Towing with a suspension lift

[clarknhounds]

Is it possible to tow safely with a vehicle with a suspension lift? Can you lift the trailer? We have a 02 F-250 SD w/ 8"susp lift on 37" tires and are looking at 34' a/s's. What's the best way to go? Lower the truck, drop hitches, raise the the camper???
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[silverleeper]

Originally Posted by clarknhounds

Is it possible to tow safely with a vehicle with a suspension lift? Can you lift the trailer? We have a 02 F-250 SD w/ 8"susp lift on 37" tires and are looking at 34' a/s's. What's the best way to go? Lower the truck, drop hitches, raise the the camper???
Help

I remember something about Andy at Inland RV doing a trailer lift for a truck like yours.. Try searching Andys posts. It was last year I think. Good luck Lee

[3Ms75Argosy]

coming home on the last leg of our WA-CA-WA trip, we saw a pretty bad accident on on I-5. A jacked up F-350 pulling a 28ft (or so) foot SOB with the garage for ATV's in back. Judging by the skid marks, was going downhill, swerved out of the slow lane, got sway, tipped and ROLLED many times. Nothing left of the trailer, ATV's all over the road (4 of them), and the F-350 rolled into a ball. Not pretty.

I just think raising your center of gravity is asking for trouble. Watching other 4x4's around here pulling car trailers with their off road toys over I-90 pass to eastern WA(toyota trucks with roll cages for beds, atv's, etc), I noticed that they all had awful sway problems at speed. Even my wife as passenger asked - "why are they swaying and we're not?" It looks like a white knuckle ride to me.
Marc

[uwe]

Originally Posted by clarknhounds

Is it possible to tow safely with a vehicle with a suspension lift? Can you lift the trailer? We have a 02 F-250 SD w/ 8"susp lift on 37" tires and are looking at 34' a/s's. What's the best way to go? Lower the truck, drop hitches, raise the the camper???
Help

2 things speak against this setup:
The high center of gravity with a 10000lb trailer in tow seems like a very bad idea. You will need a huge drop bar, which will act like a rotational lever to the fore/aft centerline of the truck. My take is that this is not a safe setup, especially not for full time use.
It is quite likely that the 37" tires were installed with out differential modifications, therefore your final drive ratio might be in the low 3's, which will make your otherwise well matched rig a very slow affair.