hi,

i have an 03 dakota with the V8 and towing package.

Im occasiaonly (about once every 2 months) towing a car (3400lbs) and trailer (1700 lbs).

im pretty impressed with the towing ability on the hwy, but the truck rear end is sagging and i can feel it in the handling?


im thinking of the following?
Timbren SES Kit - Rear
http://www.truckspring.com/timbren-s...ear-ddr00.html

or

Firestone Sport-Rite Kit - Rear
http://www.truckspring.com/firestone-sport-rite-kit-rear-2217.html
im really liking the timbren due to not having to mess with air? [/align]is there anything else other than this out there?[/align][/align]what do you guys suggest?
Anyone else with the same problem? chim in plz?

thanks,
j

 

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...p;autoview=sku

If that doesn't work, I went with a Hellwig LP-15 (hel-1515 summit part number) for my quad cab. I thought about going with air bags, but the ease of installation on the helpers got me, and they're fairly inexpensive at under $150.

I've been pretty happy with my setup, and like you I have been known to hook a 3500 pound car up on a 1800 pound (tilt bed beavertail!) trailer and throw tools and spares in the bed, with a canopy on it. It's nowhere near as peppy as empty, but with the extra springs it actually rides a lot closer to level than I anticipated.

I couldn't really tell a difference in ride quality either, so I've just left them on full-time cranked all the way down. Of course my other truck is a 3/4 ton with lift springs so the dakota still rides like a crown vic in comparison.

 

I would just add a leaf to your suspension. and that will help out alot.


EDIT: do what horatio said. he beat me to it

 

thanks horatio102

that sounds good. ill do that...i like hearing from someone that is also towing a car or in the same situation...cant go wrong there....

i appreciate it.

jason

 

I contemplated add-a-leafs as well, since it would lift the truck a little too, but in the end I didn't want to mess with the front end pointing at the ground or cranking the torsion bars, so I went with the helpers.

Do you have a quad cab? If so, the helpers just bolt on the rear half of the spring. With the longer bed versions there are 4 spring packs and they go both in front and behind the axles.

 

Here's a pic. As you can see, it's a production GT WRX wagon rally car, not exactly petite in the scheme of race cars. What you can't see is that the bed of my truck has a half dozen fuel jugs (mostly empty then, driving home), 2 spare wheel/tires for the trailer, 6 wheel/tire spares for the car, a large (20x8') easy-up with a rubber floor mat, spare axles, full set of spare rotors, control arms, and a grip of tools and other bins full or random stuff. It's not exactly a light load, and the back end is sagging a little bit, but not as much as before I got the helpers.

 

Air bags would help it keep even more level, but the Firestone stuff is spendy and the Timbrens iirc you'd have to have an external compressor to fill them up, unless you just ran around with them jacked up all the time.

 

Horatio102,

thanks a bunch. thats what im gonna do! yeah i have silver quad cab just like you! i tow a Nissan 350z that i take out to drift events. and yeah, i keep the bed full of tires, tools etc as well. if those helper springs do that in your picture then im sold......thanks so much for your help. ill be ordering mine soon!

-jason!

 

Yup, those helwig helper springs are doing it. I also put on some rancho shocks, a bit stiffer than the worn out OEM stuff. I bought mine with 42k miles on it back in 2005? Now I've got 75k miles on it.

I couldn't be happier with it, and I'm glad to share. This is the reason I wound up getting the dakota, I wanted something I could take to the races that sat 5 in a pinch and that was small enough to fit into any parking garage. With the roof rack on the canopy I've had some problems with parking garages, especially after adding the Rallye 4000s on top, but right now it's off the truck.

 

awesome. I too have a 2002 quadcab 360 v8 and tow a V8 powered Toyota MR2 around the east coast. Mine did not come with a towing package, but it does have leather! I have a windowless cap on it as well. I installed the tow package harness and a receiver hitch when I first purchased the truck new.
First trip was a MR2 meet I put on in Vegas in 2003. Truck did awesome. But I did have that nose high attitude. My father in-law has been getting on me the last few years to install these spring helpers. I too have fuel, spare tires, tools, spare parts and all kinds of stuff I probably don't need loaded in the truck .
When you guys added the springs, did you uprate the shocks to handle the new frequency of the springs? or does it not matter?