Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Options for Preventing Sag when Towing

I have no doubt that when I put my 4 wheeler in the bed and hook up my TT, I am going to have some good squat from my new Silverado 1500.

What options have you all used other than air bags? Was thinking about sumosprings or something similar? Any other options? My fight against bag is you have to keep 5-10% air in them at all times which to a small degree will affect ride quality when not towing.

The Timbren option has me really intrigued - anyone use these?

https://timbren.com/products/gmrs15-gmc-sierra-1500-chevrolet-silverado-1500-2019-2023-rear-kit

There's only 1 real option and it isn't air bags. An air bag lifts it but it won't put weight back on the front axle where it needs to be. You're still overloaded on the rear and the trailer weight makes it worse. The fix is an equalizer hitch and nothing else. It will lift the 4wheeler's weight and shift it to the front axle. It will also prevent sway. A sagging pickup with a trailer can throw you into a sway like you wouldn't believe.
The equalizers that have spring bars hanging from chains won't fix sway. You still need a separate sway device for that. The hitches that have bars that ride on hooks bolted to the trailer tongue will fix both weight and sway. They will also allow you to back up without unhooking the bars which the chain type won't.
Maybe the best of both worlds is the Andersen Hitch. They're pricey but they sure work for both leveling and for sway.

I have air bags on my 3/4 ton. My UTV that I haul in it weighs about 1000lb. The weight's far enough back to cause it to squat and when I put my TT with a 500lb tongue weight on it, it really squats...and sways. The air bags that bring it all back to level but the weight still isn't on the front...and it still sways. The hitch fixes it. The air bags lift the rear straight up, not forward and certainly not to the front.
You said it's a new pickup so you'll have it a long time. Just spend the money and do it right the 1st time and be done with it.

I have a WD hitch for the tailer with the 2 leveling bars and a sway control bar. I will be using that. I just dont want the back end to sink and have my lights shooting up to the sky.

I agree that a weight distribution setup is probably your best bet. I will note that the Blue Ox Swaypro hitch we use with our 6300 pound travel trailer uses chains, can be backed up connected, and provides effective sway control without the noise you get from the bars riding on hooks style.
Have about 4000 miles of towing in Arizona, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming with this setup including some high crosswinds.

It is wise to avoid sharp "dip" condition grade breaks with a weight distribution hitch hooked up. That greatly increases the loading on the bars and can cause frame damage.

You will have too much weight in the truck. You can try to band aid it (equalizer hitch is best) but it’s just a bandaid.

This is where it is important to run numbers for your truck's cargo capacity, front and rear axle capacities, hitch weight and tow capacities and maximum combined vehicle weights. They all need to be below the maximum rating, preferably with some cushion...

I don't know which version of the 1500 he has, but the standard configuration shows a 2200lb cargo capacity. That's plenty for any ATV. He'd have to have a very high tongue weight to get over that.

My door sticker is 1895# payload. My ATV weighs 550#, and I have around #750 toungue. - that leaves me #600 pounds....

This isn't about being overweight's or limits, this is just about leveling a back end. In just about any half ton truck on the market 750-800 pounds of tongue will sag the rear end. The F150 I traded in had a 2200 pound payload rating and max tow for a 13k tow rating, and my TT still made it sag a bit.

Possibly. Things like air bags and wd hitches don’t change the fact that overloaded is overloaded. They just mask it. The only real way to tell is to weigh it loaded down with a full tank of gas and all passengers, cargo, and trailer and look up the gawr for each axle and gvwr. It’s typically pretty easy to exceed one of them with a 1/2 ton.

So in one thread, u talk of putting in one of those dumbas s leveling kits in the front of yer truck for "looks".


Then this thread youre concerned about sag and sway towing heavy? You do realize that the leveling kit will only make things worse? Not to mention, extra wear on ball joints and cv joints as well.

Yes, I am putting a 1.5" leveling kit on the front along with 10 ply BFGs...I drive this truck everyday for work.

I will tow with this truck 1-2 times a year max (taking the TT up hunting) - less than 500 total towing miles a year.

The Timbrens work.

When I worked in a truck shop most all off the 1 ton, and what used to be Super Duty 350s got them.

Small boom trucks for electric and phone companies.


I had a set on a half ton and with a wheeler in the bed it didn't squat nearly as much and handled better.

Don’t level the truck if you plan on using it for ‘truck’ things like towing and carrying a heavy load.

It won't be any different leveled than a Ram or Ford that's factory.

If you're using it 1-2x a year level it and put load boosters on it.


Reading and comprehension aren't a strong point here.

Having the rear sit down under load is a visual cue you're close to being overloaded. You can modify the suspension to keep the truck level, but you're still overloaded. Modifying the suspension just encourages people to overload even more. If you're working close to your max payload modifying the suspension can result in a slightly better towing experience. But it doesn't mean you can overload.


How much do you weigh? What about other passengers? Four skinny 150 lb men would eat up all of your available payload. Four average size men would exceed it. What about tools and other gear in your truck? A 550 lb ATV is a pretty small one, have you actually weighed it with fuel and other gear on it. You need to actually weigh the truck and subtract that from GVWR to determine your true payload. Have you actually weighed the trailer tongue weight or is that a guess.

