[princelake]

Hey guys, I have a 2004 titan se king cab without big tow. I just bought a 2006 jayco baja tent trailer with the front deck. I loaded my atv on it and hooked it on to the truck. There is way to much tongue weight on the truck it sags Wayyy to much.
https://www.jayco.com/tools/archive/2006-baja-ct/
Theres the specs I have the 10y. My atv weighs 700lb.
Would a weight distrubtion hitch do the trick? A set of air bags? Just upgrade to the XD? Lol
Thanks guys!

 

[Ed270]

Hey guys, I have a 2004 titan se king cab without big tow. I just bought a 2006 jayco baja tent trailer with the front deck. I loaded my atv on it and hooked it on to the truck. There is way to much tongue weight on the truck it sags Wayyy to much.

https://www.jayco.com/tools/archive/2006-baja-ct/

Theres the specs I have the 10y. My atv weighs 700lb.

Would a weight distrubtion hitch do the trick? A set of air bags? Just upgrade to the XD? Lol

Thanks guys!

You should have a yellow sticker inside your door that tells you your payload capacity I can't imagine with that set up you are exceeding the weight limit. A weight distribution hitch should do the trick .


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[princelake]

My payload is around 1250lb if I remember correctly. The problem is the 700lb atv plus trailer weight all on the ball of the truck. It's not level at all.

 

[rgrimsley]

Check your leaf springs and rear suspension component (including all the bushings). 2004 with how many miles, and how much off road use, driving conditions, etc? Your springs might be "tired" or damaged and not supporting as well. I'd look at an add a leaf or helper springs before you spend the $$ on air bags and beefy load levelers. Neither one of those will work effectively if your suspension is worn out. Plus, if it's worn out, your truck won't handle properly under a load, which is really dangerous and unsafe. I had to use a blue ox ($800-1000) to tow my 29 ft single slide out with my 2010 4x4 but that's a heck of a lot more weight but my truck pulled it fine (minus the really bad gass mileage). If you do end up going with a load leveler hitch, spend the money and get the blue ox. You will be glad you did. The turning radius is awesome and you don't have to disconnect the bars (I could turn around in my cul-de-sac without unhooking mine).

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[princelake]

Ya the shocks are getting old. I pound my truck down rough logging roads daily. I see everyone talking about the 5100s. Is there a little stiffer one or will these handle fine? And should I get leaf springs replaced or just add a leaf?

 

[Ed270]

I have 5100's and the few times I have hauled an 1800 lb trailer with 4 scoops of mulch it's been fine . But I'm probably still not near the tongue weight you are hauling


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[rgrimsley]

Ya the shocks are getting old. I pound my truck down rough logging roads daily. I see everyone talking about the 5100s. Is there a little stiffer one or will these handle fine? And should I get leaf springs replaced or just add a leaf?

Think replace vs. Add a leaf would be based on the condition. I towed my camper on the stock set up with around 50-70k miles on truck. I do a lot moderate off roading. Is there a good off road shop you trust? Run your truck over there and have them inspect your rear suspension if your not sure of yourself, or just want an extra set of eyes on it.

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[rgrimsley]

Just to give you an idea. This is loaded down with a weeks worth of gear (surf fishing) and the camper. It's kind of hard to tell. Best pics I could find.

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[rgrimsley]

Princelake, I just looked up the specs on my old rv and it's pushing 6k lbs with a 670 lb tongue weight. Like I said, I used a blue ox with it and had no issues towing. Think I saw yours is 210 or so, add a 700 lb atv near the front and I bet your between 500-600 on your tongue. I'd still check your suspension out and be sure it's good but I do think a stabilizer hitch is needed. Spend a bit more and get the blue ox, especially if you may end up on rough terrain. Less noisy, better turning, and easier to use.

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[HRTKD]

A weight distributing hitch is likely what you need. I hooked my Titan up to my toy hauler with nothing in the garage (no ATV) and the tongue weight was around 1400 lbs. Way, way, way too much. The front end was high and the rear was low. I connected the Blue Ox weight distributing hitch and it brought it almost to level. It still sucked to drive but I was only taking it from my house to the storage lot. Then I bought an F-350. Problem solved. But I still use the weight distributing hitch.

 

[princelake]

So for the weekend I put my atv in the box removed the tailgate and put all my gear on the cargo deck. I put the new camper to the test heading up some really rough old logging roads. Basically I was driving up a creek with boulders haha! Definitely buying the weight distrubtion hitch.

 

[Lee-the-Impaler]

So for the weekend I put my atv in the box removed the tailgate and put all my gear on the cargo deck. I put the new camper to the test heading up some really rough old logging roads. Basically I was driving up a creek with boulders haha! Definitely buying the weight distrubtion hitch.

