2013 Ram with air suspension and WDH setup.

[Georshrwd]

I have a new Ram1500 with the auto leveling air ride suspension. I am having some difficulty getting the trailer setup right. My trailer is a 2013 Passport 23BH. My WDH is a Curt 17001 with sway control. I am experience a bit of porpoising right now and a bit of light steering on the front end at 55mph or slightly higher. The steering may just be me getting used to a TT being behind me. I have almost everything in the trailer other than water in the tank and very basic kitchen stuff (condiments and light stuff). I haven't put chairs in there yet but other than that were loaded. I'm figuring at this point I'm gonna have to get it on a scale but is there any set up tips you guys can give me.

[Georshrwd]

I still need to get it to a scale to do some adjustments. I think at this point I may need to tilt the head on my hitch so that the load bars can level back out. There is no other way on this truck to get it right unless you get it on a scale. I we t al the way to the lead engineer at dodge responsible for the air suspension and there isn't any trick to help out.

[oweninthekeys]

Do we have any update to the outcome of this issue? Curious of how the truck reacted with the stabilizer hitch.

[Georshrwd]

Thank you Ron for the great info. The owners manual (electronic) is very vague about towing and setup. I will search the written manual and see if there is any additional info there.

[Ron_Gratz]

Georshrwd wrote:
The entry exit on the Ram will only activate if you activate it so that is not an issue and the truck will not go into aero mode when hauling a load. The owners manual does say to set up a hitch with the air on though but that is all it says.

As I expected, you do need to adjust the WDH with the air leveling activated -- which is what I had to do with my Expediton.

Unfortunately, with the air leveling activated, the front end will remain at normal ride height regardless of how the WDH is adjusted.
This means you cannot use the front wheelwell height as an indicator of how well the WDH is adjusted.

You will need to use measured axle loads to know if the WDH is correctly adjusted.
This means you must measure the axle loads while loaded for camping and unhitched.
Then attach the TT, activate the air leveling, and make a guess at a good WDH setting.
Then measure the axle loads again to see if you have the desired front axle load.
Repeat with a different adjustment if necessary.

Does your owners manual give any indication of what the front axle load should be relative to the unhitched value?
If not, I would recommend adjusting the WDH so the load when hitched with air leveling activated is about equal to, but not greater than, the load when unhitched.

Ron

[Terryallan]

Ron Gratz wrote:

Georshrwd wrote:
I have a new Ram1500 with the auto leveling air ride suspension. I am having some difficulty getting the trailer setup right. My trailer is a 2013 Passport 23BH. My WDH is a Curt 17001 with sway control. I am experience a bit of porpoising right now and a bit of light steering on the front end at 55mph or slightly higher.---

Can you tell us exactly how you go about setting up the WDH?

For example, I understand the air ride system has an "entry access" height which is 2" below the "normal ride" height.
Do you attach the trailer when the truck is at the "entry access" height?
If so, does the air system activate and return to the "entry access" height while you are adjusting the WDH?

If the WDH is adjusted for the "entry access" height, the air system will raise the truck to the "normal height" when you head down the road.
This means the truck will ride 2" higher than when the WDH was adjusted.
And, that means there will be less tension on the WD bar chains and less load will be transferred to the front axle.

To complicate things further, the truck is supposed to go to "aero mode" (dropping 1" below normal) when speed reaches 62 mph.

Does your owners manual say anything about towing a trailer using a WDH?

BTW -- Ram's new air leveling system sounds very much like the air leveling system I had on my 1997 Expedition (although I didn't have two off-road heights).
I had to attach the trailer and adjust the WDH while the air leveling was activated with the engine running.

Ron

I had a 2002 Eddie Baurer Expe, with air ride, and the instructions in the manual were exactly as I posted. It's what I did as well, and it worked very well. Trick was to get the air ride turned off before the Expe lowered itself back down. It would begin to lower as soon as you opened the driver's door. Even while running.

It appears the Dodge is way different

[Georshrwd]

The entry exit on the Ram will only activate if you activate it so that is not an issue and the truck will not go into aero mode when hauling a load. The owners manual does say to set up a hitch with the air on though but that is all it says.

[Ron_Gratz]

Georshrwd wrote:
I have a new Ram1500 with the auto leveling air ride suspension. I am having some difficulty getting the trailer setup right. My trailer is a 2013 Passport 23BH. My WDH is a Curt 17001 with sway control. I am experience a bit of porpoising right now and a bit of light steering on the front end at 55mph or slightly higher.---

Can you tell us exactly how you go about setting up the WDH?

For example, I understand the air ride system has an "entry access" height which is 2" below the "normal ride" height.
Do you attach the trailer when the truck is at the "entry access" height?
If so, does the air system activate and return to the "entry access" height while you are adjusting the WDH?

If the WDH is adjusted for the "entry access" height, the air system will raise the truck to the "normal height" when you head down the road.
This means the truck will ride 2" higher than when the WDH was adjusted.
And, that means there will be less tension on the WD bar chains and less load will be transferred to the front axle.

To complicate things further, the truck is supposed to go to "aero mode" (dropping 1" below normal) when speed reaches 62 mph.

Does your owners manual say anything about towing a trailer using a WDH?

BTW -- Ram's new air leveling system sounds very much like the air leveling system I had on my 1997 Expedition (although I didn't have two off-road heights).
I had to attach the trailer and adjust the WDH while the air leveling was activated with the engine running.

Ron

[Terryallan]

Georshrwd wrote:
I have a new Ram1500 with the auto leveling air ride suspension. I am having some difficulty getting the trailer setup right. My trailer is a 2013 Passport 23BH. My WDH is a Curt 17001 with sway control. I am experience a bit of porpoising right now and a bit of light steering on the front end at 55mph or slightly higher. The steering may just be me getting used to a TT being behind me. I have almost everything in the trailer other than water in the tank and very basic kitchen stuff (condiments and light stuff). I haven't put chairs in there yet but other than that were loaded. I'm figuring at this point I'm gonna have to get it on a scale but is there any set up tips you guys can give me.

Yep. Take the TT to a level parking lot. With truck running, Raise the tongue off the ball. Let the TV level itself. Turn off air ride. Measure the TV to the ground front and back. Drop the tongue back on the ball. Adjust the WDH so that the front is back to the unhooked height. The rear will take care of itself. But should NEVER be higher than it was unhooked. When done. Turn the air ride back on. your done.

BNy what you are saying. You need to gt more weight back on the front to return lost steering control