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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / March 2005Tow Vehicle Suggestions, '01 Silverado
Looking for some suggestions on leveling out the ride of my 2001 Silverado C1500 X-cab when towing our Pop-up camper. The truck naturally sits a bit higher in the rear when unloaded. After loading up the bed with camping gear and hooking up the 3500lb trailer, the truck sits down to level (front to back) or even a bit low in the back. Not a big deal (well within the capacity of the truck), but it's enough to always point the headlights a bit higher and change the driving characteristics a bit. Thought about putting air shocks on the rear of the truck so I could easily adjust the height depending on whether the truck is loaded or not. Although, I've heard a few arguments against air shocks. Any thoughts?? Wally Korzenieski > Thought about putting air shocks on the rear of the truck I towed my LARGE popup camper using air-adjustable shock absorbers on two, different station wagons. They worked GREAT! Air shocks are a perfectly good way to raise the back end of a vehicle by a couple of inches or so without other, more expensive modifications to the suspension. :) JR I did the same thing with a little Nissan pickup we had when we bought our first (and current) pop-up. They were easy to install, and got everything up to level - only needed a couple of inches - and rode much better after the install. Karl & Angela `02 Durango `96 Taos >>Thought about putting air shocks on the rear of the truck > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > :) > JR I'd like to thank everyone for their suggestions. My first thought was a weight distributing hitch to remedy the situation but it's not recommended for my trailer ('03 Coleman Mesa), so I've been told. A little more detail on what's leading to my situation. If I didn't know better, I'd say Coleman made a bit of mistake with the floor plan and weight distribution in my trailer. I have to consciously load up the front storage box and front half of the trailer to minimize the sway at highway speeds. Unfortunately, most of the key storage spots seem to be in the rear of the trailer. Looks like in '04 they reversed the floor plan (front to back). Coincidence?? Don't know. Maybe I'm over reacting, but I've towed many different trailers in the past, and this one seems to be overly sensitive to weight distribution. Anyways, that's my reason for intentionally loading up the tongue weight a bit and wanting to compensate on the truck. Thanks again for all the feedback. >> Thought about putting air shocks on the rear of the truck > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > :) > JR > A little more detail on what's leading to my situation. If I didn't know > better, I'd say Coleman made a bit of mistake with the floor plan and weight [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Thanks again for all the feedback. I just bought a 2005 Fleetwood Niagara and I agree that the tongue weight is a little on the low side as a percentage of the total weight. I will be putting about 200 pounds of stuff in the front compartment to help reduce the risk of swaying. The dealer is also installing an anti-sway hitch to reduce the problem that is frequently caused when you only have one axle on a heavy pop-up. >> A little more detail on what's leading to my situation. If I didn't >> know better, I'd say Coleman made a bit of mistake with the floor [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > anti-sway hitch to reduce the problem that is frequently caused > when you only have one axle on a heavy pop-up. The above were concerns on mine when moving from a 12' to a smaller 10' pop-up. The front storage box is a great feature, but the trailers I towed didn't seem to be as stable. I chose to go with a Jayco Eagle 10UD (no front storage box). I get the tongue weight about about 14% and it pulls very straight and stable with no sway. I believe Coleman's, especially those with the front compartment and designed to have a higher weight ratio on the tongue -- check the owner's manual, it might be on the high-sdie or above 15% of the gross trailer weight.  SignatureStephen, Wife, Daughter, Son, and in-laws San Diego, CA 2002 Grand Caravan ES 3.8L with tow package 2001 Saturn LW200 in Silver-Blue 2001 Jayco Eagle 10 UD __________ /__________\_ |__|__|_____|---+ O > "Mark Jones" <noemail@mindspring.com> wrote in > > I just bought a 2005 Fleetwood Niagara and I agree that the tongue [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > owner's manual, it might be on the high-sdie or above 15% of the gross > trailer weight. Fleetwood lists the unloaded weight as 3,095 lbs and the tongue weight at 275 lbs. Less than 9% of the weight is on the tongue. That I why I intend to put some weight up front to help reduce the tendency to sway. funny enough, Coleman had Reese design the Reese350 specially for their pop-up??? it's a WDH with included AntiSway pads. you may find a used one on e-bay... Mel Wally Korzenieski a écrit: > I'd like to thank everyone for their suggestions. My first thought was a > weight distributing hitch to remedy the situation but it's not recommended [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] >> :) >>JR > I'd like to thank everyone for their suggestions. My first thought was a > weight distributing hitch to remedy the situation but it's not recommended > for my trailer ('03 Coleman Mesa), so I've been told. I know I'm late jumping in here, but YOU WERE LIED TO. Reese makes a version of the Mini-350 that is specifically designed for Coleman/Fleetwood trailers. Some late model Fleetwoods have to have minor changes, but they are considered a waranty item and will be done by Fleetwood at no cost to you. > A little more detail on what's leading to my situation. If I didn't know > better, I'd say Coleman made a bit of mistake with the floor plan and > weight distribution in my trailer. I have to consciously load up the front > storage box and front half of the trailer to minimize the sway at highway > speeds. This needs to be done with any trailer, but yes, the 12' Coleman/Fleetwoods are definitely tongue light. > Unfortunately, most of the key storage spots seem to be in the rear of the > trailer. Looks like in '04 they reversed the floor plan (front to back). > Coincidence?? Don't know. I doubt it. What surprises me is that they didn't do it years ago. > Maybe I'm over reacting, but I've towed many different trailers in the > past, and this one seems to be overly sensitive to weight distribution. My experience as well. > Anyways, that's my reason for intentionally loading up the tongue weight a > bit and wanting to compensate on the truck. Look at the Reese Mini-350 or the Mini-400 with sway bar. Austin SignatureColeman Bayside behind a Chevy Astro. No, not without a Reese Mini-350 WDH! There are no X characters in my address When I bought my 99 Mesa, they had a trailer on the lot that was like a 98 model of the Mesa except no trunk in front and had the floorplan reversed. I think it was a Sun valley??? That would put the storage under the couch in the front.... maybe they thought the trunk would offset that weight all the way in the rear on the Mesa but it didn't thats for sure. My Mesa empty sways like crazy, if I load it correctly, it tows fine.