Truck suspension upgrades

[Siphon]

I recently bought a 2012 Outfitter Apex 8 pop-up truck camper that's going to ride in the bed of a 2015 Silverado 3500 SRW CC SB diesel. The real-world wet weight of this camper is about 3200 lbs, and at least occasionally, we will also be trailering a boat with about 500lbs tongue weight.

I'm looking for some help with setting the truck up for the camper. I expect to have to make a few suspension upgrades to help the driving experience but I need to keep a fairly comfortable unloaded ride since it's my daily driver.

I have a set of Rancho 9000s on order. I was thinking that rather than airbags, I would do a set of Supersprings Supersways/Torklift Upper Stableloads, plus a set of Sumosprings Rebels in the blue light-duty compound. But if it would just be better to go with a traditional sway bar/airbag setup I guess I could be talked into it. We are planning to do 'light' boondocking on forest/desert roads but I'm not interested in anything real extreme. Any thoughts on what would work best for our setup would be greatly appreciated.

[450Donn]

Shocks will do nothing to improve carrying capacity. Bilsteins tend to be a favorite.
Susper springs and upgrade to 19 inch tires and wheels, should be all you need.

[Graybyrd]

We've an older rig (Chev C-20, Diesel, 8600 GVW) with a 3,000 lb "wet" S&S 9.5 cabover camper. The stock P.U. handled the load fine, but to get extra stability for cornering and to reduce sway, we ordered and installed a set of Timbren suspension enhancement snubbers. They bolt in place of the factory 'jounce' rubber blocks above the axle. In our case I specified the "severe service" kit that puts the Timbren rubber bellows in constant contact with the axle. The standard SES kit sits clear of the axle about 1-1/2" or so, for a much gentler ride unloaded. I'd guess from your requirement for a gentle unloaded ride, the standard SES kit would be good.

I cannot say enough positive things about the difference the Timbrens made. They took an 'acceptable' handling situation and made it truly excellent. Admittedly, the ride is much firmer and rough pavement is quite noticeable, but that's an easy trade-off to eliminate the "three-legged elephant" lurch around corners.

We eliminated airbags for two reasons: continual reports that they leak, and no desire to add air lines and a pump. The Timbrens are an "install and forget" upgrade.