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Lowering a truck can have several benefits for you and your truck, including a lower risk of rollover, better handling, and a stiffer ride. But what about lowering a truck that you want to tow with? Will lowering it affect its tow capacity?

Although light towing jobs probably won’t be affected much, or at all, by a lowered suspension, you could notice significant differences in your truck’s towing ability with larger loads. Here are a few drawbacks you might encounter.

Buy A Lowered Truck

Are There Drawbacks To Lowering a Truck When It Comes To Towing?

1. You Could Bottom Out More

Lowering a truck essentially means lowering its suspension so that it sits lower to the ground. While this can benefit its center of gravity to boost its traction and make it less likely for rollovers, it also can cause your truck to bottom out. If it bottoms out without towing anything, it’ll probably bottom out even more once you attach a tow load.

You might find that you bottom out more around corners, especially, and small potholes that wouldn’t usually bother your truck.

2. Your Ride Could Be Uncomfortable

Lowering makes your suspension more rigid, which means that you’ll feel more bumps in the road while you drive. The vibrations and bumps you’ll feel might cause you discomfort, especially on long drives.

When you’re towing a load, you’ll have even more weight your truck is carrying near the rear, which will lower the suspension even further and cause added driving discomfort.

3. You Could Void Your Warranty

Lowering your truck after you buy it will likely affect your manufacturer’s warranty coverage. Anything you do to upgrade or change your truck after purchasing can void the warranty on any parts affected by the installation, even if you believe your tweaks can benefit your vehicle. Although this doesn’t directly affect your truck’s towing ability, it could make it pricier for you to repair anything that goes wrong with your truck while towing.

Say, for example, you tow a load that’s well within the manufacturer’s weight limits for towing. However, driving uphill proved to be too much for your truck to handle and the transmission failed. The manufacturer can, within their rights, say that your lowered suspension affected its ability to tow the load properly and, therefore, deny coverage for your transmission.

Fortunately, when buying a Petty’s Garage lowered truck from a Sherry Chrysler, you can rest assured that it maintains a full warranty backed up by Petty’s Garage.

Are There Towing Benefits of Lowering a Truck?

Yes, there are some positive effects lowering can have on towing, too.

Acceleration and braking are two of them. Lowered trucks, because of their better center of gravity, will usually accelerate faster and have a better braking response time than non-modified or lifted trucks. These perks can come in handy when you’re towing a low, which often affects acceleration and braking.

You might also find that your truck experiences good aerodynamics on the highway, another bonus of lowered suspension. Where lifted trucks tend to have more air resistance, your lowered truck can cut through the wind without significant issues, even while towing.

Lowering Your Truck the Right Way

Although there are some issues you might encounter when towing with a lowered truck, it may still be possible for you to do it with a few proper tweaks to your lowered system.

It’s smart to install air springs, also known as air bags, on your truck to boost its suspension when necessary, like when you’re towing or driving on roads that have some bumps and potholes. You can buy a kit to fit your truck’s drop that lets you adjust its suspension with air pressure.

You should also discuss your goals for your truck with a skilled mechanic before getting it lowered. Be sure to go over any concerns you have and talk about your average towing loads to make sure your mechanic fits your truck properly to maintain its towing ability. Don’t skimp on parts, either; higher-quality parts are going to be more expensive, but they’ll also give you the reliability you need for towing.

At Sherry 4×4, we specialize in selling lifted trucks and Jeeps designed to adhere to incredible performance standards. We even have custom lifted trucks that you can tailor to your exact needs, whether you’re looking for off-roading adventured or towing heavy-duty loads. We also have financing options for everyone (and you can start your application online!), with a variety of rates and terms to meet your credit and payment needs.