Hello everyone,
It's a shame but I noticed that the rear shocks on our 2015 Silverado are leaking! Only 50000km (30000 miles)! Anyway I was wondering if replacing the shocks with higher quality ones would reduce the little popoising we are experiencing towing our 13QBB?
Thanks........Sylvain
Bad shocks on that truck, with that trailer shouldn't account for significant porpoising.
Your tongue weight is probably way low. Have you gone and mounted stuff on the rear bumper of the trailer ?
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Well, there is not a lot of porpoising but a little bit when we hit a big bump on the road. It's not too bad. No weight added to the rear bumper. Most of the weight is on the front of the trailer with the memory foam mattress and all the stuff underneath the bed. But I should say that we travel fairly light weight. So you say that adding weight to the tongue does reduce porpoising? If so, I'll give it a try.
The real cure for porpoising is a WDH. Even with a truck you will get some. The WDH stiffens the hitch joint and makes the pair act like a single long vehicle. Greatly improves the ride.
Quote from: charliem on November 23, 2019, 10:45:48 AM
The real cure for porpoising is a WDH. Even with a truck you will get some. The WDH stiffens the hitch joint and makes the pair act like a single long vehicle. Greatly improves the ride.
Eh...a WDH on a trailer that light and a full sized pickup ? Yeah, no.
Just figure out the tongue weight in the first place and make it between 10% and 15% of the trailer weight. Closer to 15% will be a more stable tow.
But...none of this is any excuse to continue running with damaged shocks on the tv.
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Quote from: Sylvain on November 22, 2019, 07:42:25 PM
Hello everyone,
It's a shame but I noticed that the rear shocks on our 2015 Silverado are leaking! Only 50000km (30000 miles)! Anyway I was wondering if replacing the shocks with higher quality ones would reduce the little popoising we are experiencing towing our 13QBB?
Thanks........Sylvain
Since you have a known problem with the shocks, I'd start there. I suspect there are lots of good options for higher quality shocks on a Silverado and you can get good advice from the Tire Rack. Try shocks first, and if it doesn't solve porpoising, add tongue weight. And, a good way to add tongue weight is to get a weight distribution hitch! (If you don't already use one.) They are heavy! ——See posts below correcting that WDH weight statement.——-
Thanks everyone for your input. I will install better quality shocks on the truck this winter. It should improve the overall behavior of the truck. We also need to replace the TT battery. We may go with two 6v golf cart batteries so that will also add weight to the tongue. I guess will see from there! I would like to avoid the WDH as much as possible. I like to keep things simple!
Actually, wdh lowers tongue weight and spreads it across the tv front axle and the trailer axles. Which is why tv tow ratings go up.
But then you have to worry about trailer axle load limits, plus of course the tv front end.
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Quote from: Pinstriper on November 24, 2019, 08:45:58 PM
Actually, wdh lowers tongue weight and spreads it across the tv front axle and the trailer axles. Which is why tv tow ratings go up.
But then you have to worry about trailer axle load limits, plus of course the tv front end.
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I hate it when you're right. For some reason, I had never thought that all the way through before. Dope slap on me for my earlier post.
One would think you'd be used to it after all these years.
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I wasn't having the porpoising issue but added light bags to the rear shocks and that helped out a lot. My case was unique since the first owner of my F 150 put in front height adjustable shocks to level out the truck to his liking. He never towed with it so the lift bags keep my lights on the road. In my opinion helps in firming up the truck while towing too.
Ok thanks Chappy. I'll keep that in mind.
After about 90,000 miles, I put Bilstein shocks on my Ram 1500. Made a nice difference. The Ram always towed my 21BHS nicely, but the Bilsteins make a noticeable difference. Never had a white knuckle experience before, but the whole rig seems even more stable.
Ok thanks! I heard the Bilstein are great. I was also thinking about KYB Gas-a-Just shocks. The reviews seems to be good too.
Enjoying the repartee. Looking back, I enjoyed towing the 2014 14DB with my VW Jetta TDI equipped with a WDH and sway control more than my GMC 1500 (not to mention using a lot less fuel). The 14DB is just too light for the pickup although things have improved since I added batteries and double propane bottles to the tongue. I tried my WDH but it didn't make a noticeable difference. This year I'd like to try out just sway control. As I mentioned in another post, our best tow was when we moved with the TT packed to the ceiling with boxes. Big thumbs up for Bilsteins. GK
Thanks for your input GK. Out of curiosity how many km do you have on your GMC? Any mecanical problems with it?
Quote from: Sylvain on December 08, 2019, 05:31:14 PM
Thanks for your input GK. Out of curiosity how many km do you have on your GMC? Any mecanical problems with it?
My 2017 Sierra 1500 has 55000 km on it. Several mech probs thus far. From purchase there is an ongoing problem with chugging/fishbiting that the dealership is still unable/unwilling to fix despite a bulletin outlining the problem. And just lately, the truck can be stuck in 4WD even when switched to 2WD. It takes a couple of switching cycles to get 4WD to let go.
If my next purchase is a truck, I think Ford may get my vote. Consumers in Canada are certainly going that way. Sales of GMC/Chev pickups down by 7%, Ford up by 10%. My son with his 2017 Ford with the 6 cyl Eco Boost consistently uses 2+L/100km less than my 8 cyl with its ineffective Active Fuel Management 4 cyl nonsense. GK
Thanks again for your input GK. Ours is a 2015 Silverado with 56000km. This summer we had an average gas consomption of 18.5L/100km for our 2200km vacation trip towing our 13QBB. Not to bad. We bought it 1.5 years ago. We had to replace the radiator and now the two rear shocks needs to be replaced. I don't like the AFM either. I now run the transmission in M5 mode when driving in the city (up to about 85km/h). That way, the transmission act just like in D (Drive) but the truck always stays in 8 cylinder mode and doesn't engage the 6th gear. The ride is much more pleasant and smooth that way. Many owner do that just to bypass the AFM. I'm a Toyoya guy. I decided to give the Silverado a try. I hope we won't have to much problems with it since I like the comfort of this truck. Next truck will be a Toyota for sure!