Dodge 3500 sag

by oldelmer1 on 12/28/2010, 4:51 am

schrowang wrote:Tom,
How do you like your dually? Must be able handle the Montana very nicely.

FYI EVERYONE, I SPLIT THESE POSTS OFF FROM SCHROWANG'S PRESENTING.... POST CAUSE I DIDNT WANT TO STEAL HIS GLORY ON HIS BEAUTIFUL NEW TRUCK.

Well, my truck sits 58" at the bed rail, with the camper attached, its 53.5". It really looks like its sagging too. Here is a picture:

Notice how the rear end is sitting, and the front end is up in the air.

Now it is sitting on a downhill slant, cause the driveway slants down, but still. I have to take it out this week and look at it on level ground. But a 4.5" drop is a LOT!!!

The hitch is installed in the correct place.

Any thoughts????

by Admin on 12/28/2010, 5:19 am

Oldelmer I know its gotta be a optical allusion in the pic but it looks like the bed is tilted up in the front. maybe it will look straighter in on level ground. I wonder if the long bed acts like a counter lever to pick the front end up like that ?

by Maxtor on 12/28/2010, 5:29 am

schrowang wrote:
Maxtor wrote:Very nice;;;

It is always nice to buy a new vehicle. Dodge has come a long way in making their Pickups better each year.

"Dodge" First Tom, now you,,,, even we purchased a "C" word vehicle.... must be a virus going around.

But Maxtor, I've always owned a Dodge PU. Let's see, a 90 Dakota, a 96 Dakota, an 00 Ram 1500 5.9L gasser, an 04.5 Ram 2500 5.9L CTD, and now the 2010 Ram 2500 6.7L CTD. Each was used for towing; the two Dakotas for a Sunline 18.5' gooseneck 5'er; the Ram 1500 for a 28' Trailharbor 5/er and the two Ram CTD's for the CAT. I've loved every one of the trucks. I'd guess you'd call me a RamHead.

Dodge has always had a great engine, trans and differential. Now they have a great looking truck. Nothing wrong with being a RamHead. thumbUp

by Maxtor on 12/28/2010, 5:31 am

oldelmer1 wrote:
schrowang wrote:Tom,
How do you like your dually? Must be able handle the Montana very nicely.

Well, my truck sits 58" at the bed rail, with the camper attached, its 53.5". It really looks like its sagging too. Here is a picture:

Notice how the rear end is sitting, and the front end is up in the air.

Now it is sitting on a downhill slant, cause the driveway slants down, but still. I have to take it out this week and look at it on level ground. But a 4.5" drop is a LOT!!!

The hitch is installed in the correct place.

Any thoughts????

It could be an optical illusion, but looks like the springs are not one ton springs.

by Sean on 12/28/2010, 5:38 am

I will measure the loaded and unloaded height difference, when I go away this weekend. I know my chevy sits down at least 3 inches. but on a level road it looks OK. The colour on your truck looks great with that 5er on the back. you must have known that you where going to do, A WHOLE NEW OUTFIT.
Sean

by Tracker16 on 12/28/2010, 7:12 am

Maybe the overload springs are not arced enough.My rear end sits a little higher than the front,and when I hook up squats to the overloads and stops.It sits pretty level.

by oldelmer1 on 12/28/2010, 8:31 am

I just talked to a hitch place and he agrees, this truck should be able to carry the load of the Montana. He has a scale the he will lend me to weight the pin weight, but not till Monday(he's closed for Christmas). He said he can look at the truck to see if anything looks wrong to him. He did say I have 3 options, air bags, Timbrens, or some kind of horizontal coil spring that is adjustable.

I did call the dealer, and he basically said, put air bags on it. He did say if I want, bring it in and they will look at it to be sure its right.

by schrowang on 12/28/2010, 10:41 am

Tom,

I'm surprised at the sag. A 1-Ton capable vehicle should not do that. Your 2010 Ram 3500 has a payload of 5,130 lbs. I'd bet you're nowhere near that with the Montana. I would for sure take it back to the dealer and get the rear springs looked at. Something isn't kosher with the rear suspension. Maybe the guy on the line in Mexico fell asleep and forgot to add the spring to the leaf pack that upgrades the 2500 pack to the 3500 pack. Qien Sabe?

by slowtruck on 12/28/2010, 11:06 am

My 07 3500 dodge sits a little high on the rear even with the cat hooked up. I would be taking it back to dealer. You shouldn't have to add air bags or any thing If the dealer doesn't make it right get in touch with the factory rep. sounds like the factory didn't get it right, somethings wrong. they should make it right.

by etrailer on 12/28/2010, 11:20 am

Are the springs compressed enough that the bump stops are already making contact?

by oldelmer1 on 12/28/2010, 1:09 pm

etrailer wrote:Are the springs compressed enough that the bump stops are already making contact?

