in the spring my 99 will inherit a two horse trailer to pull sometimes.

What are the best rear shocks I can get for towing ~5,000lbs?

 

I pull a 4 Star 2 stall slant load trailer. Still have factory shocks and it pulls fine. You do want to invest in an adjustable brake controller though. Our trucks are pre-wired for one under the dash. Let me know what type of shocks you intall.

 

What kind of controller do you use and/or recommend? Any advice on installation? I bought my RAM to tow a Featherlite 2-stall trailer and will -- as soon as I get done with trailer rennovation.

Allen

 

I would also recommend a big aux tranny cooler If your gonna be towing, and possibly a deeper finned trans pan, could save you some future headaches.

 

my Ram has the towing package(aux cooler, bigger rad)

5,000lb trailers dont normally have brakes to control, not the horsey ones we have pulled anyway.

Anyone ever installed helper springs on the rear for towing?

 

Wow 5000 lbs and no brakes. Where I live it is 1500 LBS and more require brakes. I would suggest trailer brakes even if your local laws don't require them. It will save your truck from exessive wear and tear. As for new springs, try and do what the 2500 and 3500 have, there are 2 springs that aren't used until there is a load on the truck. My old Ford f-250 had a stack of leaf springs so the ride was the worst until I had 2000 lbs in the back.

 

maybe we are talking about different things.

Im not talking about a trailer that weighs 5000, I am talking about a two horse trailer with two horses in it loaded weight =~3500-5000
maybe. depending on which horses are in there

 

I'm still kinda shocked that you aren't using a trailer brakes, both 2 horse trailers we had used them. One was a slant load so it was probably bigger, but our straight load had them also.

K12allen, the best trailer brake controllers IMO are Tekonsha brand. Depending on how much you want to spend there are a couple different models. My truck had a Draw-Tite installed in it when I bought and since I rarely tow anything that heavy with my truck anymore (dad's is too handy lol) I never did change it.

 

Thanks, Silver - I put your info into my files for when I get the trailer back on the road.

My '96 1500 has the factory trailer tow pkg - Do you know if the Tekonsha controller plug into the harness, or will I have to splice it into the line to the trailer brakes?

Although I'm new to owning a horse trailer, I can't imagine using one without brakes - empty, fine - with horse(s), no way. Don't want to think of the downhill push of 5000 lbs held by only the truck brakes. I wonder if JD770 means using a "surge" brake built into the hitch rather than no trailer brakes at all.

Allen

 

I've pulled an empty 2 horse...well hauled hogs to shows in it (so maybe 500 lbs over empty) and I wish that I had a break controller. The trailer is wired, but my truck insn't yet...As for shocks, you aren't going to notice a difference with the shocks...Where your difference is going to be is in your springs, shocks dampen impacts...I reccomend Road Master Active Suspension...They are overloads in a way, but don't impact drivability at all. My mom had them on her 02 Dakota and they improved handling without sacraficing an easy ride.