I won a set of lower Stable Loads from Torklift and am sharing insight as to my experience so far. I received them through the Golden Ticket contest. Let me begin by saying prior to the Stable Loads I already added air bags, a sway bar and heavy duty shocks. My interest in the Stable Loads centered on helping with the remaining top heavy body roll feeling.
First off, drilling holes in my overload springs was no Joke. I had intended to do the install at a friends shop on a lift. I got impatient an ended up doing the install on my back in my driveway. I used a heavy duty 1/2" drill with dial select speed set as low as it would go. To get enough pressure on the drill I ended up using a small floor jack as others have done. The kit came with 4 drill bits and I ended up going through 3 of them.
The lower overload springs on my truck actually angle down away from the spring pack slightly. With no load on the truck, when the Stable loads are in the engaged position there is still a small gap. Once the camper is loaded they are in contact/engaged.
Please note that I also decided to install the upper Stable Loads at the same time. When I loaded the camper I noticed 1" less sag with only 5 psi in the air bags (minimum required). I drove around and immediately noticed the top heavy body roll feeling was greatly reduced. I believe it is now reduced to the extent possible and completely eliminating it is not a practical goal with a camper that when loaded probably weighs close to 4500 lbs.
The first trip with the Stable Loads was a learning experience. Along with a more stable and safe feeling rig, I also noticed that ride quality unfortunately had gotten somewhat worse. During my install I called Torklift for guidance and was advised to use very little air in the air bags once the Stable Loads were installed. This didn't exactly work out. Small bumps in the road felt magnified and the ride was pretty rough. I gradually increased the pressure in the air bags in increments trying to find that "sweet spot". I settled on 35 psi and that felt pretty good for a few hundred miles. On our last trip I drove on a pretty rough section of freeway. The ride was very rough and the rig was getting jarred pretty hard. I increased the air in the bags to 45 psi and that pretty much solved it. When I stopped I checked, and at 45 psi the Stable Loads were still fully engaged and doing their job. I also want to add that before installing the Stable Loads I ran between 75 psi and 90 psi in my air bags.
Final thoughts, the Stable Loads greatly improved stability and handling and in my opinion eliminated the top heavy body roll feel to the extent possible (a lot). Ride comfort however got somewhat worse. The combination of the Stable Loads and 45 lbs of air in the air bags gives me the best feeling ride in all regards. The ride is still comfortable yet still much more stable.
Erick
