Firestone airbags and daystar cradles?

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Squatch

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I recently put firestone airbags on my '06 Tundra DC to help carry the camper. On road they do fine as the Eagle isn't all that heavy. Loaded down 25 psi in the bags works well.

My concern is off road or even FS roads. I have the Daystar cradles. But I haven't installed them yet. When I installed the bags I did it exactly as the directions said but the alignment between the airbag and the lower mount isn't perfect. Maybe 1/8" + off. Is this an issue with the cradles?

I've read what I could find here but it was mostly folks having trouble with busted mounts because of not having cradles.

So is anyone here running the cradles? How have they worked out? Things to be aware of?

 
Joining in on post to get more info too. I have the Daystar cradles installed. Installed at the recommendation of a friend. I have a Superduty 4x4 and it seems to be a bit higher lift than the non 4x4. The reasoning for my install was for droop. I wanted cradles just in case axle drops low. The bag can release rather than pull I don't want them to tear. That said I'm not sure I have drooped either side low enough to worry? I figure for the price I'd rather be safe than sorry.

FYI, I added the on-board controller and pump... really helps when traveling from washboard roads to pavement and also for leveling at camp.
 
I have daystar cradles, like XJINTX I installed them to make sure the airbags don't get damaged when the axels droop. Super easy to install, but no way to know if they are really working or not. I also have an ARB on board compressor and a gauge and toggle valve for each bag so I can adjust and compensate for small leaks, which are almost inevitable with air bags.
 
I installed Daystar cradles on my Tundra with AirLift bags after I pulled the thread inserts out of the top of one bag during the first off road trip. So far the cradles have worked as intended. The only downside, and this may be specific to my application, is that since my bump stops are inside the air bags, and the cradle is about an inch thick, I now hit the bump stops far more often. It makes for a jarring ride some times, especially noticeable around town over speed bumps, to where I am thinking of coming up with a better solution.

This won't be an issue with Firestone bags that don't have a bump stop.
 
MotoDave said:
I installed Daystar cradles on my Tundra with AirLift bags after I pulled the thread inserts out of the top of one bag during the first off road trip. So far the cradles have worked as intended. The only downside, and this may be specific to my application, is that since my bump stops are inside the air bags, and the cradle is about an inch thick, I now hit the bump stops far more often. It makes for a jarring ride some times, especially noticeable around town over speed bumps, to where I am thinking of coming up with a better solution.
This won't be an issue with Firestone bags that don't have a bump stop.
Click to expand...
Pulling the thread inserts doesn't sound good. I just received a set of AirLift bags ( Ultimate 5000 w/ internal jounce) for my '14 F150 4wd. I called AirLift to ask about this , simply how much is the suspension travel limited to with the use of those bags, he said my truck generally has about 9 inches of travel, but only 4 inches with the air bags the thread insert will fail. If I put the truck on a lift, gentle impact, they will fail in a couple hours. He also told me Daystar cradles are not recommended because they may not align properly after the hole or obstacle. I am anxious to hear how you solve this little glitch. Or not so little as it sounds. :) there are deeper potholes on my city streets.

Replacement air bag is 142 $, plus shipping from AirLift, cheaper from an online vendor he said....
 
Yeah I was disappointed that the bags failed on the first trip. They really are a solid improvement to the stability on and off road with the camper on my truck, and I'm happy enough with how the Daystar cradles are holding up so far. They've been on the truck for ~6k miles now, never had a bag fail to re-seat correctly and there's no visible wear on the bags.

I suspect Firestone bags will limit suspension travel just the same, they're just built a bit sturdier than AirLift with metal end caps.

There are options for true long travel airbags, if I continue to have issues I may research this more.
http://www.carlisuspension.com/dodge-ram/components/longtravelairbags.html
 
I now have the Daystar airbag cradles installed. Normally the airbags are secured at both top and bottom. But the airbags don't have near the travel as the rear suspension. If the axle droops it can tear the bags or bend mounts.

