Heavy weight in bed

**no0b123** · 04-15-2008, 01:22 AM

I notice my 4.3L V6 Silverado sags down big time when a lot of weight is added inside the bed. Does my truck not have as strong suspension in the rear as the V8's? For example, if I stand in the back of my truck and jump up and down, the truck lowers drastically and it's like I have a low rider. Granted I weigh 288 lbs. but what if I need to haul a large bookshelf (ect.) which would be heavier, what can I do? I want it so my truck wont droop down when hauling heavy stuff, or towing a heavy trailer. How can I solve this problem?

**SoonerSilverado11** · 04-15-2008, 01:42 AM

I have the same problem... I can never haul too much cause I'm afraid I'll overload it. My guess is the leaf springs are what is holding us back. I think ours have half as many or something.

**Pete95Sierra** · 04-15-2008, 01:42 PM

I would suggest getting a set of firestone air bags for the back.. it will help with your rear end squatting big time

**omegafiler** · 04-15-2008, 03:41 PM

I've used roadmaster active suspension in the past and it worked great. No harsh ride like you get the add-a-leaf systems, improved handling a lot, easy to install, and they're relatively cheap.

http://www.activesuspension.com/

I'd have them in my current vehicle if it had leaf springs.

**no0b123** · 04-15-2008, 04:15 PM

Ok cool. What are the ballpark figures of adding leaf springs versus new airbags?

**finalday7** · 04-16-2008, 09:35 PM

Adding leaf spring will run you like 75 bucks.

**dwill3015** · 04-16-2008, 10:34 PM

The bad thing about adding a leaf is the rear ride hieght will change where as using airbags you can inflate and deflate according to the load you are hauling and still keep your stock ride height.

My 87 Blazer was starting to sag in the rear due to notoriously weak leafsprings and a heavy top so I bought a $75 Add-A-Leaf kit for the rear and once installed, my truck sat higher in the rear so I had to drop from a 4" blocks in the rear to 3" to level it out.

**no0b123** · 04-17-2008, 12:16 AM

How much are the airbags, and do they auto-adjust to the weight of the load or do you inflate/deflate them manually?

**dwill3015** · 04-17-2008, 11:28 AM

Here is a link for your application. it is the basic kit for what you need but it is manual adjust because if you have no load, you deflate to keep your stock ride hieght and then when under load you inflate. They do make on-board compressors and air tanks to go along with it but your basic kit is only $245.