Adding a lift on tow vehicle

[mrtull]

I bought a 2022 XLT with Tow Package and FX4. As many have said, the rake is quite significant, so I'd like to add a lift. I do not want to cause squat when towing, so I am going to measure rear height with a full load and go from there. This leaves me with two questions:
1. What experiences have you had with a lift and towing?
2. I've read about users adding airbags; are the airbags used to prevent squat when leveled?
I'll keep reading, but appreciate y'all's thoughts in the process. Cheers!

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[Calson]

Squat under load means the springs are not up to the job. Better to upgrade the springs and more than a few products to add more load capacity.

With my last truck I added double leaf SuperSprings and there was no sag with a 13,000 lb trailer load or with several thousand pounds of cement in the bed.

Towing adds more stress to the drivetrain and this is compounded with a lift that increases the angles. I would worry the most about the front of the propeller shaft breaking loose and hitting the ground. I have only seen this a couple of times but did think how lucky the people were to survive.

 

[FORDTEXAS]

1. What experiences have you had with a lift and towing?

comes down to what shock you’re utilizing at the end of the day.

2. I've read about users adding airbags; are the airbags used to prevent squat when leveled?

the airbags will help maintain stability while keeping your truck leveled during towing and or payload in the bed.

 

[Buyer2021]

Squat under load means the springs are not up to the job. Better to upgrade the springs and more than a few products to add more load capacity.

I respectfully disagree. Some degree of squat (aka 'sag', 'spring compression') is exactly what should occur when a load is imposed on a suspension.

If springs don't compress when substantial load is imposed then that's an indicator of too-high spring rate which can adversely affect compliance, tire / road contact, and overall handling on uneven road surfaces.

Excessive squat may be an indicator that the springs are overloaded. One example of excessive rear squat with a towed load is accompanying excessive front lift; that is often best mitigated by use of a weight distributing hitch to redistribute the load rather than increasing the load capacity of the rear suspension.

Remember, increasing spring capacity does not increase safe payload, axle, or gross vehicle capacity.

 

[mrtull]

Squat under load means the springs are not up to the job. Better to upgrade the springs and more than a few products to add more load capacity.

Some degree of squat (aka 'sag', 'spring compression') is exactly what should occur when a load is imposed on a suspension.

This is both sides of my uncertainty. With my 2020, I had rake unloaded but when I added a couple hundred pounds to the bed and 800 pounds of tongue weight, the truck essentially leveled out. I never added a lift to it because I didn't want the front end to be too high. Now the rake is even more pronounced, and I 0expect there will be less trailer "leveling." As mentioned, I'm going to load up and measure to know for certain so this question is somewhat hypothetical until then. Ultimately, I definitely do not want to cause unintended strain on the driveshaft or other components by making changes.

 

[Buyer2021]

I'm going to load up and measure to know for certain so this question is somewhat hypothetical until then.

That sounds prudent along with corresponding CAT scale weights to get unhitched & hitched per-axle loading data. With that you should have info to make informed decisions.

Yep, until then the optimum configuration for your specific towing rig is, IMO, hypothetical and it'd be premature to make suspension mods before then.

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