Opinions from those who have used rear helper springs.

[jayro88]

Hi all,
So I am planning on towing a travel trailer (6-8k lbs) this coming summer with my '88 E250. I have gone through all the maintenance stuff and also added a large trans cooler. I will have a full weight distro/anti sway hitch set up and a brake controller (already installed), but I wanted to get some information on the pros and cons of adding helper springs to the rear. I am thinking that I probably won't need them. I towed a loaded car trailer, about 5-5.5k lbs, without any kind of weight distro set up and the read of the van barely moved.

However, I found that it is always good to be prepared for the "Just in case" situations.

Opinions?

 

[IDIoit]

i tow cars alot with my 01. i have helper springs and airbags.
the helper springs do work great, with bags, you can fine tune.
i love the set up.

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[franklin2]

If you are going to use a weight distribution hitch, I would not run them, they are not needed. Hook the trailer up and see how much the truck sags. Adjust the dist hitch to bring the truck back up. Don't go too high, you can lift the rear wheels of the truck off the ground.

 

[Clb]

fwiw
they have worked great for me in the past given the circumstances are right, on my old 67 250 I had an 9?' caveman camper on it (read heavy *****) the truck did squat a little but the issue was sway in corners.
so on go the full helwig overloads and it cured the road-ability issues UNTIL I pulled the camper off, then it rode like a buckboard and would lift the inside rear tire off the road during spirited driving, good thing that was a rare occurrence of having no camper on the truck
hope this helps. cb.

 

[OLDBULL8]

Measure the front bumper under it to ground, do the same with the rear, hook up the camper, remeasure again, that will tell you how much squat at the rear is. Adjust the weight distributing bars to level it. You should have around 550 to 600 lbs weight on the hitch. What are the bars rated at? There is 750 and 1000 lb bars which are the norm. I would forget the helper springs and use air bags, they are adjustable by air pressure.

This thread should be in towing and hauling anyhow.

Edit: car hauling trailer and camper trailer is like trying to compare apples and oranges.

 

[Kevin 007]

I have air bags. They are nice, but; it's not too uncommon for leaks to develop over time. I'm fighting a leak now and of course it's winter, cold, wet and dirty out and I have no shop or time to work on it. So Next time, I will settle for the rougher ride of helper springs and not worry about them again. Just my $.02 worth

 

[gandalf]

fwiw
they have worked great for me in the past given the circumstances are right, on my old 67 250 I had an 9?' caveman camper on it (read heavy *****) the truck did squat a little but the issue was sway in corners.
so on go the full helwig overloads and it cured the road-ability issues UNTIL I pulled the camper off, then it rode like a buckboard and would lift the inside rear tire off the road during spirited driving, good thing that was a rare occurrence of having no camper on the truck
hope this helps. cb.

I had the same problem with my '86 F-250. I hauled our 11 foot Lance camper for a while, no alteration to the suspension. It was squirreley, bordering on scarey. There was also too much squat. I too added Helwig springs, I think 2500 model, and helped the squat a lot. The handling was better also, but still not as good as I wanted. As stated, without the weight of the camper, the ride was a bit harsh. I might as well have had the rear axle bolted directly to the frame.

 

[jayro88]

This thread should be in towing and hauling anyhow.

I thought of asking there, and I may, but I wanted information about helper springs specifically from people that had used them on our platform. Not input from individuals driving diesels from different manufactures or even newer Ford vehicles. Someone driving a 2014 RAM 3500 saying they have no need for them doesn't help me.

 

[franklin2]

The weight distribution hitch is all you need. It makes a world of difference on any type vehicle pulling a camper. They come with or you can add sway control to it also. What you are doing with it is actually putting the tongue weight of the camper on the FRONT wheels as well as the rear. They really work good. The only improvement you could do over the weight dist hitch is to buy a 5th wheel camper.