[SUNTHROW]

I am towing a 6500# travel trailer that has a 600+ tongue weight with my touareg and using electric brake controller and weight distribution hitch but the suspension is still a bit lower in the rear and up in the front for my comfort, I am told a common way to fix this situation is with coil helper air bags , firestone coil-rite #4176 kit seems to be tbe correct model even though its not listed on some sites.. has anyone tried using these systems before?

 

[SUNTHROW]

Pictures

 

[Fourdiesel]

If you have air suspension (you don't say if you do or don't) then you should not need even a WDH.
I do not have any experience with the helper air bags so cannot be of assistance in answering your question directly

 

[Spiegelglatt]

I would bet if you were to get a Sherline tongue scale your actual tongue is pushing 1k lbs. I tow a 32' Passport advertised at 500 lb and it's actually is just shy of 800 lb with all gear (meaning hitch, bars, sway, and loaded...)...see my garage for pic.

Next, have your tried the next link on your WD chains? One link difference made all the difference for me in leveling out. If you hitch up in a driveway, with your truck in the street and the trailer up a bit (as driveways generally are a few inches above the street level) you may need to pull out to level ground to feel comfortable with the extra tension loading (my chains don't even reach when in my driveway because of slope but are prefect on level ground).

No experience with air bags, gut tells me Firestone doesn't have one that works with the Treg's suspension.

One last thing, if your fresh tank is forward, are you full in the pic? Water is very heavy...

 

[hedditch]

One other thing worth considering is cutting and redrilling the 50mm (2inch) square receiver section to bring your hitch as close as you can to the body. If you do the maths and work out the effect of shortening the bar up by what looks like a possible 3 inches give or take, until the reinforcement is just clear of the receiver. You will be quite surprised how much that will change the leverage over the front end. Won't solve everything, but in most of these situations it is a combination solution. This would reduce the leverage factor somewhere in the vicinity of 10%, which is much the same as reducing your ball weight by the same in respect to the lift on the front axle. I has no bearing on the total load on the vehicle , just the way it's presented. You will less "nose high".

Give it a try and see for yourself.

Excuse the ramblings, been a long night....

Stuart...

 

[mickmackinbiker]

I am towing a 6500# travel trailer that has a 600+ tongue weight with my touareg and using electric brake controller and weight distribution hitch but the suspension is still a bit lower in the rear and up in the front for my comfort, I am told a common way to fix this situation is with coil helper air bags , firestone coil-rite #4176 kit seems to be tbe correct model even though its not listed on some sites.. has anyone tried using these systems before?

Hi, is your Treg a T3? I am not familiar with T3 rear suspension.

If it has rear coil over shocks, then those helper bags will not work.

You would have to replace the stock coilovers with an air strut, similar to stock air suspension, to get air ride on the rear of your Treg.

Yes, this is possible. Just takes time and money!

Mick

 

[Marbles]

Couple of things, go and get the trailer weight with it fully loaded like you are going camping, clothes, food, water tanks and propane tanks filled, the 6500lbs listed is the empty weight of the camper. Get the front axle weight and rear axle weight of the Touareg while the trailer is hooked up and also empty and make sure it is loaded like going camping, so if that's four people plus the cargo area full fill it up to get an accurate weight. Get the actual tongue weight and then get the axle weight of the trailer and finally the combined weight of the whole rig. You probably might be suprized how much it will be. Then you can adjust the weight distribution chains to match the load. Also I agree with hedditch about the length of the hitch. Read the owners manual on the T1/T2 it calls for I believe and 6" hitch pin center to ball center not sure what the T3/T4 spec is. Look on the towing and RV forums and websites about the weighing of the rig and setting up the weight distribution. If your RV dealer doesn't have a scale find a truck stop or try a local bulk gravel/ mulch place and some have scales and at a non busy time could be willing to assist with weights. Heck around me now a lot of the Police, Sheriff and Highway Patrol have mobile scales.

 

[Spiegelglatt]

Regarding shortening the shank (which I agree is a good thought as well), is potential impact on opening rear hatch...not such a big deal if you have a t1/t2 with back glass hatch, but pain in the butt if you didn't have this. You might have enough space still...I am just saying consider this.

I also would encourage you (because I can tell visually this is at the top of the Treg's ability), to carry passengers in a chaser car. That way you can better utilize the payload where it is needed.

This season will be our first doing this, two kids, the wife, and a 100 lb dog take up payload.

 

[mickmackinbiker]

One other thing worth considering is cutting and redrilling the 50mm (2inch) square receiver section to bring your hitch as close as you can to the body. If you do the maths and work out the effect of shortening the bar up by what looks like a possible 3 inches give or take, until the reinforcement is just clear of the receiver. You will be quite surprised how much that will change the leverage over the front end. Won't solve everything, but in most of these situations it is a combination solution. This would reduce the leverage factor somewhere in the vicinity of 10%, which is much the same as reducing your ball weight by the same in respect to the lift on the front axle. I has no bearing on the total load on the vehicle , just the way it's presented. You will less "nose high". Give it a try and see for yourself. Excuse the ramblings, been a long night.... Stuart...

Hi, there is a dimension sticker on my hitch. I shortened the receiver to put the ball in exactly the spot depicted on the hitch.

With my trailer I can still open the main hatch as long as I am mindful of the position of the jack handle.

Mick

 

[Scubacruiser]

Speaking from experience with the air helper springs, I had them installed on a Pathfinder years ago and they worked very well. I had an in-cab gauge and control so that I could raise and lower the rear helper bags as required. Hook up the trailer and fill the bags until the truck was levelled. The only issue was having to keep the bags filled with at least 5psi at all times. They tended to leak over time and eventually got damaged due to underinflation. Replacement bags had to be installed. I've tried both the Airlift 1000 bags, and the Firestone bags with pretty much the same results.

I have no idea if they will fit the Touareg's coil springs.

There is also a model that does not install in the coil spring. These may work on a Touareg.