Another JR

You could buy a cheap amazon Chinese made universal (water blue) FAKRA cable and just cut it for less than you can buy bare connectors I suspect. The last one I bought was about $6 with free prime shipping. I think the manufacturer was Bingfu. I bought a couple of short cables so I wear those connectors out instead of my GM ones on the truck and the tailgate as I go back and forth between having a slide in camper installed and having my tailgate installed a few times a year.

Yeah, my 2021 3500 cclb SLT gas truck I ordered with all the available tech, camper springs, 220 amp alternator, and second battery that arrived at the dealer in April 2021 got a lot of attention and a couple of offers in the 24 hours it was in the delivery area before I picked it up. I bought it while they were still honoring the supplier discount.

I just remembered I wrote down the wheel center to fender distances before I put the camper on this last time, so tomorrow I’ll put a floor jack under the trailer hitch frame and raise the truck until the rear suspension height matches the unloaded height, and then snap some more pictures of the secondary spring ends.

All it takes to create the effect MTU described is to shape the secondary spring with slightly more or less curve in the relaxed state. The metal could otherwise be the same.

Are you sure the part number 84992006 includes the overload assembly? I honestly don’t know. i’m just trying to explain what I think MTU (who works at GM) said in his description on the differences in the springs. Maybe MTU can clarify this?

Is the part number on yours the same as mine? My guess is it’s not. If you read what MTU wrote, he said the secondary springs on the 3500 engage earlier than those on the 2500 as you add load to the axle. My guess is that mine begin to contact the next leaf under static conditions at around 1000 lbs in the bed while yours don’t contact until some significantly higher weight, giving you a more compliant ride. I don’t hit my overloads statically until I have over 3000 lbs in the bed, so the overloads are not what is making the ride stiffer at mid-level loads. If the springs were identical the ride would be pretty much the same (except for small truck weight differences. When I test drove trucks the 3500 rear suspension felt noticeably stiffer to me, but that’s subjective.

I just realized the rear axle rating on my 2021 3500hd is higher the overall gross vehicle weight rating of my 93 K2500.

It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the part number is stencilled in big numbers on the bottom of the spring. They certainly are very similar.

You showed me yours so I guess it’s only fair to show you mine … Unfortunately I have my pop up camper in the bed, sitting at 1500 lbs with empty water tanks and no food or gear (I’ve weighed it.) Nearly all of that weight (1400+) is on the rear axle. As you can see my secondary springs (not the overloads) are in contact at that weight. One of the pictures looks like maybe there’s a gap but the plastic pad is in hard contact. When the truck is empty there is a gap. My payload rating is 4055 and RGAWR is 7250. Spring pack part number is 84992006. My overloads are about 1.75 inches from the bumpers with the camper on at this weight.

It’s pretty easy to check if the tailgate’s twisted. Open it and look carefully at the surface from the side maybe six feet away. If it’s twisted 1/4 inch it will be obvious.

Same here for my 2021.

I don’t think that’s correct Jettech based on what MTU said on the post pasted by Pryme. He said the bottom leaf on the main pack, which is shorter, thicker, and does not have its ends clamped with the other four springs and engages progressively, is different and engages (touches the next spring and begins to apply additional spring force) earlier than on the 2500 spring. The one ton feel stiffer in rear suspension when empty and the overloads do not engage when the truck is empty unless you go over a large bump at speed. In fact, with my 3500 with 2000 lbs in the bed the overloads are still an inch from their bumpers.

Dropping the rears to 62 triggers the TPMS low pressure warning on a 3500.

FAKRA connectors are used for the cameras installed on the truck, but that is not a FAKRA connector. The trailer camera connector on the bumper is larger than the FAKRA connectors. I don’t know what it is, but on one forum someone referred to it as a PAL connector.

There are multiple part numbers of rear spring packs. Remember that thread?

