Best rear springs for towing

[Suburbanman]

I was at work the other day moving some boats around with my K1500 4 x 4 Suburban. I noticed my rear springs were compressed quite a bit. I don't know much about towing, balancing loads and all that kind of stuff but I will need to start soon. I am picking up a 26 foot day boat.
Should I upgrade from the 1/2 ton rear springs to some K2500 springs? Or is this truck just not suited for towing much weight?

 

[WV_Dave]

IMHO, putting on all around stiffer springs so it wont squat while loaded to max or overloaded would make it ride like a hardtail chopper when not trailering.

I would check into other options first like helper springs.

Air spring helpers

Leaf spring style helpers

 

[GoToGuy]

Get out your ok owners manual, it explains all towing terminology, and will define what the capability of your vehicle is. The glove box door has info on it. And the drivers door has tire pressures and vehicle weights unless it's missing. That's if you want to stay within what the factory built the vehicle for. Tip, it's not just springs, it's brakeing, sway control, transmission capacity, front suspension , does engine have trailer option installed.
Or, be one of those " I don't care if it moves it tows."

 

[L31MaxExpress]

I added just the thicker 1-ton overload leaf in place of the stock overload leaf on my 97 Express when it still had the 1/2 ton suspension. Driving around the difference was not noticeable, but with the trailer or a good sized dip it was. It worked similarly to an add a leaf but a pair of 1-ton overload leafs from the wrecking yard were a fraction of the cost. I think they charged me $10 each. The overload leaf does not engage the spring pack in normal driving, so unloaded cruising, the ride was unchanged. The overload leaf is the muscle of the spring pack.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

On the van atleast, this is the difference between a 1500 and 3500 spring pack. Just changing that overload leaf made a big difference for the better. Also just to be clear, I added the overload leaf to the existing pack, bad choice of words when I saw swapped. I have halfway been tempted to go back to the 1500 pack/1-ton overload leaf though, because the 1 ton leafs are so rough riding unloaded. I really saw no difference in rear ride height with the 1-ton pack fully loaded, but unloaded the rear end rides higher.

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[99xcss4]

https://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7368 https://www.ebay.com/itm/3643986423...dYdaiGe9wwD7dqvX9GdaEWlw==|tkp:Bk9SR7qdi8vLYg and get a 6 lug 14 bolt rear end

 

[99xcss4]

https://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7368 https://www.ebay.com/itm/364398642332?hash=item54d7da049c:g:slgAAOSwJ19kzk-k&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAAwLofr1VaqVwHvFdWcYY0RtIZV/mB0xyVqbL4G7RDvUFNWnrzyaZPP523mmb7Dzc6PgSFsh+fO6ZrFYwjeS+uQS5Je+aZSyVnqVWr0G6qfzUxXiTDUzqrsrZ77Z2YIlBxcBwJCFhHBHVw3QDAQeOSqS+SJAxoR9xVlghc5BnQapfw2exHC7HW0612KVLAiDd/9AsoWWz2av4XneHhPqiyna8hw1SRYZjmpl6LOkTVlAdYdaiGe9wwD7dqvX9GdaEWlw==|tkp:Bk9SR7qdi8vLYg and get a 6 lug 14 bolt rear end

just saw you said suburban not pickup these leafs https://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7347 same shocks still get 6 lug 14 bolt

 

[pressureangle]

As stated above, read your owners manual and do a little homework on what the weight ratings mean. If you're towing on the bumper, be sure you know the weight ratings of the bumper itself-stamped in.
How far will you pull the boat? If you're going literally 2 miles to the boat ramp at 35mph it almost doesn't matter. Does the trailer have surge brakes? (hopefully) Hydraulically actuated brakes built into the trailer are common on boats due to sinking in water- not cool for electrics. I tow long distances; on my heavy 2500 long wheelbase truck, I had a good platform without modification. On my 6 lug 2500, I have a shorter wheelbase, 1 less leaf in the springs, and larger diameter wheels all of which affect stability. So on this truck, I'm adding a set of Timbren overload springs; They do two things- first, they add spring capacity so you won't squat as much with the weight. Secondly and probably more importantly, they act as a sway bar would- if one side compresses, only that side gets spring added as load increases tending to keep everything more upright. In contrast to heavier springs, the Timbrens have no effect when unloaded; that is, if you roll, the Timbren on the light side doesn't push upwards as a spring pack does, and the effort applied increases with the compression of the loaded side.
Plus, easy to install and not ridiculous in price; when you're not loaded, they don't affect the ride at all because they don't touch anything.

Timbren SES Suspension Enhancement System SKU# GMRCK25

The Timbren GMRCK25 SES is a rear suspension enhancement system for the MODEL_NAME made between YEAR1 and Year2. Shop now.

timbren.com