Cranked and towing

tps0424 · April 19, 2003

Those of you out there who have cranked your T-Bars and tow a significant trailer; does the rear of your truck drop below the front (dragging butt) when you have your trailer hitched up? I noticed when I towed my 7000# camper the other day that the rear end seemed low compared to the front.

alpha42 · April 19, 2003

Hi.Yes I crank the T bars up in winter for the weight of my plow. In the summer I turn them back down or when I hook up my 27 ft travel trailer not only is the back a little to low the front is way too high. Affects steering,traction,and lighting at night.Unfortunately you can't get the best of both worlds without a little fidgeting around. I guess I am getting older because I really believe the engineers at GM know a thing or two about these trucks. I am installing Timbren load boosters (basically a larger dampened rubber stop on the lower control arm) next winter rather than keep toying with the T bars twice a year. But to answer your question yes definetely. You should see how bad a half ton looks with a heavy trailer and cranked T bars. at least the Hd still looks level-unless you cranked the snot out of em.

Shaners · April 19, 2003

I cranked my T-bars just a little. The truck still has minor "nose dive" but not too bad.

When I tow my trailer (about 950 lbs tounge weight) the truck is level when I have the weight dist bars hooked up.

timk49 · April 19, 2003

Hi Shanners

I load 21 gallons of extra water and six gallons of gasolene to the front of the bed then an extra batteryand an ice chest tools firewood and drywasher. Then I hook up the trailer 17' Komfort light. The rear bumper takes the load with about an inch of settling. I'm not sure what my tongue weight is. I only turned my Tbars 3 turns. It actually looks more level than without the trailer and load.

Unrelated. I broke the rear leaf spring on my trailer last weekend. Seven years of desert trails finally took their toal.

Its in the shop getting both leafs on that side replaced. $290.

Still cheep when I consider all the fun we have had on our camping trips.

Heres a pic of my truck and trailer loaded.

tps0424 · April 20, 2003

I hooked up the camper again today. I've just gotten a Reese Dual Cam to replace the friction sway control. I changed which link I use on the weight distribution bar because now I have a large loop at the other end of the chain. Now I can get the truck to look more or less level, maybe even a hair higher in the rear. At that point, the trailer is level and I think that's what's important.

I'm still thinking I may need to crank the t-bars down a half inch.