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For those who tow with a 1/2 ton, how much sag?


DAI

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I need some help with the truck sagging issue... I have a 2001 chevy suburban 1500....for the past several years the sagging has gotten increasingly worse. I pretty much only use the vehicle to tow the boat a short distance and have been mediating the problem with a raised hitch...but the sagging just keeps getting worse. yesterday I picked up a bunch of tile and what a sad sag she was.

I have had the shocks replaced with gas assist in 2012, and the same mech. recommended air assist bags to correct the sag. Is this the way to go? Can someone tell me a ballpark of how much I may be shelling out and is it something any mechanic can do?

Thanks,

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Sounds like your springs are shot. Guess would be under 400 as a DIY project.

And if you pay to have your work done, the going rate in my neck of the woods seems to be about $650 installed.

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Or you can go super cheap route, air bags with standard tire valve stem to fill and drain manually, about $100 in parts. This is what I use on my sequoia, works great, I keep it at 25 lbs and its about perfect when towing the boat. Would be nice to have the on the fly compressor and air gauge, I might do this sometime soon.

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Or you can go super cheap route, air bags with standard tire valve stem to fill and drain manually, about $100 in parts. This is what I use on my sequoia, works great, I keep it at 25 lbs and its about perfect when towing the boat. Would be nice to have the on the fly compressor and air gauge, I might do this sometime soon.

where do you get these $100 airbags? The firestone kit for my excursion (manual fill) is like $320 from Amazon...

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this is the kit I used, looks like $118 now, I have had them for about four years now. The only thing I added was "T" valve for $5 to have one valve stem fill both bags at one time, rather than a separate valve stem for each bag.

http://www.amazon.com/FIRESTONE-4124-Suspension-Self-Leveling-Unit/dp/B000JK0X6M/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1430588861&sr=8-3-fkmr1&keywords=toyota+sequoia+firestone+airbags

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When I pick up the boat this weekend I'll measue the exact drop.

I forgot to do the measurment yesterday, but will do it today (with pictures). High level, did not need as much of a drop as I was expecting.

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You don't really want to t airbags. When you corner it pushes the air out of the loaded bag into the other making the lean worse.

This is why Firestone bags have separate air/fill lines so this doesn't happen.

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I'm running firestone ab's on my Tundra. But honestly I run them at 8psi most of the time and never fill them to haul my LXI. Only if I'm hauling a big trailer like my FIL's Car Hauler or have a heavy load in the bed.

IMG_1064.jpg

I've mounted the fill valves inside my gas cap so they are out of the elements and hidden away.

IMG_1073.JPG

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My 2013 Raptor sags a tiny bit with my VLX in tow and I think it's due to the soft shocks. Never had any sag on my 2011 Ecoboost with Max Tow package and 2.5" level kit. It always looked level. I already have airbags sitting on the shelf in the garage but I'm debating whether or not to put them on. Like I said, the sag is minimal and the truck is definitely not designed to do as much towing as my old Eco but I wonder what the effects of adding bags will be? Also, does anyone else drag their prop guard briefly while backing into mild inclines? I'm talking like average driveway mild. I remember the Ecoboost caused the prop guard to drag a bit but haven't towed with the Raptor but a very few times and I can't remember it dragging anything at all yet. If I am dragging prop guard, then my hitch is set too high right? And when on a level surface, the trailer as hooked up to my truck should be perfectly level correct? What other things can I do to be able to reverse up inclines without the possibility of dragging. Tower clearance is not an issue for me as my storage has like 14' doors.

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I thought you financial guys were good with numbers? :lol: maybe I could go into that field after all!

I've got 19.5 v 17.5 at the base of the upper ball.

Dang! I'm getting old! No matter how big a phone I get, I still can't seem to make out those numbers.

This makes me want to re-measure mine. Can't do it until next weekend, but I'll post pics when I do.

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Dang! I'm getting old! No matter how big a phone I get, I still can't seem to make out those numbers.

This makes me want to re-measure mine. Can't do it until next weekend, but I'll post pics when I do.

In my line of work we roll that under 'within rounding error'. ;)

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I can't get over how pretty those hitches look when they are new. Almost makes me want to polish mine back up ;)

Great call on your part. Pricy but you can feel the quality. Plus the shine matches the boat and truck.

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Great call on your part. Pricy but you can feel the quality. Plus the shine matches the boat and truck.

It'll last longer than the Ford. Only downside to the lube version (which I also have) is that if you drop the hitch on it off center that it doesn't want to slide down the ball - likes to grab on that black stuff.

Edited by oldjeep
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