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Towing 5th Wheel with 2500 factory air suspension = rocking and wallowing - Solutions?

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ac_sheldon

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I have a 2019 2500 with the 6.4 Hemi and factory air bags. I've found that when towing my 5th wheel (or having a significant load in the bed), the truck wallows and rocks. It's like riding in a small boat in the ocean. I have heard this is due to there being no rear shocks/springs due to the airbags to dampen any movement caused by the load.

I am looking to install a Hellwig 7306 sway bar to hopefully reduce the amount of wallowing.

Has anyone tried this? Any experiences good or bad with it? Any other suggestions?
 
Try new shocks. There are shocks, just not any springs. Your OEM shocks could be worn out.
 
I’ve seen others mention the “Alternate” height selection for the airbags helps.
 
AH64ID said:
Try new shocks. There are shocks, just not any springs. Your OEM shocks could be worn out.
Click to expand...
You are correct! I was basing my information off the internet (oops). Just crawled under the truck and it does indeed have rear shocks and an sway bar. I have 40K miles on the truck. Maybe the OEM shocks are done. I'll have to give that a try first.
 
My truck has 35k miles on it and the factory shocks are still fine. I just replaced them with hydraulic shocks to soften the ride some. OEMs are occupying a corner in my shop.
Did you check the airbag setting as I suggested?
 
Unfortunately, this rocking is due to a poor design (for high center-of-gravity loads); the airbags/springs are too far inboard. On the 3500's with air ride, when you lower it to alt height, it puts more weight on the leaf springs, which are outboard from the bags. On the 2500 I doubt it will help much. However, I think stiffer shocks will help the most. This problem is only experienced with high center-of-gravity loads on the 2500's. If it was me, I would try some adjustable shocks. Set them to a stiffer setting when towing...
 
Was looking for a solution for the same rocking issue...1500lb truck camper on 2024 Ram 2500 w air suspension. I had the same camper (no issues) on a 2017 Nissan Titan XD without any suspension mods, so I was surprised when this occured on my new Ram truck. I agree this is a poor design but needed a solution that made the truck camper usable. All the dealership would say is that they "couldn't duplicate the problem" but they did notice elongation of the bushings on the shocks(Hello...rocking) and replaced them. So far, I've had good resolution with a combination of Timbren SES and Hellwig BigWig #7306. No big trips yet but testing around town was positive.
 
This is why I chose not to order a 2500 and get a 3500 instead.
 
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I did this, comes with some added challenges, but 18 pounds of air in the additional bags and she is rock solid.
Matty Rich

Thread 'I did it. I added air bags to my 2500 with Air Ride'

Yup. I did it. From what I’ve read, most said it’s not possible and others will probably call me crazy. But I added additional air bags to my 2500 with air ride.

There was numerous reasons why I wanted to do this. Main reason being the redundancy in case I have a failure of the OEM bag while on a trip pulling my trailer.
Other reasons to help get rid of sway and also additional support to take some load off of the OEM bags.

Most will probably chime in and say I’m overloaded if I need a second set of bags.
Per my sticker 10k GWVR, yes I’m overloaded. But not my axle or tire ratings. And...
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can't say enough good things about the Hellwig sway bar. It's not cheap, given what it is, but it's the most impactful 30 minute install you can imagine for drivability and towing. It was my favorite upgrade on my 1500 and the first upgrade I made to my 2500, both with air suspension. Doesn't do a ton for porpoising, but really controls body roll.

Was kinda disappointed that the 3500 doesn't use a rear sway bar, cause I had looked forward to a quick and easy upgrade... though the 3500 doesn't really need it; it drives nice and flat out of the box. I'm sure other aftermarket options are also very good, but Hellwig is the only brand I've had experience with.
 
RockaRhyme said:
can't say enough good things about the Hellwig sway bar. It's not cheap, given what it is, but it's the most impactful 30 minute install you can imagine for drivability and towing. It was my favorite upgrade on my 1500 and the first upgrade I made to my 2500, both with air suspension. Doesn't do a ton for porpoising, but really controls body roll.

Was kinda disappointed that the 3500 doesn't use a rear sway bar, cause I had looked forward to a quick and easy upgrade... though the 3500 doesn't really need it; it drives nice and flat out of the box. I'm sure other aftermarket options are also very good, but Hellwig is the only brand I've had experience with.
Click to expand...

Hellwig makes great products. I had their swaybar on my 05, along with some Firestone airbags. The combo really dampened the roll from a pair of ATV’s above the bed-rails and a tongue heavy TT that would endure roll thru the WDH bars. The airbags alone helped, but nothing like the Hellwig.

The bone stock 18, with auto-level, handled the same load better than the upgraded 05. I can’t imagine a 3500 needing an anti-sway bar for anything short of a heavy slide in camper.

I don’t run the ATV/TT combo anymore so I don’t
know how my 2500 would handle it, but without the front sway bar installed the body roll is minimal even towing the 5th wheel on winding mountain roads. I was a bit skeptical at first, but gave it a try and I’m not sure I’d want more sway-bar unless I had a slide-in (which I wouldn’t want on a 2500 anyways).
 
I have a 2022 ram crewcab 6.4 bed 4x4. I live in North Carolina but I went to Indiana to pick up my 5th wheel (GVW 10.5k). I had 75psi on my tires and the trailer and truck were very stable. On my last camping trip for this year, the truck was doing the wallowing side to side rolling when I hit a bump. Then I realized I had not inflated my tires to 80 psi as I normally do. I'm not going to tow heavy until the spring time, but if the shocks are fine, the truck will feel stable again. I will update when I tow heavy again.
 
I've never weighed the truck or trailer.
 
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