Back to my original post. You need to make a loaded trip to the scales to try and figure out exactly what you have happening. First blush tells me that you are over loading the SRW truck. Chevrolet rates that truck at 9900 GVWR. But it could also be a problem of the hitch being too far back and not loading the truck properly. It could be weak or broken spring(s). That winch hanging on the front end will not help your weights any. Placing band aids on without knowing exactly what you have happening is a total waste of money. Get to the scales and get some accurate weights. empty, front,rear,total weight. Then loaded the same things. Be sure to include your family and any thing else you would normally have on the truck and let us know what you have.
Donn0128 said: "That winch hanging on the front end will not help your weights any."
It doesn't look like its the front end that's sagging, and unless he's over the front axle or tire rating, I wouldn't worry about that very much. One thing about a winch: When that's what you need, that's about the only thing that's gonna work.
Back to the OP's original question: A set of airbags looks like the ticket to me. I have Firestone Ride Rites on my truck, and they've been flawless. On board air and an in-cab controller are really nice as they allow you to adjust your ride height on the fly. Oncoming traffic blinks at you, a push of the button cures that problem instantly. I'd think they would be particularly helpful with your gooseneck, as your pin wt's could vary a lot with that setup.
I know theres been some discussion on here about frame problems that can theoretically happen because you end up placing a load on a part of the frame that's supposedly not designed to accept it. I don't know how the bags would mount on your truck, but on mine the upper mount replaces the bump stop and is positioned on a straight, flat section of frame that has obviously been reinforced at that point with additional steel. If the frame can handle impact loading at that point from bump stops bottoming out, I certainly think a cushioned, progressive load being applied there is not going to overstress it.
Didn't say it was. What I said was "That winch hanging on the front end will not help your weights any." Meaning that the added weight of that winch and winch bumper will add considerably to the ready to camp weight of the truck and reduce the amount of weight that can be placed on the truck or towed by the truck. OOPS, guess I should have reread the OP.
* This post was
edited 08/04/08 07:27am by donn0128 *
JMHO, but judging from the pictures of the OP's truck it looks as though the torsion bars have been cranked up. Doing this will level the truck when empty, but it will complicate the rear end squat when loaded.
I added about 1"~1.5" to the ride height on my 2500HDs to help them sit level, but I dont have the rear squat issue either. When I am towing, the front of my trucks will carry the weight in better proportion than will the OP's truck.
My 2002 RC/LB, and 2001 EC/SB trucks have nearly identical shorter wheelbases, which helps with front axle weight transfer, so adding front ride height doesn't come with as much penalty as doing it to a CC/LB truck like the OP has.
I may be wrong about the OP's truck, but judging from the pics, it looks to have 285's on it which would need some additional front ride height to prevent tire rub. The longer wheelbase of the CC/LB wouldn't allow the front axle to share as much of the kingpin load thus placing a higher percentage of the weight on the rear axle.
My 2002 truck has a wheelbase that is 2' shorter than the OP's truck which, as I say will aid in weight transfer. I also have my gooseneck ball positioned about 6" (standard is about 2"~3" for all factory built hitches) ahead of my rear axle as well. This also aids in front axle weight transfer.
Donn0128 said: "Adding that much extra to an already taxed front end that is carrying a diesel motor will probably push the front axle to near it's limits."
I can see that this truck is obviously made for working. No pansies with this one.
Going by the pictures and seeing just how much lower the rear is than the front and seeing that front has been raised either by cranking up the torsion bars or with a lift kit of some type in order to clear the larger tires and hold up the heavy front bumper and winch, and that this is a working truck not an image mobile, I would go with rear spring work instead of add-on helpers like Timbren, air bags, Supersprings, Roadmaster, etc. Good old fashioned stronger steel springs will do this truck some good.
I would take the truck to a spring shop and have them either build a set of heavier main spring packs that also have more arc to them, or re-arc the existing springs and add more leafs, so with the taller springs the truck will sit higher in the back than the front when unloaded and level when loaded, as well as have more weight carrying capacity from the heavier spring rate.
I would also have them re-arc the upper overload leaf to make up for the higher main springs and to make the overload come into contact with the frame bumpers sooner. For a little better unloaded ride, you could split the additional spring rate increase between the main springs and the overload by beefing up both the main packs and the overload with additonal leafs, but don't go quite as heavy on the mains, instead of putting all the beefing into just the main packs.
I believe that is the way I would tackle the problem if the truck and trailer belonged to me.
The other thing I would do is level the trailer. This will be more difficult after the truck springs are modified cause the truck will be sitting higher in the rear than it is now, but the truck needs to go up in the back and the trailer needs to go down in the front to level it. It looks right now like the trailer's hitch coupler can be adjusted up some into the gooseneck which will lower the front of the trailer and still have enough clearance with the truckbed. After the truck goes up in the back, the trailer may not have enough clearance with the bedrails and may need to be raised at the axles. One thing at a time though.
* This post was
edited 08/03/08 02:57pm by SoCalDesertRider *
My brother had an 03 2500HD CC long box with the 8.1. His truck sat higher in the back than the front until he put the camper on. His camper was a Lance 915 that had a dry weight of I believe 2,700 on the tag with all his options and the truck sat level with it on there. The torsion bars must be cranked to make the truck sit level unloaded.
Bryan
2003 2500HD Ext. cab short box
6.0 liter 4.10 gears, Nelson performance PCM
98 K1500 4x4 heavy duty 1/2 ton
6,600lb GVWR 5,280lbs on the scale empty
14 bolt rear diff. 3:73 , Tranny and oil coolers
250,000 miles still purrin' like a kitten
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