GEN 1 Air Suspention leveling for towing.

[andreas.borgmann]

Which leveling kit / air Suspention would you guys recommend ? Towing a 22ft race trailer.


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[Prandtl]

I towed a 24' long 8000(+) lb race trailer for years with half-ton Ford and Nissan trucks. In my opinion you definitely do not need or want air suspension as long as your trailer and tongue weights are within the Ford specified limits for your Raptor. What you need instead is a properly set up weight distributing hitch system. A weight distributing hitch transfers weight (load) from the rear to the front axle, which is what you need when towing a tag trailer with a light truck. Air suspension systems are more appropriate for heavy bed loads and/or 5th wheel trailer towing.

 

[Dane]

I second the above. I have not yet seen an airbag solution for the Raptor that does not limit the suspension travel - and you shouldn't need it if you stay within the tow rating and use a weight distribution hitch.

 

[andreas.borgmann]

Sweet thanks [emoji120]


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[Tony Andrews]

I just towed a 7000 lb trailer for 6000 miles using a weight distribution hitch with no problems. Had a very slight squat in the rear but was always able to maintain ride and stability. Going over the Rockies was a little tough but I am fixing that right now by addition of Roush stage 2.

 

[Renomaan]

I put an airbag kit on my 017 and transfered it to my 018 and it works great!

The bags have inner jounce bumpers for bottoming and the bags rest in centering cups so if you do use the travel they wont rip apart or limit travel, but will lift off the lower cup if travel is large and recenter when the truck comes back down.

I did a write up on it awhile back and Ive had two others who installed the same setup with posative feedback.

A distribution hitch is the best option but in my case Im running a custom toyhauler with a very heavy tongue weight due to its geometry.
I tow at 80 mph fully loaded 3000lb trailer, two full HArley dressers, full 50 gal water tank and bed of truck loaded and 4 peole in truck. Stable on all fronts.

Flip my outfitter switch on and put 20 to 55 lb in the bags for whatever ride comfort and load Im towing...when Im done, zero out the bags and Im on stock suspension.

re running heavy tongue weight: There is alot of conversation about exceeding tongue weight, saftey and the rear cant handle the extra load..My take is that the rear in this truck was designed to land 5500 lb at drops of 6ft and greater..Im sure the Ford engineers did thier Finite Element analysis and the loads from that kind of impact would far exceed a more than a few hundred lbs over numbers in a data sheet! With air in the bags, Im sure the air spring equivellancy is equal or exceeds an F250 rear spring properties.

 

[GoBolts]

I put an airbag kit on my 017 and transfered it to my 018 and it works great!

The bags have inner jounce bumpers for bottoming and the bags rest in centering cups so if you do use the travel they wont rip apart or limit travel, but will lift off the lower cup if travel is large and recenter when the truck comes back down.

I did a write up on it awhile back and Ive had two others who installed the same setup with posative feedback.

A distribution hitch is the best option but in my case Im running a custom toyhauler with a very heavy tongue weight due to its geometry.
I tow at 80 mph fully loaded 3000lb trailer, two full HArley dressers, full 50 gal water tank and bed of truck loaded and 4 peole in truck. Stable on all fronts.

Flip my outfitter switch on and put 20 to 55 lb in the bags for whatever ride comfort and load Im towing...when Im done, zero out the bags and Im on stock suspension.

re running heavy tongue weight: There is alot of conversation about exceeding tongue weight, saftey and the rear cant handle the extra load..My take is that the rear in this truck was designed to land 5500 lb at drops of 6ft and greater..Im sure the Ford engineers did thier Finite Element analysis and the loads from that kind of impact would far exceed a more than a few hundred lbs over numbers in a data sheet! With air in the bags, Im sure the air spring equivellancy is equal or exceeds an F250 rear spring properties.

Renomaan, I have a Gen2 and I'm looking to do exactly this with my suspension. Did you DIY or did you have a shop do it. I'm interested in the setup and parts you used.

Thanks!

 

[Renomaan]

I put my own kit together.
I have specifics in a write up I did a while back (search post from renomaan)
There is alot of tormoil in the post from self proclaimed experts, but look past the assholiness and youll find what you need.
The bags I chose lift off the lower concave mounts (made for that) and dont limit travel.
You will need to fab an upper framerail mount, and I show that and have dims.
Others have done it from info I provided in the post and all said it worked fantastically.

The Raptor is sprung lightly to ride smooth and take big jumps. It will sag even with lower tongue weights. The bags do exactly what heavier springs would without the harsh ride...And Yes..Ive jumped it BIG with the bags ..no problems

 

[MTF]

You may want to look into Hellwig.
There air bag and rear sway-bar combo would be the way to go.
It has up to 14 inches of travel and doesn't compromise the springs.

https://www.hellwigproducts.com/products/search-by-vehicle/?Year1=2012&Make=Ford&Model=F-150

Big Wig Air Spring Kit for Ford 2009-2019 F150 2WD/4WD
Part Number: 6115

 

[Renomaan]

You could also use the conical seating cups on that setup if the bags dont float.!
Raptor jump spring length is much longer than the F150;s