Hi All,

I have a Harley Davidson F150 and its towing capacity is about 4500lbs. I was told that if I installed a set of "helper airbags" they would increase the towing capacity. Does anyone have experience with them?

Thanks

 

You can never "increase" the tow capacity. Ford sets that and won't/can't change it.

You can do things to make it tow what it should better (as I have) but if you're trying to tow something more, I wouldn't.

You "might" be able to see what an exact truck with a higher rating has that you're doesn't like a taller gear etc. Then change that to get there knowing it's not "changing the rating" per se, but you know what it can do.

 

Thanks.

 

If your Harley F150 has the 3.55 rear end, you could change it to 3.73. 4.10 may be too much. You could reduce the diameter of the tires, but then the truck wouldn't look as good. Stiffen up the rear springs and up the gear ratio is about all you can do.

 

What does Ford do to get the 7700 lb towing capacity? Just do what they did.

lower gears, tranny cooler, etc. You can make your 1/2 ton pickup tow 10,000 lbs if you want, you just have to beef things up a bit.

 

The 7700 option is the trucks GVW rating. It just means that you can put more stuff in the bed. It initially weighs more too, due to a heavier frame, beefed up springs and such. It's the same engine/tranny that a normal F150 with a 6,250# GVW rating has.

Looking at my owners manual, an F250 LD (same as 7700), 4x2 reg cab (or super cab) 5.4 w/3.73 rear has a 13,500 # GCW (Gross Combined Weight) rating. That's the total weight of truck and trailer and loaded up with gas, water, beer, etc. It also says the MAX trailer weight is 8,600# (but, remember, you still have to be below the total GCW).

An F150 4x2 reg cab (or super cab) 5.4 w/3.55 rear has a 12,700 # GCWR and the MAX trailer weight is 8,000#. Again, that does not mean you can expect to tow an 8k# trailer and have your bed loaded to the max either.

 

Sorry for the confusion. I did not mean to say I wanted to increase the tow capacity. I should have stated that I was trying to increase the capacity at the tongue. The problem I was trying to fix was the sag in the rear when towing.

 

Look into getting some of these.

Overload springs

But, for your ride, I'd think about getting some type of Air Bag setup. Not the kind that allows you to lower or raise your ride, but the kind that just add the "overload" portion.

The springs will make the ride a bit "firmer", where the bags will allow you to go to completely stock again, by just deflating them. Just pump 'em up when you tow.

 

There are a couple of things to "fix" the sag:
in order of increasing cost

1) helper springs (Hellwig, among others). THese are "extra" leaf springs that you install on your leaf pack and they only come into play when you are towing a heavy load.

2) air bags. You can inflate these to level out the rear of your truck....pretty expensive compared to helper springs.

3) weight distributing hitch. This places the load across the whole frame of the truck, from front to back, and is always recommended for heavy loads or high tongue weights...
not sure on cost of these though...

 

btolenti,

I plan to go with the airbag solution. The helper springs will give to much bounce when th truck bed is empty.

 

BLWN_HD#34

Ok, I see. I'd vote for either the WD set up, depending on what you're towing, or just what you're planning, bags!

 

I always thought that the helper springs only worked when you had a heavy bed load or towing load.....I could be wrong though, I have no direct experience with them...

 

The helper springs are progressive to a point. Meaning that you still have to put some tension on them when empty or they will rattle. In my case, I had to tighten them up some more after I originally installed them because they started to rattle on bumps when empty. It actually "lifted" the rear end some too. Maybe an inch. For a 4x4, that's a good thing!

Anyway, it's a solution that worked for my needs. As a side bonus, they also eliminated my rear spring "clunk" when stopping and then going again. No more wheel hop on wet roads if I happen to "break 'em loose". The truck just seems to handle better. And the biggest part was that I can actually haul 1000 #'s in the bed and not look like I'm hauling 1000 #'s!

 

Mitch,

Where did you buy your helper springs and how much were they.

Thanks,

Joe

 

Specifically, they are the Hellwig LP-25 Progressive Overload Springs.

I got them at a local 4x4 shop, Central 4Wheel Drive. For whatever reason, they sell the mounting hardware separate , but the total cost, including the hardware, was $150 + tax.

I've seen them in other mail order catalogs, and they list the hardware as being separate too, but the prices have always been higher then what I paid.

You could also try RV stores. They usually stock stuff like this too.

Good Luck. I really like mine, BTW.