Mayoman
Tennessee
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Joined: 07/11/2008
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I have upgraded my 5er from a Cougar 293SAB with a pin weight of about 2100 lbs to a Mobile Suites 36TK3 with a dry pin weight of about 3000 lbs. My F450 barely knew the Cougar was sitting in the bed with very little "squat". With the Suites there is a noticeable "squat" to the bed. I know the 450 was designed to handle the cargo weight and so far with the 5er on short jaunts the ride is good, but what rule of thumb can I use to know if I need to add springs or maybe air bags?
2008 Ford F450 Superduty Diesel dually
2005 Mobile Suites 36TK3
B&W Companion Hitch
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HarryWM
Wherever we are parked this time.
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Joined: 08/23/2004
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Good Sam RV Club
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I have the same truck. With the Carriage 5er it wasn't too bad but with 5,000 pounds of TC on board, the rear end really dropped. To me the indicator of needing a fix was the 3 or 4 inches the rear dropped and the sloppy handling with lots of rear end sway and bouncing on bumps. I put on air springs (bags) and it solved my problem running with 100 pounds of air pressure. It's like Ford built this truck (mine has trailer and camper packages) for nice ride on test drives and otherwise driving without a load.
Harry
With wife Carole 11 yrs fulltiming
Retired U.S. Army
2002 Carriage LS 37' 5er; 2006 Lance 1181truck camper
2008 F-450 King Ranch 4x4 fully loaded 5,000 lb air springs
2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee toad
SKP # 54751
Geocacher "DosTortugas"
Harry & Carole's BLOG
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SoCalDesertRider
SanDiego, CA, USA
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Joined: 12/14/2003
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HarryWM wrote:It's like Ford built this truck (mine has trailer and camper packages) for nice ride on test drives and otherwise driving without a load. That's the problem with the soft springs on the F450 pickup. The F450 chassis-cab trucks have much heavier springs that carry heavy loads without needing any additional spring help. It's too bad Ford put such skinny spring packs on the pickups.
92F350 CrewCab 4x4 351/C6
LoadNGo service body
69Bronco ATC250R CR500
20' BigTex flatbed carhauler
B&W TurnoverBall g-neck Curt Magnum rr DrawTite ft
HD springs Rancho9000s Bilsteins poly sway bushings
285/75-16E BFG AT on 16x8 Stocktons
4.56's & Lock-Rite rear
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SoCalDesertRider
SanDiego, CA, USA
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Joined: 12/14/2003
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Mayoman wrote:I have upgraded my 5er from a Cougar 293SAB with a pin weight of about 2100 lbs to a Mobile Suites 36TK3 with a dry pin weight of about 3000 lbs. My F450 barely knew the Cougar was sitting in the bed with very little "squat". With the Suites there is a noticeable "squat" to the bed. I know the 450 was designed to handle the cargo weight and so far with the 5er on short jaunts the ride is good, but what rule of thumb can I use to know if I need to add springs or maybe air bags? If you feel you need more spring (which I doubt you do with only 3000 lbs), try some Torklift Stable Load bump-stop extenders. They install on the side frame bumpers and cause the factory auxiliary overload leafs to come into contact with the frame bumpers sooner, which helps reduce sag and sway.
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Dieselgem
Northeast
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Joined: 04/07/2005
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I have the camper package on mine and don't seem to really have any problems with how the truck handles the load 30,000 miles of towing. It does squat a very small amount, but nothing out of the ordinary. If you feel your is squatting too much I would elect for the airbags.
08-KZ Escalade 41'CKS Escalade
2008 F450 Super Duty Truck
2003 FLSTS
2003 FLSTC (Wife's)
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Mayoman
Tennessee
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Joined: 07/11/2008
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SoCalDesertRider wrote:Mayoman wrote:I have upgraded my 5er from a Cougar 293SAB with a pin weight of about 2100 lbs to a Mobile Suites 36TK3 with a dry pin weight of about 3000 lbs. My F450 barely knew the Cougar was sitting in the bed with very little "squat". With the Suites there is a noticeable "squat" to the bed. I know the 450 was designed to handle the cargo weight and so far with the 5er on short jaunts the ride is good, but what rule of thumb can I use to know if I need to add springs or maybe air bags? If you feel you need more spring (which I doubt you do with only 3000 lbs), try some Torklift Stable Load bump-stop extenders. They install on the side frame bumpers and cause the factory auxiliary overload leafs to come into contact with the frame bumpers sooner, which helps reduce sag and sway.
On the link, it seems you need the airbags before you can use the Torklift's or am I reading it wrong?
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SoCalDesertRider
SanDiego, CA, USA
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Joined: 12/14/2003
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No, the Torklifts work fine without air bags. All the Torklifts do is cause the overload springs to come into play sooner, which reduces squatting and sway.
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Mayoman
Tennessee
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Joined: 07/11/2008
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SoCalDesertRider wrote:No, the Torklifts work fine without air bags. All the Torklifts do is cause the overload springs to come into play sooner, which reduces squatting and sway.
Okay thanks will look into those.
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fullautodave
currently in Rogers Arkansas
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Joined: 07/24/2008
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I have a 38TKSB3 and a 2008 F-450. I also have a 5000 pound TC. When I started using the TC I installed airbags and Tork-Lifts. I may not have needed both but I was pleased with the ride of my truck with TC on. Now when I pull my Mobile Suites I let my air down to 10 pounds and let the Torklifts do the work. If I had it all to do again, I think I would just use the Tork-Lifts and see. They are easy to install and cheap and for my trailer ( my truck axle is about 9000 pounds) I think it would be enough.
2009 Mobile Suites TKSB3
2008 Ford F-450 Superduty
2009 Jeep Rubicon toad
1999 Bigfoot C1011FR
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MadMav
Colorado Springs, CO
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Joined: 03/12/2007
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I truely can't see how you would need any help with only 3000lbs.....or even 4000lbs in an new F450. I have over 3200lbs in my truck and we aren't even setting on the overloads yet.
Are the F450s that weak?
Mav
'08 Dodge 3500 SLT Mega Cab Dually, 6.7l/6 speed.
'08 Winners Circle 36SRV-H5
Pair of '09 Polaris Sportsman 550 XP's
'05 Polaris Trail Boss 330
'03 Yamaha TTR125LR
1 wife, 2 kids, 3 dogs, 2 cats
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