For you guys that have airbags on your truck what do you think of them are they worth it??

Towing a 12,500 lb 5er, they make the truck a lot more stable & yes, they are worth every penny I paid for them.

I also was towing a trailer near 13Klbs. Most definately needed and a big improvement. I used Air Lift brand with Billsteins and was impressed with the transition.

Airbags are great, Firestones, 30ft 5th toy hauler.

Aaron

I have Firestone airbags on my crew cab dually. With the airbags @ 50 psi it seams like the rear leaf springs don't move one way or the other. My trailer is a 26' bunkhouse model dry weight of 6,300 lbs. I don't think I need them but they was on the truck when I bought it. The good thing about a 1 ton dually is the truck moves the trailer not the trailer moving the truck. My Dad towed this trailer with his 1/2 ton and the same model airbags. He had to have airbags to help level his truck with the trailer on. So basicly on my truck I like them. Except when I have over 20 psi in the bags it makes it hard to load my quads in the back of my truck. I wouldn't recomend having more that 30 psi in the bags driving around with an empty truck. The rear end may try to pass the front end when you hit a big bump in the road.


I give airbags two thumbs up no matter what truck you have if you tow or have a slide in camper. Or a large sister in-law riding in the back seat.):h

I air them up to about 30 psi when hauling my 3500LB pickup camper. Work great.

i have the firestone bags and they work good. it is nice that you are able to change them for different loads unlike standard overload springs.

tow bags all the way.

Two different trucks with bags. Since I started with them, I have quit popping rivits and breaking welds on all my trailers. Trucks handle lots better as well.

I WONT have another truck without them!!!

My old truck 1999 K3500 ext.cab DRW. I took three leafs & the over loads off of the rear. Then added a set of air bags & air pump. Then I could set the truck level with or without the 12,000 5th wheel trailer on. Worked out great.85,000 miles, no problems.
So far better then this 2004 without the bag system

I'm looking at air bags. Trying to decide on Airlift or Firestone, air pump system or manual.
Is the pump system worth the extra $$$'s?
Single control or dual control?

Thanks

I purchased the airlift bags and compressor with dual control. I am very happy with the bags. Between 5 and 15 psi the truck rides very well. When towing I add air until the truck is level and the truck handles great with any load i've had on it gooseneck or bumper pull. The compressor I purchased was the light duty model and it only lasted about six months. There's no filter on it and a small amount of dust ruined it. My advice get the bags and purchase a quality compressor or just carry an air tank. Most of the time the tank will air both bags enough to level the truck.

Has anyone used the automatic level control offered by firestone or airlift? These appear to be new but I know the big rigs have been running similar systems for years. If they worked well you wouldn't need to put switches or gauges in the cab.

Primary Air from Air-Lift. The ultimate ride and carrying capacity..Installed it on the 2004, never been so happy with a HD truck ride and capacity. So happy have it ordered for the 2005. http://www.airliftcompany.com/PrimaryAirWeb/index.htm

http://webpages.charter.net/rmiweb/DMaxLance%20192.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/rmiweb/airliftrr%20097.jpg

That's a nice setup.. Too bad it hangs so low under the axle.

nice set up brs, do they have a blow off valve on this set up "etc" nice to get out from trailer. make easier dave

I've seen that truck before!;)

I prefer the air lift bags WITH compressor although I have yet to install one on my 2002. Having the compressor kit extends the warranty on the bags as it maintains 5 psi minimum in them at all times.

Having remote access allows you to tune to the load and road conditions. I've run this on my 96 GMC 6.5 and found it excellent as I'd leave with them at 20 psi and decide I needed more so I filled them up 5 psi at a time till the ride settled down.

I keep these on the shelf most any time for the HD's...

I've got airlift on the toyota and Firestone dual controle on the GMC. A must have

Looks are deceiving, It is not as low as it looks..and yes it does kneel to get out from under a trailer or a camper. Has aux. air connectors for hooking up a quick connect air connection and a reserve air tank on board.
Yep Kennedy has seen that truck before, he was in the middle of this project....:cool:

Just got done getting my bags installed. Some of you may think i'm crazy but I mounted the compressor on the inside frame rail. Oh well time will tell how crazy I am. Here are some pics. Bags are Air Lift and compressor system is ride rite.

my comp has been mounted to the inside of my frame for over a 1.5 years and no troubles.

