Hi all, hope everyone is have a good summer. I have not yet decided what mods I will do to the new F350 but am still favoring lower Stableloads to reduce sag. I like this approach as they enhance OE suspension and do not effect unladen ride.I just got back from a week and my buddy I was camping with has timbrens on his F350. The way they are setup the Timbrens are in contact but his upper overload are not yet touching. This did not seem right to me?Why take the OE suspension out of play? Seems to me it makes more sense to enhance the OE suspension not over ride it?!He seems pretty happy with his setup (2003?) which he has been running for many years. He is also not the type of Guy to obsess over these things...Is this how timbrens are supposed to be setup?Am I missing something?Has anyone tired both Stableloads and Timbrens for comparison?BTW; totally impressed with the new Ford gasser after our first trip. Very pleased with power and economy after 14 years in a diesel. The 6.2 and ten speed averaged > 11 mpg and had NO issues with power in the mountains of NH. These new gassers with ten speed trannys are impressive,

Is it F350 dually?I carried camper who scaled up to 6500 lb on my dually and no modification was required. > 12 mpg on the set btw.Even when I pulled small boat behind.

I had the lowers on my 2018 Ram dually and really liked them. They were nice how you turn them to take them out of play when not needed, and a pin to hold in correct position. Plus now they make stainless.

We used Timbrens on our '16 Ram 3500 SRW (SRW has no upper overloads) for a short while. They work well to reduce sag, as long as you take the time to optimize the spacing between the Timbren and axle housing. Too much space reduces their effectiveness, too little space harshens the unloaded ride. Unfortunately, our camper is heavier on one side, so we replaced the Timbrens with airbags.We found airbags good for sag (plus each side is independently adjustable); however, once they're inflated above 25-30 psi they tend to get "mushy" with reduced side-to-side stability with a 3-4k in-bed camper on-board. Decided to try a set of lower Torklift stable-loads (stainless steel versions). They helped with sag, plus they increased stability because they mount more outboard then the airbags. We've found airbags (at 15-20 psi) and lower stable-loads are a great combination--providing reduced sag and improved overall stability.

You figured it out. Timbrens or you need more capacity. Stable loads if you just need to get your whole suspension in play.

I have both, if I was to chose which one was the most beneficial it would be the lower Stable Loads. They reduce sway and help level out my truck. I later added the Timbrens for additional support while towing.

Timbrens vs Stableloads | Good Sam Community

TCjeff
Explorer
Aug 04, 2020
Camper is pretty much dead level when loaded in the truck bed. So far I’m very comfortable with the handling. Sway is not an issue. Only a bit of porpoising which I am prepared to live with for now. So no mods for now I guess.

Thanks billtex and Bedlam!
Bedlam
Moderator
Aug 03, 2020
With the camper loaded, you want your upper overload springs to engage which help with porpoising and sway. If you still have sway after engaging the upper overloads, you most likely need a heavy stabilizer bar.

Because each truck and camper is slightly different and what people bring with them varies, there is no correct answer what to do before you try the camper on the OEM setup. Once you have a couple trips completed, you may find some traits of handling should be addressed and then we can make suggestions that will not drain your wallet with questionable improvement.
billtex
Explorer II
Aug 03, 2020
TCjeff wrote:
As a newbie truck camper (first truck and first camper) this whole issue of suspension moss has me totally confused, although this thread is definitely helpful. We’ve just completed our first major trip with our rig - 2019 Ram 3500 dually + Northern Lite 10 2 (4500 lbs wet) - with no mods thus far to the suspension. Overall the ride has been quite good except for some front to back rocking when passing over bigger bumps. Feels quite stable side to side. With the camper on the truck the bed goes down but only to the point where the camper is pretty much level since the bed has slope when unloaded. Is this too much sag? Would one of the suggested mods help the front to back rocking? The truck will be driven unloaded at least half the time.

If this should be asked in a separate post I apologize!

Jeff-with that truck and camper you probably don’t need any suspension enhancements. If your headlights are not pointing to the sky and you have not dropped more than 2” or so, I wouldn’t worry about it.

Keep in mind; your rear needs to sag a few inches just to get back to level. (This is truck dependent- could be 2” could be 4”...)
I am losing about 4” with my Eagle Cap (heavier than your camper and a SRW truck) so my goal is to gain about 2” to return to “level”.

There will be a certain amount of “sway” when you throw several thousand pounds of high COG cargo in your bed. You will get used to this. It’s not going away.

Any mods you do will compromise your ride either unladen, laden, or both (depending on what your do).
IMO best case is don’t do any mods if you don’t need to.

You have a (very nice) middle weight camper on a DRW truck probably well within payload. I would probably leave it as is.

