Suspension Help - '18 Tundra DC w/ Occasional FWC

[rruff]

That is a lot of weight for the Tundra, I had one with a much lighter camper and wound up damaging the bed and frame while off road.

Very interested in how the frame was damaged 😱

 

[rruff]

Suspension: Dobinson's: HD leaf springs

Too much spring. Taking out the extra leaf should be an easy fix. Keep it simple.

The folks over at tundras.com rave about the Road Active Suspension system, maybe it is worth a look.

Ask FWC about RAS. They will tell you no. I mean... mounting a coil spring onto the top leaf... just looks stupid as well.

People don't think about how much tire load range makes a difference in ride quality, but it is very considerable. Even at lower PSI, load range E will ride awful compared to SL or C range.

I'm not sure about load range, but for sure many have their tires over-inflated! I run high 30s on the highway and 30 psi or less on dirt... with a camper and load. Wear is very flat. I think the OPs 35" Duratracs would ideally be around 35 front and 30 rear with no load.

 

[tacollie]

Thanks! Measured the rake and it’s +3” in the rear. I’ll start with removing a leaf and see how that goes. May switch out the tires once the 35” KO3s come out and go to D. Or go to Wildpeak At4s in D.

Pull a leaf and let 5PSI out of the rear tires when you aren't carrying a camper. I ran E load range AT3Ws on our Tundra/FWC combo. It was not harsh once I lowered the rear psi.

 

[sancap]

Very interested in how the frame was damaged 😱

You can read my story as well as others with the same issue here. https://www.facebook.com/groups/392604039847366

 

[rruff]

You can read my story as well as others with the same issue here. https://www.facebook.com/groups/392604039847366

I may have missed it, but didn't see anything regarding frame damage. I knew about the bed issues. That is a seriously weak design to have all that unsupported length near the cab and not even reinforce the bed to compensate! Mine is a DC Long with an 8' bed, and I have the same 6 bed mounts with 2 additional ones near the cab, attached to the frame with very stout pillars. They just cheaped out on the 6.5' model and used the same mounts as the 5.5'.

The thread says 2014-2021... but were the 2007-2013 models really any different?

 

[sancap]

I may have missed it, but didn't see anything regarding frame damage. I knew about the bed issues. That is a seriously weak design to have all that unsupported length near the cab and not even reinforce the bed to compensate! Mine is a DC Long with an 8' bed, and I have the same 6 bed mounts with 2 additional ones near the cab, attached to the frame with very stout pillars. They just cheaped out on the 6.5' model and used the same mounts as the 5.5'.

The thread says 2014-2021... but were the 2007-2013 models really any different?

When my bed collapsed the AT Overland Summit cabover hit the top of the cab causing stress through the frame and damaging the top of the cab. The body shop determined that the rear of the frame opened up causing a misalignment of the rear axle. My insurance company did not want to do a frame repair plus replacing the bed so they totaled the truck. They claimed the damage repair would be $17K. They gave me $24K for the truck, I saw that it sold at auction with a "repairable salvage tag" for $10.5K.

I do not know if 2007-2017 are any different.

 

[Buddha.]

Apples to oranges comparison but I had the RAS on my ‘19 Ranger. I carried maybe 500lbs in the bed all the time and an occasional 3500lb travel trailer.
The RAS didn’t stiffen the suspension as much as I hoped , but then again I like the ride of a 3/4 ton.

I also tried sumo spings and the timbrien rubber overload spring things. Those worked good on my 3/4 ton but for the Ranger it was like riding on the bump stops all the time. It seems like they’re not tuned for each application but rather one product sold for very different trucks.

 

[whitetaco]

I would remove a spring for your use case. Good luck!