I just installed my Air Lift Superduty air springs this weekend. Setup the same as Loco minus the onboard compresser. When I was installing, I could get the springs lined up straight on the left/right adjustment, but was over 1/2 inch off on getting them straight forward/backwards. I adjusted the lower (axle) bracket as far forward as possible, and adjusted the upper (frame) bracket as far back as possible, but still needed at least 1/2 more adjustment. Wonder if anyone else had this problem? Should I re-drill the upper bracket so it would line up better? Also, I noticed another problem when I leveled the truck. The driver's side requires 10 psi more than the passenger side to level out front/back and side/side. This takes into account the built in 1/2 inch difference in side/side from GM. 10 psi more on driver's side still means that it is 1/2 inch lower than passenger side. Are the air bags that sensitive to the weight of the fuel (stock tank) and placement of tools in tool box (single lid bed mounted box)?

Any Ideas?

Thanks

cdhd,

quick question:

1- Are you using the gauges that come with the kit to read psi. Point being is that I also have dual controle. HOWEVER my driverside gauge always reads higher than the Passenger side. note: i have a 62 gallon fuel tank.

**** I installed my manual fill up valve stems on my trailer plug bracket. When i check the preasure in the bags from there they read equal. When i go in the cab the drivers side is higher than the passenger side. Wierd huh:confused: :confused:

I'm going to try and explain that further. If i was to drain all of the air out of my bags and start filling them up at 0 psi. the driverside (gauge) starts to rise first, then the Passenger side starts to read but it's way behind approx 5psi. Thats when i checked the air preasue manually at the valve stems and found out that both bags were even steven, and the gauges were misreading.

Now I'm not a big fan of the gauges that come with the kit so I bought the autometer carbonfiber air preasure gauges, hoping that they would provide a more accurate reading. WRONG same problem, driver side still reads higher than the passenger side.

XR-Freak,

Looks like we both have a similar problem. I did not opt for the guages or pump setup. However, I have the inflate/check valves at the license plate, and have been checking both with the same tire pressure guage. So, my "manual" reading is not even, but 10 psi higher on the drivers side. How did your bags align front/back. Are yours off too?

For you guys with compressors, Can you add an air tank and have the bags draw from the tank supply?

Also, can the Superduty compressor work with an air tank or would going with a Viair be a better option when running an air tank?

I'm going to run on-board air for multi purpose use. But having an air tank is a must for air horns, filling tires and such. So, I would like to have the feature of in-cab pressure control of the air bags without having to resort to dual air systems.

I installed a 5 gal air tank to my set up and fill it with a viar 550. I also had to add 4 electric air valves to be able to add air and release air from the bags when filling them from the tank. Filling the bags is much faster when filling from a tank.

cdhd

Mine line up perfectly

Can you have traction bars and airbags at the same time or one or other?

cdhd

Mine line up perfectly

So, if you take off the wheel and look at the bag, it will be straight? I installed the same kit (correct #, check with Air Lift again) and mine look 1/2 inch further forward on top than bottom with a wheel removed.

Btw, looking at your photos closely, it looks like you have some misalignment front/back too. First photo (driver's side, taken looking forward) the top of the bag appears to be pulled forward just like mine. Same thing in the third photo (passenger side, taken looking to rear) the top of the bag appears to be pulled toward you, aka pulled forward. ;)

Those are not my pictures,

And I have the firestone bags, not sure if you have the same ones. I think you have air lift??? When i have a chance i'll send you a picture.

Can we lift our trucks and have airbags?

Those are not my pictures,

And I have the firestone bags, not sure if you have the same ones. I think you have air lift??? When i have a chance i'll send you a picture.


Sorry XR-Freak,

Those pics were loco's. :confused:

BRS,
I will buy a set for mine in a few months, I just need to save a few coins untill then.
Very nice setup. If it works as good as it looks I would be happy with it on my 04 3500
Thanks for showing it to us, and for the web site info.
Rich.

Can we lift our trucks and have airbags?Yes you can. The only problem is if you go with a spring instead of blocks in the rear. The bag won't be long enough and you can buy a adapter supposedly from Rough Country, fabricate your own extension, or go with

EZ-Ride Concept's "Lift-Rite" air bag adapters are designed to allow use of air bag helper springs on lifted trucks & SUVs. These air bag spacers easily mounts to existing Firestone & Air Lift air bags with simple hand tools.

http://www.ezrideconcepts.com/index.html

http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bin/suscon/scsubs.html?category=Air%20Bag%20Spacers

You can also buy 2,4 and 6" spacer kits from 4wheel Parts.

Same kit.