Timben SES

[Greene728]

All,
I recently purchased a 2012 F-250 with the 6.2. After doing a short test tow with my 5'er and also hauling a pretty good load on my 20ft gooseneck trailer, it seems the rear suspension is a touch on the weak side compared to the 05 250 I came from. It's my understanding that Ford now uses a softer spring pack in the rear to try and improve the unloaded ride. There is also only about 7/8in difference between the front and the rear from level. Thats fine when im not towing, but the squat is a little more than I like when hooked up. Will the timbrens help much with this? The truck pulls outstanding! But, I'd like a little more support when loaded up. I don't want the complexity of air bags or the harsh ride with add a leafs. Any pertinent experience or recommendations would very much be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Bedlam]

If your F250 has the upper overload springs, they do not engage until the rear sags over 3". Using Torklift StableLoads will engage these springs sooner and reduce sag.





I also used the lower StableLoad wedges on the lower overload spring, but that will not help your sag issue.

[GWolfe]

I had Timbrens and loved them while towing/hauling but like kzspree320 I have a little suspension sag and had a harsh ride empty. I'm sure the softer 1500 springs didn't help either.

[2112]

When looking at the two, Timbrens have no moving parts, nothing to adjust, nothing to fail....while air bags require adjustments loaded and unloaded, possible air line failure over time, and you must ensure that you keep the minimum air pressures in the bags, which means they require periodic checks when not towing....I like the no fuss route...

. ^^^^^^^ And That's why I gave up on air bags YEARS AGO ^^^^^^^

[calewjohnson]

I have had both air bags and Timbrens. Had the airbags on my Duramax, I will admit, they were nice because of adjustability, but unless I kept the compressor handy, I would be out there with a bicycle pump adding air. Plus, they do require air adjustments at times, morning vs afternoon, etc...

Put Timbrens on my F350...love them. No moving parts, nothing to adjust, nothing to maintain. I ended up installing the spacer provided. I have a TransferFlow tank in the bed, even with it empty and the FW hitch in the bed, I had less than a spacer width of space...since I always have fuel in the bed, I thought it was prudent that the spacer be used. I can tell when the tank is near empty and not towing, the ride is a little rough...but this is not a luxury car, ride quality has to be diminished to pull a 20k TH...

When looking at the two, Timbrens have no moving parts, nothing to adjust, nothing to fail....while air bags require adjustments loaded and unloaded, possible air line failure over time, and you must ensure that you keep the minimum air pressures in the bags, which means they require periodic checks when not towing....I like the no fuss route...

Cale

[Sport45]

kzspree320 wrote:
I am replying to give you some food for thought. I now have Tembrens on my 2008 Dodge 2500 CTD. I installed them about 2 years ago after we first bought our new fifth wheel.

When I first installed them the clearance from the axle was about 3/4 of an inch. They have worked well and I was well pleased until now. In summary, the timbrens are now only about 1/4 inch away or so from the axle. I can only guess from having my heavy superglide hitch in it year round and towing with about 2,700 lbs extra on the rear axle for about 30 days a year. The truck has about 103,000 miles on it now so a little suspension sag is to be expected.

Since the gap between the Tembrens and the axle is now about a quarter inch, the truck does not ride well empty at this time. It does not take much of a bump and the truck hits the Tembrens harshly. It still rides well when I am towing and supports the pin weight well. I think the harsh ride comes from being on the stock leaf springs and then hitting the Tembrens when we hit even small bumps. Until your suspension sags a bit, you will not have this problem. I might not have this problem in another 50K miles because the suspension will have sagged enough that I will be well on the Tembrens at all times. But for now, the truck is riding terrible.

I have ordered and will be installing a set of Firestone ride rite air bags next week. I liked not having to sorry about air pressure with the Tembrens, but the suspension sag leaves me much more willing to trade off air pressure concerns for a decent ride when empty. Hope this helps.

Maybe you could add the rubber spacer mentioned in above posts to remove the slack. Or if you have a spacer, you could take it out to gain a little more suspension travel before hitting the Timbrens.

[rsqem64]

my '07 F150 would hit the Timbrens harder than I liked when first installed and the rear of the truck would kick back up. I found at 75k miles shocks helped a lot and now I love the Timbrens

[Dog_Trainer]

kzspree320 wrote:

301TBS wrote:
kzspree320, I had the same low clearance issue and contacted Timbren. They are very good at customer support, and sent me different frame brackets no charge.

Mine attach where the factory jounce bumpers were. The Timbrens are directly under the frame between the frame and axle and are now too long. A bracket wouldn't change mine but may help with others. I didn't want to saw any length off my Timbrens to get the necessary clearance.

Maybe they had some shorter Timbrens that would have worked, but I thought the suspension sag would just get worse. I am hoping the air bags will provide continual support and keep the suspension from sagging more. Got the Firestone air bags on sale for less than $300. I hope suspension sag issues are in the past.

