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Suspension advice to deal with squatting while towing a 4300 pound trailer?

eaglerugby04

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The mirrors are something I made up the day before my camping trip, they aren't pretty but didn't vibrate at 90kph (I bought clip ons but they came loose almost immediately)
I probably do have springs that are too soft . I have the 850 watt trans cooler and 240 amp alternator
Two different off road companies told me nobody makes an airbag compatible with my 2 1/2 inch lift , the local mopar dealer is looking into a purpose built airbag spacer...
I have a set of clip ons right now that seem to be holding up good. That setup just looks so much more stable and adjustable.

Though if only FCA had though to put truck mirrors on a truck and we wouldn't be dealing with this, lol
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12BNNT

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The truck has a rack to it from the factory for this reason. I’d be willing to guess your lift kit is a leveling lift. (2.5” up front and only 1.5” or so in the rear) Looks great unladen but as soon as you use the truck for truck stuff (hauling in the bed or towing) it’s going to look nose up. Did you measure your heights front and rear before and after the lift? If not, measure the fender heights at the center of the wheel (front and back) without the trailer and then swing by a dealer and measure a stock truck at the same spots to see how much lift you actually have front and rear. The tire size increase will add some to the equation but the objective is to see if you gained more up front than in the back.
Thinking you gained more in the front than you did in the rear which will definitely make it look squatted no matter what you put on the rear. Depending on what kind of lift you have, this can be remedied but for starters, you need more facts as to the height gains you started with.

Just for reference, my winch and bumper dropped my front end 3/4” so I put a 1&1/2” spacer on the front and a 3/4” spacer in the rear to effectively give my Rubicon 3/4” at both ends to clear 37’s but maintain the factory rake. My camper scaled at 4600 lbs with 600 tongue weight. My rear was squatted a little without any WDH but didn’t look or ride all that drastic because the truck started with a rake empty.
Hope that helps. Something to look at.
 

oldhp3

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I was, am, looking to "lower" the rear of my Gladiator. I like it the way it is, stock, but the rear is 1.5" too high for me. I pulled the stock Jeep springs out to see if I could cut a coil, you can't, wrong end on spring. So........I had lowered the rear of my RAM 1500 short bed regular cab with a Ground Force rear spring kit and had the stock RAM 1500 springs sitting there. I put the RAM 1500 spring beside the Jeep spring. Well, look at that. The RAM spring is 1.5" shorter than the Jeep spring. But it has 8 coils instead of 7 Jeep coils. The top diameter was about 1/2" smaller than the Jeep spring. But it fit in the top insulator just fine, bottom was the same. Jeep sat about 1/2" lower. OK lets see how it rides. Bolted the shocks/sway bar back and went for a drive. You could tell it was stiffer but not bad. I don't know what the rating is but a 1/2 ton truck has to be more than my Gladiator. So I would think the lift pucks would work on a lifted Jeep too. If your stock height I know it would work to give you more capacity. Just thought I would pass this on. After a week I put the stock Jeep springs back in. You could definitely tell then how much softer they were, but again the RAM springs weren't that bad.
 

ShadowsPapa

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Check out my thread on my testing with a few blocks on a platform on the back of my Overland. Talk about SQUAT. I mean that baby dropped. Even with my empty aluminum trailer, it dropped too much. Overland just has wimpy soft springs.
Car shows all cancelled this year so didn't even get to load a car up and haul it to try things out, but my trip to Omaha to pick up some AMC dealership signs told me to expect trouble with the weight on that truck.
I have 300 pounds of concrete in the back of the truck now and it's really floaty up front with that weight! And that's sitting further ahead than a trailer tongue would be. It really doesn't handle well with the weight in the back.
The goofy thing is that I am getting slightly better MPG with the concrete in the back. Weird.
 

eaglerugby04

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Check out my thread on my testing with a few blocks on a platform on the back of my Overland. Talk about SQUAT. I mean that baby dropped. Even with my empty aluminum trailer, it dropped too much. Overland just has wimpy soft springs.
Car shows all cancelled this year so didn't even get to load a car up and haul it to try things out, but my trip to Omaha to pick up some AMC dealership signs told me to expect trouble with the weight on that truck.
I have 300 pounds of concrete in the back of the truck now and it's really floaty up front with that weight! And that's sitting further ahead than a trailer tongue would be. It really doesn't handle well with the weight in the back.
The goofy thing is that I am getting slightly better MPG with the concrete in the back. Weird.

Your test test and then WXman's video that stemmed from that really made me sure to embrace the factory rake.

Did you ever swap in the rubicon springs like you were planning?
 

