ok, a couple questions

[303Dizzy]

I've had my Fleet on my Tacoma dclb for almost an year now. I feel like the front of my truck is being lifted a bit with the weight in the back. So in return the front wheels seem to float a smidge due to this. Anyone feel like they have the same issue. Thinking about a bigger bumper in front to help balance the weight. I have a OME 3 inch lift with Dakar springs in back. Also have airbags to assist a bit. Guess I want to know if anyone feels like the front is little lose due to rear weight and if not, what kind of suspension setup do you have? DSC_4384 by Shannon Dizmang, on Flickr

 

[trikebubble]

Inflate the airbags more? I have a Tundra with the Dakar leaf packs and HD coils up front and have not felt that feeling at all. Even before I added the front bumper and winch. I also just added and extra Dakar leaf to my pack this past weekend, to relieve the airbags of some of their responsibilities.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Does you truck have the short 5' bed ?

Or long 6' bed ?


.

 

[kluber]

Great rig!

Do you have any extra weight out the back? Motorcycle rack, big ole bumper with fuel cans, etc?

I run a 2017 Taco DC + a Fleet. Mods = RideRites that are kept at 60 psi. Rear tires at 45 psi. Front tires 40 PSI

I try to pack heavy equipment in the second seat space to reduce the weight on or behind the rear axle.

No front end lift that I've been able to appreciate.

Look for modifications that make you more stable without adding weight. Any way we do the numbers, our weight is as much as a Taco wants to haul already : )

 

[PackRat]

Go get your ready-to-go-camping, totally loaded up rig to the scales and find out the front, rear and both axel weights. Then compare that to what the VIN tag says your maximum Front GAVW and Rear GAVW and gross weight for both axels is.

If you are riding so low that oncoming traffic is flashing you to get your "high beams" turned off when they already are.....and you can visibly SEE the rear of the truck/camper sitting WAY low when you are on flat ground.....you are probably overloaded.

I think adding weight to the front bumper to try to get the truck to sit lower will only make the overall weight of the rig even worse and probably you'd need quite a lot of weight to even do that.

I firmly believe that just jacking up the rear end so the truck rides level is a cosmetic approach to a much bigger problem in that you are probably overloaded on at least the rear axle by quite a bit.

Too much weight for any vehicle means the brakes may wear out faster or just need too much more roadway to STOP in an emergency and when a semi going the other way at speed pushes enough AIR, you might experience the rear of the truck getting squirrely on you. With the front end up in the air like you stated, the steering is "light" and in case you do get a bit squirrely or are on ice or wet pavement, you could easily over-steer and lose control.

I'm a worry-wart about overloaded rigs, but safety first is paramount, and ending up in the ditch on it's side is the possibility you don't want to face.

They say, "Don't send a boy to a man's job" and that is certainly applicable to choosing a truck because we like it and then overloading it beyond what it was meant to carry SAFELY.

Get it weighed properly and compare the VIN information (not just the GROSS, but each axle) to see where you stand.

 

[JaSAn]

I've had my Fleet on my Tacoma dclb for almost an year now. I feel like the front of my truck is being lifted a bit with the weight in the back . . . Thinking about a bigger bumper in front to help balance the weight.

I agree with PackRat: you need to get front & rear axle weights. Ideally you need to weigh the truck/camper fully loaded and the truck without the camper. Without these we are just guessing.

• IF the front axle weighs less with the loaded camper than without, you have a serious problem that springs, shocks, airbags and/or thinking pure thoughts is not going to fix. You will need to transfer weight to the front not add weight to the front.
• The Taco experts on this site can give better advice if you are over the rear GAWR.
• Do not overload your tires! BAD.THINGS.HAPPEN. Tire max load rating is molded into the tire sidewall (in very tiny print). If you are close to 2Xmax, you will need to find somewhere that can get a left/right weight distribution to be sure you are not overloading one of the rear tires.

Driving a vehicle that feel unsafe (real or imagined) sucks, so I hope you can get this fixed to your satisfaction.

jim

 

[DavidGraves]

Howdy

Not sure where you live but if you are in Oregon the DOT highway scales remain on 24/7 and are self serve.

If no one else is waiting to use the scale you can weigh all four tires separately as well as front and rear axles.

The margin of error is around 50 #.

Side to side weight differences can be fairly common.

I would not want to feel a light front end or an overloaded truck.