Thanks for the info. Timbren is a very good company and the products are good. They have been great and I am certainly not knocking them at all. I got my moneys worth. Just wanted to touch on the suspension sag issue for trucks with some mileage on them.

Making the spacer shorter is exactly what Timbren suggests in a too long scenario. Although I am not suspension expert it sounds like you have a sagging suspension problem. Air bags will certainly mask the problem.

[Ron3rd]

mike-uswest wrote:

301TBS wrote:
My Timbrins are set with a 1" gap when empty. They came with a rubber disc than can be used to adjust the clearance. They make a huge difference in stability and are easy to install with no modification's.

The same for mine. In and done. Very pleased.

Mike

Me too. You won't know the Timbrens are there until you hit a big BUMP. Very happy with mine.

[kzspree320]

301TBS wrote:
kzspree320, I had the same low clearance issue and contacted Timbren. They are very good at customer support, and sent me different frame brackets no charge.

Mine attach where the factory jounce bumpers were. The Timbrens are directly under the frame between the frame and axle and are now too long. A bracket wouldn't change mine but may help with others. I didn't want to saw any length off my Timbrens to get the necessary clearance.

Maybe they had some shorter Timbrens that would have worked, but I thought the suspension sag would just get worse. I am hoping the air bags will provide continual support and keep the suspension from sagging more. Got the Firestone air bags on sale for less than $300. I hope suspension sag issues are in the past.

Thanks for the info. Timbren is a very good company and the products are good. They have been great and I am certainly not knocking them at all. I got my moneys worth. Just wanted to touch on the suspension sag issue for trucks with some mileage on them.

[301TBS]

kzspree320, I had the same low clearance issue and contacted Timbren. They are very good at customer support, and sent me different frame brackets no charge.

[txdutt]

The Timbrens I installed on my F250 make a world of difference when pulling my 5'er--so much more pleasant ride & control. Didn't want to mess with airbags and the hassle of airing up & down.

[Greene728]

kzspree320 wrote:
I am replying to give you some food for thought. I now have Tembrens on my 2008 Dodge 2500 CTD. I installed them about 2 years ago after we first bought our new fifth wheel.

When I first installed them the clearance from the axle was about 3/4 of an inch. They have worked well and I was well pleased until now. In summary, the timbrens are now only about 1/4 inch away or so from the axle. I can only guess from having my heavy superglide hitch in it year round and towing with about 2,700 lbs extra on the rear axle for about 30 days a year. The truck has about 103,000 miles on it now so a little suspension sag is to be expected.

Since the gap between the Tembrens and the axle is now about a quarter inch, the truck does not ride well empty at this time. It does not take much of a bump and the truck hits the Tembrens harshly. It still rides well when I am towing and supports the pin weight well. I think the harsh ride comes from being on the stock leaf springs and then hitting the Tembrens when we hit even small bumps. Until your suspension sags a bit, you will not have this problem. I might not have this problem in another 50K miles because the suspension will have sagged enough that I will be well on the Tembrens at all times. But for now, the truck is riding terrible.

I have ordered and will be installing a set of Firestone ride rite air bags next week. I liked not having to sorry about air pressure with the Tembrens, but the suspension sag leaves me much more willing to trade off air pressure concerns for a decent ride when empty. Hope this helps.

Interesting. I will take this into consideration, and thank you for your response and the PM!

[kzspree320]

I am replying to give you some food for thought. I now have Tembrens on my 2008 Dodge 2500 CTD. I installed them about 2 years ago after we first bought our new fifth wheel.

When I first installed them the clearance from the axle was about 3/4 of an inch. They have worked well and I was well pleased until now. In summary, the timbrens are now only about 1/4 inch away or so from the axle. I can only guess from having my heavy superglide hitch in it year round and towing with about 2,700 lbs extra on the rear axle for about 30 days a year. The truck has about 103,000 miles on it now so a little suspension sag is to be expected.

Since the gap between the Tembrens and the axle is now about a quarter inch, the truck does not ride well empty at this time. It does not take much of a bump and the truck hits the Tembrens harshly. It still rides well when I am towing and supports the pin weight well. I think the harsh ride comes from being on the stock leaf springs and then hitting the Tembrens when we hit even small bumps. Until your suspension sags a bit, you will not have this problem. I might not have this problem in another 50K miles because the suspension will have sagged enough that I will be well on the Tembrens at all times. But for now, the truck is riding terrible.

I have ordered and will be installing a set of Firestone ride rite air bags next week. I liked not having to sorry about air pressure with the Tembrens, but the suspension sag leaves me much more willing to trade off air pressure concerns for a decent ride when empty. Hope this helps.

[Greene728]

Thank you all for the replies. 1in clearance and then start kicking in would be perfect! Looking at the Torklift option too. Never seen that before.