superspring or air bag to cure the "squats"
 

Good morning folks.

I own a 2016 F-250 diesel (great truck) and pull a 25' bumper hitch travel trailer which weights about 6500 loaded. I use a Blue Ox hitch, tongue weight is about 950. When I hitch up I get that infamous F-250 squat which I wish to correct. The truck does have the towing package by the way.

Seems my options are installing a super spring or air bags. I know folks with both and all seem satisfied....but I was wondering if you forum folks might have some observations or suggestions regarding the choice. And are these installations something a fellow with average mechanical skills could undertake at home?

As always, thanks in advance.
Tom

I've got the Air Lift brand air springs on the rear of my 01 :oval Excursion. My trailer is very similar in size and weight. I'm 110% happy with mine, installed myself in a few hours, and were very affordable (especially since they were having a rebate at the time). Nice thing about air springs is they are completely adjustable as your load changes. Have had zero issues with my Air Lift kit.

I have the same truck but with the 6.2 gas engine. I just bought a slide in truck camper that I will get in January.
My dealer is going to put Helwig Big Wig airbags on mine and Torklift Stableloads.
I saw was a guy that had this same setup and also the same camper as I am getting and when they loaded the camper onto the back of his truck it never even moved.
Check out that combination.

I too will endorse air bags for their nearly infinite adjustability and say that I too am 110% satisfied. Let me put it this way...as long as I can afford to do so, I will never tow without airbags again.

Installation is very straightforward if you purchase a kit that is specifically designed for your truck.

As an aside, I ran the airlines to the rear bumper and the Schrader valves hold the license plate in place.

Good luck and happy towing.

Thanks, gentlemen! All good information and just what I was looking for.
Appreciate all the ideas and confirmation.

I did the same as 06FUN - I ran my air lines to the lower mounts on the license plate frame - almost unnoticeable on the black license plate frame. (on either side of Freedom) If you have a chrome frame a couple of chrome or stainless valve stem caps should work well too. The only thing is after my travel trailer is dropped the truck rides pretty rough with the 20 LBS I keep in the bags when towing my 28' T.T., 8,600 LBS loaded for travel. I've since purchased a used Viair compressor, 2 air paddle valves, a Glowshift dual pressure gauge($100.00) & a (free) 3 gal tank so I can air up & down when/as needed. I mounted the tank & Viair compressor but haven't gotten further than that yet. The worse part is I do have Up Fitter switches installed & none of them are being used so I can easily wire up the air compressor. You can't rush into this stuff you know.

My brother who owns a Chevy (the black sheep of the family) put his schrader valves behind his gas fill door and uses one of the those automotive battery jumper boxes with the built in air compressors to air up at the schrader valves when needed.

Just thought I would throw out a couple of ideas out there to you.

I went the passive route with Active Suspension. Tows just fine and no squatting of the rear. Bonus is that I never have to adjust the tension as it does its job whether the truck has a load or empty.

Thanks! Good ideas. Tom

There might be another option for you Tom. They are Sumo Springs (manufactured by the same people who make Super Springs which I too originally considered).

Below is a link to a thread I started in Nov 2014. I went with Sumo Springs. Post #29 in the hyperlinked thread outlines my observations with the Sump Spring solution. I'm very happy with them and they solved my problems in a very cost effective, no maintenance way. And yes, an average DIY'er can put these on themselves.

Don't hesitate to call SuperSprings and see what they recommend.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ck-camper.html

Quick Noob question. (Never towed before, but will be towing with an F250 probably this summer) Are you guys using air springs because you aren't using weight distributing hitches? Or are you saying your trucks need them to avoid squatting even WITH wdh? Thanks

Excellent question, OP. Yes, I am using a Blue Ox Sway Pro hitch which is a weight distribution hitch. Prior to that I used an Equalizer. The truck "squats" a couple of inches even with the WD hitch when the trailer is attached.

I have several buddies with F250's who have all had the same experience and remedied with either a helper leaf spring or air bags. Our collective but nontechnical opinion is that Ford left off a "helper" spring to give the truck a smoother ride. Bunch of folks much more knowledgable than me could offer their theories on this. I think that additional leaf comes standard on the F350 and on the 250 if you get a "camper package" (which I think refers to using a slide in camper which mounts into the truck bed).

With that having been said, I have probably exhibited how little I know about this issue....but I have been towing travel trailers for a few years....just returned from a 7K mile trip out west....and the 250 diesel performed absolutely flawlessly on our trip. Just looking to cure the squat. :-X22

That is interesting Tmont because my neighbor and I were comparing or trucks this weekend while swapping my Roll-n-Lock over to his truck.
He has an F350 Platinum diesel CCSB and I have an F250 Lariat Gas CCSB. Both are 2016's and mine has the camper package.
The rear springs are exactly the same except he has a spacer block which is about 4 inches tall on top of the axle where mine is about 2 inches. Not sure what that does.
Since I have the camper package I also have a sway bar that he does not have. He has 20 inch wheels but mine ate the standard 18's.
Other than that, I don't see any other differences in the rear end.
His does have a higher payload than mine by about 900 pounds which does not make a lot of sense to me either since everything looks the same.

Think of your truck as a de-rated f350. The blocks make his appear to squat less under load. Otherwise, you are correct, they are the same.

Okay, did not know that. I am getting ready to put airbags and Stableloads on my truck because I am buying a slide in truck camper. I have been told the manufacturers are really conservative in the payload numbers they put on these trucks.

Yes, I'm using a weight distributing hitch. No matter how much tension I would put on the bars my truck would still squat. As stated - my Travel Trailer is 28' long & 8,600 LBS loaded for travel. I added air bags (Hellwig) to my 06. I had no preference on any brand - that's just what I was able to find (used) on craigslist. They were for a fiver & mine's a tow behind but in the long run I'm glad I got the 5th wheel bags. They mount to the inside of the frame. 20 LBS loaded seems to be about right for me.