10000 harbor freight hitch up to par???
hello all, i have a 28 foot 2004 blaze'n toy hauler and seems to have a incredible tongue weight. we do not haul toys in it yet but plan to in the next year after its paid off more.i have a 10000 lb h...
Forum Discussion
Question for you.
Why be concerned that the truck springs are doing their job, and the back of the truck squats under load.
It is designed to sink a little bit while under load. If the springs never bent under load, then the springs would be solid bars, with no suspension at all, and no give when you go over a pot hole.
So how much squat is to much? Measure the distance the tire has before it starts to rub against the fenders. If you have more than 6" you have a normal truck and can load it to the point it squats about 6" from normal unloaded height.
When I had my 75 F-350 camper, it would sink about 4" while the camper was on board, and go back to normal later. So I had two hitch receivers. The 6" drop was used if I was going to be towing without the camper on the truck, while the 2" drop was used while I was taking the camper along.
4" of drop with a 3,000 pound load on the truck is pretty much normal. That would be 1" of drop for each 400 pounds (on each spring) so each spring will carry about 1,600 pounds, and drop about 4". Going over a pot hole, the spring can also compress or expand about 1" if there is an extra 400 pounds applied to the spring while going over the road damage. Even a 2" tall speed bump can be crossed at a good speed, such as 30 MPH, if the springs are designed right, and are absorbing the bump.
Yet if you add air bags and stiffen up the springs again, and make it so the truck does not compress while you have a load in it, then the spring rates really change. The factory truck springs are still going to compress 1" per 400 pounds of load on them (more or less) while the air bags will not compress nearly as much because they are taking on more of the load during a event, such as crossing a speed bump. Because the thicker springs are designed to not compress easiely, you will feel the speed bump inside the truck much better.
Fred.
Why be concerned that the truck springs are doing their job, and the back of the truck squats under load.
It is designed to sink a little bit while under load. If the springs never bent under load, then the springs would be solid bars, with no suspension at all, and no give when you go over a pot hole.
So how much squat is to much? Measure the distance the tire has before it starts to rub against the fenders. If you have more than 6" you have a normal truck and can load it to the point it squats about 6" from normal unloaded height.
When I had my 75 F-350 camper, it would sink about 4" while the camper was on board, and go back to normal later. So I had two hitch receivers. The 6" drop was used if I was going to be towing without the camper on the truck, while the 2" drop was used while I was taking the camper along.
4" of drop with a 3,000 pound load on the truck is pretty much normal. That would be 1" of drop for each 400 pounds (on each spring) so each spring will carry about 1,600 pounds, and drop about 4". Going over a pot hole, the spring can also compress or expand about 1" if there is an extra 400 pounds applied to the spring while going over the road damage. Even a 2" tall speed bump can be crossed at a good speed, such as 30 MPH, if the springs are designed right, and are absorbing the bump.
Yet if you add air bags and stiffen up the springs again, and make it so the truck does not compress while you have a load in it, then the spring rates really change. The factory truck springs are still going to compress 1" per 400 pounds of load on them (more or less) while the air bags will not compress nearly as much because they are taking on more of the load during a event, such as crossing a speed bump. Because the thicker springs are designed to not compress easiely, you will feel the speed bump inside the truck much better.
Fred.
