Timbren on Toyota Sienna

[Eric_Phillips]

We are purchasing a new pop-up trailer and will be towing it with a 2013 Toyota Sienna. The past several years we have been pulling a smaller trailer with the same vehicle. This new trailer will be much closer to the recommended towing capacity. I was thinking about putting on some Timbren helper springs. I know these are not a fix for poor or inappropriate towing set up. Anyone have experience with these on a minivan? Are they difficult to install? I am pretty mechanical but have never worked on suspensions. Doing a quick internet search it seems there is not much variation in pricing. Is there a good place to order them or does Timbren pretty well regulate the price?

 

[ihcfan]

I have used them for many years on my Ford pick-ups. I really like them for towing. On a truck, install takes me about 30 minutes, no big deal. You are correct, the price is about the same everywhere for them, got my last sets on Amazon. Good luck!

 

[Copperhead]

While you are at it, take a look at SumoSprings. Kind of a cross between Timbrens and air bags. They are cellular foam structure. I am using a set on my Chevy 2500 that I lowered the back end a couple of inches to level the pickup out, and the Sumo's are fantastic. These come in various ratings for either leaf, torsion, or coil spring setups. They even make them for travel trailers and RV's.

SumoSprings(R) by SuperSprings(R) International, Inc.

 

[crashz]

I had them on the front of an 2004 GMC 1500 to help hold the weight of a snow plow. They did just as advertised without affecting the unloaded ride. But not entirely without consequences.

On that suspension the stop location is between the lower control arm pivot and wheel. The Timbren was so hard that the bushings on the pivot did the flexing. It made it difficult to keep aligned. And while GM had a lot of issues with failed wheel bearings in those trucks, I think mine was exaggerated because of the Timbrens. I replaced 6 driver side and 7 passenger side wheel bearings in 7 years and 179k miles. They were always name brand, though I tried a few different ones expecting different results. I always kept the load below the GAWR and GVWR and ballasted correctly.

For your application, it may be OK, but I wanted to give you my story for something to think about. If I were you, I might want to look into a weight distributing hitch and look at loading the van in a way that will distribute the load ideally for balance and proper tongue weight.