Rear end bouncing when towing
 

What's up guys I haven't been on here in a while but I have a question. I recently bought a boat probably weighs about 6000 pounds with trailer gear and full of fuel, my passengers in the rear almost get sick when I tow it because the truck bounces so bad, what should I start with to help stiffen up the rear a little maybe a helper spring?

I have the timbren helpers and I love them. They stabilize the axle to the chassis with large rubber dounuts. Should work for your problem.

Set of Air Bags? My dad just put a set on his truck for the Truck Camper and they work great, plus you can adjust the pressure.

Rancho 9000XL's. Love mine. Although, I havent towed anything near that heavy, but sure they couldnt hurt.

Get yourself some airbags bro. $200 and about an hour-2hour install taking beer brakes in between each bolt...lol.

I just had 6yards of mulch on my triler and OMG. I had to shoot some air in the bags or else it would have been rubbing the tires. Makes a world of difference in stance as well as making the load sooo much easier to pull. Your bouncing will be diminished severely while still maintaining somewhat of a normal ride. I can't even tell I have 4-5,000lbs when I put 40lbs in the bags because the load sits level and it pulls so much easier. Over bumps it rides like stock with weight.

You don't want helper springs. Super rough ride and you can't control the ride height. Springs will still give you bounce AND be very harsh ride for your passengers and they are a PIA to install IMO. They certainly take longer than airbags that's for sure.

I just went in my buddy's Ram the other night. Same as mine, but he's got a level kit and helper spings. OMFG I felt like i was ridin in a 1ton dually. Ever single little bump the ass end wanted to jump all over the place. i took him for a ride in mine and the first thing he did when he got home was order the airbags!....lol


I assume you mean bouncy like up/down over bumps or driving on the highway and not vebrating like flat spots in the trailer tires???

6,000 lbs shouldn't have you bouncing all over the place. Sounds like the boat isn't loaded on the trailer properly, causing too much tongue weight, or not enough. Check out the forums at iboats.com for help.

I don't have any fancy springs or bags and mine tows just fine.

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I agree with the 'Frog to some degree. I can understand the rear of the truck squatting and even hitting the bump stops, but not bouncing all over. I'm thinking it's a boat/trailer issue.
But that said, I have air bags and never will own a truck without installing a set again. They are fantastic...

Agreed. Poor trailer loading and/or not using a weight-distributing hitch.

id say you dont have enough tougue weight. my trailer will bounce the back of the truck pretty bad on humpy roads because there is no weight on the back of the truck. the trailer actually lifts the truck a little. I have a tandem axel trailer with about a 3000 pound boat on it and if i could i would move the axels back a little... but i will live with it for now.
if you can move your axels, try moving them back, but i'm guessing they are fixed in place tho
let me know if you figure anything else out

I would have to say your boat isn't in the right spot for your truck it either needs to move forwards or backwards. If you have rollers the back of the boat might not sit on them correctly. You may have to move them also. If you have bunks leave them alone. Just make sure the transom is sitting on the bunk or roller. Or you can damage the bottom of the hull (J hook) i think they call it.
my boat is 12000 lbs and it took me a while to get the boat set to my dodge vs my chevy I have a bunk trailer witch is easy to move.
My last boat I had a roller It was hard everything had to move back I had to much weight on truck
hope this helps
Pizzo