need advise on air bags

[shu873]

I'm thinking about putting a set of air bag helper springs on the back of my truck. I don't know much about them and need some help picking out a set. If anybody has any opinions on which brands are best or the best place to buy I'd like to hear it... I don't want to spend a ton of money on them, but good quality is a must too. I don't know if any of our supporting vendors carry them or not, but if they do please point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance for the input.

[Dave]

I think Discount Power parts has em. The Firestones are the best out there they run about $250 a set or more depending on wheter you want a compressor or if you wanna air em up yourself

[Evil Eye]

Yeah, Firestone is the best for these and has three different styles. I have the heavy duty ones, which are rated at 5,000 lbs each and those are the ones you'll want for your sled pulling. They are the Ride Rite air bags and I didn't do anything fancy with the compressor or external tank. I bought them locally for like $400 because I wasn't a member back then, but I'm sure the vendors on here can get them for ya for a great price! They were pretty simple to install, and I ran each of the two lines to my back bumper and mounted the valves there. I normally run them around 40psi, which is great towing the 12k lb toy hauler, but a little stiff when driving around town. I'll grab some pics and post them up in just a few.

Oh, and they don't hold a lot of air volume, so a few seconds is usually all it takes to get you up to pressure.

[WEWILLE]

I agree with the firestones. We have them on a farm truck, i dont know anything about them since they were on before i started driving it, but they get abused and still work great.

[shu873]

Thanks fellas. I did a quick search on them and they look to be just about what I need, and in the right price range too. I just got to do some calling around and pick me up a set.

[shu873]

Ok fellas, I'm doing some more thinking.... I talked to my brother on my way to work tonight and he's got a set of air bags in the back of his truck to help with his 5th wheel. He tells me if I put on a pair I'm going to screw up my ride quality. If I get them, I don't plan on riding around all the time with them pressured up, just air em up when I need them. He said even without air in them it will stiffen up the ride considerably. I'd love to have a pair but I'm real happy with the way my truck rides empty right now and don't want to mess with that too much. So what are your guys opinions??? Will there really be that much of a difference from adding the ride rites even without any pressure in them? BTW, he doesn't have the firestone ride rites, he's got some other brand, I'm not sure which...

[Evil Eye]

Like I said, I run mine at 40psi and its a bit stiff. I keep it that way because my leveling kit is still about a 1/2" too tall in the front and I haven't had time to get the blocks switched in the back. Anyway, if you drop it down to around 10psi which is the minimum, it should be fine.

[shu873]

thanks man. Thats what I was hoping to hear.

[Evil Eye]

Here's the pics I was promising. For some reason over the weekend, my high-speed internet wasn't so "high-speed" and I couldn't upload the pics.

Looking from the rear


Side view, notice the two bolts on each side through the frame rail.


Valve installation

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Last edited by Evil Eye : 07-16-2007 at 08:15 AM.

[shu873]

hey man thanks for the pics, I was wondering where I'd locate the valve stems...