Do these suspension mods make sense for towing?

[Cobalt Ford]

Here's the deal, I have a 2006, F250. PSD w/FX4 package. Now, the main reason I own this truck is to pull our travel trailer through the hills of southern Missouri.

The truck does a good job of pulling the unit I have now, 30' / 8000lbs. But I'm thinking of getting a somewhat larger and heavier 5th wheel, still well within Ford's towing specs for my truck, but still...

Many of the roads I have to use are one S curve after another, they should make you buy a ticket like at the fair. With all this in mind I'm contemplating the following; air bags on the rear axle, 1 1/4" or 1 5/16" sway bar front and back. I'm also, if I put on the airbags, going to put on a viair compressor and tank to make airbag adjustment easier.

Additionally I'm seriously looking into the Banks exhaust brake, but that's another thread.

So what do you think?

TIA

Rick

[colo_dually]

The airbags will make a difference, in ride quality, and I would look at the sway bars as a plus. If you put the compressor on board, look into the in dash controller for the bags themselves.

I strongly suggest not doing an exhaust brake on these trucks, period, and it doesn't make a difference to me on the maker. Between the VGT and the valve tolerances, the exhaust brakes do more harm than good. If you are looking for a little more engine braking over factory, I suggest the SCT tuner and have it applied to your towing files to your liking.

There is a huge difference in stock vs. my towing file in engine braking, try that first.

[Cobalt Ford]

Colorado, yes I had intended to use the dual in cab control, just seems too handy not to have.

When you say the exhaust brakes do more harm than good, do you mean they don't slow you down well, or are you saying they are hard on the engine?

Rick

[colo_dually]

Meaning, "lifts exhaust valves in the engine, which could strike a piston", sort of hard on the engine. The turbo vanes don't take well to them either. Tuning seems to be the better alternative to date.

I'm weighing the cab controller when I install my bags here shortly. It is handy, I'm running out of space to put gauges.

[Cobalt Ford]

Okay, I see what you're saying on the exhaust brake. I'm all about reliability and longevity, so anything that could potentially cause the engine problems doesn't interest me.

For now I gotta stay stock on tunes, I've got two more years of warranty through my Ford dealer and I know they don't like tuners. Especially since my heads aren't studded. As far as that goes I had yet to ask them about the exhaust brake, they may well have given that the thumbs down too.

Thanks for the input.

Rick

[colo_dually]

With the warranty, I'd be shocked if they would ok the engine brake and keep your coverage, and actually fix the issues that come up.

[Cobalt Ford]

You're probably right. I had to explain to them that my ScanGaugeII was just monitoring stuff and could do no harm.

Rick