Can and should

 

Agreed. What you will need to do is weld a flat plate of steel, between the beams under the wood floor. Then drill a circular hole thru the wood, and bolt the D rings thru the wood floor and directly into the steel flat plate. The pics here will give you an example of what I'm talking about. http://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/product/50/DRings The only thing I'd do differently is make sure both sides of the backing plate are welded to the trailer frame/beams. The pic here only shows one side. I don't like that idea

I'm actually adding extra front D rings to my Featherlite Aluminum trailer. The above method is what the factory told me to do (I have aluminum floor, but I'm sure its the same for wood floor).

 

Or you could go with this kind and weld them to the front and rear beams.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...0985_200330985

 

Got the 900 miles done. Avg 11.4 - 11.9 mpg at 55-65 mph. The total weight with driver and full gas was at 11,100 pounds. The only real problem i experienced was handling when ther was heavy cross wind and on broken pavement creating the truck and trailer to giggle around with little sway.

I will be upgrading the shocks to bilsteins hd to replace the original shocks. I may add airlift kit for the rear too to help increase payload capacity.

Overall, the little 4.6l engine did great. Felt awesome even at 4,500 rpm goong uphill to merge on the highway.

I will get some d-ring setups welded on to the trailer. I prevented chafing issues by putting hand towels between the trailer and straps.

 

Glad to hear the trip went well. We talked about this in another trailer thread but if you're going to be towing your S o a regular basis you should consider a weight distributing hitch. They are as cheap as $180 on Amazon. It will help with the handling and make the tow safer.

 

I went with a Equalizer hitch. It does weight distributing and sway control. It's awesome to tow, I have never gotten sway ever - the trailer stays rock stable behind me.

The bad part is that it takes a little longer to hitch up (a few minutes), and it's noisy/slightly embarrasing at low speeds when you turn (there's metal to metal friction by design). Some people that have never had a hitch like that look at you weird, hah.

Overall it's worth it though. I might have considered a different design like the Reese that isn't as noisy but I don't know if that has its own problems.

 

Same hitch I have, and really second the recommendation.

OP, I'd try this before changing shocks or doing airbags. This will equalize/level the load and truck, and prevent that swaying

Lift kits and airbags do not "increase the payload" of the truck. They will help level the truck, but the payload will remain the same.

 

The basic hitch in the picture above is $180 at Amazon and it has 2 mounting locations to add 1 or 2 sway controls to it for about $56 each. But I'd suggest you try just the hitch first which will help with the sway and then if you still need the sway control you can add it later.

I definitely agree with Blue's suggestion to do a hitch instead of airbags.

 

Bringing this back...

For those of you that use the mini r hook, can you educate me on how to use it? Are you supposed to twist them 90 degrees once you they are in? I remember reading a thread saying that its unlikely these would come out, however I did have one pop out last saturday on the way home. It was raining, and the straps were new, so some slack might have been introduced even though I stopped before to check them.

I'm going to order a replacement r-hook as well as a set of t-hooks (from awdirect) just as a spare.

edit: the pic earlier in the thread seems to show an r hook that is not rotated (not much anyway).

 

I tried a set of the mini r-hooks and they are very small and looked like they might pull or drop out of the slot. I got a set of t-hooks and they are the perfect size. They go into the frame slot and then turn 90 degrees for a secure fit.