First trip and a thank you to all

[NB Canada]

The “porpoising” is caused by an inadequate amount of weight returned to the front axle not shocks
A 3/4 ton will porpoise not set up correctly

Have you cat scaled your rig empty and towing to see what the front axle weights are?
Until you do this it is just a guess and you will get that chucking


2021 Imagine 2400 BH
2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 crew

[Stealth13777]

Here I go off in another direction. I was told that Airbags would help. Of course that is advice from a company that only installs airbags. It just seems that a stiffer shock would work better. But it would make the ride not towing stiffer also.

That’s true, and a big part of why I only did the Bilsteins 4600s. They did stiffen it up *a little*, I think. But I don’t think my wife has ever noticed a difference. The rears also helped a ton with the rear end stability over mid corner bumps.

I honestly don’t know one way or the other on airbags. I’ve had them on a previous vehicle, but I used them to level out the vehicle - this truck has always sat level or rear high and I’ve never felt the rear springs themselves were too soft, even loaded. Lots of people have them and may be able to chime in.

[lorend]

Well, we made it through our first outing in the RV and we found out we were worried about nothing.

We were concerned the dog would be stressed and bark a ton. She was way different than she is at home. It was like she knew she was on vacation. We went for walks, she met new friends, she slept everywhere.

Towing? A little white knuckle because you guys scared the heck out of me with your comments. But it was not bad. Truck has plenty of power to pull the camper. I did about 62 on the Thruway, had a few cross winds blow me a little but nothing crazy. Then the big trucks came barreling at me. Oh, no. This is what you warned me about, we are going to die. Truck did pull us a little but really nothing more than a car would.

Camping? Went WAY better than expected. As you have seen I ask tons of questions here. May be a bit annoying at times but each question had a purpose. With your input we had no issue at all camping. We had the proper equipment, no need to run to Walmart to get extras.

Here are some things I learned:
Get an F-250 or bigger. This is not due to my F-150 not being able to handle the trailer, we had no issues with sway or power at all. What we did have is a "boating" effect. Like a car with bad shocks, hit a bump and you bounce up and down for a little. Nothing bad, just a little. I think Airbags may help with that but a bigger rig definitely would.

Since my trailer has three tanks it would be better if I had a Y connector so I wasn't switching the hoses a few times a day. I did learn that best to not drain the grey water tank for the bathroom to help when flushing the black water tank.

Again, thanks to all of you that gave me input. It REALLY helped with our RV experience. When we were driving home our Wife booked our next outing.

Hi Docque. I have seen a lot of the questions that you have asked on the forum and I think that a lot of people have learned something from those questions. I am not familiar with your rig but am confused when you say you are changing the hose a couple of times a day. I have three tanks also and once I hook up to a water supply I am done until ready to dump tanks. I did borrow an idea from Second Chance and put a y connector, with shutoff, in my bay with short hoses going to the city water port and also one to be used for the black tank flush. I also installed elbows, with shutoffs, on the two ports. This way there is only one hose coming out of the bay that needs to be hooked up. Can you give me some more info on your situation so that I can get a better idea of what your set up is like?

[SGT ROC]

I'm always one for the bigger truck, but you ought to think long term. A F250 would allow a bigger trailer later but not a 5th wheel. If there is any interest for a 5th wheel at some point, then make the F150 work with upgrades and skip the F250. When ready to go bigger, then a F350 diesel dually or F450 for the 5th wheel if you go that direction.

I have been towing a 5th wheel for 4 years now with a 3/4 ton, and a 6.0 gasser at that. The only issues I have is within 50 miles of home, as there are some pretty steep grades in our small mountains, and that is going any direction out of town. Even then I can usually maintain speed. I added the CRE 3000 equalizer and an Xfactor brace in the fall and our first trip this year was much smoother than the previous 3 years. OEM on our rig was the Dexter Equaflex. Lots of chucking and bouncing with that. Having said all that, Bigger is always better when towing, but I am happy with my set up.

[ajg617]

I have three tanks also and once I hook up to a water supply I am done until ready to dump tanks. I did borrow an idea from Second Chance and put a y connector, with shutoff, in my bay with short hoses going to the city water port and also one to be used for the black tank flush.

@Second Chance idea is in our bay also - worked wonderfully and really made it easy to hook up and flush. About the only time I directly hooked up a flush hose was at a dump station which clearly did not have potable water - but that was only twice.

[docque]

Hi Docque. I have seen a lot of the questions that you have asked on the forum and I think that a lot of people have learned something from those questions. I am not familiar with your rig but am confused when you say you are changing the hose a couple of times a day. I have three tanks also and once I hook up to a water supply I am done until ready to dump tanks. I did borrow an idea from Second Chance and put a y connector, with shutoff, in my bay with short hoses going to the city water port and also one to be used for the black tank flush. I also installed elbows, with shutoffs, on the two ports. This way there is only one hose coming out of the bay that needs to be hooked up. Can you give me some more info on your situation so that I can get a better idea of what your set up is like?

The 231RK has two grey water tanks and one black water. I have to drains on the RV and moved it as I went. I did go and buy a Y connector and an extra hose so we will not have to move it. I didn't expect the grey tanks to fill up that fast.

[Hornsky]

Meh. Not really. What it was doing was not potentially dangerous and not really that bad. Bigger is in the future for sure. Truck and RV.

If you aren't planning on getting a larger truck for a while, I installed the Road Master Active suspension on my 2018 F-150 and it made a great difference in the squat and proposing with out 2800BH Imagine. It's a strait forward install and it's didn't effect the ride without towing.

I also put on Bilstein 4600 shocks in the rear.

[uwskier]

If you aren't planning on getting a larger truck for a while, I installed the Road Master Active suspension on my 2018 F-150 and it made a great difference in the squat and proposing with out 2800BH Imagine. It's a strait forward install and it's didn't effect the ride without towing.

I also put on Bilstein 4600 shocks in the rear.

I did the same on my GMC. The RAS is awesome. It gives additional support without making the ride harsh like some products do. With it, I have several inches of rear axle travel before the overload leaf engages, and that only seems to happen over whoops in the road.

[UncleK]

When I had my 1500 Silverado I added Sumo Super Springs. It wasn’t a “cure all” but it did slow down a lot of the “porpoising.” I would think with new rear shocks and the Sumo Springs, your ride would be much more comfortable.
I upgraded to a 2500HD when my 1500 lease expired.

[Rcoats]

When I went looking for Airbags to upgrade my Ram 2500 Heavy Duty Suspension to alleviate my Boating or Porpoising, as some call it, while pulling our 36 ft Reflection. My towing capacity is 16,500 lbs and our trailer weight, when filled for camping, ranges from 11,500 - 13,500 or so. What ever you call boating or Porpoising it's annoying to drive like that. What I found was that I didn't want to put out the money for Airbags and saw the TIMBREN SES (rear suspension upgrade) to level out the boating effect of the ride and to help the truck settle more quickly. It won't add towing weight capacity to your rig, but it made a bid difference in the ride while towing. I agree with what others have said in that a new truck might be in your future and that you will get better at loading and playing with different tank levels to help the balance, but the TIMBREN might be an added measure of help. They are very inexpensive and replace your stock bump guards with beefier ones. These guards attach under the bed to prevent your bed from bottoming out on the axle. It took 15-20 min a side to replace without removing my tire. Look them up and see if this might be an option for you.

https://timbren.com/p-35851-timbren-ses.html