Tow vehicle squat?

[FellowTraveler]

I see an awful lot of tow rigs herein that squat when towing a loaded expo trailer and I'd like to hear how any have resolved this issue in their tow rigs. Did you use air bags, air shocks or?

 

[TACO721]

sub. would like to know this as well. i think one way would. be having a “rake” have the back 1” or maybe even 2” higher than the front when not towing. that way when you are towing, it should sit level.

 

[Titanpat57]

Airbags...http://www.airliftcompany.com/

 

[Saiyan66]

Airbags are the best way to level a vehicle that has softer rear springs and does occasional towing. Most full-size trucks sit higher in the rear to compensate for being loaded with either stuff in the bed or a trailer. I personally don't like the stink bug look when unloaded though, so I would level my truck and then do airbags when towing a heavy trailer. For standard on road use, a weight distributing hitch also works well. However they do not allow for good articulation between the tow rig and trailer so they would be unsuitable for off road use.

 

[cowboy4x4]

Thats why on all my vehicles I have a 1-2 inch rake on the rear, FJ, van, truck. I see these trucks that have a nose high attitude and when they tow or load something they squat and drop.

 

[kraqus]

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Benny

 

[skersfan]

Squat can be corrected with Air Bags, and they are a good addition, but a lot of the trailers I see on the trail, have way too much tongue weight, some in the 400 pound area. If you are building your own trailer, keep the weight where it needs to be. Also for the trailer to tow properly the front should be 2 inches lower than the rear, not even. You can have far less tongue weight by having the trailer balanced. Keep the batteries low and too the center of the trailer and have the water tank under the trailer over the axle. That makes the center of gravity low and centered.

 

[elcoyote]

Air helper springs and heavier rear springs are advisable and recommended solutions. Good cargo management in both the tow vehicle is essential. If you load a lot of gear in the back of the tow vehicle and hook up a trailer the result may be "sag". Don't forget to adjust you tire air pressures for the increased load as well.

NATM trailer design guidelines for a single axle trailer advise 10-15% of the gross trailer weight to be on the tongue i.e. a 2000 lb trailer should have a 200-300 lb tongue weight. Too little weight will induce dangerous trailer sway, too much tongue weight will make the steering light in the tow vehicle. It is preferable to have your trailer level to reduce trailer tongue dive during hard breaking which will lighten your steering. Not a good thing to happen in an emergency stopping scenario.

 

[cowboy4x4]

Actually during hard braking there is no trailer nose "dive". On hard braking the front of the "tow" vehicle will dip down which then causes the back end to raise up thus raising "up" the tounge of the trailer. Steering actually gets heavy during a hard brake.:smiley_drive:

 

[tclaremont]

In my opinion, you don't design in a rake just so you sit level when towing. If you do, you wind up with things like poorly aimed headlights and other unintended consequences when NOT towing. If the trailer is so heavy that it is adversely affecting the rake of your vehicle you are doing something wrong, or your suspension is worn out to the point where you need to address it. Note that I said ADVERSELY affecting. Certainly there is a squat point that is perfectly safe and livable.

 

[elcoyote]

Actually during hard braking there is no trailer nose "dive". On hard braking the front of the "tow" vehicle will dip down which then causes the back end to raise up thus raising "up" the tounge of the trailer. Steering actually gets heavy during a hard brake.:smiley_drive:

You are correct if the trailer are near proper alignment and the trailer is braked. My worst case scenario refers is to a squatting vehicle close or on the rear bump stops while the front suspension is riding high with light steering as a consequence and towing an un-braked trailer with a serious "tongue down" condition...the perfect storm.

 

[mmcan]

A good brake controller will mitigate this. Brakes on the trailer is a great safety addition.

 

[navigator]

I have stiffer rear springs.
Trailblazers have rake by design, I understand it is for this reason.
When I lifted my TB, I used stiffer springs for a Tahoe.
My rear doesn't squat when towing my boat and the ride is not too harsh.

if you add rake to your vehicle you can always get the headlights adjusted, it usually isn't that expensive.

 

[kjp1969]

This is a good indication that something is set up wrong, and you may be overloading the rear axle or rear tires. If there is too much tongue weight but you're within the GVWR of the vehicle (including passengers and other cargo) you need a weight distributing hitch. It shifts some of the tongue weight to the front axle, as would a gooseneck or 5th wheel setup. Just using air bags or helper springs will address the squat, but won't help the overloading.

 

[navigator]

I would guess my bass boat tongue has about 200lbs of weight on or so. Before switching rear springs it would weigh the rear down some, an inch or so I would guess. I got the rear springs mostly for cheap lift, the added stiffness is a bonus. I also get less body roll going around curves which is nice.
You have to keep in mind that with a lot of today's SUVs (and even some pickup trims) the suspensions are tuned more for ride comfort for soccer moms.
If mom test drives an SUV and it rides like a truck she will likely look somewhere else.