WDH plus Helper Springs?

[cvmashellfish]

I have a 2000 Dodge Ram 1500. It's a bit long in the tooth, but it does most of what I want, and most importantly at the moment, has no payments! I pull my Passport Ultralight with no problems using a WDH.

All that said, I think the rear leaf springs on the truck are beginning to wear out a little (17 yo truck after all), and I was thinking about installing helper springs to help with sag when I am hauling heavy stuff in the bed of the truck.

What I am wondering is this. Will it affect the WDH system? Will I need to adjust the hitch if I add the springs?

Any help on this question would be much appreciated.

[hawkeye-08]

yes, you will need to check your WDH setup and likely change it.

[MFL]

" You got to adjust the WDH AFTER you raise the rear."

Terryallan.. Now you get it!! Yes, this answers the OPs question. I think what confused you, was when I used the word returning, meaning from original WDH setting, PRIOR to adding the new springs. With the new springs added, the front will not be unloaded quite as much, when returning same hitch weight, thus the reason for readjustment of WDH.

I do think the OP understands, as was his reason for asking the question. John and myself said an adjustment would likely be necessary, after adding the helper springs, as you now understand by your last sentence I quoted. Lets not confuse the issue!

Jerry

[Terryallan]

MFL wrote:

Terryallan wrote:

MFL wrote:
I've used a WDH, and helper springs, but never both at the same time. I do think you would need to back the WDH off a little, depending on the strength of the added springs. The hr spgs will lift the back a little, returning some weight to front.

Jerry

UHH NO!. Helper springs may lift the back of the truck. But they will NOT return lost weight to the front of the truck. That is what a WDH does.

UHH, yes, a little, compared to not having the added springs, and the WDH returns weight back to TV front, as well as some back to trailer axles. It will work once set up properly.:)

Jerry

nope. It don't work that way. Springs can level, or even raise the rear. But they will NOT return lost weight to the front axle. You would just have a level truck, with a light front axle. The weight would only be returned when the WDH is applied. In fact. IF you adjust the WDH before you raise the rear. The added springs will unload the front axle with the WDH applied.
Same thing as air bags. You got to adjust the WDH AFTER you raise the rear.

[MFL]

Terryallan wrote:

MFL wrote:
I've used a WDH, and helper springs, but never both at the same time. I do think you would need to back the WDH off a little, depending on the strength of the added springs. The hr spgs will lift the back a little, returning some weight to front.

Jerry

UHH NO!. Helper springs may lift the back of the truck. But they will NOT return lost weight to the front of the truck. That is what a WDH does.

UHH, yes, a little, compared to not having the added springs, and the WDH returns weight back to TV front, as well as some back to trailer axles. It will work once set up properly.:)

Jerry

[Terryallan]

MFL wrote:
I've used a WDH, and helper springs, but never both at the same time. I do think you would need to back the WDH off a little, depending on the strength of the added springs. The hr spgs will lift the back a little, returning some weight to front.

Jerry

UHH NO!. Helper springs may lift the back of the truck. But they will NOT return lost weight to the front of the truck. That is what a WDH does.

[mkirsch]

You will NOT need to "back off on the WDH."

Remember, the WDH has NOTHING to do with rear sag on the truck. The entire purpose of the WDH is to push the front end back down so you can steer and stop. Raising the rear end is just a side effect.

Even if the truck doesn't squat as much because of the stiffer springs, the front end still needs to be pushed back down so you can stop and steer.

Whether you will need to adjust the WDH depends on how much the new springs raise the rear end. If it raises it enough to lower the head on the shank by an entire hole, no adjustment needed. If it only raises it part way you may need to tilt the head back a little more to regain the proper front ride height.

However, rather than adding helper springs, consider taking the truck to a spring shop and having new springs put on, or getting a new set and putting them on yourself.

My issue with helper springs is that they put additional stress on the spring eye, and on a truck as old as yours, that area's already stressed.

[Ivylog]

I would put on air shocks with separate air lines to increase the pressure when needed. Using separate air lines makes them act like sway bars. Bringing the back of the truck to normal height should not change the WD setting.

[JBarca]

cvmashellfish wrote:


What I am wondering is this. Will it affect the WDH system? Will I need to adjust the hitch if I add the springs?

Yes, it will affect the weight distribution. When you get the new springs and shocks put on, then just go through the procedure again to setup the WD hitch. I assumed on a 1500 truck your were referring to possibly changing the leaf spring pack to the same spring pack, just new and changing the shocks to have a spring on the outside of the shock sometimes called a helper spring or a load lever spring.

By chance, where you talking about overload springs (sometimes called helpers springs) with the extra leaf that touches a frame bracket like on some 3/4 ton and most 1 ton trucks? If so, not understanding why on a light suspension truck like this.

Needing to adjust the WD hitch after a truck spring change of any kind is common to have to readjust the WD hitch. This is the same as changing trucks too or when changing the load in the bed of the truck by a large amount or the trailer loaded tongue weight.

Hope this helps

John

[MFL]

I've used a WDH, and helper springs, but never both at the same time. I do think you would need to back the WDH off a little, depending on the strength of the added springs. The hr spgs will lift the back a little, returning some weight to front.

Jerry