Good Luck

David Graves

PS most any truck stop may have a scale but the fee can be high because they must certify the weigh.

 

[PaulT]

+1 on the Oregon scales. I find taking a photo of the scale display after positioning a tire/axle on the scale makes the process less error prone & faster.

Paul

 

[moveinon]

It is hard to tell from the picture but it looks like you have the Fleet (made for the long bed mid sized trucks) on a short bed Tacoma. If that is true you have a lot of the weight hanging off of the back of the truck behind the axel instead of more centered like a long bed. If your front end is floating at all it can be very dangerous in avoidance maneuvers and for roll over. For my fully loaded Fleet on an Access Cab long bed Tacoma I am 300 lbs overweight, which is very doable, when packed with two people for camping. Assuming yours is in that neighborhood the last thing you want to do is add any weight to the truck whether it balances it or not. It certainly would make sense for you to cut the rubber bumpers on the front of the Fleet as much as makes sense for your truck and move the camper forward on the bed. Just a couple of inches might make a big difference in working towards balancing the weight And as others have said shift as many things with weight forward as you can. Any other adjusting almost has to be done with your air bags and suspension in the back. I have firestone air bags, upgraded shocks and e rated KO2 tires and my truck rides well with the Fleet. I am in Oregon and have used the scales to weigh my truck and truck and camper front and back.

 

[PackRat]

Post what you find at the scales and on the VIN tag....then this discussion can SAFELY proceed.

 

[PackRat]

Think of your rig like it was a freighter getting loaded to cross the Pacific. It is a 10,000 tonner. Since you have four cargo holds, you have approximately 2,500 tons per hold...are you following me? The ship is rated for no more than 3,000 tons per cargo hold.

Now, you can probably fit 10,000 tons of pig iron in just the #4 hold aft as it is pretty dense. Except that the ship will ride with her butt practically awash and the bow up in the air where wind and waves will push you off course 24/7, that is, unless you sink right at the dock! . OK, you decide to pull into Honolulu and add another 2,500 tons of general cargo to the #1 hold because you want to keep the bow DOWN and not have such a poor handling in wind/waves.....except you are now over the weight rating for the entire ship and when you depart and are caught in a storm and.... you sink. (this sounds to me like what you plan to do with a heavy bumper!)

Or try another scenario....your ship is empty, it will take 10,000 tons of cargo. It is rated for 3,000 in each hold, not to exceed 10,000 in total...(which is EXACTLY the idea the VIN tag on your truck is telling you!) You decide to load 6,000 tons in the aft #4 hold and another 2,000 in #3 and 1,000 in #1 & 2 holds. Hey, no problem, right? You can carry 10,000 tons and that is what you have on board. EXCEPT you have WAY too much in #3 & #4 holds and the ship sits really LOW in the stern and the bow is riding too high. Up comes that storm and again....you sink.

Now, with a rating of 3,000 tons maximum in each hold, you still can't haul more than 10,000 tons of cargo, you can just load it where it fits a bit better. Say you put 3,000 in #4, another 2,000 in #3, another 2,000 in #2 and another 3,000 in #1.....hey! you just safely loaded your ship because not only did you not exceed the 10,000 tons maximum the ship is rated for....you achieved a good BALANCE and the ship will ride close to level. Bring on the storms!

The beauty of having four cargo holds means he ship can be loaded and the cargo distributed between them to SAFELY place the load fore and aft (and port to starboard I might add!)

The bottom line is, if you have 12,000 tons of cargo, you can't just put 3,000 tons in each hold because it is RATED for 3,000 tons, you still have to pay attention to the combined weight of the cargo and the 10,000 tons rating the ship will carry SAFELY.

...or, you can get a bigger ship....and in this instance, a bigger truck.....or load only the amount of cargo the truck is rated for and compare the axle weights to see if they exceed the VIN number for each axle.

Decisions, decisions, decisions....

 

[rando]

I have a fleet flatbed on a 2016 DCLB with OME BP-51 suspension all around, the extra OME leaf in the rear pack and airbags. I have certainly never felt light in the front end. Overall, the handling is not objectionable for a camper, and I have never felt unsafe driving it.

Unless you are badly sagged in the rear end, your issue doesn't sound like a suspension issue, but either you have something wrong in the front end (ball joints?) or your center of mass is too far back. If in fact, you do have a Fleet in a shortbed, this is likely the source of your issues. I don't think this is a recommended configuration.