Troubleshooting Weight Distribution System Still Causing Vehicle Rear Suspension to Sag

Question:

Hi. I am towing a 28ft travel trailer with my 2003 Chevy K1500 Silverado 1/2 ton Z71 truck. The trailer causes my truck to sit real low as it brings it down several inches when lowering trailer to the reese hitch. I need something that I can add to my suspension on the rear to keep it from going down as much. If you have something that will keep it from going so low it would help tremendously. It would be ok to sit a little lower but not as much as it does because it puts so much pressure on my sway bars that I have to raise the truck up as high as the trailer jack will go to get the sway bars off and they are still real tight. So if you can suggest something to do to my rear suspension so it doesnt sag down so much it would help a lot. I thought about air shocks but I think really some type of helper spring would be better. If the new spring would cause it to sit up to 2 inches higher under load thats enough. But no more than two inches. I still want it to ride good when empty and not towing. Thanks.

asked by: Todd M

Expert Reply:

Your description of needing to jack up the rear of the vehicle to take the bars off leads me to believe that you're speaking of a weight distribution system. A correctly set up system will distribute a portion of the trailer tongue weight that bears down on the rear axle to the front axle, to level the right height between the front and rear axle. Beefing up the rear suspension can help, but it works much better for a load carried in the bed of the truck. For sag caused by a trailer tongue weight, weight distribution is the way to go.

Why isn't your system doing this? There is a few possible reasons...

Your trailer's tongue weight might be greater than the capacity of the system you're using. This is very easy to do, as many folks simply guesstimate the trailer's tongue weight when actually it's imperative that you positively determine the as-towed tongue weight and choose a compatible system. I'll link you to a help article that shows a few different ways to nail down the actual trailer tongue weight while it's fully loaded and ready to tow.

Another possibility is that your current system, while it might be properly rated for your trailer's tongue weight simply isn't set up correctly. I'd recommend grabbing the instructions and start the set-up over again from scratch.

Once your system is set up properly, the sag in the rear of your truck will be eliminated.

If you should discover that the system you're currently using isn't rated high enough for your travel trailer's fully loaded tongue weight, I'd recommend replacing the system.

Systems from Equal-i-zer are what I recommend most often because of how well they work and how well designed and durable they are. Equal-i-zer combines a highly-effective weight distribution set-up with a sway control component that's one of the best on the market. This is important for tall towables such as travel trailers that are highly susceptible to sway caused by crosswinds or turbulence from passing or oncoming traffic.

If the fully loaded tongue weight is under 600 lbs, use # EQ37060ET. If it falls into the range of 600-1000 lbs, use
# EQ37100ET, for 800-1200 lbs use # EQ37120ET or for 1000-1400 lbs use # EQ37140ET.

I've linked you to a product demonstration video that you might find helpful.