I just purchased my HD and I am wanting to mod it like everyone else. One of the mods I want to do first is to level the rearend. I am afraid to do this becuase I own a '93 Cobra that I drag race and tow on occasion to an event. If I level the rear end and hook up my car hauling trailer to the truck will the rear suspension compress to the point where it becomes an alarming issue? Should I consider installing an air bag assist system instead? Have any of you guys leveled your trucks and also tow a car behind them?

 

Well , I know a Lightning is lower to begin with. This a picture off JJ's L towing, his L also has 2'' drop shackels and it towed fine.

 

Thanks for the input. But that kind of car hauler is not going to put the same amount of tongue weight on the hitch as my 20-foot tandem axle trailer will. If you notice the front wheels of the car are almost directly over the axle of the hauler. This in turn puts almost all of the force into this axle and not into the hitch of the truck. You could just about pick up the tongue of this hauler (figuratively speaking) with the car on it. I can position my car on the trailer to equalize/level the loads on the trailer. But I still remember squatting the rear-end of '01 Z71 BURB. So I am not sure how much I can count on the HD to withstand. I have read some posts about guys hauling your boats and cars around with the HDs, so hopefully one of you guys will enlighten me. Once again, thanks for the reply. I have been reading this site for about a month and I finally had something that I needed help with. This site kicks ****.

 

For what it's worth I put a 2" rear drop on my '01 Scab and used stock length Bilsteins. No problem at all either with 800# in the bed or towing my 5,000# boat with 400# tongue load.

It is a good idea to know how much tongue load you have. I think 10% of trailer weight is in the ballpark, not to exceed the hitch rating. I feel that our trucks handle better with a tongue load and prolly brake better on less than perfect surfaces. $.02

 

I tow my Mustang on a 22' dovetail tandem axle open Big-Tex steel car hauler--car weighs about 3100, trailer 2000+. No problems whatsoever, and yes, I have the 2" Bell Tech lowering shackles. After install, Your truck will still be 1 1/2" or so higher in the rear... if your load is located on the trailer properly (i.e.--centered over the axles of the trailer with a slight front bias), you will have no probs--there will be just enough weight to make it sit level. When I tow my 24' enclosed Wells Cargo (for sale BTW ) with the Mustang--it does squat about an inch... thinking about adding airbags just to use when I pull that trailer.

 

p.s.--Make sure and air your rear tires to minimum 40 lbs or so... I use 42.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. This information really helps me out. Now I am not afraid to lower the rear of the truck now. So I see most of you guys are using Bell Tech shackles. I will do a little searching and see what I can find. Thanks guys.