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Old 03-27-2005, 08:06 AM   #22
RockyMtnRay
TrailManor Master
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 816
Default Upgrade the truck's shocks; you may/may not need a WDH

Quote:
Originally Posted by PopBeavers
It did bounce a little. I do not have a WD hitch. I don't foresee any problems with sway, but sometimes it felt like a bucking bronco. As if the rear bumper of the truck was going up and down a little more than it should. TV is 2002 Chevy Silverado 1500hd crew cab 4wd. Will a WD hitch help the bouncing? Is it worth the money?
Some (maybe a lot) of the bounce in the rear may be due to fairly worn shocks on the truck (especially at the rear). If they're still the OEM ones, they're likely pretty worn out and probably were not very good to begin with. I suggest you invest in a set of high quality gas shocks like those made by Bilstein that have dampening that's proportional to suspension vertical velocity.

I recently helped a TundraSolutions member with an ill-behaving truck that he was using to pull a 6500 lb trailer. He had the Hensley hitch (with both 1000 lb and 1400 lb bars) but was still getting a lot of pitching motion in the truck. Turned out he had the stock (soft), linear dampening Tokico shocks...once I got him to upgrade to the substantially better (and stiffer) Bilsteins that Toyota included in the TRD (Toyota Racing Development) Suspension options, his problems largely disappeared.

And yes, a WDH will also likely reduce the bounce by quite a bit. Part of the bounce is at the rear but some of it is also from the front of the truck being so unweighted by the tongue weight. The WDH will reweight the truck's front suspension. And simply removing a great deal of the tongue weight (plus transferred weight from the unweighted front suspension) will let the rear suspension return to near-normal loading/ride-height/behavior.

Since you seem to have an aversion to getting/using a WDH, if I were you I'd upgrade the shocks on the truck first. Then, if you still have bounce, get the WDH.

My truck came with the TRD Off Road Suspension (tuned springs and Bilstein shocks), I use a WDH (750 lb bars), and I've never had any noticeable bounce despite having a heavily loaded TM and a shorter wheelbase than your 'burban.
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Ray

I use my TM as a base camp for hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, and climbing Colorado's 14ers


The Trailer: 2002 TM Model 2720SL ( Mods: Solar Panels (170 Watts), Dual T-105 Batteries, Electric Tongue Jack, Side AC, Programmable Thermostat, Doran TP Monitor System)

The Tow Vehicle: 2003 Toyota Tundra V8 SR5 4X4 w/Tow Package (Towing & Performance Mods: JBA Headers, Gibson Muffler, 4.30 gears, Michelin LTX M/S Tires, Prodigy Brake Controller, Transmission Temperature Gauge)


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