Rocking Question For Guys With Mods for Stability

[DUBLR]

Rocking Question For Guys With Mods

Trying to get my 2017 Ram 3500, SWB, SRW Cummins, Rancho Adjustable, Fastguns, with 3700 lbs Eagle Cap 850 dialed in.

I’m running 20” Michelin load range E, aired to 80 lbs. 2017’s do not have overload packs.

I think I was misled as I added Stable Loads but springs were already engaged. Truck not really sagging and Stable Loads maybe raised it ½ inch. I’m right on rear axle limit, and right at GVW limit.

It has been some time since I had a Truck Camper and last one was decent size Lance on 1990 ¾ ton Ford. I had air bags and it handled fine. This Eagle Cap is heavier but so is the truck. Power is just excellent.

My concern is rocking side to side. If I jerk the wheel and correct, there is significant lean and roll. If I stand outside and push up on the camper, using around 120 lbs upward (bench) press, I can get some serious rocking going. It takes about 4 rocks to subside. My old Ford did this but corrected quicker if I recall. So my questions….

• Guys with what you consider good handling with the aftermarket “list” of known goodies, do you get this rock pushing up (entire Truck Rocks, not just bed.)

• Anyone with 2017 3500 Ram with same spring set up….. it would be great to hear what worked.

• I’m leaning towards a BIG WIG Sway Bar but that thing is going to have to be stout to curtail this. Common sense is leading me towards airbags but I don’t like the inboard spring mounting.

I just got back from a 500 mile run. I faced some high wind gusts (30 mph) and I ran by 18 wheeler's without any issues. That body roll is just concerning. I put one million miles on 18 wheeler's back in the day and driving this truck camper took me back to those days of full concentration. Like an 18 wheeler, there is no room for error if you misjudge.

Appreciate your insights and no, I don’t want to hear about the obvious Dually application! I run in snow and in the desert and Dually’s just don’t cut it for me. Also I really don’t think a lighter camper would make any difference. My 03 3500 RAM has overload springs and I’m thinking that is what is lacking (Thanks FIAT!).

[cartmancartman]

mkasner wrote:
120PSI in airbags!!! Should only need enough air in the bags to level the whole setup out. 120PSI would rattle my back to death. I have found 30psi to be perfect

Anything lower gives alot of sway, not sure how heavy your camper is but the Mammoth is heavy. These airbags are made to handle up to 150 psi.

[burningman]

I’m gonna bolt a third rear wheel to each side of my dually and I’ll have no problems strapping a second camper on top of my first one, with a spiral staircase up the back.

[Ski_Pro_3]

Well, if you are ever out in Northern California way, there's three of us that I'm sure would let you test drive our rigs.

Personally, I can't imagine how my set up could handle any better than it does. The limitation is that I'm tossing around over 12,000 pounds when I am driving this thing and it's easy to forget that.

The one place where I am aware of the load is on crowned roads or off camber roads, where one side is constantly lower than the other. But with air bags, and a remote control pump, I can offset a lot of that with adjustment. I do that with cross wind too.

[specta]

One of these day's I would love to drive another truck and camper to see what they're like. I have driven a few but only short distances and it was years ago.

I drove in a blizzard and the sleet was horizontal and the wind was tossing my truck and camper around enough to keep setting off my stable track light. I seriously double than any add on would have made much of a difference in a storm like that.

There is some sway but nothing that concerns me.

One day I hope to find out what others consider tolerable and intolerable.

[DWeikert]

My rocking was reduced when I added a set of Hellwig Load Pro springs. This allowed me to lower the pressure in my airbags from around 50 to 20-25. A spring stack has one huge advantage over airbags in that the friction between the individual leaves of the stack means the rebound force will be less than the compression force. Airbags are good for leveling the rig but beware of high pressures as you get the bounce ball affect of a rebound that essentially equals the compression force. If I had it to do over, I'd go straight to an added spring pack (Hellwig/Supersprings) and avoid the aribags, compressor, plumbing...

I had installed a Hellwig sway bar (not Big Wig) before I picked up the camper so can't give a good before/after review on that.

[DUBLR]

That example you gave of rocking from the ground or up top is why I stand to be impressed if the Big Wig removes most of it. My Cog positioning is not ideal due to bed length but rocking is rocking regardless of if the actual COG is moved forward 8 inches or not. I did not get any sway, in fact passing trucks and blasts of 30 mph side winds were not bad. It is just when cornering or replicating an emergency maneuver where the rocking is more pronounced than I would like. Also have applied the loading forward logic. What I am seeing is spring movement and very little tire flex. I'll start with the Big Wig and figure I may need to add airbags to stiffen up slightly. One dollar at a time!

[Ski_Pro_3]

I'll just reiterate what's already been said;
I started with air bags. Meh... O.K. for leveling and ride height, but not so much for sway. Yes, bags were independently pressurized.
Then a Big Wig sway bar. WOW! felt very stable.
I had sidewall flex to deal with now that I could actually corner this rig on twisty roads so I went with Rickson 19'5" with Toyo tires. My truck loaded with camper and fluids railed the twisty roads better than my 2015 Subaru Forester all wheel drive.
COG is BIG on these set ups. If you want to test what I mean, stand next to your camper and try rocking it back and forth. Then stand on the roof and just lghtly shift your weight from foot to foot. Very little effort while on the roof to get the thing to feel like it's gonna flip! Ha! So keep things heavy loaded low and as far forward as you can. I use the back seat of my truck for a lot of heavy stuff like tools, generator, ice chest, etc. The centered weight, not just over the rear axle, helps a lot too.

[Tizi]

Sway stopped: Roadmaster anti-sway bar, Rancho 9000 adjustable shocks (adjusted max on rear, 70% in front), Vision 19.5 wheels and Toyo tires (rear at 110 PSI and front at 95 PSI), and airbags. No more sway and very stable. Hardly any movement

[DUBLR]

Running 10 in the rear, 7 in front. Plenty of movement in Springs. Going Big Wig then next step will be to bolster spring deflection with air bags.

[mkasner]

120PSI in airbags!!! Should only need enough air in the bags to level the whole setup out. 120PSI would rattle my back to death. I have found 30psi to be perfect

[trail-explorer]

What are you shocks set to?

I run mine at 9.

[Kayteg1]

Before you spend money on improving good truck, try the simple solution.
Side to side rocking is amplified by high COG.
So can you lower it?
I load all heavy stuff like bottled water, beer, tool on rear floor in truck cabin (small dogs get the seats).
Than rear cabinets in my camper are for light (plastic) stuff only. Took me a while to convince DW to load all the booze to lower, front compartments.

[cartmancartman]

I heard some unfavorable things about the Big Wig Sway bar, might want to do a bit of research. Everyone frowns against airbags but I have a Ram 3500 ,Host Mammoth,7500 lb airbags (seperately lined), plus some wood wedges. I put a 120 PSI in the bags and I did not have much sway in it. I am considering going with the lower Stableload as it rides a bit rough when unloaded but as it is sits now it drives fine.

[DUBLR]

BUG WIG it is! Thanks for all the good input. One has to start somewhere!