" (increase of 5/8" from stock)
Rear: 37 1/4" (decrease of 2 1/4" from stock)
Trailer hitched up, WDH adjusted and in place:
Front: 37" (increase of 1/4" from stock)
Rear: 37 7/8" (decrease of 1 5/8" from stock)
Truck, no trailer, hitch head installed:
Front: 37 3/4"
Rear: 29 1/2"
The trailer frame measurements for the final setup are as follows:
Front: 21 1/2"
Rear: 21 7/8"
So the trailer is just barely nose-down.
So the trailer increased the front height by 5/8" and the current WDH setup removes just over half of that increase.
I measured the approximate tongue weight of the trailer (that weighs somewhere around 6k pounds) to be right about 700lbs using the bathroom scale method, putting me at about 11.67% tongue weight.
SO HERE'S THE PROBLEM. I'm still feeling like the setup is porpoising excessively. It's not horrible, but is definitely more noticeable than I hoped it would be after proper adjustment of the setup on level ground. I'm thinking that the tongue weight is a bit lower than I'd like it to be. Unfortunately it might get lighter when we load the fridge (located in rear of trailer). I'm half-tempted to add a couple bags of sand or something to front storage compartment to see how it reacts. After so much reading here, however, I'm also guessing that cruddy rear struts and squishy suspension might be contributing as well. Might save some pennies for some rear suspension upgrades over the winter.
Other than the porpoising, the setup feels pretty good.
We've been outfitting the trailer with some storage, minor upgrades and maintenance, etc. I built a ladder to go with the rear bunk beds (turned out great, only cost about $25 for supplies!) and repacked all 4 bearings. If you pick up a used trailer of any kind, I can't recommend strongly enough to repack the bearings--and even if they have an EZ-lube setup (zerk fitting), take the time to take them apart and actually repack them. Mine were completely filled with 2 types of grease, clearly someone had fed a bunch of grease through the zerk at one point. It feeds from the rear (ideally) and should repack the bearings I guess, but I'm not sold on the system. I also discovered one outer bearing was completely missing a needle bearing and obviously needed to be replaced. Good peace of mind to know that everything back there is good to go.
With the trailer somewhat loaded up, I dragged the trailer over to the local elementary school (nice flat parking lot) and reset the WDH. Ended up flipping the shank to move the hitch ball up a bit and dialing things in. Ideally, I would have added a washer to the hitch head, but I didn't have any extra washers on hand so I ended up moving the L-brackets up one notch to achieve what seems to be a good setup based on the numbers. Here are my measurements:
Truck, no trailer, hitch head installed:
Front: 36 3/4"
Rear: 39 1/2"
Trailer hitched up, no weight distribution:
Front: 37 3/8" (increase of 5/8" from stock)
Rear: 37 1/4" (decrease of 2 1/4" from stock)
Trailer hitched up, WDH adjusted and in place:
Front: 37" (increase of 1/4" from stock)
Rear: 37 7/8" (decrease of 1 5/8" from stock)
Truck, no trailer, hitch head installed:
Front: 37 3/4"
Rear: 29 1/2"
The trailer frame measurements for the final setup are as follows:
Front: 21 1/2"
Rear: 21 7/8"
So the trailer is just barely nose-down.
So the trailer increased the front height by 5/8" and the current WDH setup removes just over half of that increase.
I measured the approximate tongue weight of the trailer (that weighs somewhere around 6k pounds) to be right about 700lbs using the bathroom scale method, putting me at about 11.67% tongue weight.
SO HERE'S THE PROBLEM. I'm still feeling like the setup is porpoising excessively. It's not horrible, but is definitely more noticeable than I hoped it would be after proper adjustment of the setup on level ground. I'm thinking that the tongue weight is a bit lower than I'd like it to be. Unfortunately it might get lighter when we load the fridge (located in rear of trailer). I'm half-tempted to add a couple bags of sand or something to front storage compartment to see how it reacts. After so much reading here, however, I'm also guessing that cruddy rear struts and squishy suspension might be contributing as well. Might save some pennies for some rear suspension upgrades over the winter.
Other than the porpoising, the setup feels pretty good.
10-10-2017, 02:22 PM
#30
What is your leveled trailer coupler height when not attached to TV? You did match that with your hitch ball before hooking up? Unless your trailer is higher off the ground or the 15+ F150 is that much lower than 09-14, seems like your hitch might be too high? You wanted to add a washer, how many are you running now? I had the same issues and my stock shocks are worn out and I can still tune out almost all porpoising. I would almost say you need to take out a washer and see how it reacts, luckily these hitches are easy to tinker with. You will know when the bars dont have enough tension on them as trailer will start to sway.
And sorry, but I'm not following the washer recommendation. I had to move the L-brackets UP in order INCREASE the amount of weight being transferred. In order to move them down and maintain my current weight transfer I would need to ADD a washer, not remove a washer.
All that to say...
We went on our first trip this past weekend, about 150 miles to Rehobeth beach in Delaware. Overall the truck towed it well, even coming back over a couple of very windy bridges during the return trip. I'm not getting any sway or weird pushing sensations, just the porpoising in the rear. The porpoising is worse at lower speeds and seems to nearly go away entirely at highway speeds, which is great.
When I setup the WDH, the tongue weight was somewhere around 700lbs. As we continued to load it up, the final tongue weight was closer to 825lbs. So I'll be redoing the hitch setup anyway to see if any changes are needed and reset things as necessary--will be sure to have some spare washers on hand this time
I'm pretty happy with the way the rig tows, no major issues up to 65mph. I think a set of rear shocks will go in over the winter and should help the porpoising and make everything even better.