How much do bags help with sway?

jamminalong wrote:

TheHardWay9 wrote:
Eeeek! Sounds like I'm gonna end up killing a bus full of nuns if I go down the road hauling my camper in my truck :R

Fair warning...the forum loves to report mayhem then run 10 pages of armchair quarterback, pics included.
Avoid the news and you should be good to go.

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J/K .... sorta! :B

I've noticed this!

Redsky wrote:
If the truck bed is level with the camper on it then the sway is from too weak a set of shocks or too much tire sidewall flexing or too much frame flexing or a combination of these factors.

If it is not level then the air bags are an option but for campers where there is not a need for precise adjustment a set of overload springs like the Supersprings are less expensive and never need to be adjusted and never need to be replaced.

Shocks are easy to replace with heavy duty ones like the Rancho 9000 or Bilstein 5100 shocks. $200 plus labor for two for the rear.
I already have have two Bilstein 5100s at each corner in the rear

I improved my truck's handling when I replaced tires rated at 3195 lbs for ones rated at 3750 lbs. and I was not expecting this. $1200 for a set of 4.

Frame flexing can be helped with a heavy duty rear anti-sway bar. $300 plus labor unless you do the install.

If it was my truck I would deflate the air bags and see if the truck is level without them and the camper in the bed. If not then I would only as much air as was needed to level the truck. I would then change the shocks and re-evaluate the handling. If it was still a problem I would add a rear anti-sway bar. If still a problem I would probably take off the air bags and put on overload springs.
I don't have air bags on there yet. The whole point of this thread was asking if bags would help me.

I went with the 3750 rated ties to gain load capacity so it was worth the expense. I would not have done this only to get somewhat better road handling as the stock tires were OK overall.

okan-star wrote:
TheHardWay9 how is the rear of your truck lifted , if its just with blocks , then the geometry of the leafs and overloads above is as it was stock right? then you could put stable loads on it if you have factory overloads . Or supersprings will work with or without factory overloads , I personally would go with the supersprings
If you have addaleafs that are lifting the rear then the distance from the factory overloads to the bump stops is increased and neither stableloads or supersprings are going to work , unless you can add a taller block between the top of the main spring pack and the factory overloads and or the supersprings

Yeah, just 4" blocks in the rear (As some may know, 3rd gen Dodges sit with the front end a little lower than the rear from the factory, so the lift is 6" in the front, 4" in the rear to level it out, when unloaded). There are factory overloads as it is a 3500. Factory overloads are absent on the 2500s, which is the only difference between a 2500 and 3500 after Dodge starting putting the 11.50" rear end in both the 2500 and 3500s.