Safe travels, Bill
TCjeff
Explorer
Aug 03, 2020
As a newbie truck camper (first truck and first camper) this whole issue of suspension moss has me totally confused, although this thread is definitely helpful. We’ve just completed our first major trip with our rig - 2019 Ram 3500 dually + Northern Lite 10 2 (4500 lbs wet) - with no mods thus far to the suspension. Overall the ride has been quite good except for some front to back rocking when passing over bigger bumps. Feels quite stable side to side. With the camper on the truck the bed goes down but only to the point where the camper is pretty much level since the bed has slope when unloaded. Is this too much sag? Would one of the suggested mods help the front to back rocking? The truck will be driven unloaded at least half the time.

If this should be asked in a separate post I apologize!
stevenal
Nomad II
Aug 01, 2020
Due to the inboard placement, Timbrens increased sway on my old truck. I corrected it with Energy Suspension devices installed on the overload bump stops. My new truck got upper Stable Loads and upgraded anti-sway bars only.
Geo_Boy
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2020
With my truck empty, the Timbrens don’t come into play at all. The suspension in a 1 ton dually is pretty stiff. Like Jim, I really like my Timbrens.
JimK-NY
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2020
billtex wrote:

.....Timbrens add additional support at the axle-they are somewhat of a “hard stop”. (They are slightly progressive). Many users report a slap when Timbrens engage the axle going over bumps. This is concerning to me in an unladen condition.
........
Bill

I put Timbrens on my truck about a year and a half ago and have driven almost all that time without any load. The ride has been good. It takes driving too fast over a speed bump or something similar to get any thump from the semi-hard stop. Under normal everyday driving conditions that does not happen. Normal rough roads and tar strips and the like are not a problem. Even without Timbrens hitting a speed bump or pothole is going to give a jarring ride. After all the rear springs are stiff and heavy and do not readily absorb large bumps.

The way the springs are designed on my 2018 Ram 3500, Stableloads would not work well, if at all. I also like the ease of installing the Timbrens. The first installation took all of about 10 minutes while I tinkered with the spacer. The installation on the other side took about 5 minutes. If you wanted to use the truck for any appreciable amount of time without any major loads, it would be easy to remove the Timbrens. But, again, I don't see any reason for that. Mine are on for the life of the truck.
billtex
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2020
JimK-NY wrote:
I do not understand the issue for drilling or for that matter why anyone would chose Stableloads instead of Timbrens. The Timbrens install very easily without any drilling or issues.

The issue for drilling is drilling through spring steel-not easy (Ford bottom OL does not have a through hole) to mount the SL’s.
Timbrens are different than the SL’s. Timbrens add additional support at the axle-they are somewhat of a “hard stop”. (They are slightly progressive). Many users report a slap when Timbrens engage the axle going over bumps. This is concerning to me in an unladen condition.

The SL’s should not result in a hard stop as they work with the OE suspension-not in ADDITION to the OE suspension. And by design are completely disengaged when unladen.

I am not saying one is better. It depends on your needs. We need to level the truck (our boat is too big to tow now) so we do minimal towing. I do not need to add to my suspension-just enhance it-if this makes sense.

Bill
JimK-NY
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2020
I do not understand the issue for drilling or for that matter why anyone would chose Stableloads instead of Timbrens. The Timbrens install very easily without any drilling or issues.
billtex
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2020
MORSNOW wrote:
billtex wrote:
MORSNOW wrote:
billtex wrote:
MORSNOW wrote:
I have both, if I was to chose which one was the most beneficial it would be the lower Stable Loads. They reduce sway and help level out my truck. I later added the Timbrens for additional support while towing.

Can you talk more about the difference with just the lower SL and then after adding the Timbrens?

Thanks.

Certainly. Instead of throwing a bunch of parts at my truck when I first picked up my camper, I tried things one at a time. I ran completely stock at first, noticed I wasn't sitting level and had top heavy sway. So I added lower Stable Loads which was supper easy with pre-drilled factory overload springs. They really helped level the truck out and drastically reduced the top heavy sway feeling. I almost always was pulling my 16' trailer with ATV's and then later on a much heavier SxS UTV. I decided to try adding Timbrens after increasing my trailer load. Timbrens weren't required/needed, but did help trailer bounce when driving on Alaska's frost heaved roads. I really feel that the lower Stable Loads were all I needed for better ride and control.

That’s what I was hoping to hear. Thanks for the details. I will be going with lower SL’s. We don’t tow as much or as heavy as we used to so I am really just looking to handle the camper better than OE suspension.
Thx again, Bill

You're welcome, hopefully your springs are predrilled to save you a bunch of work. You'll appreciate the difference Stable Loads make.

Nope. For some reason Ford doesn’t have the holes any longer...

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