Air Bags needed ?

[57Pan]

I just recently bought an ATC Bobcat camper I'm going to put on my 2005 Tacoma 4wd. It has the standard ARB EMU springs all the way around. Is it just a given that I'm going to need air bags? I haven't put the camper on the truck yet, just wondering if I should just buy and install air bags first.

 

[Ronin]

I'd put the camper on and see how it rides before spending money on air bags. I can't speak for Tacoma's but when I bought my '14 Tundra I put air bags on it right away and when I put my Hawk on it I didn't feel like I needed them. I never liked the ride with the camper off ( 80%) of the time) with a minimal 20lbs psi in the bags. I recently bought a '19 Tundra and just picked up a new ATC. The rear of the truck dropped down a couple of inches and it actually looks more level now. Later on if I do need to pump up the suspension I'm going to look into changing the leaf pack to get a ride that I like with and without the camper on. I'm sure there's many Tacoma owners out there that can give you first hand advice. Good luck!

 

[57Pan]

Installed camper, and it did drop the rear a couple/ few inches. I think everything looks okay, but I feel in the short drive that I took that it feels a little mushy. I’m going to go ahead and install air bags. Measuring off the wheel wells it seems as the driver side is a bit lower.

 

[57Pan]

Went ahead and installed Ride Rite airbags, makes a big difference. Only problem was a small air leak on the passenger side, spent two evenings trouble shooting. It wasn’t the airlines, turns out to be a pin hole leak in the air bag itself. Ended up removing everything on the passenger side and submersing it all in a bucket of water to find the pin hole. Now waiting for a replacement airbag. In the mean time I used Stan’s tire sealant to seal the airbag, it seems to be working well. Stan’s is a tire sealant used to run bicycle tire tubeless.