Air Ride Suspension Kit?

You will see that the some of the information above is not quite correct, here is the instructions from the Ford 2013 manual:

When hooking-up a trailer using a weight-distributing hitch, always use
the following procedure:
1. Park the loaded vehicle, without the trailer, on a level surface.
2. Measure the height to the top of your vehicle’s front wheel opening
on the fender. This is H1.
3. Securely attach the loaded trailer to your vehicle without the
weight-distributing bars connected.
4. Measure the height to the top of your vehicle’s front wheel opening
on the fender a second time. This is H2.
5. Install and adjust the tension in the weight-distributing bars so that
the height of your vehicle’s front wheel opening on the fender is
approximately halfway between H1 and H2.
6. Check that the trailer is level or slightly nose down toward your
vehicle. If not, adjust the ball height accordingly and repeat
Steps 2–6.
Once the trailer is level or slightly nose down toward the vehicle:
• Lock the bar tension adjuster in place.
• Check that the trailer tongue securely attaches and locks onto the
hitch.
• Install safety chains, lighting, and trailer brake controls as required by
law or the trailer manufacturer.


I have found that after doing the adjustments above you might still want to add support such as air bags to level the van.

You need to hook it up and weigh it, between the hitch weight, and whatever is INSIDE the van you are likely over the rear axle weight. If not, I would go for airbags..

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lmarcrum wrote:
I have a 06 E150 conversion van. I tow a Jayco 27BH. When the camper is loaded and ready to go the weight of the camper makes the van suspension set low. I was wondering if an air suspension kit might elevate this problem. If so any recommendations of suspension kits would be appreciated? With 77,000 miles on the van should I need to make any other modifications to the suspension? Any input would be great!!! Thank you.

Larry,

You may already know most of this.

I second what APT (above) has told you. In other words, by measuring from the ground up to the fender lip, the WD should be adjusted so that the front axle ends up with the same height as when no trailer is hitched. Usually the front naturally lifts a bit when the trailer is 1st hooked up, and adjusting WD to bring the front back down also lifts the rear sag up a bit. The rear will still end up lower than empty but it can't be helped. The front should end up exactly the same height, and this fact* is according to Fords latest recommendations.

EDIT:
*See post below for newer (2013) Ford recommendations.

Since you have a conversion van, there might be quite a bit of load capacity already taken up, making the rear springs sag that much quicker. It depends on how much mass the conversion company added. I think they seldom beef up the suspension, so you may have to do that yourself. The most important thing is that the tires you have, must be rated high enough to carry your ready-to-go weight.

If you have P (passenger) rated tires on the van now, you may have to go to LT (light truck) rated tires. Look at your tire sidewall. If the tire number starts with P, they are passenger tires etc. The TireRack.com website is one place you can go to find the original tires listed, as well as heavier duty LT tires that are rated to safely carry more weight. Even if you buy tires locally, you will know a lot more about what you want when you visit a local tire dealer.

If cost is a factor in beefing the suspension, I've found the use of these under-$40 type overload springs to be useful.

Superior RideEFFEX™ - Load Control Springs

They are simply designed and fitted, but if they can be applied, they provide some extra load capacity. They merely fit over the shock absorbers similar to expensive coil-over units.

I found them at O'Reilly's, but the they can also be found on Amazon. Different sets offer either 750 or 1250 pounds of extra capacity. Buying locally helps make sure of fit, if they have them in stock. My guess is that they don't have them in stock because they are not a money maker, but it still easier to return them if necessary. Some HD shocks are thicker-bodied than others.

The springs are intended to be simply sandwiched between two clamps on the shock absorber. Most shock absorbers have an internal oil reservoir next to their outer tubing, but some Monotube designs, such as Bilstein, have a piston contacting directly inside the outer tube. Since the tight clamp tends to slightly distort the outer shock housing, they will not work unless this problem avoided by fabricating different mounting. Those type shocks with reservoirs directly under the shock body, work amazingly well with the simple clamps. The clamps are similar to muffler pipe clamps and dig in by design.

There are several other types of low cost overload springs shown on the O'Reilly page that may also work. New HD shocks aren't a bad idea so they can control the higher spring return rates you might install. In the end, paying more for custom fit high quality air bags may be a better choice, if budget permits. But, remember, paying more doesn't always guarantee a better product. Springs are a very basic machine, especially in metal.

Wes
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Spend $20 at a CAT scale adjusting your WDH. I would find it hard to believe you need more suspension help with 600 pounds of TW.

3 passes to find out TW and how well the WDH is adjusted.
1: Van alone each axle
2: Van with trailer on ball each axle and TT axles
3: Van + trailer + WD bars

Goal is to get the front axle weight in 3 equal to front axle weight in step 1. Weight will be lower in 2 than 1. If you meet that goal, then I believe rear end sag will appear to be resolved.

I recommend the Firestone Sport-Rite airbags. That's what I run on my van. They area a long-travel tapered airbag, so they don't limit suspension travel like many of the other kits.

You don't need air bags. You need to adjust your weight distribution hitch. Air bags only prop up the rear end. Unless you are over your payload limit, you should be able to level out the van with the WDH.

lmarcrum wrote:
I have a Reese weight distribution equalizer. I think the tongue weight is about 600 lbs and the vans hitch is rated at 1000 lbs.

Not what the hitch is rated for. How much payload do you have. Air bags work great for leveling. I would weigh the rig and see where you are at before adding air bags. And make sure your WDH is setup right, also.

I have a Reese weight distribution equalizer. I think the tongue weight is about 600 lbs and the vans hitch is rated at 1000 lbs.

What is the payload numbers for the van? Could you possibly have too much tongue weight and overloaded the van? Are you using a properly setup weight distribution hitch setup?

Do you have a Weight Distributing hitch? if so is it setup properly? I ran a set of Air Lift air bags on my 97 1/2ton Dodge conv. van. they worked great.