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ShadowsPapa

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Your test test and then WXman's video that stemmed from that really made me sure to embrace the factory rake.

Did you ever swap in the rubicon springs like you were planning?
I've been so swamped with requests for restorations I've not had much time - and now the heat (my shop is air conditioned but FULL), so not yet. The cancellation of all of the events I usually attend sort of took the push out of doing it. Still, the springs and shocks sit in my shop next to the door - read to go.
I actually like a bit of rake.
 

eaglerugby04

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I've been so swamped with requests for restorations I've not had much time - and now the heat (my shop is air conditioned but FULL), so not yet. The cancellation of all of the events I usually attend sort of took the push out of doing it. Still, the springs and shocks sit in my shop next to the door - read to go.
I actually like a bit of rake.
Will be interesting to see what that swap ends up doing for the trailer.
 
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B29681

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The truck has a rack to it from the factory for this reason. I’d be willing to guess your lift kit is a leveling lift. (2.5” up front and only 1.5” or so in the rear) Looks great unladen but as soon as you use the truck for truck stuff (hauling in the bed or towing) it’s going to look nose up. Did you measure your heights front and rear before and after the lift? If not, measure the fender heights at the center of the wheel (front and back) without the trailer and then swing by a dealer and measure a stock truck at the same spots to see how much lift you actually have front and rear. The tire size increase will add some to the equation but the objective is to see if you gained more up front than in the back.
Thinking you gained more in the front than you did in the rear which will definitely make it look squatted no matter what you put on the rear. Depending on what kind of lift you have, this can be remedied but for starters, you need more facts as to the height gains you started with.

Just for reference, my winch and bumper dropped my front end 3/4” so I put a 1&1/2” spacer on the front and a 3/4” spacer in the rear to effectively give my Rubicon 3/4” at both ends to clear 37’s but maintain the factory rake. My camper scaled at 4600 lbs with 600 tongue weight. My rear was squatted a little without any WDH but didn’t look or ride all that drastic because the truck started with a rake empty.
Hope that helps. Something to look at.
I bought my gladiator off the lot like it sits now (dealer build) the dealer assured me it was a 2 1/2 inch lift in the rear (it does have a slight rake rear higher) the dealer is currently working with an airbag company to find a combo that works for my truck . I have a pretty good "goto" guy at the dealership.
 

wvyankee2

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the dealer is currently working with an airbag company to find a combo that works for my truck . I have a pretty good "goto" guy at the dealership.
If that Equalizer hitch is set up right, you should not need any airbags on your Jeep. Should not squat it more than a 1/2 inch. I'm pulling same size camper ( weight & Tongue weight ) as you are and my rear barely moved. That is how it's supposed to be distributed, front to back. You should take it into a camper dealership and have them set it up for you. You will probably need a 6" drop shank on the Hitch head to keep your trailer level.

Can you put the bars in without raising the back of your truck up with the power jack? Or without too much help from the helper bar?
 
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B29681

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If that Equalizer hitch is set up right, you should not need any airbags on your Jeep. Should not squat it more than a 1/2 inch. I'm pulling same size camper ( weight & Tongue weight ) as you are and my rear barely moved. That is how it's supposed to be distributed, front to back. You should take it into a camper dealership and have them set it up for you. You will probably need a 6" drop shank on the Hitch head to keep your trailer level.

Can you put the bars in without raising the back of your truck up with the power jack? Or without too much help from the helper bar?
I have to get the tongue high enough to barely take the weight off the ball , then I can muscle the bars enough to secure the chains
 

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wvyankee2

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I have to get the tongue high enough to barely take the weight off the ball , then I can muscle the bars enough to secure the chains
I would say I have to raise my bed up about 3-4 inches with my Electric Jack ( Connected to the ball ) to get my Bars on. That's with a 10000# Equalizer.
 

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It is difficult to get the weight distributing hitch to work optimally if the springs are very soft. Max Tow springs work well with a load.
 

eaglerugby04

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I would say I have to raise my bed up about 3-4 inches with my Electric Jack ( Connected to the ball ) to get my Bars on. That's with a 10000# Equalizer.
Do you mean you are actually raising the back of the jeep by the ball? If so my bars are for sure not set right.
 

wvyankee2

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Do you mean you are actually raising the back of the jeep by the ball? If so my bars are for sure not set right.
Yes, Raising by the ball. I will be hooking up and towing this Friday. I will take pictures with measurements.
 

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Being from the carolinas I have had the pain of seeing what you are talking about. I am in love with the factory rake because i have seen the carolina squat.
Please don't get me started on the Carolina squat, drives me crazy see that crap.
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