Towing with a lift. Strategies?

[wilkin250r]

Sure, it would be nice to have the best of all worlds. Who wouldn't want 450HP and 35mpg, right? Unfortunately, some worlds just don't coincide.

I've seen air bags, but most are 4-6 inches tall. That's fine for stock height, but with my lift I've got about a foot between my frame and leaf springs, and that's WITH a block. I would like to get new springs and/or a shackle flip to get rid of the block, and that would increase my distance even more.

I'm not towing at 12,000lb fifth wheel, but we're not talking a 500lb trash trailer or aluminum fishing boat either. I do load several quads, or the occasional car, and my trailer was homemade for a small tractor or forklift, so the trailer itself is heavier than normal, so 5000lbs is certainly possible.

What are my strategies for towing with a huge lift? I've never seen air bags a foot tall, and I don't like helper springs because they make the suspension too stiff when you're NOT towing.

[Chevy_mud_truck]

You can do a air bag set up it just require some cutting and welding I fixed a dozen set for a local camper dealer here local to me for the rocky ridge trucks that chevy sells

[Tom]

Helper bags shouldn't affect the suspension at all with no load and PSI in them.

[dieseldawg142]

my k30 crew has a 8" lift with 39's & i regularly tow a quad trailer with it (usually around 4-4500 lbs). i'm running stock style leafs in the rear with a 4" flip & a 3" block, & airbags. dont matter how far your axle is from your frame for bags, you can make or buy airbag spacers. after running bags for a few yrs, i have noticed they will flex quite a bit with no damage when your off-road, just to be on the safe side, i installed quick releases on the 2 top bag bolts if my axle ever gets too twisted, have'nt tried them out yet though....
biggest thing i find is how it tows & feels when you got a big drop hitch. when your trailer is much lower, it brakes a lot different, & wait till you hit a pothole or undulation in the road-woo-hoo....
i started with a 10" d.hitch, worked but felt really weird on the truck.
now i'm running a 8" d.hitch after i flipped the axle under the springs on my trailer. is much better, but still has a touch of "weirdness" in it.
my next step i'm gonna try is put some 2" lift blocks in the trailer & hopefully step down to a 6" d.hitch. i think a 6 would eliminate the last bit of weirdness

[dieseldawg142]

forgot to mention, if you run bags & if you carry heavy loads with them, put a solid brace (i used 1/4x3x3 angle ) between the frame rails where your bags mount.
had the box off a couple yrs later & noticed the frame rails had a slight inward bend where the bags were mounted. a hi-lift jack with a 10 foot bar on it got them pushed back where they needed to be....

[Chevy_mud_truck]

I agree with dieseldawg142 it has a odd fell towing with a long drop hitch and all the side wall flex of the bigger tires don't help neather after you tow with it for a bit you'll get use to it my biggest compliant was backing up my trailer wants to dart side to side real bad which sucks I live on a dead end street that up hill all the way but the last 20/25 feet and it has a pretty sharp 90 degree turn in the middle and you half to back all the way up it and I was also towing with a 39" bogger with a 12" lift so my drop hitch is 20" drop I've pushed mine a time or two with 10.000lbs or more it hauled it I'm not going to say butt wasn't holding on to the seat
Dieseldawg142 got any pics of you release system on your air bag setup that might be a useful add on when building the mounts

[wilkin250r]

I don't have 36 inches of articulation or anything ridiculous like that, but my truck IS mainly an offroad toy, (which is why I want to tow with it, to take all the toys at once). I have taken steps to soften the suspension and get a little more flex out of it.

Spacers on the bags sounds fine, but I'd be worried about over-stretching them. If I put limiting straps on them, now I'm losing some of my offroad ability. OR I am wrenching each and every time I go out, before and after, to install and remove components to get the performance I need.

Am I asking for the impossible? It's starting to look like it...

[Chevy_mud_truck]

Might sound like a silly question but have you try towing with it yet

[Chevy_mud_truck]

And if you have how much of a drop hitch do you have to run

[Domer]

They do make triple bellow bags for lifted trucks.
http://www.airbagit.com/product-p/bag-free-7x.htm
They use to make quad bellow.. I'm not finding them off the top ofy head..

[wilkin250r]

I think my drop hitch is 12". I'll have to double-check.

I have towed with it, but only smaller loads. My problem is my trailer configuration, if I want to take 3 quads, I have to put the heaviest in front, AND my middle is still forward of my wheels, creating more tongue weight than I want. If I want to take 4 quads, I'm loading one in the back of the truck, and I start to sag significantly.

And again, maybe I'm asking the impossible. I'd like to increase the load capacity without permanently affecting my spring rates (like stiffer springs or helper springs), AND something that won't limit my suspension travel (including down-travel), AND won't require assembly/disassembly to put it to use.

I'm not sure what the limits to the air-springs are, but a triple-bellow air spring might be the direction I'm looking for.

[Chevy_mud_truck]

One other option is try find a adjustable load distributing hitch of eBay or Craigslist take it to a machine shop have them to make you new slide in the drop need then load your traler set you hitch up a go and don't mess with the trucks suspension
I've built one for a friend that looked like this had a machine shop drill and cut the square bar and I welded it up