I picked up my tractor from the farm and brought it home today. Trailer, tractor and mower on the scales was 10,440 pounds.
Squat/Ride height: I think I stated in my earlier post that the Wireless One onboard compressor kit I am using has a minimum 5 psi you can air down to. That being said, with my empty trailer, height from the ground to the bottom of the wheel well was 41 7/8" with 5 psi in the bags. With the tractor loaded, the TRX squatted pretty good and the height measured 39 3/4" with 5 psi in the bags (a little over 2" of squat). With 52 psi in the bags, I brought the truck back up to the empty trailer ride level. I wasn't thinking about the (original) ride height with no trailer and 5 psi in the bags, which would have been 43 1/4", so I don't really know how much air I needed to bring the truck back up to the original ride height. But, doing the math at 43 1/4" (empty truck w/ 5 psi) - 39 3/4" (loaded tractor and trailer) would give me 3 1/2" of squat. Regardless, I used 52 psi to get the height up to the empty trailer height, but it looks like I should have used a little more. Next time I load it, I will figure out my exact psi setting needed.
Ride quality: The TRX pulled the load without any issues. I had the drive mode set to "auto" and I think it may have put it in trailer haul mode on its own. I say that as the trailer light on the dash lit up and the blind spot monitoring automatically adjusted to account for the trailer. I was pretty impressed at how good the blind spot monitoring was for the whole length of the truck and trailer, it worked flawlessly. The TRX pulled the trailer straight down the road with no trailer sway and bumps were not really anymore noticeable than you'd expect with a heavy trailer. I did hit one road that had a poor surface (wavy left-to-right and in elevation) for about a mile. When I initially hit that section doing about 55 mph, the trailer felt a little squirrely and I could tell my load weight distribution (front to back) was not optimal. To this point, I have a 20' trailer with a gate and the load I hauled the other day was my worst configuration, because the only way I can haul it is to pull up the rear wheel of the bush hog mower and load it first, and then turn the tractor around and load it with the front end loader as far forward as possible. Ideally, I'd rather put more weight up front (like in the pics with my empty tractor). However, I did have plenty of tongue weight based on the squat without air, so although not ideal, this load did not feel unsafe to me (mower, loader, and engine were in front of the front trailer axle). I need a different trailer, or to figure out how to remove my trailer gate to allow for longer loads with the tractor all the way forward. This is the only configuration I haul that is sketchy like that lol.
Transmission: I felt like the transmission handled the load pretty well. It felt like the RPM shift points went up (to around 4,000-4,500 rpm).
Brakes: Braking was no problem. I always give myself plenty of space when hauling (or even when just driving in general). The integrated brake controller on the TRX is a nice feature and I had the gain set to 10. My trailer has two 5,000 lb axles with brakes on all 4 wheels, and I didn't feel like the trailer was pushing me when I came to a stop.
Power and MPG: This one is a no-brainer. The TRX has power to spare to pull this load. In fact, at one stop light, a Honda Accord was beside me and tried to out accelerate me to 60 mph - but I decided to not let it happen
. I can't say he was flooring it, but neither was I. Needless to say, this truck has plenty of horsepower. That being said, before I hauled this tractor, I was getting an average of 13.5 mpg (first 890 miles all in). I reset the mpg meter before leaving the farm and averaged 7.3 mpg pulling the tractor home (44 miles to the scale).
Timber Grove air bags: Bottom line, I am pleased! I already provided my feedback and pics in the original thread regarding fit, finish, and installation. After loading my tractor, adjusting the sag (ride height), and taking it for a spin, I have no complaints, and I would recommend these airbags for others to use. The Wireless One compressor kit (not sold by Timber Grove Enterprises) is also very good. Set it, and forget it. Once you have the air pressure where you want it, if for any reason the pressure needs to adjust, the compressor senses this and either adds or removes air as-needed.
Closing thoughts: I have heard a lot about weight distribution hitches and have read many reviews about why you should not overload your truck (based on the manufacturer's recommendations). That being said, I had very good success with my Power Wagon using firestone airbags to pull my tractor and implements; it had a max tow rating of 9,900 pounds. The TRX tow rating is considerably less at 8,100 pounds. The load I hauled yesterday is 28% over the rated capacity ((10,400-8,100)/8,100). I'm not advocating that anyone overload their truck, but for me, the TRX can handle the few times (4-5 round trips) I haul this heavy load for a relatively short distance. I do use my trailer for other stuff, much lighter loads including: a smaller tractor, a car, and construction material. The TRX can handle this maximum load and that makes me happy
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Here are the pics from this trip...
