The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum


Portsea Marine Australia
Go Back   The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum > BOATING FORUMS > Trucks & Trailers

Notices

Random Quote: Yield to temptation, it may not pass your way again LL
Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 04-15-2009, 08:29 AM
  #1    
Senior MemberCaptains Club Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Jacksonville, Fl
Posts: 1,008
Default Air bags?

Anybody running an airbag set up on a 3/4 or 1 ton? I am curious as to the ride without the trailer. Does it smooth it out much? How about trailering?
rcoleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2009, 02:25 PM
  #2    
Senior MemberCaptains Club Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Surf City, NJ
Posts: 437
Default airbags

I had airbags on my Dodge 3500 (i was in the marine business )and a few jeeps.

If you keep the psi low when not towing you will not notice a diffrence with your ride - if you pump them up when not loaded you will have a very stiff ride.

I liked having them - much better then helper springs and will prob be installing them in my current truck - Nissan Titian. Much better ride and it is very nice to be able to level out the truck.
gw24t is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Old 04-15-2009, 03:19 PM
  #3    
Senior MemberCaptains Club Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Florence N.J.
Posts: 382
Default

I have then on my truck and if you keep then at 5 psi when you don't have a load you won't even know they are there.

Don C
__________________
Contender 23 open


Don C is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2009, 05:16 PM
  #4    
Senior MemberCaptains Club Member
 
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,005
Default

Have the HD Firestones on a diesel excursion. I keep them at about 12psi when not in use and they firm up the ride a bit, which is nice on an excursion. Once the trailer is hitched up, you can level up the truck perfectly with them.
__________________
'06 318CC Edgewater
'71 21' BW Outrage
'10 2066 Phowler
petrel is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2009, 07:44 PM
  #5    
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Long Island, NY
Posts: 1,511
Default

Same thing here, I have em in my 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee and they work great, easy to install and at the min 5 psi you can't even feel them.
__________________
1988 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee
4.0/NV 242 Selectrac

2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited
5.7 HEMI/Quadradrive II
LouC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2009, 05:06 AM
  #6    
Senior MemberCaptains Club Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Jacksonville, Fl
Posts: 1,008
Default

So with around 5psi the ride will be about the same as stock? I was hoping to smooth it out a little to kep the wife happy!
rcoleman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2009, 06:25 AM
  #7    
Senior MemberCaptains Club MemberPLEDGER
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Toms River NJ
Posts: 1,097
Default

Its a truck, I don't think your going to smooth out the ride without spending alot of money and reworking the whole suspension system. The air bags are not going to help the ride when your bed is empty.
Sandpiper John is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2009, 08:17 AM
  #8    
Senior MemberCaptains Club Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Slidell, LA
Posts: 854
Default

How you can benefit from air bags will depend on what you're trying to solve. For a truck with a suspension that's already too stiff when empty, air bags are not going to help, they're only going to make things stiffer. You can adjust the air bags to determine how much stiffer, and raise or lower the front or back to level the truck if it's not evenly loaded.
I have an Excursion, which are well known to have too soft a suspension for a truck that size. Ford was apparently trying to soften the spring rates to make it a "Soccer Mom" vehicle. Before air bags the front suspension would bottom out going over moderate bumps, even on the interstate. I've put air bags on all 4 corners, and run ~15 psi unloaded to stiffen things up and prevent the bottoming out. I went overboard with this, as usual, but the convenience is great. I've got a compressor and 2 1/2 gallon air tank with inside controls and gauges for adjustment on the fly, and can adjust the ride and height very easily. Side benefits are that I've got air for tires and air tools, and if I want to get under the truck for something I just add air to all the bags til I have all the room I need.
Air bags was only one of several things I did to our truck to give me the towing capability I expected. If you're looking to soften the ride you might want to consider shocks. I'm using Rancho 9000 adjustable shocks. When adjusted all the way soft they provide a very comfortable ride when unloaded. 3 to 5 seems to give the best ride when pulling my boat. The highest setting is 9, so I'm nowhere near the limit on the shocks.
Bill
Bigger Hammer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2009, 11:29 AM
  #9    
Senior MemberCaptains Club MemberPLEDGER
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Kent Island, MD
Posts: 5,771
Default

I have the Air Lift 5000# Wireless-Air System. It is sweeeeeet. Like Don said, if set at 5 psi, you don't even know they are there. Neat thing is the controller is wireless so you can operate it from up to about 100' from the vehicle.
__________________

'88 Kencraft Challenger w/ 225 Optimax

When all you have in life is a hammer, treat everything like a nail.
Just1more is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-19-2009, 06:16 PM
  #10    
Senior MemberCaptains Club Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: North NJ & Barnegat Bay
Posts: 4,297
Send a message via Yahoo to pastaman1234
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Just1more View Post
I have the Air Lift 5000# Wireless-Air System. It is sweeeeeet. Like Don said, if set at 5 psi, you don't even know they are there. Neat thing is the controller is wireless so you can operate it from up to about 100' from the vehicle.
How much for that set up if you dont mind me asking??
__________________
2006 Skeeter ZX24 Bay
2006 Yamaha 300 HPDI
2010 Ford F-150 FX4 5.4
Team: EAT-SLEEP-FISH---~ <)))))<
Trying hard to become a 1%er
www.ramseydoor.com
www.raynoroverheaddoor.com
pastaman1234 is offline   Reply With Quote
 
 
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
high air-force1 jordan23 jordan4 jordan8 shoes chloe bags jqyshoes Test Area 0 03-01-2008 02:22 AM
high air-force1 jordan23 jordan4 jordan8 shoes chloe bags jqyshoes Test Area 0 03-01-2008 02:19 AM
Air bags or helper springs? Captain Sid Dockside Chat 11 12-21-2006 09:27 PM
Air Bags or Roadmaster Active Suspension? HebertNecessity The Boating Forum 5 12-21-2006 06:02 PM

 



©2009 TheHullTruth.com

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.6
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.2.0