ball height for towing 196

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   Got a 196 which I had pulled home with a Silverado a couple of months ago but recently had a too-close encounter with an elk with the truck and had to replace it...the truck not the elk.  Anyway, I replaced the Silverado with a Ram Rebel which has air suspension and when I hooked the new truck up with the trailer, the R-Pod was lifted at the tongue and angled down at the back.  So, my question is at what ball height should the 196 be towed?   

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Linward Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 16 Feb 2020 Location: Oregon Coast Online Status: Offline Posts: 15	Topic: ball height for towing 196 Posted: 10 May 2020 at 9:44pm
	Got a 196 which I had pulled home with a Silverado a couple of months ago but recently had a too-close encounter with an elk with the truck and had to replace it...the truck not the elk. Anyway, I replaced the Silverado with a Ram Rebel which has air suspension and when I hooked the new truck up with the trailer, the R-Pod was lifted at the tongue and angled down at the back. So, my question is at what ball height should the 196 be towed?
	It's all about choices.

StephenH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6288	Posted: 10 May 2020 at 9:47pm
	I think you can answer that. Make sure the RPod is level. Measure the distance from the hitch to the ground on the RPod and then you will know at what height the ball should be on the Ram. When hitched, the RPod should be level to slightly lower in the front.
	StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Linward Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 16 Feb 2020 Location: Oregon Coast Online Status: Offline Posts: 15	Posted: 11 May 2020 at 9:24pm
	Thanks StephenH for responding. What perplexed me with the Ram truck was that the air suspension is dynamic; it not only self levels, but it elevates once the truck reaches 30mph and again if I go off road. But I see your point that once the the trailer is level (or slightly tilted down at the tongue), I have the hitch at the proper height. I've never had a truck with air suspension before.
	It's all about choices.

StephenH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6288	Posted: 11 May 2020 at 9:55pm
	I have not experience with air suspensions. I would think there would be a way to not have it change, which would make it hard to get a consistent trailer hitch height. Your owner's manual or your dealer should have more information about this.
	StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

john in idaho Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 04 Nov 2014 Location: Eagle Idaho Online Status: Offline Posts: 611	Posted: 12 May 2020 at 9:35am
	You would think the owner's manual or the dealer would have the answers to your questions about towing with air bags. Our main TV is a Ram 1500 - no air suspension. N ew Durango with air suspension and tow package -- no info on towing, shifting , tire pressure, etc. Dealer is no help and the guy at Chrysler has clearly never towed anything. For now I will stick with the Ram truck for towing.

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 12 May 2020 at 11:25am
	I found this which sounds like it turns off the ram air suspension: Apparently, lifting the truck (maybe lifting even one wheel) automatically puts the truck into "tire jack" mode, which effectively disables the air suspension. You have to go into the uConnect Settings menu, into Suspension, select 'Tire Jack Mode', and turn it back off - your suspension will resume functioning. One issue is that if you use a wdh the air suspension will try to fight it by raising the hitch height which reduces the tension on the wdh spring bars. That will move more load onto the rear axle from the front axle which is not what you want. For this reason if it were me and I didn't like my ride height or load distribution while towing I would defeat the air suspension and use a wdh to get things where I wanted them.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold