Bottoming out

[cruzmissile]

Hi all,
I'm new to this forum and am enjoying following the threads here. I've read a lot about towing and everyone seems to have no real issues with heavy loads up to 7000#. I have a "lite" travel trailer that weighs in just under 6000# BUT my butt is draggin'. I have a Reese weight distributing hitch that helps a little. I beleive the tongue weight is under 600# so I don't think it's over the limit. The unit is somewhat unstable while driving and I'm unconfortable with this issue.
Ok, that's the history. Now I've looked into the dealer installed auto leveling option but found it's just WAY too expensive. I also found a DIY kit for under $100 (Air Lift 1000). It's an air bag you install within the rear springs to help with bottoming out.
Does anyone have experience with this in particular or may know of a better solution without spending big bucks?
Thanks in advance for your replies.

Eddie

 

[Spider5]

Welcome, first with your comment about 7000# I'm assuming your talking about a V8 2003-2005. It sounds like you don't really know what you have weight wise, I would recommend going to a truck scale to find out both the trailer weight and tongue weight because based on your desription it sounds like your at the max limit or even exceeding it on your Runner. Remember to always leave yourself 10-15 percent on all your max weights to be safe. I'm towing a 4200# boat with a 380# tongue weight measured and it rides with the Runners nose still slightly down. As a note, when I added all the information on my boat from the manufacterer I came up with 3400# (paper) but the actual weight (measured) was significantly higher. Remember the gross weight is also something to watch because with the load your talking about and a couple of people you are there without much in the back of the Runner and no air suspension or hitch style will help that.

What did the dealer quote you for the air suspension upgrade?

 

[cruzmissile]

I am running an 05' SE V8.

The stated GVWR is 5200# (dry weight is 3900#).
The stated hitch weight is 492#.

I beleive these weights are pretty close, but I guess high on both due to the amount of stuff I load into it.

I'll look for a place to get actual weights but will stick with:
6000# trailer weight w/600# hitch weight for the sake of this discussion.

I didn't find a need to test drive the 4Runner with this load since I was trading from an 03 Tundra with the V8. I anticipated the tongue weight would pose a small issue since I had to upgrade my Tundra to Bilstein HD's in order to maintain a more level ride.

The dealer through out a price of almost $2000 for the auto leveling option.........woohoo! I gotta beleive there is a better way.
Campingworld.com has this AirLift kit for only $80....to tell you the truth, it sounds too good to be true (or even worthwhile). I looked at the rear springs and found it already has a rubber cushion inside it. With the truck sitting in the driveway, there is about 4 inches of travel before the rubber hits the base. I'm assuming this is to help with bottoming out. The air bag in this kit looks like it will replace this peice and maybe add some lift with heavier loads. One thing for sure, I definitely don't want to mess with XREAS since I think its awesome when not towing.

 

[cruzmissile]

Great. I called another local dealer and they explained that the auto leveling is not available through the dealership and is only available from the factory...........a $1500 option at the time of purchase.
Anyone have this installed?

 

[Spider5]

Check here on the air suspension;

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12380