-- Gerry & Robyn 99 Mesa 01 SportTrac >> I'd like to thank everyone for their suggestions. My first thought was a >> weight distributing hitch to remedy the situation but it's not [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > Austin > maybe they thought the trunk would offset that weight all > the way in the rear on the Mesa but it didn't thats for sure. My Mesa empty > sways like crazy, if I load it correctly, it tows fine.-- Unless one is luckier than most, they use the camping trailer itself to HAUL a lot of gear. Even WITH a front storage trunk, A LOT of gear is stashed inside the camper door. If the entry door to that camper is BEHIND the trailer's axle (aft of the axle), the inclination is to load more heavily BEHIND the axle. This reduces the hitch weight that is necessary to mitigate the tendency for any trailer to sway while being towed. Users of such a camper should make an extra effort to move as much weight FORWARD of the trailer's axle for better/safer towing behavior. I just perused the ENTIRE line of Fleetwood's folding campers. Check this out: <http://www.fleetwoodrv.com/scorpion/> That is pretty cool! :) Anyway, I notice that there are NO floorplans anymore with the entry door aft of the axle. It's a significant improvement, for sure. :) JR <big snip> > I just perused the ENTIRE line of Fleetwood's folding campers. Check this > out: > > <http://www.fleetwoodrv.com/scorpion/> > > That is pretty cool! :) Is this the first pop-up toybox trailer? Does it qualify as a toybox camper if the "toybox" is open? > Anyway, I notice that there are NO floorplans anymore with the entry door > aft > of the axle. It's a significant improvement, for sure. It's only an improvement if the axle moved back at the same time. I believe it would have had to on the Bayside, but I don't know about other models. Something they should have done years ago. I wonder if this is an offshoot of the Coleman/Fleetwood legal battles. Austin SignatureColeman Bayside behind a Chevy Astro. No, not without a Reese Mini-350 WDH! There are no X characters in my address > Looking for some suggestions on leveling out the ride of my 2001 Silverado > C1500 X-cab when towing our Pop-up camper. The truck naturally sits a bit [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Any thoughts?? Get a weight distributing hitch. This will transfer some of the tongue weight to the front of the truck. > > Looking for some suggestions on leveling out the ride of my 2001 Silverado > > C1500 X-cab when towing our Pop-up camper. The truck naturally sits a bit [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Get a weight distributing hitch. This will transfer some of the tongue > weight to the front of the truck. Find as long as the trailer can handle it. Some of that weight goes back to the trailer axle too. I had them with all my trailers but they all had tandem axles (7000 lb). I'd try WDH. Same happened when I towed my TT (3600# dry...) Was able to lift the whole rig to make everything level. Mel Wally Korzenieski a écrit: > Looking for some suggestions on leveling out the ride of my 2001 Silverado > C1500 X-cab when towing our Pop-up camper. The truck naturally sits a bit [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Wally Korzenieski I honestly do not think that you need to do anything to your truck. Your truck, well maitained, can easily handle that load. Driving characteristics will always be different when towing. Unless you are experiencing unsafe characteristics (like sway or very noticable sag), you are most likely ok. I personally would redistribute the weight within the pop-up prior to investing in any kind of other solution. >Looking for some suggestions on leveling out the ride of my 2001 Silverado >C1500 X-cab when towing our Pop-up camper. The truck naturally sits a bit [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >Wally Korzenieski You could go with a weight distributing hitch, but I understand that they can harm some popup frames.. proceed with caution.. ITOH, i know several folks that tow large trailers and have installed air bags/shocks and most are very happy with them, both on towing and normal driving.. especially in the 3/4 and 1 top trucks, as they can leave 5 or 6 pounds of air in the bags when they're not towing and the ride is smoother than stock.. I'd suggest that you either have them fill individually or have a check valve on the dual filler hose.. lots of problems with the stock "no valve" install because when you take a corner, air transfers from one bag to the other (a bad thing) YMMV mac Please remove splinters before emailing Real good point on the check valve. A couple of airbag systems I looked at had individual air fills or an optional "common" air fill. I thought the common air fill made more sense to keep both sides even. Never thought about the cornering aspect of it. > On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 03:18:28 GMT, "Wally Korzenieski" > <wkorzen@rochester.rr.com> [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] > > Please remove splinters before emailing >Real good point on the check valve. A couple of airbag systems I looked at >had individual air fills or an optional "common" air fill. I thought the >common air fill made more sense to keep both sides even. Never thought about >the cornering aspect of it. yeah, the better systems have a check valve (lets air in, not out) on each line of the linked bags.. mac Please remove splinters before emailing >Looking for some suggestions on leveling out the ride of my 2001 Silverado >C1500 X-cab when towing our Pop-up camper. The truck naturally sits a bit [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > >Any thoughts?? I had the same problem with a 1990 Ford Pickup towing a 1999 Starcraft Starflyer. I put Monroe Load Leveler shocks on the rear of the pickup, and it took what was a 4" drop when hitched to less than a 1" drop. The truck rode just fine unloaded and was nice and level. Mark Filice 2004 Homestead Settler 255RS 1999 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 |
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