Gents, I could use some assistance here. My 2004 mada LE has the autoleveling system and shockingly it does not work!!!!
I have a pretty heavy travel trailer, about 7K dry and up to 8k loaded with about 800lb tongue weight. I do have an expensive weight distributing hitch setup that does help a bit but the sag is pretty bad. I originally installed the ride right blue bags and they worked ok. One trip thought I over inflated one of the bags and it popped going up a steep hill with an tight off camber turn. Darn loud pop. Today I forgot to inflate the one remaining bladder and the truck was LOW. Almost ridding on the bump stops low. From the side you could not put your fingers between the wheel wells and the tire.
But after this, I've noticed that the rear camber looks way off. I know with IRS there is a little bit of camber but this looks like something is broken.
I'm planning on replacing the air system with the HD springs (Most likely Napa brand) and putting in better rear shocks. Rancho's or whatever is supposed to be better. Then if I have to adding the firestones. Any other suggestions?
Will putting in the new shocks/springs help with the camber? Could I have worn out the springs/shocks enough to cause this? I had a new set of rear tires and they only lasted about 10K miles. About 2K of that was towing but both tires would not pass inspection as the inner end was totally bald. So not sure what else to look at. Can an alignment shop fix it that out of alignment?
I stopped towing with my Armada as I bought a Ford Excursion for towing duty. Wow that Excursion was amazing, pulled my trailer like there was nothing behind it, stopped well and returned about 12mpg while my Armada was giving me 7-8. But the Excursion needed a bit of work to get running well and that thing is expensive to fix. After about 8 months of trying to sell the Armada with Zero luck I posted the Excursion and had it sold the next night, at my asking price and he paid cash.
So now I need to get the Armada the best towing vehicle it can be, So if I need new suspension all around, i'll be researching for the best. And I need to put in a new stereo as the stock one is ok but wit hthe amount of miles we put on trips I need something good to listen to.
I have a pretty heavy travel trailer, about 7K dry and up to 8k loaded with about 800lb tongue weight. I do have an expensive weight distributing hitch setup that does help a bit but the sag is pretty bad. I originally installed the ride right blue bags and they worked ok. One trip thought I over inflated one of the bags and it popped going up a steep hill with an tight off camber turn. Darn loud pop. Today I forgot to inflate the one remaining bladder and the truck was LOW. Almost ridding on the bump stops low. From the side you could not put your fingers between the wheel wells and the tire.
But after this, I've noticed that the rear camber looks way off. I know with IRS there is a little bit of camber but this looks like something is broken.
I'm planning on replacing the air system with the HD springs (Most likely Napa brand) and putting in better rear shocks. Rancho's or whatever is supposed to be better. Then if I have to adding the firestones. Any other suggestions?
Will putting in the new shocks/springs help with the camber? Could I have worn out the springs/shocks enough to cause this? I had a new set of rear tires and they only lasted about 10K miles. About 2K of that was towing but both tires would not pass inspection as the inner end was totally bald. So not sure what else to look at. Can an alignment shop fix it that out of alignment?
I stopped towing with my Armada as I bought a Ford Excursion for towing duty. Wow that Excursion was amazing, pulled my trailer like there was nothing behind it, stopped well and returned about 12mpg while my Armada was giving me 7-8. But the Excursion needed a bit of work to get running well and that thing is expensive to fix. After about 8 months of trying to sell the Armada with Zero luck I posted the Excursion and had it sold the next night, at my asking price and he paid cash.
So now I need to get the Armada the best towing vehicle it can be, So if I need new suspension all around, i'll be researching for the best. And I need to put in a new stereo as the stock one is ok but wit hthe amount of miles we put on trips I need something good to listen to.