Air bags vs Heavy shocks to get rid of sag - i went with the firestone airbags . i like them, only problem i have is the passager side loses ...

i went with the firestone airbags . i like them, only problem i have is the passager side loses 5psi about every 6hours of driving. i just been too lazy to find the leak.

10,000lb your trucks not long for this world no mater what you do besides making it a 2500. If you get pulled over you will be paying to have your trailer towed. if you get in a accident you will be paying some one alot of money and maby doing time. I'm not yelling at you I'm just saying YOUR TRUCK CAN NOT SAFELY TOW 10,000lbs.

Re: Increase towing capacity?

Postby Z15 » Jul 01 2010, 5:59am
With that kind of weight you need to beef up the suspension big time. Air bags are not going to cut it, you need heavier springs, HD shocks, Load range E tires, bigger brakes. In other words you need a 3/4 ton minimum. The two-wheel-drive 2500HD has as 10,500-lb. pulling power capacity

Correction, the 2012 (and I realize he posted that 2 years ago)... with 4:11 gears, 6.0 Gas engine, Extended or Crew Cab, 4x4, or 4x2 has the tow capacity of #13,800 or #14000 respectively. YES those are BUMPER pull numbers the Gooseneck/5th ratings are slightly higher (#200 only).

However, I wholeheartedly agree... towing #10,000 with a 1500, isn't wise, although the newest trucks are darned CLOSE to that capacity MAX towing. I prefer a margin of error, usually #1000 or more.

You cannot increase your towing capacity LEGALLY, by "adding" anything to your 1500. There IS a legal way, you can swap axles, beef up suspesion, tires, springs, frame, and get an official "Enhanced inspection" done on the truck, get agreement from chevy (good luck) and get the truck classified with a higher GVWR, and GCWR. Yes I looked into this for my Dodge RAM since it peaked out at 10,500, but was rated at #8800 (apparently JUST a gear change took it to #10500).

Honestly, if you plan on pulling a trailer #10,000 really for any distance at all with any frequency, you need a heavier truck.

how did you add air bags?

and by the time$ you did all that you could have had a 3500

I tow quite a bit with my 04 silverado. I added monroe load leveler shocks and maintain brakes and everything on the truck very well. Possibly looking into air lift suspension for the rear next summer but I have towed nearly 10,000 lbs with the truck no problem.

I also had a '09 3/4 GMC used for most of my pulling (skid loader and a pulling truck weighing over 12,000 lbs). The 6.0 V8 certainly had the power and the 3/4 suspension did not squat even when hauling huge loads. However, I just traded for a '11 1500 (not hauling pulling truck anymore) rated to tow 9,600 lbs. (3/4 ton was rated at 9,500 lbs) I am I will miss the 3/4 ton when pulling heavier loads (over 8,000 lbs) but the trade off for gas millage is worth it.

MY POINT: If you are only towing n around 10,000 pounds possibly consider a newer 1500. My 5.3 ext cab is rated at 9,600lbs and the 6.2 is rated even higher. Both of these ratings are higher than the '97 3/4 chevy I used to haul everything under the sun with.

The newer trucks are built well. end of story.

http://shop.airliftcompany.com/product/ ... ontrol_Kit

Something like this is good. It's not a spring replacement just a helper, and you don't have to have a stiff rear end/ stiff ride all the time.

And you can just inflate the bags with any compressor like the air pumps at the gas station...

Everything that I heard, air bags are the way to go!

I tow a 33 foot TT that has a tongue wieght of about 600 pounds. I use a weight distributing hitch, but was still getting more sag than I wanted, even with the Max Tow package. I installed the Roadmaster Active Suspension and am very pleased. It decreased the amount of sag without stiffening the suspesnion substantially. It also handles turns better now when unloaded. I've been very happy with them. Only took about an hour to install and pretty reasonably priced.

Steve

Best solution is to add springs the same way that GM engineers add another set to boost the payload capacity of a 3500 over a 2500 truck. I bought a double leaf set of SuperSprings which did little to the ride of the truck when empty but added 3000 lbs. of spring capacity. With springs the resistance is proportional to the load. When the stock shocks wear out I will replace them with Rancho 9000's.

Air bags wear out and if one has a leak the pair are going to need to be replaced. The SumoSprings have only a 2-year warranty so they too wear out or fail. With springs there is zero maintenance and nothing to fail or need to be replaced for the life of the truck and unlike air bags no need for an onboard compressor or trips to the local gas station.

If the stock springs are sagging when the truck is empty then adding a leaf to the stack will do the trick. I had to do this on my Toyota 4x4 pickups but it cost less than $150 including the labor at a local off-road shop.