another hundy spring question

[George 2000]

fellas,

I'm reading through a lot of posts on springs, but no closer to making a decision, so I thought I would ask: what springs should I use for the back of my hundy in order to compensate for a heavy load when towing? I tow a boat in the summer on weekends that weighs in right around the limit - around 6400 lbs. Estimate anywhere from 7-10% of that is tongue weight. The master plan is to get an f150 that will do the towing chores, but it's not in the budget this year, and I thought springs would be an easy short-term improvement. The hundy does fine with that load for the short tow to the local ramps, but I'm sagging in the rear (insert joke now -. FYI it's a double axle trailer with disk brakes on all for corners, so stopping is not an issue - especially at slow to moderate speeds. I know I'll ride a little high in the ass end with stiffer springs, but that's ok. I'm currently running stock size tires and stock shocks - everything is still stock on the truck, FYI.

Thanks!

 

[cap80]

Why not use some Airlift bags? Easy solution utill you get the pick up.

 

[Sandroad]

Couple of thoughts.....
1) You won't necessarily ride higher with stiffer rear springs, it depends on what you choose.
2) Changing only the rear springs without changing rear shocks and without changes to the front suspension may mess up handling, tracking, and ride for normal use
3) if you are that close to the limit with trailer weight, don't guess about overall trailer weight and tongue weight. Take the rig to a scales and measure both. It's a safety thing
4) If you only need extra support for "short tow to the local ramps" then you may want to consider air bags in the stock rear coils. That would keep your ride/handling stock for everyday use and allow you to support the rear for the towing. A search on MUD for air bags will give you lots of ideas for that.

 

[George 2000]

i thought about airlift, but my mechanic said they would be problematic after a couple of winters here in new england. I might just keep it as is. having the tongue weight and trailer balance checked as we speak. Load weighs in at 6400 lbs (hull, trailer, motor, - the whole she-bang). tow distances range from 1 mile to 25 miles depending on where the bite is. Even if I get an f150, I'd like to be able to rely on the hundy for backup.

 

[re_guderian]

x3 on air bags. I love them. What is it about winter that will mess them up (I really have forgotten what that word means, especially since it's 115° here today)? Besides, they're only a hundred-ish bucks and a couple of hours to install, max, especially if you're just replacing. Replace when they fail, or every year for good measure, and you have the best of both worlds - factory ride 99.9% of the time, solid rear end when you need it...