Just to start I obviously have a '10 sport 2wd. I have read a couple of other threads about towing help but those were not quite what I have problems with , my truck not being lowered/leveled for starters.

For a little back ground info I have my own lawn business that requires me to tow every day. I have a 20ft tandem axle regular pipe utility trailer, 3 ztr mowers, usually only carry 2(about 1000lbs ea) of course trimmers, blowers, etc. I have a daily towing work truck but circumstances led me to have to use my new truck sunday. Anyway I hooked up and noticed right off how far the rear end sank. Started driving and every time I hit a decent size bump in road, crossing rr tracks, pulling up in driveway etc I could hear and feel a loud banging sound, metal on metal. Sounded like the shocks were bottomed out and they were hitting frame of truck or something similar to that.

Got home and measured fender well opening before and after unhooking trailer and it was almost 4 1/2 inches difference. I am not going to use my dodge everyday but sometimes I will have to especially with my other truck being a lot older and wear and tear, etc. Never had to worry about these type of problems before as I have always had 3/4 ton diesels.

What are the options of what can be done to solve this problem?

Btw I also have a 23ft bay boat that come this fall and winter I will be using the dodge to tow with on the weekends at least a couple of time a month. The boat, trailer, motor, loaded weight is around 4500-5000lbs. Thanks.

 

How much tounge weight are you running? Sounds like you have the trailer loaded way front heavy.

 

Not quite sure. I have trimmer rack bolted on front with 2 trimmers, then a push mower loaded sideways first in trailer with then one of my big ztr's after that. That is just about 5 ft back from tongue of trailer.

 

Air bags!

 

Well, better figure it out before you snap a hitch off.

 

I hope this does not come accross as condecending but it sounds like you have weight distribution problems. You should only have about 500 lbs tobgue weight max. Assuming your trailer weighs 1K lbs and you have 1k lbs of tools on it, you should only have 200 lbs tongue weight.

Given this, if your truck is sagging any more with the trailer than it is with a good sized dude standing on your rear bumper, then you need to work on load placement. First things is to place your heaviest items right over the axle of the trailer and go from there.

You can seriously overtax your equipment by screwing up your CG.

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Assuming 1 is above the hitch, 2 is the center of gravity of just the trailer and 3 is the back of the trailer, that the wheels are 2/3 of the way back and that the trailer, and the trailer weighs 1000 lbs, you have a tongue weight of 167lbs : 1000lbs * (2/3 - 1/2)

If you place your load directly over the tires your tongue weight does not change.

if you move it to position 2 you double your tongue weight to 333 lbs : (1000lbs * (2/3 -1/2))+(1000lbs * (2/3 -1/2))

by the time it is at position 1 it is at 1167lbs: (1000lbs * (2/3 -1/2))+ 1000lbs

putting it at position 3 gives a tongue weight is negstive 167lbs : (1000lbs * (2/3 -1/2))-(1000 lbs * (1/3))

So with a typical 1k trailer and 1k load you can change tongue weight from -167 to 1167, just by moving your load.

If you center your load halfway between your trailers axle and tongue your end up with a tongue weight of 667lbs and you have overloaded your truck...

Also most people are notoriously poor at estimating weights. Short answer load your heavy stuff right over the trailer axle, and then distribute the rest of your load around it with a slight forward bias.

 

Agreed. BIG difference between a 3/4 ton diesel and a half ton gasser with coil springs in the rear.

These trucks (4th Gens) were engineered for superior handling and traction control UNLADEN as the trend with ALL half tons has steadily moved toward these trucks being primarily used as daily drivers.

IMO with each new "Generation" these vehicles are becoming less of a truck.

With the 3rd Gens we lost a solid front axle and now, with the next generation we have coil springs in the rear instead of multiple leaf springs.

You will have to pay A LOT more attention to how you load your trailer and IMO should still get a set of air bags for the rear.

 

Honestly the worst problem with coils is that they allow the axle to move fore and aft and side to side... it makes for a bit more of a "squirmy" feel under load... helps with articulation and roadholding though.

 

I agree on the moving of the axle, when I put on my Travel Trailer and had to go down a side of a hill while camping, there are marks(not bad), on the inside wall of the rear bed wheelhouse, I realize the width of my tires is 305, but they really do move around, by the marks on the plastic inner panel, just some fine swirls, but you know it has touched. Nothing to really worry about .

 

Yeah, that "squirmy" feeling takes some getting used to. I pull a trailer with a tractor and rough cutter on it every couple of months to cut some fields on my hunting tract.

Last time we did it we took a buddies '09 QCSB Hemi 4x4 out to the farm mainly because we wanted to compare how it towed. The back end sat very low (and the tongue weight was well within spec) and I drove and felt like I was kinda battling the truck the whole 28 miles traveled. I commented that if I had to pull that kind of weight with that truck for a few hours, I would be quite fatigued.

I've pulled that load with my truck dozens of times and also a couple times with another buddies Ford F150 and never feel like I'm fighting the load.