Towing with coilovers

[74 stepside]

Anyone with a truck that has rear coilovers for suspension ever tow a trailer?

[lolife99]

Anyone?

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

What tongue weight are you expecting? It's not so much the load of the trailer as it is the tongue weight. Also, location of the coilover along with spring rate will affect how it responds to the added load. Use a double shear mounting design for the upper and lower c.o. mounts. Even though single shear, or stud mounts, have been used for years, this is better kept to a typical shock mount. I'm not a fan of using a single stud to support the weight of a heavy vehicle, like a truck, let alone adding the abuse of trailer towing. Using a double shear (your shock eyelet captured in-between two mounting surfaces and a bolt passing all the way thru) will almost triple the strength of the mount. I've seen some pretty scary looking mounts before.... small tabs welded to a single peice of tubing with a single shear mount. I've attached a pic of our proto-type lower mounts that we are working on for a complete bolt-in c.o. set-up. It's designed as a C-channel to fit over the trailing arm and have height adjustability. All heavy duty 1/4" plate. A few small details are being worked out and then on to testing. There will also be a new frame crossmember included with Chrome-moly tubing and more 1/4" plate. It's an intermediate kit, a step up from the factory replacement stuff, but not a high dollar frame replacement. Should have more info coming soon.... But, back to towing. With the vast options of coilovers, you could possibly look into a variable spring rate coil. As the load gets heavier, the coil gets stiffer. Then your ride could be better when driving empty, but be able to manage towing.. Just a few thoughts.....

[74 stepside]

I was thinking like a 20 foot jet boat or a small 15 foot canned ham style trailer. Both have low toung weight. I know Ive seen others towing either of these, just wondered what set up/ coilover they were using. If it meens having 2 different sets of coilovers, 1 for street, 1 for towing to where they can be switch out. Im cool with that. Iam planning on doing trailing arm conversion on my 74 c10 with coilovers. This is why I asked.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

The trailing arm design will be a great addition to your '74. The ride quality is so much better than the leaf springs. If I may ask, what type of trailing arm are you using? A factory style or aftermarket? In case you are interested in the variable rate spring route, check out QA1's site for a little more info. This may or may not eliminate the need for two seperate sets of coilovers. (If anything, maybe all you would have to do is adjust the preload up a bit for the spring when you plan on towing....?) I've attached the link below. One other thought, use as long of a c.o. as you can. Try to stay closer to 5" of travel or more if you can help it. Some shorter c.o.'s can have 4" or less of travel, I know an inch doesn't sound like much, but it can mean the difference between a smooth ride and a blown out shock! Hope this info helps you out.


http://www.qa1.net/qa1_motorsports/d...springs-1.html

[74 stepside]

Im using factory 3/4 ton trailing arms. They already have the beefier added plates on them. Ive had a 65 shorty with trailing arms and Ill say it was the best riding and handling truck I have owned. Ive installed coilovers on street rods just wasnt sure about towing with them. Thanks for the info GEARBOX.