Rig getting heavy

[Fig33]

So now that I have a bedrack, RTT and the gear that I take with me for camping, my truck is starting to sag on the rear…. I still have lots to learn so don’t know what will be the best way to fix this issue? Should I get stronger/extra leaf springs? I have also heard of a bigger or stronger shock for the rear and or adding a block.. So dear OB members, what advice can you give me?

 

[ThundahBeagle]

The shocks do not raise the truck. The shock is responsible for pushing the tire back down onto the road after hitting a bump sends the wheel upward.

In some cases, the coilover spring (front) can be made to sit higher on the shock tower. Or, one could have air bags installed in the rear. So it may sometimes seem like the shock is responsible for ride height, but that is technically untrue.

A stronger or taller rear spring may help for when the truck is loaded, but ride quality will suffer when the vehicle is empty - if it ever is empty.

A set of helper springs will allow your normal springs to work as normal when the truck is empty, and only after x amount of weight is applied to the truck, it will only sink a little before reaching the helper springs, which will then keep the truck at a given height.

For me, I only leveled the front, so I also experience some sag when loaded. I thought about rear blocks while that lifts the rear an inch or two, it doesnt stop the leaf spring from being tired.

Decisions...

 

[NorCalRam]

Add air bags for when loaded to fix the sag. You can adjust as necessary

 

[Deleted member 14476]

This would be the BEST option to do. Full leaf spring replacement pack that’d be specifically accommodated to your weight.

That, and also I’d recommend getting your shocks revalved (if you’re running aftermarket shocks) to also handle the extra weight properly. Depending on the trails you hit though, that could be complete overkill and you’d be fine with just an add-a-leaf package, the above is just the best option you’d be able to do.

 

[MMc]

I was going to recommend progressive springs and tuned shocks like Conner Hunt. Best thing I have done for my rig. it did raise it a couple of inches, but the ride is so nice.

 

[DRAX]

Yup, 3rd for aftermarket progressive spring pack and better shocks. I have the Deaver Expedition leafs and Peak 2.0 rear shocks under the back of my truck, huge difference when carrying a lot of weight. Almost feels like you're not carrying anything, rides and handles loaded as well as it does stock but empty, at least with my setup.

 

[MOAK]

A fourth vote for progressive, or heavier springs. If you have a spring shop near you they can modify according to your need without breaking the bank account, by adding a leaf. After 30 plus years in the transportation industry I did learn that air bag suspensions and airbag helpers do a couple of things I don’t like- When loaded, they will softly sway while cornering, and when they fail, and they do fail occasionally, you're screwed. I’m a big fan of the KISS principles, so just add a leaf. If, on the other hand, your truck is coil sprung, there are more than a couple of companies that offer different spring rates according to your specific needs.

 

[Fig33]

Thanks all for your advice. I think I’m leaning towards a stronger spring. My rig is my daily driver so I’m planning or taking down most of the equipment and things off the rack while not going on trip. I don’t want to end up with 4-5 inches higher on the back so I’m thinking a heavier spring won’t lift the truck, while still adding extra strength to hold it up when I do put on that extra weight.

 

[MMc]

Thanks all for your advice. I think I’m leaning towards a stronger spring. My rig is my daily driver so I’m planning or taking down most of the equipment and things off the rack while not going on trip. I don’t want to end up with 4-5 inches higher on the back so I’m thinking a heavier spring won’t lift the truck, while still adding extra strength to hold it up when I do put on that extra weight.

My progressive spring added 1.5 inches, It made all the difference in a empty ride.

 

[Downs]

First thing I would do is put the truck on the weigh scales "loaded for bear" and make sure you're not over your GVWR. Then go from there. With some weight info it'll be easier to select or have springs made that will work for your setup.

Shocks as someone else mentioned don't do anything to help with load capacity. They are simply there to dampen wheel movement (not push the wheel back down). Without a shock everytime you hit a bump the vehicle would ride like it was on a pogo stick. There are shocks that have helper springs on them or some that you can add air to, to help with the load but keep in mind that shock mounts ARE NOT meant to carry a load like that and will shear off if you try to use them as a load bearing part.

 

[Mustang03]

Here's another option for beefing up your springs: SuperSprings International | Journey Better We added some pretty heavy-duty ones to our 1-ton Ram and it sets dead level now. The drawback is that if we dismount the slide-in camper, it rides pretty rough on the stock shocks. We solved that by putting on Rancho RS9000, which allow us to 'tune' the shocks to the load. Problem solved. Oh.. with some basic tools we did the install ourselves in our garage at home.

 

[bear_den_overland]

I added an Icon Add A Leaf. It’s pretty awesome so far!

 

[Lief_WJ]

So now that I have a bedrack, RTT and the gear that I take with me for camping, my truck is starting to sag on the rear…. I still have lots to learn so don’t know what will be the best way to fix this issue? Should I get stronger/extra leaf springs? I have also heard of a bigger or stronger shock for the rear and or adding a block.. So dear OB members, what advice can you give me?

Maybe you could lighten your load.

It's cool to have all the gear, but do you use it all?

Seems like weight is never considered when browsing through eBay...all that stuff sure looks neat though! That is until the credit card bill comes or your rig handles like bloated hippo.

 

[madcratebuilder]

I would bet that over half the rigs I see are over GVRW when traveling down the road. Typical mid size has a load of 1K lbs.

I've run 2 stage leafs, Add a leaf and aftermarket progressive leafs, all worked but the progressive (Deaver) gave a much better ride and performance.

