If you plan on using your off-road truck for towing, upgrades to your suspension are a necessity. As the rear of your vehicle takes on more and more weight from both the cargo you’re carrying and the tongue weight of the trailer you’re towing, it can start to develop a squat. When the squat gets to an actual sag, you’re in trouble. Rear-end sag puts more stress on your vehicle’s frame and suspension components. If you want to run and play heavy, you need to build a heavy-duty truck with improved towing performance that can take the load.
Why Towing Matters To Off-Roaders
While not every off-roader uses their vehicle to tow, a lot of you will at some point. Whether it’s a small utility trailer to get some work done in town, a boat trailer so you can get wet-and-wild at the lake after getting down-and-dirty overlanding to its shores, or a full-sized camper trailer because you want a full-fledged home-away-from-home after a long day in the field. Even without a trailer, many off-roaders carry plenty of gear and accessories in their truck bed, and a tougher suspension can go a long way toward making the ride more comfortable while preserving your vehicle. Trucks make great haulers, and with the right truck upgrades for towing, your off-road truck can be one of the best on or off the road.
What It Takes To Be A Towing Beast
Most off-road vehicles have the ability to tow successfully. Off-road vehicles usually have a strong powertrain that is geared for torque, giving them the ability to move heavy loads against resistance. It’s the same power they use to pull themselves up, over, through, and out of obstacles you encounter wheeling in the field. While it can tow, however, it may not be built to provide the best towing experience. One of the benefits of building your custom truck is the ability to add and improve functionality, engineering and building a vehicle that excels at the full range of jobs you intend to give it.
Hooking It Up
The first step to making sure your vehicle is ready to tow is making sure you can hook a trailer and go. The physical apparatus needed to tow needs to have the right components to match up with the trailer, secure the load, and safely pull it on or off the road.
- Receiver Hitches - While many stock and aftermarket bumpers can still accept a ball, receiver hitches are becoming common accessories for subcompact cars to one-ton trucks, and everything in between the two. If your vehicle didn’t come with a stock receiver, aftermarket receivers for a variety of vehicles are widely available. These off-road upgrades for towing allow you to swap hitches, balls, hooks, and accessory mounts easily and often use a no-drill, bolt-on design that makes them a popular DIY off-road upgrade.
- B&W Hitches - The other half of the receiver hitch equation is the slide-in hitches that fit the receiver on your truck. B&W Hitches makes some of the best in the business, making a hitch from these experts a top off-road upgrade for towing when you want to make sure you’re ready to pull hard. They offer outstanding variety to fit a wide range of towing options, from recreational to industrial, giving you the option to lower the hitch to compensate for your lifted build, add a tow hook for recovery, mount a fifth wheel for the really big trailers, or use a variety of hitch balls to fit almost every trailer imaginable.
- Wiring Harness - Most modern trucks have a wiring harness that is already prepared for towing. It may require an adaptor that plugs into the harness, usually around your driver's side taillight. Others may have tow light outlets or plugs pre-installed in the bumper. IF your truck isn't equipped with these, you’ll want to talk to one of our installation pros to make sure you can get the right part for your vehicle.
Going Heavy
When your vehicle rolls off the assembly line in its stock configuration, it’s assigned a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) and towing capacity that establishes the maximum safe load for it. This rating and towing capacity are based on your frame, motor, transmission, and suspension components. Upgrading your suspension means you can handle heavier loads while also handling moderate-sized loads easier.
- Deaver Heavy Duty Leaf Springs - Your leaf springs support the rear end of your vehicle–including the weight of the load you’re towing and any bed cargo–while also locating the rear axle. In simpler terms, they hold your rear wheels down for traction while holding your truck’s body up. One of the first big off-road upgrades for towing is going to be beefing up these leaf springs, and Deavers are some of the toughest on the market. Made from a bundle of 12 metal leaves, they offer increased travel to dampen the jolts of off-road driving while keeping your rear-end supported under heavier loads than your stock springs were meant for.
- ICON Vehicle Dynamics Multi-Rate Leaf Springs - If you only tow occasionally, ICON’s multi-rate leaf springs offer improved towing performance when you need it but without locking you into the stiffer heavy springs all the time. These off-road upgrades for towing are adjustable by the user due to an adjustable spring configuration modified by adding leaf bundles together. You can go big for towing, combatting a squatting rear end, then choose a lighter configuration for more bounce in your bustle over rocks and hills.
- Bump Stops - Bump stops do just that: they stop bumps when your suspension bottoms out. This can happen anytime you’re taking a heavy load over a bumpy road, but when there isn’t even a road, it can happen a lot. This creates metal-on-metal impacts that make towing more difficult and can damage your vehicle. One of the best kits available, the RPG Stage 2 Suspension Kit, takes it a step further. Along with a set of 2.5” Fox air bumps, you also get the frame strengthening elements to fortify your rear end against the stresses of towing off the road. This doesn’t just give you improved towing performance, though. A stronger frame with quality bump stops means you can push your vehicle’s limits a little harder, confident it can take rougher play with or without a trailer.
Towing Like A Pro
Once you’ve found the right off-road towing upgrades for your suspension and towing connection, it’s time to consider a few more factors for improved towing performance.
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Where Will Your Truck And Trailer Take You
Your off-road vehicle can also be a towing beast with the right upgrades for off-road towing. You can get improved towing performance when it’s needed and a better off-road experience even when you don’t. If you need help planning your build or have any questions about our products, talk to one of our experts. They’re ready to deliver the old-school customer service you love, days, nights, and weekends. Order your towing upgrades from Offroad Alliance today.
