beefing up rear suspension for towing | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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beefing up rear suspension for towing

Hey everyone, 99 v6 mounty here. I'm going to be pulling a trailer weighing approx 1200 lbs one way and approx 2400 lbs on the way back, plus a few hundred lbs of camping gear. I'm getting a class 3 hitch installed because I don't trust the bumper ball hitch.

My question is about upgrading the rear suspension to prevent sagging/scraping/dragging. I was thinking about doing an add a leaf because I actually have a spare set of springs I got from a junkyard when I was lifting my '91. In looking around the forum I see some people had luck with Monroe Load Adjusting coilover shock.

Which one should I do? Should I bother beefing up the rear? Any insight appreciated. Thanks.
 






load assist shocks will be better than an add-a-leaf. Link was added by me, not the little adbot that we have on this site for non-elite members (like me :( )
 






Thanks, those are the ones I was looking at.
 






I've ran those shocks for over 4 years they do the job well
 






~2700 lbs on an added Class 3 hitch should be fine. Likely less than 300 lbs tongue weight would not need a WDH.

Biggest concern I would have is if the trailer does not have trailer brakes. You will be trying to stop more than the stock brakes were designed to handle. If this is occasional use, just keep extra following distance, and I would recommend staying off the expressway.

If you expect to do this a lot, I would need to know more about the vehicle:
HD towing package?
If not the package, can you add an aux trans cooler?
Add trailer brake wiring (and us a trailer with brakes)
 






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