In the real world 600 lbs of usable payload isn't much and I'm betting you're exceeding it by few hundred pounds.

If you look at the tow ratings on 3/4 and 1/2 ton trucks they are surprisingly close. The difference is payload. If you want to pull a decent size trailer you just can't put much in a 1/2 ton truck. A 3/4 ton will allow you to pull about the same weight AND load the truck with ATV's, 4 adults, and other gear.

And, a half-ton isn't a truck. It's a car with a bed on the ass end.....

Yes, it will be different than a ford or ram from the factory, because it was designed to carry its rated load as configured by the factory. I get that some guys want to ‘level’ the front end for looks, but it seems strange to do that AND seek a solution to sag when loaded. If that’s what you did to your truck, sorry if your feelings got hurt by my opinion.

The truck is designed to squat a bit when loaded, which is why the truck has some rake to begin with. If he is really driving as little as he says with his ATV and trailer hitches up, why worry about it at all? Just let it squat all you want. I’ve seen some horrendously overloaded 1/2 tons that nearly had the bumper dragging rolling down the interstate. Overloaded is overloaded and putting bags or ‘load boosters’ on doesn’t change the fact.

As JMR40 says, 600 pounds of remaining payload is not much. Especially when the factory rating is with one 150 pound driver. Do you have truck steps? There is another 75’ish pounds on the truck. Back seat full of passengers or gear? Firewood or a generator in the bed? Stuff adds up fast.

Unless you are camping alone and the bed and cab is otherwise empty, you will most likely be over the rated load. Even if you are camping alone and the bed is otherwise empty, you may well be above the rear GAWR. If you elect to ignore the load rating, that’s on you.

No hurt feelings here.

It's the internet.

I was trying to be nice , but this is exactly what I wanted to say

Equalizer hitch. Check out Etrailer.com best price.

The GCVR means more than the Trucks GVR or towing load. Truck weight, what is in the bed and how much trailer and load weighs ,plus all the gear

I have had a lot of trouble with air bags over the years, on overloaded mechanic's trucks, lots of weight up high..the crane and welder and air compressor, going around a left turn, frinstance, the right bag squishes down, and the left bag pushes up in more proportion...creates a bad, bad sway condition. Finally settled on a leaf type aftermarket overload spring as the best solution. Air bags on big trucks are great, they have metering valves to instantly adjust air bag pressure to keep the frame level. My 2 cents worth.

Yep, an add a leaf helps. Added one to a wallowing-marshmallow spring pack in a toyota tundra that was used for towing an 18 ft enclosed trailer. Really improved the handling, but road rougher unloaded......like a truck should.

But then there's 1/2 ton c-clip axles. All the weight bears on the axle shaft. They're not very big axle shafts either. You might be able to help the spring pack with an add-a-leaf, but overloading a c-clip axle is dangerous.

As long as gm has offered nice full floating axles, I'm surprised any truck, 1/2 ton or not, would use a c-clip axle in year 2023. They're cheap to make I guess.

The 80 series landcruisers had nice full-floating rear axles. It can be done, on a light duty truck.

Whenever they started putting those cheesy axles in trucks marked 3/4 ton !
I had a GM 14 bolt...that was a good axle.
The big Sterling for the Fords and Dana 60 in the Dodge are all good as well.

Oh, I forgot...Timbrens...I put a lot of these on the front end of 26,000# snowplow/dump trucks...they do the job about the same as a chunk of firewood between axle and frame. But, I gotta admit, they solve the problem, they NEVER fail, and your daughter can install them. That said, I know nothing of the pickup sizes.

My '08 Dodge has factory Firestone bags, at least they look like factory. The bags are separate so you have to fill each one by itself. It's a PIA to have to go to each side with the air hose but it does prevent the problems you're talking about. A friend has the same pickup but in a higher trim level. On his, they put the air hoses side by side next to the license plate.

Put a tall load of hay on that and get back to us...that's exactly what I had on the shop trucks. Filer/Snake River plain is pretty tame country. The light side bag pushes up...uncontrollably.

Agree about the equalizer being a bandaid fix. If 2200 is correct, add tongue weight, gas, occupants, tools, camping supplies etc. I'll bet he's close to capacity, maybe over.

I’m sure I’ll catch grief from the GVWR police around here

I routinely pick up a pallet of corn from Tractor Supply to fill deer feeders

Got tired of my half ton GMC squatting for the 10 mile drive and so had the Timbrens linked above installed. They work great and the truck doesn’t squat nearly as bad

Yes, I’m overloaded. I drive like an old man from TSC to my farm gate

Sent my son one time in his Tacoma. He was supposed to split the pallet into 2 loads. But they loaded it in the back of his Taco. He made it, but I’m glad I wasn’t there to see it

I’ve been pleased with Firestone air bags. If you are worried about the min air pressure requirement, have you looked at daystar cradles

Appreciate the feedback...I had airbags installed by a local shop today.

I think you'll be happy with them. Airbags offer good adjustment. Timbrens just offer additional overload once you're squatted.