[RockyMtnRay]

Originally Posted by Mikewgolf

I need your help in making a decision. I have a Ford F-150 V8 and a 3023 Trailmanor. When I am hook up the Trailer it sets the rear of the pickup down. TM pulls level however the Ford F-150 is not level. I want to raise the bed of the truck and need to know Pros and Cons of Air Bags vs Air Shocks. Which route should I take

Looking forward to your answers.

Mike
Sugar Land, TX

Under no circumstances should you be even thinking about trying to level your truck by using some suspension booster on the rear suspension. As Larry_Loo mentions above, the ONLY safe and effective way to level your truck with the TM attached is via a Weight Distributing Hitch. What you think is "sets the rear" down is actually the result of three actions:

• The rear suspension is indeed being compressed by the trailer's tongue weight, which is about 700 lbs for 3023. This is the part most people intuitively understand and want to compensate for with some form of rear suspension booster. But it's only part of the problem and actually the least serious part.
• Through a teeter-totter action with the truck's rear axle acting as pivot, the front of the truck is being un-weighted (or lifted) by a force that's about half of the tongue weight (the effect is almost the same as taking the engine out of the truck!). That's 350 lbs off the front end which raises the front end by at least an inch, reduces the front tire steering capability, reduces the front tire braking effectiveness and makes the front end feel "floaty"
• The weight that comes off the front suspension doesn't disappear into space, rather it gets transferred to the rear suspension and compresses that even more. So you actually wind up with over 1000 lbs being put on the truck's rear suspension.

The final result is the front of the truck goes up an inch or two at the same time the rear goes down an inch or two and it looks like the rear end is really sagging because of the combination of these two movements.

So why do I think that air bag/shocks are so horrible and that they should be banned from sale in this country? There are two reasons:

• Raising the rear of the truck until it's level with the front does absolutely nothing to fix the unweighting of the front wheels and transfer of weight from front to back. You still have greatly reduced steering and braking with the front tires.
• All trucks have a brake proportioning valve on their rear axle which uses rear suspension compression to determine what percentage of applied brake pressure the rear brakes should get. With the truck unloaded at its normal rear ride height, that's not a very large number...maybe 25%. If you raise the rear of the truck to match the front (which is an inch or two higher than it's normally at), the brake proportioning valve almost completely closes off all brake fluid to the rear brakes and the front brakes have to do over 90% of the braking. That in turn leads to overheated and very rapidly wearing front brakes (which have limited braking effectiveness to begin with). The net result is a huge reduction in the truck's overall braking ability and that is just downright dangerous in a panic stopping situation.

That's why I completely despise air bags/shocks for towing and consider anyone who uses them to be a menace to themselves and anyone else who's unfortunate to have to share the road with them.

By contrast, a properly adjusted Weight Distributing Hitch distributes roughly a third of the tongue weight to the front suspension, a third to the rear suspension, and a third to the trailer tires. So, with a 3023, that means that about 250 lbs are added to the front (instead of 350 lb coming off) and 250 instead of 1000 lbs goes on the rear (so rear suspension compression in minimal). The truck squats equally front and rear (so it stays level) and even more importantly, the brake proportioning valve is opened so the rear brakes will do more and not less of the braking. It's a total win-win situation and the direct opposite of the lose-lose-lose situation that comes from using air bags for leveling.