I have dug around the forums for a bit now and cannot find a definate answer to my question.

I am planning on picking up a 16' enclosed trailer this weekend. I have to move in February.

I was planning on putting the Firestone helper bags on my truck to help with the load.

But then I remembered about weight distribution hitches. My question is this...

Can I get away with just the Air bags, or just the weight distro. hitch, OR should I get both.

Also to add to the equation. Along with the trailer behind the truck (which will weigh about 7500-8000 lbs.), I am also going to have about 85 gallons (~500 lbs) of fuel in the front of my bed in a tank.

I am open to all informed opinions on what I should do. I am traveling from Anchorage, AK to Witchita Falls, TX. Then some unknown place after that, so it is going to be a long haul and I dont want to have any towing issues with that much weight. Thanks!

 

Your hitch is only rated for 5000 pounds without using weight distribution, so you need it. Get 1000 pound bars. Sway control should not be neccessary for only 16' trailer, but I always recommend the Equal-i-zer and Reese Strait Line for combined functionality

I would skip air bags when using weight distribution. You should be able to adjust the hitch for the load in the bed as well.

 

A 8000# trailer and 500# in the bed will probably put you over payload capacity. Why do you have to carry 85 gallons of fuel?

I'd seriously rethink what you are doing - driving the Alaska Highway in February with an overloaded tow...............

 

I tow a 6k 23' camper with my 02 F150. I have weight distribution hitch with the sway bar. I towed it for a year this way and then added Firestone's air bags to the truck. The bags make the truck sit level (looks better going down the road) and the steering no longer feels light. Before the bags it sometimes felt like the frontend was being pushed when going around curves, especially if the road was bumpy. I also added Rancho 9000xl shocks on all 4 corners to help stiffin the ride too.

I'm glad I added the bags. I paid around 200 for them and spent 2 hours installing them. I didn't install a compressor on the truck. I carry a small air tank in the bed to air them up. I run the bags at 40 psi loaded and drop them to 10 when the truck is empty. 10 psi only lifts the truck 1/2" from stock. The ride seems the same when empty. My ride was already stiff from the shocks anyway.

 

Your weight distributing hitch could not have been set up properly if the front of the truck felt light and you had excessive sag. OP if you get a good weight distributing hitch setup you should not need air bags. Could you look at putting the fuel in the trailer? I agree with glc that you will probably be overloaded

 

Also be aware that most states will only allow 100 gallons of combined fuel load before requiring haz.mat. placards. If you have 85 gallons in a bed tank that limits you to 15 gallons in your truck fuel tank.

As others have stated WD bars are a must. Bags will improve the ride but not required. They do NOT increase load capacity.

Chances are you will be overloaded with the loaded trailer and the fuel tank, just as others have stated.

 

I dont think I will be over the weight for my truck. It is something like 1670#. There will be nothing in the truck but me. So 500# of fuel, 10% of the trailer weight is like 800# and me at 220# puts the total at ~1520#. Am I missing something here?

Also, the need for the fuel is the fact that MOST gas stations are closed on the crappy part of the ALCAN that time of year, not to mention gas will be cheaper for me here than through out Canada.

The only problem I forsee with putting the tank in the trailer is that I can no longer have it hard-lined into my truck, therefor Canada can feel free to tax the fuel that I am carrying...

I am just asking questions here, not trying to start fires. But I would like to know what I am going to do.

 

10% may be a bit optimistic on tongue weight - it may be as much as 15%.

Have you checked the latest copy of the Milepost to verify what stations will be open and what their hours are? I wouldn't haul 85 gallons of gas around just to save a buck a gallon for a one-time trip.

I wouldn't expect to get any better than about 8 mpg towing that load, that tank won't get you all the way through Canada.

 

3 people in came to my shop last winter, 2 of them came with the milepost in the passenger seat. 1 of those 2 ran out of gas because the milepost said there was supposed to be a gas station open and it wasn't.

Either way, I dont have to carry 85 gallons of fuel. I can maybe do 50. I guess I will just have to find out exactly how much weight the trailer is actually putting on the truck after it is loaded up, then just determine the amount of fuel i can take.

I just want to take the gas for a just in case purpose. I like to be OVER prepared. Really dont want to run out of gas in BFE when it is -30 outside. Better safe than sorry.