I have a 2006 f250 with a V-10 pulling a 36' fifth wheel that my dry weight is 10600 lb. my hitch weight is 2000 lb. the rear bump stops unloaded is 4 1/4 of travel from hitting. my loaded is only 1 1/4 from hitting. that does not seem like much travel. what are your thoughs? air bags or not

 

my horse trailer loaded is about 11000lb , I installed timbrens, and that worked for me.

 

What is your wet wait. Your king pin wt is more than 2K. That is why it is so close to the bump stops.

I'd recommend airbags or timbrens in this case.

 

With that small of clearance you are going to want Timbrens or air bags. You will be hitting the bump stops when going down the road and encountering less than smooth roads.

I have had the Timbrens but prefer the air bags as they can be used to tweak the level of the truck when loaded.

 

You might consider a suspension upgrade that works great for towing fifth wheels. The StableLoad by Torklift International is an easy, affordable DIY part that attaches to your existing overloads and prevents side-to-side sway, bounce and dramatically improves your handling. It does this by taking up that inch & a quarter gap you mentioned and prevents the overloads from slapping. If you have a minute, check out this video by TruckU on our website.
Torklift Jen

 

will this give more travel off the bump stops? looks very easy at low cost.

 

The stableloads do work well. I am just concerned with how close to the bump stops you already are.

Still worthy of the investment though.

 

We went with airlift airbags with air compressor. Works great as we can vary the pressure as needed. Put in 50 psi towing and 10 psi unloaded. Put a pallet of seed in the bed and pump it up to ride level..