I have a hidden hitch installed on my 2010 honda civic, and I've noticed that the extra weight of the hitch, and especially when the trailer is attached (very small trailer), the suspension is very bouncy.

I'd just like to stiffen it up in the rear and keep things at the stock height. Would I be looking for stiffer springs? Or shocks? Or both?

Thanks for any help on the matter.

 

I haven't balanced the trailer. It is brand new, but I suppose it could use a balance on the wheels.

The car is bouncy even without the trailer attached though, just the weight of the hitch I think.

I'll look into the monroe air shocks. Thanks for the tip.
Are they a direct swap in? Or do I need to make some modifications?

 

I have done a lot of towing with cars. First off forget about the air shocks, there are certain situations they work really well for but they are notorious for poor ride quality. Is the rear end sagging a lot with the trailer attached? How often do you tow?

With just the hitch you will not be able to feel any appreciable difference. If you do it's just in your head.

With the trailer attached it could definitely be affecting your ride. But to fix this you need to first look into the trailer side of the equation. How much does the trailer weigh? How much tongue weight? If the weight balance of the trailer isn't correct it can pitch front to rear over bumps/braking (or worse sway). Make sure you have around 10-15% tongue weight. Another issue might be that your trailer springs are rated for far more than the actual load (say 1000lb rated axle with 100lbs on it). I know my trailer will rattle and bounce around like crazy if it is completely empty. If this is the problem there are a few options to fix it.

 

I'm starting to wonder if my shocks have just gone bad.. The ride is bouncy with no trailer attached. Maybe I just need to have the shocks looked at and replaced with factory replacements.

 

OP, I can tell you I've done A LOT of towing, so here are some recommendations. First concerning your car: I'd do things in steps, in this case I'd install very good quality shocks front & rear first. Please don't make the mistake of installing just rear shocks. It really sounds like your current shocks are crap, so the the two best choices IMHO would be either the Koni Sport 5 way adjustable or the Bilstein HD. So give this a try first, both come with a lifetime warranty.

As to springs: both of these shock choices will accept the Ground control sleeves, this just might be the best choice for springs. Call up GC & tell them your exact needs, they can then recommend the correct rear Eibach spring rate. But keep in mind that these are adjustable so you could mark them with 2 settings, one setting for DD & the other for towing. Normally you'd have them set a little lower, but when you needed to tow something you'd wrench them up to their predetermined towing setting.

Your trailer: lets say your trailer is a small single axle trailer, 4' X 8' rated at something like 1200 LBS. So now you need to tow something, you load it up with 1000 LBS (your maximum on a 1200 LBS trailer), don't make the mistake of loading it so you have zero tongue weight. It's very critical to have 10-15% tongue weight on the ball of your hitch. If you don't, bad things (you don't want to find out) may happen. Oh, ALWAYS check all of your tire pressures, don't ever assume they're good.


Good luck.

 

if ur car happens too be a coupe u can install the 4door rear springs they will keep the ride height the same but they have a stiffer spring rate for the extra weight of the sedan...