Leveled and rear ended squats with weight

[muleymaddness]

I put the rough country 1.75” level kit on my truck. I kid you not, I put a 60lb bag of concrete in the bed and the back drops about 3/8” of an inch and throws up the front end. Looks like I’ve got a heavy load in the back. What are my options? Can you raise the back end 1”? Take the level off the put on bilstein shocks? In hind sight, I’d like a touch of a rake to the truck unloaded.

 

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[Teegunn]

What year and truck do you have? If you have an AT4X, it has a lot more squat with the new DSSV shocks. Those shocks are great, plush, very nice. But they seem to have a lot more squat with a trailer or something in the back.

I had airlift airbags in my 2020 AT4, and really liked the airbags. Depending on how much air pressure you had in them, you can adjust the ride and height of the rear.

I have not put airlift airbags in my 2023 AT4X yet, as I diidn't want to mess with the very nice ride these new shocks give. But since I pull trailers often as a contractor, I think I will end up putting the airlift airbags in the next few months. I think that is a good option for you to look at with what you are experiencing in rear squat.

 

[muleymaddness]

It’s a 2023 at4, not at4x. Hate to have airbags to haul 100lbs in the bed.

 

[mocomajek]

Check out Timbren. I had em on my last pickup and I liked em.

 

[ArcticHC]

I have a 2023 AT4 and installed the Ready Lift 1.75 kit on mine. I also installed a set of air bags on the rear to help with any extra weight. I have a topper on mine so it dropped a fair amount just from that. I use my truck for towing a fair amount and dont like it when it sags so I install air bags on all my trucks. I have found it does not effect my ride at all.

 

[Teegunn]

It’s a 2023 at4, not at4x. Hate to have airbags to haul 100lbs in the bed.

I don't remember how my 2020 was before I put the airbags in, I put them on pretty early into owning the truck (around 1000 miles on the truck I think). So I can't remember if there was this much noticeable squat before the airbags. I do know that with the airbags, it made a big difference when pulling a trailer and rear end squat overall. I do at times have 500+ lbs over metal coil material in the bed of my truck, so I would have noticed I think if my 2020 squatted badly pre airbags. And I feel like my 23 AT4X squats more than my 2020 AT4 ever did when pulling a trailer before the airbags. It just has more give in the rear, period.

If it were me - I think the least expensive "fix" is airbags. I wouldn't mess with the front, you've already got it leveled. I know there are some helper type of springs (someone linked them on this site somewhere) you can clamp onto the rear leaf springs, but they cost more than airbags, and I have not had any experience with those to guage how much difference they would make. I have considered them, but since they cost more than the airbags, and I already know I liked having airbags on my 2020, that is the option I would choose.

Maybe others will have options I haven't thought of.

 

[CDNSS]

Timbren or Sumo Springs work great just replace factory bump stops
I luke the Sumo Springs better they have about 1/2” airgap be fore they engage so unloaded trucks rides like stock
With my trailer 600 lb hitch weight it stays level

 

[Teegunn]

Timbren or Sumo Springs work great just replace factory bump stops
I luke the Sumo Springs better they have about 1/2” airgap be fore they engage so unloaded trucks rides like stock
With my trailer 600 lb hitch weight it stays level

Thanks for the info! I am going to check those out before I spring (ha) for airbags again.

 

[muleymaddness]

I don't remember how my 2020 was before I put the airbags in, I put them on pretty early into owning the truck (around 1000 miles on the truck I think). So I can't remember if there was this much noticeable squat before the airbags. I do know that with the airbags, it made a big difference when pulling a trailer and rear end squat overall. I do at times have 500+ lbs over metal coil material in the bed of my truck, so I would have noticed I think if my 2020 squatted badly pre airbags. And I feel like my 23 AT4X squats more than my 2020 AT4 ever did when pulling a trailer before the airbags. It just has more give in the rear, period.

