Trailer weight vs. headlights

[Mark B.]

I just went from a Chev Heavy duty 3/4 ton to a silverado 1/2 ton. Got 280 lbs of weight at the hitch, tounge weight, and it makes the new truck drop in back quite a bit. The old truck never budged. My thoughts are that I get a little annoyed when a on-coming vehicle blinds me because they're dims are way to high. Does anyone out there adjust they're headlights as a courtesy to others. I'll be hitting the road for 10 days with the boat on the whole time. I'm just wondering if a few turns on the headlight adjustment would be in order. Any thoughts or suggestions on how much to adjust or am I worried for nothing and just let them suffer out on the interstate. Thanks in advance!

[dummie]

The only problem with the adjustment is when you are driving around at night with no trailer your headlights would be pointing to the ground. When I pulled my camper around I had load levelers put on(air shocks}. There is a leveler that works with your hitch setup that will level your vehicle out. Good fishing and God bless.

[Phil T.]

I drive an old pickup that sometimes carries a slide-in camper while it tows a boat. I installed a pair of air bag springs between the axle and frame. When loaded, I add air until the front and rear bumpers are at equal heights. When not loaded, I reduce the air pressure. When unloaded, the headlights are only a little bit low.
The cheapest place I found to buy the bags was J.C. Whitney. I chose the Firestone bags because they lift against the axle, not on the leaf spring behind the axle.

[Pitts]

Yea you can do this. When you are empty and no trailer pull up to a building with your lights on and get out and mark you height of your lights when you are 25' from the building. Them go hook up your boat and come back to the same place and see how high they really are. If you want to adjust them down do so only as far down to the original height and count the # of turns on you adjuster screw it takes to do this.
Then when the boat is on adjust them down and when you take it off adjust them back up. A simple screw driver and 1 min.

Hope this helps

[Pooch]

I have a Chevy 1500 4wd and use it mainly on the farm. So it "earns it's keep". Go with the Firestone air bags. This is the second half ton I've installed them on and they are great. The only problem I have is that I sometimes treat my half ton like a one ton. You can load your truck then level it out with the airbags. They are stable as can be. When not needing the extra capacity I drop them down to about 10 psi. Even when carrying 25 psi in them the ride is alot better than any 3/4 ton I've owned. Email me if you have any questions or want a quick photo of them by email.
pooch in central Illinois