Ok, I went and looked at the eaz-lift hitches and they are no different
than what I remember as a kid going camping with my family. Any of you that
have the 4X4 Dak should recognize what these are. They are nothing more
then torsion bars and no they do not increase the capacity of the
suspension. What they do is reduce the tongue weight at the hitch by
levering the weight more. When we used to hook up a travel trailer to a
sedan, for instance, and you put all the tongue weight on the hitch, the
cars suspension would significantly compress, almost totally. We would then
use the trailer post jack to lift the back end of the car to level and hook
up the levelling bars. Depending on how many chain links are dropped
determines the amount of tension and therefore lift are put on the torsion
bars. It is possible, although not recommended, to actually lift the rear
suspension higher then stock unloaded using these types of hitches. What
you would want to do is leave some weight on the tongue at the hitch to
ensure adequate weight on the rear wheels for traction and braking. If you
want to increase the load capacity without increasing the stiffness of the
ride, I would suggest using a roadmaster active suspension kit. This is a
helper spring installed on the top of the stock spring and only increases
tension when a load is applied, either by weight or by engine torque. You
can check them out at www.activesuspension.com. Speedtweaks sells the kit
for about $230. Bernd and crew were doing a test on a Dak R/T that hauls an
18 foot boat, but I've not heard or seen any feedback from them on it. The
installation looks fairly simple and Speedtweaks has a picture gallery with
the installation set up on their project trucks link. I do know that in a
few months, when I the money is budgeted for them, I'm installing it on my
truck. For what you're looking to do, I'd suggest a combination of both
of these, the eaz-lift hitch and the roadmaster active suspension. Just my
2 cents worth.
HTH,
Ray Irons
Dover, DE
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