Hi Michael
There are several ways you can deal with this.
Unless you ordered your truck and specified the max GVW pkg which gives
you (in either cab other than quad) essentially a 1900# payload capacity,
hardly any dealers order trucks for stock with this option which is not costly.
It involves several things but most importantly for your problem 5 leaf rear
springs which should keep your trailer level assuming you're not trying to pull
too much tongue weight for a
Dakota. A pair of 5 leaf springs can be ordered thru your dealer's parts but
you will notice more of a "buckboard" ride from your rear axle when you are
empty of cargo and no trailer.
Another solution is to replace just your rear shocks with inflatable air
shocks. For some strange reason, there are not a lot of brands to select
from for a Gen III Dakota but several do make them. You inflate just enough to
give a "normal" shock action when driving with no load or trailer so your
standard riding qualities are not changed.
A poorer solution is shocks with their own coil spring integral to the
shock.
Another solution is to not change anything in your stock rear suspension
and just add a pair of inflatable airbags between the body (frame) and rear
axle. This at least preserves your stock riding qualities as you leave it
flat (uninflated) until you add a load.
I'd try the load distribution hitch setup first. If this will cure the
squat then you don't have to do any modifying
Paul Sahlin
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Feb 06 2004 - 11:46:53 EST