[malibu43]

Originally Posted by sourdough

I am assuming the helper springs are the same as overload springs??

IMO I wouldn't worry about them at this point. Get the wdh dialed in; it will help a LOT with getting everything leveled out. As far as the squish/bounce the first, and best thing, to do is get rid of the car tires that came on the truck and put LT tires on it. You need them for the load capacity and they definitely are one of the first/best things to do to minimize the squish/bounce. P rated car tires are on there for getting groceries and having a "soft", car like ride - not trying to control a trailer thrown behind the back bumper.

Good point on the LT tires.

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

I agree. If the WDH is set up properly, that is all you need. What WDH system did you get. If the rear of your tow vehicle has squat in it, it's definitely not set up correct. So, first, need to know what type of system you have.

Thanks. Will leave the Helper Springs in the garage for now. I do know for sure that the RV dealer set my hitch height too low relative to my coupler height. I’m going to have them fix that next week.

The WDH they installed for me is the Husky TS 800-1200 lb. Without the WD bars engaged, I get almost 3” of sag in the back and I think the front came up about ½” (wrote the numbers down, but they’re not right in front of me). With the WD hooked up, I get 1 ¼” of drop in the rear and the front comes down ¼”. The instructions for the WDH say I should get the same amount of drop in the rear and the front, but I’m not going to set the WD more aggressively until the hitch heigh is corrected.

Originally Posted by travelin texans

Just realize that every pound you add, whether people, pets or helper springs, comes directly off of the already limited payload of a 1/2 ton truck.
With that rv you're already at 800+ lbs of tongue weight + the weight of the hitch off of whatever the the yellow sticker states on the the driver's door jamb.
If I recall GM is now listing tow weights for "conventional trailers" & "gooseneck trailers" on the door jamb, you need to also realize that those ARE NOT RVs. The manufacturer arrives at those weights using "conventional" trailers where the weight can be placed directly over the axles lowering the tongue weight considerably, you're unable to do that with a RV. The average tongue weight of a TT will be 12-13% of the GVWR posted on the front corner of a particular rv.
All this to say adding helper springs may reduce the sag, but does nothing to increase the payload of any truck, but rather reduces it due to the weight of the added equipment.

Good point about the weight of the helper springs eating away at payload capacity. It is true that with a ½ ton there is not a whole lot of extra weight to work with.