It doesn't matter if you move the weight to the bed, or the trailer, it all still settles on your rear springs and worse, the axle. In fact, you probably added MORE direct weight by moving the ATV to the bed. It's a half-ton, with a load, it's going to sag... end of story. the question is, how much over are you actually, with a tongue wt of 250, and the 700# atv, that's 950. SOME of that, settles on the trailer axle so lets say 800#. The question there, is the tongue capacity totally stand alone? or is that max tounge weight + max payload weight, because I can tell you, I used to have a perpetual 5-600# in the bed, and still towed stupid heavy, and it did not harm anything...YET... Titans can take more than they are rated at, but it isn't wise.

I have 2 extra leaves, AND airbags on the rear... NONE OF THAT LETS YOU TOW MORE...it just makes the tow more comfy and easier to control, takes a ton of trailer sway out. WD hitch is a band-aid... TBH, you need a different setup that puts the weight of the ATV on the trailer axle..or you need a heavier pickup in order to stay within paranoid, capacity nazi parameters.

That's only to stay on the number lines, Honestly, I think it will do the duty fine, as long as it's not a regular thing, But it will be a roll of the dice, esp on an 04

 

[HRTKD]

I think putting the ATV on the trailer would actually lower the weight on your rear axle. You would need the WDH. Getting the actual tongue weight would help determine how to distribute the weight around.

 

[princelake]

Ya my poor old titan. I'm definitely asking to break something my titan. In the next year or so I'm definitely going to upgrade to something more heavy duty but until now I'm going to band aid it with shocks and wdh and possibly add a leaf.

 

[Indy]

Took me a minute, so the ATV sits on the deck in front of the camper. Yeah, a weight distribution hitch and maybe new shocks and you should be good.

 

[dubyam]

While your leaves may be 13yrs old, and a little tired, my suspicion is, they don't need to be changed out. New shocks will add control, and a WD hitch is the right answer, for getting weight distributed between the truck and trailer axles. What you have now is one heavily loaded axle and two far less loaded ones. What you can do with a proper WD setup is end up with all three axles sharing the load more equitably. Not equally, but equitably. Towing heavy tongue weights without a WD hitch is asking for trouble.

 

[Nick Name]

shocks don't support weight...springs do. springs age...and support less weight which develops into more sag.

shocks are specifically to push the wheels to the ground. have you not ever noticed an old beater driving down the road with a wheel hopping and all the rest are ok? that's a bad shock.

WD is good. WD with anti-sway is better. Two point WD does both better.

 

[dubyam]

With all due respect, leaf springs - unlike coils - don't lose much in rate or capacity over time. And the leaves on most Titans haven't been subjected to the kinds of compression/extension cycles required to cause that kind of rate and capacity change.

And shocks dampen suspension movement, they don't push the wheels to the ground. What you're seeing when a beater passes you with a tire jumping is a tire out of balance. Has zero to do with shocks except that maybe it wears the shock out much faster. Shocks are valved a certain way to dampen movement. I know this because I've bought differently valved shocks which had more extension than compression, to help keep weight transferred on a drag car. Same shock body. Different valving. It's all about dampening.

Springs support weight. Absolutely. And shocks dampen movement and provide better control.

And the chance that Titan needs new rear leaves to carry that trailer is pretty low. The issue is tongue weight and weight distribution in general. Get a weight distributing hitch (and yes, by all means with way control!) and some new shocks, and then use a local truck stop scale to set up the combination correctly. It will be a completely different animal as far as towing is concerned.

 

[princelake]

That's what I came on here to learn. I need new shocks if I had a camper or not. And I'm definitely going to buy a weight distrubtion hitch before I pull my camper again. Thanks guys!

 

[Nick Name]

dub....we're saying the same thing if you think about it. I have no idea what this gentleman's springs are like, but any engineer will go all nerdy discussing tensile, compression and modulus to get to the point that over time and use all spring metal fatigues whether it's round or flat. The dampening of a shock is there to keep the wheels on the ground with zero support. Here's a test...pull the springs and leave the shocks in place.....the vehicle will be on the ground because the shocks provide zero support and fully compress no matter what kind of valving is in place. Reverse the experiment....leave the springs and pull the shocks.....no change in ride height.

What you call control, I call wheels on the ground. Wheels in the air or a bouncing axle do not provide control. You come from drag experience and I come from road racing....same but different.

I think bottom line...he knows he needs shocks because they're old and worn, but the WD hitch will do more to help his initial posted problem if it's set up correctly.