I wouldn’t say the ride was uncomfortable (for a 1 ton truck) with the stiffer springs, but the unloaded ride is noticeably stiffer with the the camper springs. I ordered my 2021 3500 cclb with the camper springs (not plow package) rated at 5600 FGAWR. The base springs would have given a 5200 lbs FGAWR. More important to me than the stiffer ride, the rebound response of the front suspension with the stiffer springs was faster than the rear suspension. This caused the front end to pitch up when going over dips at highway speed. It was worse with the camper on because my camper puts very little weight on the front. It might have been curable with different shocks, but I didn’t need the weight capacity and I wanted the softer ride. I bought the 5200 lb springs and swapped them in. The camper springs did make the truck stiffer in roll, which would be a benefit with a hard sided camper’s higher cg. I would suggest researching the weight and fore/aft cg of the camper you are buying, and then calculate the load added to the front axle by the camper. If it doesn’t add at least 300 lbs to the front axle weight I’d stick with the base springs. On the other hand, if you think you may wish you had bought them, go ahead and buy them. It only costs $600 plus labor to change them and it’s an easy job. I’d rather have the higher axle rating on the data plate with lower rated springs than vice versa.

I may be using the wrong terminology, but by “overloads” I meant the separate leaf spring above the main spring pack that engages its own set of bumpers on brackets bolted the frame. There was quite a bit of discussion about the 2500 not having this spring and not having the frame mounted bump stops for it. A person was wanting to add that spring and the bumpers to his 2500.

I bought mine with the front camper springs option. I ended up switching the front springs back to the base springs for my model because my camper only puts 100 lbs static weight on the front axle, and I didn’t like the pitch up effect of the front suspension response being stiffer than the rear. If you get into considering camper springs I can offer advice based on my experiences.

Single rear wheel or dually?

There are other recent threads on this, but here’s a summary as I remember it. The rear spring pack on the 3500 has one additional leaf. The 3500 rear spring system also has an overload spring where the 2500 does not. The 3500 GVWR and payload rating are higher (obviously). My 3500 cclb gas has a payload rating of 4,055 lbs. Typical 2500s have 3000 to 3400 I think - others may jump in with actual numbers. Because of the suspension difference, the 3500 has a bit stiffer ride at a given weight versus a 2500. The rear seat especially feels the stiffer ride when the truck is empty. With my 1800 lb slide-in camper in the bed the truck rides nicely. The 20 inch wheels on a Denali will make the ride even stiffer versus 18s. The rear tire pressure monitoring system alarm point is about 10 psi higher on the 3500, limiting how low you can set the rear tires for empty running to 63 psi without getting a warning. I wish I could go to about 55 when empty (I have 18 inch wheels). On the 2500 you can. If you have a diesel, I believe the 3500 has a slightly larger rear differential ring and pinion gear set 12” versus 11.5” on everything else. On the 3500 you can only have the huge moose antler towing mirrors. They seriously obscure the view to the right to see pedestrians at intersections. Make sure you drive trucks with both the standard and towing mirrors. This might be a big factor for you. On the 2500 the towing mirrors are optional. The 3500 has the much cooler “3500” emblem on the doors. However if you get the Denali there is no emblem so you constantly have to tell people it’s a 3500 if you want to be cool.

I think the OP is talking about a slide-in truck camper. I have a Four Wheel Campers pop up truck camper and I get about 15-15.5 mpg with the camper on and around 17.5 with it off when driving 65-70. It only weighs 1800 lbs. Of course, a tall, heavy non-pop-up camper will be a whole different story.

TRD Off Road Premium with KDSS in “Lunar Rock” color.

I just ordered/reserved a new 2023 4runner. I wanted the proven reliable drivetrain for mild overlanding and trailhead access for the next 20 years.

Part of the assembly that comes on top of the second battery in a gas truck is a battery isolator. Loads you connect to the aux battery are isolated from the starting battery when the truck isn’t running so they won’t deplete your starting battery. This is different from the diesel, which has the batteries directly connected at all times because they both are needed for starting.

The vent for the rear differential opens in the area of the fuel filler neck. The vents for the transmission, transfer case, and front differential all are routed to high points but I don’t know where. It would be good to know where they are and not spray there.