If it were me - I think the least expensive "fix" is airbags. I wouldn't mess with the front, you've already got it leveled. I know there are some helper type of springs (someone linked them on this site somewhere) you can clamp onto the rear leaf springs, but they cost more than airbags, and I have not had any experience with those to guage how much difference they would make. I have considered them, but since they cost more than the airbags, and I already know I liked having airbags on my 2020, that is the option I would choose.

Maybe others will have options I haven't thought

 

[muleymaddness]

What about replacing the 2” blocks with 3”?

 

[Coondog]

I've got the 22 AT4 with the Rancho shocks and the rear squats quite a bit when I pull my boat trailer. I believe they are made for a plush ride while off roading, not for towing. I am going to swap them out with the bilstein 510o's on the rear. I also came across these Hellwig EZ-990 Helper spring Kit Part number of the Sierra 1500 is 987. https://www.hellwigproducts.com/products/search-by-vehicle/?Year1=2021&Make=GMC&Model=Sierra+1500. It is just an extra spring added onto the top of the leaf pack. Install looks easy nothing to take apart simple bolt on. It is half the price of an airbag system. You can also set it up to have no affect (stock ride) until you load it then the spring kicks in reducing the squat. It depends how far you tighten it down on initial install (can be adjusted later). I honestly can't say it works but there are a few videos on youtube and it looks promising. I am waiting for the weather to warm up and then get them both installed. Hopefully this week. Out of the box the springs look great, hardware is heavy duty.

 

[dwelcel]

I've got the Sumo springs that that helped a ton with the squat. I have a 21 1500 AT4 Gas 5.3l V8 towing a Winnebago Minnie 2301BHS. Probably about 7000lbs loaded and then kids, bikes, etc. in the truck. No power issues at all going up passes up here around Bend, Or. What I do notice is when driving over uneven or rough roads while towing the up and down motion of the truck. From what I can tell is the rear springs along with the shocks just aren't meant for towing. I'm now considering either upgraded rear shocks like the adjustable Rancho's or Bilstein's or air bags. Does anyone have experience with just doing better rear shocks to fix the up/down of the truck while going over rough roads (highways)? I'd prefer the shock option but all the suspension places I've called here in Bend are telling me airbags are the way to go. Thoughts?

 

[rick25s]

I put the rough country 1.75” level kit on my truck. I kid you not, I put a 60lb bag of concrete in the bed and the back drops about 3/8” of an inch and throws up the front end. Looks like I’ve got a heavy load in the back. What are my options? Can you raise the back end 1”? Take the level off the put on bilstein shocks? In hind sight, I’d like a touch of a rake to the truck unloaded.

Yeah, been there. I had a Tundra TRD Pro (totally overrated) that comes leveled from the factory. ANY weight makes it squat. I had a WTF moment when it was new and my very small daughter stood on the bumper, and the truck looked like I just loaded it with 700lbs. The normal Tundras do that too, but you just don't notice it because the squat doesn't reach level. I don't know if 4wheelonline is the same knowledgable company they used to be 10 years ago, but if they are, they can tell you how to inexpensively resolve that.

PS. I just noticed the original post was over a month old. If you resolved it, what did you do?

 

[flcmcya]

Sumo might compliment my RL SST 2inch!

 

[CDNSS]

I've got the Sumo springs that that helped a ton with the squat. I have a 21 1500 AT4 Gas 5.3l V8 towing a Winnebago Minnie 2301BHS. Probably about 7000lbs loaded and then kids, bikes, etc. in the truck. No power issues at all going up passes up here around Bend, Or. What I do notice is when driving over uneven or rough roads while towing the up and down motion of the truck. From what I can tell is the rear springs along with the shocks just aren't meant for towing. I'm now considering either upgraded rear shocks like the adjustable Rancho's or Bilstein's or air bags. Does anyone have experience with just doing better rear shocks to fix the up/down of the truck while going over rough roads (highways)? I'd prefer the shock option but all the suspension places I've called here in Bend are telling me airbags are the way to go. Thoughts?

Im