Stop gap suspension advice

Haloo wrote:

billtex wrote:

Haloo wrote:

srschang wrote:
What are you running for air pressure in the front & rear tires? Are the tires load Range E? F? G? A tire with a firm sidewall makes a big difference in side to side sway. As others have said, some of it is a learning experience, especially when entering and leaving parking lots. You generally want to do it as square as possible, if you are at an angle one of the front tires will go over any dip or bump first, starting the camper rocking, then when the rear tire go through it one at a time, it really gets to rock & rolling.

Scott

60lbs front, 80lbs rear. Load range E, 20” tires.

The primary issue is kind of a skittish feeling, not a roll so much as a sudden dipping to the outside of the curve — like it dips then catches.

We drove the camper home 1200 miles on the stock springs. There was some sway and roll, but no big deal. After the new springs were added it feels different as I describe above.

I think you answered your own question. NL are not very heavy and should be well within 1 ton stock suspension.
OE shocks should be fine...can’t believe they are worn already. “Adjustable” shocks are useless in snow country. They won’t be adjustable for long.

Of all the suspension mods I have done (many!) sway bar was the most useless. Made no difference IMO.

Go back to your OE suspension and put on a few miles. Then re-evealuate.

Yep. I’m going to remove the springs and give it another go. And yes, our camper will not exceed our payload. In fact, I have unbolted some weight from our camper, so we have even more room for gear if we want. I’m guessing we are at about 2600 lbs dry.

Ford adds a sway bar with their Camper Package. Our truck did not come with a sway bar. Truck camper forums are stuffed full of threads on the virtues of sway bars. You are only the second person to tell me to not get a sway bar. The other guy told me to get air bags instead.

So...since you mentioned it, what suspension mods have you done that were worthwhile?

It only took me ~ 20 years to figure out. My approach to a 3/4 ton truck would be different than a 1 ton truck. I would always suggest purchasing the 1 ton if you are buying a truck. If you already have one and want to work with what you have, that is a different story.
I have used; airbags (never again-not a good solution for TC’s), suspersprings (good if you have a 3/4 ton and need to add over load springs), sway bar (did nothing for me, and I used the big fat after market one...) lower stable loads (this would be my first choice. Utilizes OE springs with no effect on unladen ride), upper bump stop extensions (Upper SL’s-$$$, or energy suspension-same thing-less $). Upper bump stops only if you have a 1 ton, most 3/4 tons don’t. Also will not effect unladen ride.

In case you can’t tell, I did not want to change unladen ride, so that approach is important to me. Products that maximize your OE suspension and do not add a lot of unsprung weight IMO are the best approach.
That is my suspension story. Many more out there...