Tacoma rear suspension for towing

[Saharicon]

Hey guys. I am pretty new to Tacomas and I am less than week new to towing.

I purchased Jeff Lawrence's cargo trailer build last weekend.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/73403-Jeff-s-Cargo-Conversion

I started a thread in the trailer section, but it kind of went to talking all about tongue weight

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/137116-New-to-trailers-A-few-basic-questions


So I don't have time to get the exact tongue weight now or the resources near me, but it seems to be fairly heavy to me. (remember I am a towing newb, so I could be over reacting)

The rear end sags some and it feels a lot softer. So I am afraid to hit any trails with the stock suspension and so much weight on it. I did plan to do a full 3" suspension, but after buying the trailer somewhat unexpected. That is going to have to weight a little bit longer on funds.

So I have been doing some research on what I can do to the rear suspension to help this out. I have a couple questions though.

It looks like the Ride rite air bags are a big recommendation. If I installed airbags, would these not be able to be used once I did a full lift?

Also, I was looking at Icon, king, etc aftermarket bump stops. Would these help at all or am I thinking the wrong thing? These seem that they would be able to stay on once it is lifted as well.

Any other recommendations are also welcome. I want to beef up the rear suspension for towing, but also want to truck to keep its ride height while not towing.

Again. Truck is completely stock suspension wise right now. I believe Jeff said he thought the trailer was around 2100lbs in the build thread. The heavy part in the front of the trailer is probably the 200 amp hour AGM battery the solar charges. Worst case I guess I could relocate that over the axle.

Thanks for any help.

 

[amo292]

Im not familiar with Tacoma's but do have a Tundra and do a fair amount of towing. In my eyes airbags are the way to go. They can be had for short money and are the perfect solution for varied towing and driving. You can also go as extreme or basic as you want. With airbags you can leave them deflated or with minimal pressure for everyday driving so ride remains stock, you can pump them up to get a load of gravel, or adjust on the fly to the varied weights of the trailer tongue (loaded, unloaded, level out). Depending on the system the bags should be able to be used with a lift. They may just need a spacer of some sort. You could also just replace the bags with longer ones because they are so cheap.

Bumpstops is not what you want. Im not familiar with aftermarket bump stops but I do know that bumpstops are for when your suspension is maxed out and its protecting the truck from serious damage. The would have nothing to do with towing capability unless you are riding on then with is really not advised.

Other options are add a leaf packs to gain the towing capability. Unfortunately the drawbacks to this are a stiffer ride. You could also look into custom made leaf springs but that could get costly.

Hope this helps.

 

[MTaco]

I used to tow a 19ft travel trailer and it did fine with the Wheelers 3 leaf add a leaf kit and Timbren bump stops in the rear. Maybe get the Timbrens first then when you want to lift it get the OME Dakar springs and you should be set. I also took my pickup in under warrenty and had the dealership replace the rear springs with the TSB that adds an extra leaf in the rear. Yours may already have this done, mine is an 06 and it only came with 2 main leafs and 1 overload.

Here is a pic.

 

[vicali]

Towing on stock suspension;


RV is 4200lbs, loaded for camp it's around 5000lbs.. although I do use an equalizer hitch.

There isn't any 'trails' happening when we're loaded :sombrero:

Your options from the towing community are airbags (ride rites are highly recommended), bumpstops (Timbrens etc, designed to ride on the stops like a cushion..), off-road guys will suggest add-a-leafs, or even new spring packs..
I'm going either airbags or OME Dakar HDs, we'll see this year.

 

[MTaco]

That is about the exact same trailer I had. Mine was a Keystone Springdale 189fl. Maybe yours is the Canadian version.

 

[Saharicon]

Thanks for all the input guys. I think I need to do some more hauling, which we are going to do a big loop around Death Valley this weekend. Then I can really get a feel for how the suspension plays with the trailer.

I also need to figure out what the actual tongue weight is. Then go from there.

If I need it, it sounds like air bags are probably the best option for right now.

 

[Gregster]

For sure air bags are your best option. I've got the RideRites with the compressor under the hood and the pressure gauge/inflate/deflate switch mounted under the dash. I love being able to adjust the amount of support I need at any time, including while I'm going down the road. No worries for whatever you may need to haul or tow in the future since you will have the variability in your suspension to handle anything up to your weight limit (and more).

 

[surlydiesel]

I used to tow a 19ft travel trailer and it did fine with the Wheelers 3 leaf add a leaf kit and Timbren bump stops in the rear. Maybe get the Timbrens first then when you want to lift it get the OME Dakar springs and you should be set. I also took my pickup in under warrenty and had the dealership replace the rear springs with the TSB that adds an extra leaf in the rear. Yours may already have this done, mine is an 06 and it only came with 2 main leafs and 1 overload.

Here is a pic.

This is what I would do. I'm just not an airbag fan. The other thing I would do is helper springs. I have them on my truck and it's night and day better.