 

[Alanymarce]

Shocks as someone else mentioned don't do anything to help with load capacity. They are simply there to dampen wheel movement (not push the wheel back down). Without a shock everytime you hit a bump the vehicle would ride like it was on a pogo stick.

Exactly. It's unfortunate that most people use the term "shock absorbers" when they are in fact Spring Dampers. The springs themselves are the shock absorbers...

 

[LostWoods]

Exactly. It's unfortunate that most people use the term "shock absorbers" when they are in fact Spring Dampers. The springs themselves are the shock absorbers...

Not exactly. Springs in a vehicle are always under compression so the only direction of the spring that needs to be controlled is rebound. If the springs managed your downward travel there would be no reason for compression valving in a shock.

Suspension tuning is basically a function of finding a proper spring rate and length that allows for full compression without coil deformation, full extension without falling out of the buckets or going loose on the strut, and a rate that maintains the proper ride height. There is some leeway here and you might go a little stiffer if you have a lot of weight but if you are having bottoming out issues the first thing you should be looking at is your compression valving, not the springs. Your shocks and struts should be doing almost all your suspension control.

 

[MidOH]

Except that the springs dont absorb much. They just allow movement, and hold the vehicle up. They take the shock, but dont do anything to it.

The shocks turn some of that energy into heat to stop the springs from pogoing.

In a perfect suspension. The springs would absorb nothing, and the shocks everything. But then we'd have $6000 shocks. (Each) So with such cheap junky suspensions on our trucks, we're forced to use harsh progressive springs.

I agree that custom springs are the best bet. If the truck isnt sagging much, still level-ish, try Sumo Rebel springs.

 

[John and Mandi]

We went to a reputable RV shop and had them pull our custom rear packs apart and add a leaf to each which helped a lot, the original pack made it about 4.5 years and ~60K miles. We have friends that run air bags, which they did have quite a few failures, but they eventually just started carrying a spare. All of their overlanding was outside the US so while it was a pain to source the parts it wasn't that difficult to replace. Their rig was insanely overweight which was probably the reason for the repeated failures. They ended up switching to Firestone from a more expensive brand and had far fewer problems with the smaller bags over much rougher terrain. It may be easier to have your spring packs rebuilt by a non-rv shop but since we are in a 1 ton Ford van, which many RVs are based on, the shop we used had everything they needed and we were in and out in under 2 hours.

 

[Viking1204]

I did Pro Comp add a leaf on my truck and it raised the rear up about 1.5" and definitely increased the payload. My truck doesn't sag at all fully loaded up with a roof rack, RTT and all my camping gear.

 

[MattLew]

I debated not replying to this thread. IMO it is miscategorized as it is not a "special needs" topic, and it is a year and a half old, so odds are the OP has already made a decision on how to resolve their problem, but...

I am seeing a lot of incomplete or incorrect understanding of shock absorbers here...
A shock absorber does not control the weight capacity (as was correctly pointed out a number of times) (well not since the late 70s or so when they used air adjustable shocks instead of air bags to control ride height of tow vehicles pulling campers. My understanding is those where not actually shocks, but rather basically airbags in a shock body)

A spring without a shock absorber will bounce between compression and extension until it dissipates all of the energy of a bump in the road/trail. this is called spring oscillation, and it can make a ride rougher than having no suspension. this is why back in the 70s and 80s you would see guys push down on the corner of a vehicle and let it spring back. If it bounced back to standard ride height, after the person compressed it, and stayed there the shock was considered to be working properly, but if it oscillated more than a time or two, the shock was considered to be going bad.

Shock absorbers use hydraulics (or similar technologies) to increase resistance to movement by creating a small hole for the fluid to pass through. this resistance works in both directions, though modern shocks can be tuned (by the factory, or the user depending on the shock type) to have different amounts of resistance in each direction. This resistance converts the mechanical energy of the spring (after a bump) into heat to dissipate into the air until all the energy of the springs is dissipated, or til the reaches the limits of how much heat it can handle. (the heat load is the reason for getting larger shocks, or remote reservoir shocks, as the more fluid the shock has, the longer it is before it reaches heat saturation (at which point it will loose effectiveness))

Then somewhere along the way, due to misunderstanding of how shocks worked (plus 4x4 owners thinking it looked cool), people started adding multiple shocks to their suspensions til the suspension got stiffer (and sometimes to absurd quantities (I saw a lifted chevy on mud tires with 6 chrome plated shocks per corner back in the early 90s when I lived in Alabama... While it looked cool for the timeframe, it had so many things wrong with the build <LOL>)). This is called overshocking or overdampening, and really had a negative effect on handling. It was a trend in the 80s that has long since been disproven (outside of things like desert racing where multiple shocks are sometimes needed to control the oscillation fast enough to respond to the high speed bumps and perhaps more importantly to share the heat load between multiple shocks (I have seen a lot of dual shock, and a few triple shock setups for racing, but that is a different topic)). Speaking of chrome plated shocks. I do not see them vary often anymore, but don't... just don't... even if you are building a mall crawler... Chrome plating traps heat... so it defeats the purpose of the shock by causing them to reach heat saturation quicker. They may look cool, but they are a BAD idea. Polished aluminum is your best choice for bling, powder coat is probably the best finish for color and protection (as far as I am aware), but run away if the shop display is chrome plated :)

As mentioned above. The only real cure for suspension sag (front or rear) is new stronger springs, add a leaf auxiliary springs, or airbags.