New 5er owner!

NICE looking rig.......

Why all the squat when empty........really gonna squat when 5vr loaded :H

Timbrens are install and forget......only come into play (progressively) when loaded. Unloaded they aren't even there. BUT they aren't adjustable.

Air bags.....more versatile but you do have to air up/air down. Possible air leaks. Need compressor etc.

Nice looking rig and combo. Hoping you have many miles of smiles.

Looks very nice. I had the same weight problems, and put on Firestone air bags with on board compressor, and gauge on the dash. Really worked great. Took a few seconds to pump up pressure needed in bags. When made destination just release pressure to about 10 to 20 psi, and ready to go. However; hoping to purchase a 36 to 38 ft. Lifestyle in a couple of years and purchased a dRW F350. Really make towing nice.

Congratulations!

Congratulations, nice looking rig!

I'd get the air bags, they're adjustable, they will smooth out the ride when the trailer is on and not much maintenance. Just my 2 cents tho

Happy camping, you're gonna love the fifth wheel!

Dan

Most on here are going to suggest air bags. I put the Timbrens on my truck and had no regrets. It just depends on how much $$ you want to invest. The Timbrens are an easy DIY. Took me about an hour to install them. They worked perfect for my purpose. If I took very long trips, or full-timed, I'd definitely go with air bags, but the Timbrens work very well too.....

KSadler1 wrote:
Most on here are going to suggest air bags. I put the Timbrens on my truck and had no regrets. It just depends on how much $$ you want to invest. The Timbrens are an easy DIY. Took me about an hour to install them. They worked perfect for my purpose. If I took very long trips, or full-timed, I'd definitely go with air bags, but the Timbrens work very well too.....

We were wondering if DH would be able to put the timbrens on himself. What tools did you need? We are weekend campers and stay mostly in a 1-3 hrs radius with 1 or 2 longer trips per year.

Congrats. Nice combo. That squat seems odd. 3500 should handle the weight I'm a bit surprised to see that much squat.

Nice! Here's to many Happy Memories to be made!
Okie

Old-Biscuit wrote:
NICE looking rig.......

Why all the squat when empty........really gonna squat when 5vr loaded :H

Timbrens are install and forget......only come into play (progressively) when loaded. Unloaded they aren't even there. BUT they aren't adjustable.

Air bags.....more versatile but you do have to air up/air down. Possible air leaks. Need compressor etc.

I'm not sure why the squat. Truck was purchased new in April so I know the suspension isn't worn. It is an HD with factory tow package.
Here are the cat scale numbers for the truck. The truck had a full tank of fuel and the family in it, no 5th wheel hitch on it but the reese wdh shank/ball from my old tt was in the receiver.
Front axle- 4940 lbs
Rear axle- 3240 lbs
Total truck weight 8180 lbs.
Truck GVWR- 11,600 lbs
Truck GCWR- 24,500 lbs
GRAWR- 7050 lbs
This should allow me 3420 lbs payload, 3630 lbs on the rear axle, and 16000 towing capacity (trucks max fifth wheel rating).

The specs on the 5er....
Dry pin weight (relatively useless but nonetheless) 1880 lbs
Yellow sticker weight 11,103 lbs
GVWR- 13,704 lbs


I figured a worst case scenario pin weight of 25% of 5 5er gvwr to be 3426 lbs (at my max payload). I know I won't be putting 2600 lbs in this thing but did a max weight scenario anyways. Our old tt had between 1300-1400 lbs of stuff in it at any given time. Not included in these numbers is the reese 16k hitch put in the truck bed. I think that is around 150 lbs.

I believe I ran numbers correctly but will know for sure next week when we hit the scales. But the question does still beg, why so much squat? And will timbrens fix this?