-jorge

 

[gwittman]

The problem with add-a-leaf spring is, they are always there. When you are not towing and there is no weight in the rear, the rear is very stiff and you can feel it in the ride. I also run air bags because they are adjustable and I don't have to deal with a jarring ride. I use Air-Lift bags but any good quality bag that fits your truck will work. I don't have the onboard air for the bags but I located the fill valves in a convenient place so it is easy to adjust if needed. I rarely have to adjust the air bag pressure, so it works for me.
I was concerned that they would not work well for off-road and planned to remove them when I set out for an off-road adventure. It turned out that they work fine off-road and when I load up for a long trip off-road, they come in handy to lift the rear up from all the weight in the bed.
The bags do deteriorate with age but are not that expensive to replace. I count on replacing them in the 5 to 10 year range. I also keep a spare in case I damage one on a trip.

 

[Mrknowitall]

Hook it up- make sure you have everything the way you want it loaded and have the right amount of drop hitch. If the rear squashes way too much, get some timbrens on there- priced in the same range as AAL's but go on w/o taking the packs part. remember too, that a lot of tongue weight will unload the front axle, no matter how you stiffen up the rear.

 

[Saharicon]

Loading it up tonight and taking it this weekend... will report back.

 

[tgreening]

I'm a big fan of bags if your intent is to do more towing than serious wheeling. There are things to consider if you wish to go off raod with your airbags and not destroy them. They dont stretch very well.

I'm also a big fan of set it and forget it bag systems. I've used them on a number of vehicles and my setup is usually the same. I use the system with a ride height sensor. This way I set my desired stance (level) during installation, and never have to look at it again. If I fill up my fuel tank the compressor kicks in and levels the truck. As I burn fuel the system bleeds off air and the truck stays level.

My camper has a 4,300# pin weight and my truck stays dead nuts level after I hook up. It's no doubt more expensive to do it this way, but I never saw the attraction in filling/bleeding the bags based on what I was doing. My goal, always, was a level truck. This way it doesnt matter what I'm doing or towing, it always stays that way.

My Taco is a recent purchase and though I dont see it doing a boatload of hauling, I can see it wont take much to make it drag its ******** in the sand. I can sit on the tailgate and make it droop. I could stand to lose a few, but I'm not THAT much of a porker. Odds are at some point it'll get bagged just like my other trucks. It will never be a serious off road machine, but I'll make sure its setup so that if I do get off road and twisted up I dont rip the bags out.

Plus as someone else already mentiond, when you dont need them, its like they arent there. I dont know of any other system on the market that can load adapt, completely eliminate rear end squat under load, and then disappear when the load goes away. ANY spring based system is either affecting your suspension 24/7, or only reducing squat instead of eliminating it.

Since I'm not a pre-runner I hate squat. Give me the bags every time.

 

[Saharicon]

I'm a big fan of bags if your intent is to do more towing than serious wheeling. There are things to consider if you wish to go off raod with your airbags and not destroy them. They dont stretch very well.

I'm also a big fan of set it and forget it bag systems. I've used them on a number of vehicles and my setup is usually the same. I use the system with a ride height sensor. This way I set my desired stance (level) during installation, and never have to look at it again. If I fill up my fuel tank the compressor kicks in and levels the truck. As I burn fuel the system bleeds off air and the truck stays level.

My camper has a 4,300# pin weight and my truck stays dead nuts level after I hook up. It's no doubt more expensive to do it this way, but I never saw the attraction in filling/bleeding the bags based on what I was doing. My goal, always, was a level truck. This way it doesnt matter what I'm doing or towing, it always stays that way.

My Taco is a recent purchase and though I dont see it doing a boatload of hauling, I can see it wont take much to make it drag its ******** in the sand. I can sit on the tailgate and make it droop. I could stand to lose a few, but I'm not THAT much of a porker. Odds are at some point it'll get bagged just like my other trucks. It will never be a serious off road machine, but I'll make sure its setup so that if I do get off road and twisted up I dont rip the bags out.

Plus as someone else already mentiond, when you dont need them, its like they arent there. I dont know of any other system on the market that can load adapt, completely eliminate rear end squat under load, and then disappear when the load goes away. ANY spring based system is either affecting your suspension 24/7, or only reducing squat instead of eliminating it.

Since I'm not a pre-runner I hate squat. Give me the bags every time.

Thanks for the input! Depending on ones definition of serious off roading, in my opinion I do pretty mild stuff. I use to be heavily involved in competitive rock crawling though. So it takes quite a bit for me to be concerned.

In other news. We took the trailer out last weekend and with it all loaded it seemed to be more level and stable. The rear end was still a little soft, but not as bad as it was not loaded. Assuming this lessened the tongue weight.

I think I am going to wait a little bit and try and do a full lift with All Pros expedition rear leafs and then see how it rides. I am getting a pack rack and rear bumper around March. So that will add some weight too.