Hi Patrick,

I dont know, yet. I plan on hooking it up either tomorrow or Thursday and take it over to the school yard and take a good look at it.

I will post when I get the info.

by Maxtor on 12/28/2010, 1:38 pm

I have figured it out.... Tom must keep all his Gold in the front of his Montana. That extra 4000 pounds would make it sag. lol!

by Stanford on 12/28/2010, 2:11 pm

Only 4000 pounds? Had a Senior Moment there, forgot he spent some of it on the New Truck and 5th wheel.

by onetonford on 12/28/2010, 3:12 pm

I know That My wildcat is not too big for my Dually it doesn't even touch the Overload springs when it is hooked up I thought it would compared to my old Four winds Fver but it sits about 2 inches above the overloads and when I hook up it may drop about 1 inch I would think the dodge would handle it just as well something doesn't sound right?

by MountainMan on 12/28/2010, 3:49 pm

Something definitely not right there. I've never seen a one ton truck sag like that with a 5er attached.

Did your 3/4 ton Ford sag like that with the Montana?

by azandy700 on 12/29/2010, 1:38 am

Our dually with the Cat just dings the overloads on bumps in the road. I had airbags installed and keep 5-10 lbs of air in them. It levels the truck and keeps it off the overloads.
I know your Montana has more pin weight but I too agree that seems excessive.
Somethings seems odd. Dodge always had plenty of spring.
How did it look when you first got the new truck?
You could also drop a new Montana on your hitch if your dealer would allow just to see the sag difference. Maybe you have more stored in front than you think.
We just emptied our Cat and I couldn't believe all that stuff fit in it. Didn't realize all we had in there.

by oldelmer1 on 12/29/2010, 7:12 am

Well, we took the truck and camper over to the school yard today

I did raise the hitch up 1 bolt hole which gave me 5.5 inches between the bed rail & under the camper.

Truck pulled it like it wasnt there.

The bubble level on the side of the camper read dead 0.

So, all that worry for nothing... Laughing

THANKS EVERYBODY!!!!

by Maxtor on 12/29/2010, 7:23 am

Good news Tom;

cheers

by schrowang on 12/29/2010, 7:29 am

Tom,

What is the loaded pin weight of the Montana?

by huntr70 on 12/29/2010, 8:10 am

Looks good that way.

Is it loaded to go, or empty?

by oldelmer1 on 12/29/2010, 10:19 am

The camper is empty, I didn't feel like loading it up to unload it. Laughing

I stopped at the school first, and since I was satisfied with the look and all the measurements I took, I didn't bother to go to the scales to weight it empty.

by slowtruck on 12/29/2010, 11:17 am

Nice looking unit.

by EdJunior on 12/29/2010, 1:29 pm

Oh, now that looks much better! That was quite the illusion to start off with. Now it looks like it's supposed to!

by Tracker16 on 12/29/2010, 4:25 pm

WOW

...That is quite the difference from the first picture.The truck and camper do look good together.

by kwf904 on 12/30/2010, 12:35 am

The colors on the truck go real well with the camper. A very nice looking setup.

by oldelmer1 on 12/30/2010, 12:39 pm

THANKS everybody, it is sweet isn't it. Laughing

by Mopar_Earl on 12/30/2010, 2:29 pm

oldelmer1 wrote:THANKS everybody, it is sweet isn't it.

You worry wart! Busted

Earl

by oldelmer1 on 12/30/2010, 2:46 pm

Mopar_Earl wrote:You worry wart!

Earl

Yeah, I know, but you have to admit, the first picture really looks bad.

by Mopar_Earl on 12/30/2010, 3:09 pm

oldelmer1 wrote:
Mopar_Earl wrote:You worry wart!

Earl

Yeah, I know, but you have to admit, the first picture really looks bad.

I'd of went into a panic myself. I was just bustin your do hickeys.

Earl

by oldelmer1 on 12/31/2010, 6:50 am

Mopar_Earl wrote:
I was just bustin your do hickeys.

Earl

Bust away, at least I get to smile once a day......

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Dodge 3500 sag

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Dodge 3500 sag

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