Lowering the ride height of a pickup truck can have a number of advantages, from both a performance and an aesthetic perspective. It can reduce body roll, sharpen handling, and give the truck a sleek, low-slung look. However, because of the utilitarian nature of pickup trucks, it is important to consider the effects that lowering can have on your truck’s ability to do what it was built to do: haul and tow.
Does lowering a truck affect towing capacity? As long as the truck is lowered properly and using high-quality parts, towing capacity will remain unaffected. However, if the truck is lowered using cheap aftermarket parts, towing capacity may be reduced, which can make towing loads unsafe — even at or below the truck’s listed towing capacity.
So, while it is possible to safely lower a truck without reducing its towing capacity, there are a number of different considerations that go into doing so. These considerations revolve almost entirely around the method by which the truck is lowered, as well as the quality of the parts used to do it. If any detail is overlooked, it can lead to a truck that is unfit to tow, which can be a serious safety hazard.
Are You More Limited on What You Can Tow?
As long as you do everything correctly, you are not more limited on what you can tow with your lowered truck.
A truck’s ability to tow is a function of its engine output and its suspension’s ability to withstand the added weight of a trailer being attached to the back. The former is, of course, unaffected by suspension modifications, but the latter is a very important thing to consider, so let’s look at it in a bit more detail.
Suspension Travel
When a truck is carrying a trailer, its rear suspension is responsible for not only holding up the weight of the truck but holding up the weight of the trailer and its contents, too. The suspension’s ability to withstand this weight is a direct function of the stiffness of the springs. If the springs are too soft, the rear-end of the truck will sag, which can create problems with wheel clearance and bottoming out. If the springs are too stiff, the result will be a very bouncy and unstable ride, which can be difficult to handle on the road, especially with heavy loads.
How Not to Lower Your Truck
It’s been mentioned a few times that lowering your truck the right way will not affect towing capacity. Before we look into the right way, let’s get the no-go’s out of the way first.
- Avoid cheap parts at all costs – These can break easily and cause dangerous malfunctions that making towing very unsafe.
- Do not simply cut your factory springs – Cutting your factory springs to make them shorter and thus lower the truck is tempting from a price-effectiveness standpoint, but this will alter the spring rate and subsequently reduce the truck’s towing capacity.
- Do not go too low – The vast majority of lowering applications are perfectly suitable for towing. However, there is a limit. If you still plan to tow up to your truck’s maximum capacity, it is best to avoid ultra-low “frame scraper” builds, as it takes a lot of extra work to make these trucks suitable for towing.
Now that those caveats have been addressed, we can take a closer look at the correct ways to lower your truck safely, without affecting its towing capacity.
How to Lower Your Truck Without Affecting Towing Capacity
Now that we’ve outlined what goes into a truck’s towing capacity and cautioned against some dangerous practices that can reduce it, we can take a look at some great options to lower your truck.
Drop Spindles
Drop spindles are a fantastic way to lower your truck without affecting the stock suspension geometry (and thus towing capacity) at all. They work by relocating the mounting surface of the wheel (the hub) higher up in the wheel well. In doing this, the wheel will sit closer to the body of the truck, bringing the truck lower to the ground. Because drop spindles are used with the truck’s factory springs, towing capacity will not be affected.
Lowering Springs
Lowering springs are a great way to lower your truck and improve the handling while doing it. Replacing the factory springs with shorter ones will bring the body of the truck lower to the ground and improve handling as a function of their typically increased stiffness over the stock springs. As long as you choose springs with the correct spring rate, your towing capacity will not be affected.
Deep Pocket Control Arms
Installing control arms with deeper pockets into your truck will allow the spring to sit lower down in the control arm, bringing the body of the truck closer to the ground. Like drop spindles, deep pocket control arms reuse the factory springs, which will leave your towing capacity unaffected.
Air Suspension
While an air suspension setup is the most expensive option listed here, it is also the best. An air suspension works by replacing the factory springs with inflatable air bags. These air bags can be inflated or deflated to raise or lower the truck at the push of a button.
However, an on-board air compression system and tank need to be installed, as well as an electronic control module. It can be a large project, but when done correctly, an air suspension system is an extremely effective way to lower your truck without affecting its towing capacity.
There are other options available to lower your truck, but these are the most common ways to do so without affecting your truck’s ability to tow.
What Else Does Lowering Your Truck Affect?
Now that we’ve gone over many of the ways to safely lower your truck without affecting its towing capacity, we can look at some of the other subsequent benefits of lowering your truck.
Looks
Aesthetics is likely the number one reason that someone is interested in lowering their truck, and this is great because the aesthetic improvement is gained regardless of the method used to lower the truck. Most observers won’t be able to tell how the truck has been lowered without taking a close look into the wheel well, meaning that almost all of the above methods are a great way to give your pickup that sleek street-truck look.
Improved Handling
Another benefit of lowering your truck is a substantial improvement in the way that the truck handles, as long as the truck is lowered using different springs (drop spindles or deep pocket control arms will not noticeably improve handling).
From the factory, most trucks are designed to be comfortable during highway cruising, but this greatly sacrifices the truck’s sharpness and agility. And, while there’s only so much agility to be had from a 4,000+ pound pickup truck, lowering the truck using different springs or airbags can significantly improve the truck’s handling.
Decreased Roll-Over Risk
This likely isn’t a major reason that drives people to lower their trucks, but it is an important one nonetheless. Bringing your truck lower to the ground lowers its center of gravity, which can greatly reduce the risk of the truck rolling over during emergency maneuvers.
Safety Should be Your Number One Goal
Above all else, safety should be your number one goal if you’re looking to lower your truck while maintaining its ability to tow. Unsafe towing setups are a hazard to everyone on the road, but the good news is that they can be avoided by following the above advice.
If you’re thinking of different ways to accessorize your truck or make it more functional, consider checking out my recommended accessories page. I spent a good amount of time picking out mods that can be useful for most pickup trucks.