I own a 2004 FX4 ext cab 5.4 Liter, I was recently told by an area mechanic (When he was installing my Magnaflow 16616) that I have some front inner tire wear. My mechanic told me that the reason for this is because the "stock" shocks (Not Ranchos) are not up to par with towing a 5500 LB travel trailer causing the front wheels to lift thus creating uneven tire wear. He suggested I go to a performace shock. My question is will a performance shock like Rancho help? I noticed the truck sits a little low in the back (I do have weight ditribution stabilizer bars for the camper). Can somebody shed a little light on this subject. What would be the the correct & safe way to tow my 28 foot trailer (What kind of Mods would be sugested) . I really do not feel comfortable towing this trailer, even though I bought the FX4, which should be quite capable of doing the job with ease.

Thanks,
JPM

 

Sounds like you might need to put more tension on the WD bars. That should balance things out a bit more. I'm towing a 5600# dry (6500ish loaded) and don't have that problem.

Have you checked your alignment? Mine was WAY out but identical on each side so I didn't notice it was off and the inner side of the tires went clear to the belt before I realized it.

edit: oh, and I'm running about 800# toungue weight on the trailer. Everything is nice and level on the truck.

 

Shocks have nothing to do with holding the weight or alignment of the wheels. Get a 4wheel alignment first, then adjust your WD for more weight on the front.

 

[QUOTE=APT]Shocks have nothing to do with holding the weight or alignment of the wheels.[QUOTE]

It never amazes me what people think shocks do.

You can remove them and it won't hurt anything, it won't fall to the ground, or fall over. They stop spring oscillation or bounce. On a rouugh road they are the thing that keeps your tires in contact with the road.

 

Shocks do nothing to control the ride height unless they are air shocks or those fancy 'load level' type of shocks that come on those expensive SUV's....

If your front tires are wearing on the inside then I'd look at checking the alignment first (you probably have a 'toe out' situation).

Unless you tow your trailer on a day to day basis, or took a coast to coast trip towing your trailer, just having the rear end sag some would not really cause that much noticable wear IMO.

My trailer only weighs #4500 including a #550 tongue weight. I use an Eaz-Lift WD setup with #1000 bars. When I lower just the tongue on the truck, it sags about 1" in the rear and the front rises about 1/2". (I do have some overload springs installed...) After setting the bars, it's back to it's original ride height and the front end is actually lower by a 1/4" or so..... (I might be getting a tad too much WD to the front end, but it tows great and no abnormal tire wear)

If a muffler guy is telling you that shocks alone help with a sagging rear end, then I might even re-consider having him do my muffler!! ha, ha!!

Good luck!

Mitch