With the truck frame on blocks I lowered the axle enough to do the work. Clearly shows the gap and the axle is NOT at full droop. Spring side bracket removed in this pic.


The cradles catch and hold the airbag in a cup.


Contact!. I raised the axle a little and added a little air to the bags to get everything touching and lined up before tightening up the lower mount.


I took it for a test ride with an empty truck and my normal empty setting of 6psi in the bags. Everything seemed fine and quiet. Today the camper goes back in the truck! :D
 
MotoDave said:
I installed Daystar cradles on my Tundra with AirLift bags after I pulled the thread inserts out of the top of one bag during the first off road trip. So far the cradles have worked as intended. The only downside, and this may be specific to my application, is that since my bump stops are inside the air bags, and the cradle is about an inch thick, I now hit the bump stops far more often. It makes for a jarring ride some times, especially noticeable around town over speed bumps, to where I am thinking of coming up with a better solution.

This won't be an issue with Firestone bags that don't have a bump stop.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the 6000 mile test report. that is good enough for me. I have the Ultimate 5000 Airlift, they just showed up a week ago, i will u turn them, and the wireless compressor thing. Firestones, FS-2525 for the F150, Daystar cradles on there way as soon as the Airlifts are gone. mostly because the firestone bags are steel and there is no internal jounce plus i didnt open the box. How many first mistake can i make ? hopefully fewer every day :) I never liked the idea of a compressor that had a single duty, but it sure sounds cool though. I will order up a multi purpose compressor, portable or otw. Very little space under the hood of a F150.
Thank you Moto Dave
 
Squatch said:
I now have the Daystar airbag cradles installed. Normally the airbags are secured at both top and bottom. But the airbags don't have near the travel as the rear suspension. If the axle droops it can tear the bags or bend mounts.

With the truck frame on blocks I lowered the axle enough to do the work. Clearly shows the gap and the axle is NOT at full droop. Spring side bracket removed in this pic.


The cradles catch and hold the airbag in a cup.


Contact!. I raised the axle a little and added a little air to the bags to get everything touching and lined up before tightening up the lower mount.


I took it for a test ride with an empty truck and my normal empty setting of 6psi in the bags. Everything seemed fine and quiet. Today the camper goes back in the truck! :D
Click to expand...
Squatch, thank you for the scientific approach, pictures and sound methodology. helped me. I did a lot of web surfing shortly after Airlift support told me max 4 inches of abrupt suspension travel or death to bags. I found a long thread from 09 to mid 2016 on a Tundra sight somewhere on earth. after i sorted out the posts, the unanimous conclusion was positive. and I priced a spare bag at 120 $ now on to the little compressor search. thanks again for the good pictures.
 
You're welcome. It's one of the reasons I document stuff and take pics. I too get tired of the internet BS. Way too many folks acting like experts that have never touched a wrench. Gets folks in trouble sometimes. You have to sort the good info from the bad.

Not saying I'm right and that my solutions work for everyone. But I do realize that often I'm willing to dig into stuff others might not. So I try to post pics, show what I did, give my impressions. Then let other folks use that info how they will. Ultimately only you can decide what works best for you.
 
Squatch said:
You're welcome. It's one of the reasons I document stuff and take pics. I too get tired of the internet BS. Way too many folks acting like experts that have never touched a wrench. Gets folks in trouble sometimes. You have to sort the good info from the bad.

Not saying I'm right and that my solutions work for everyone. But I do realize that often I'm willing to dig into stuff others might not. So I try to post pics, show what I did, give my impressions. Then let other folks use that info how they will. Ultimately only you can decide what works best for you.
Click to expand...
Squatch ,

How are the cradles and Firestone bags working now that you have the Eagle on your truck? We have a 2003 tundra with Eagle mounted (and will not be removing for at least 1-2 years) and have the Firestone air bags. Once the air bags went on it was a real game changer for handling and ride height, very happy with them. The cradles were not even on our radar. I do not plan to do any high speed off roading, but will be taking our rig far off the beaten path. Do you recommend the cradles? They don't seem very expensive or difficult to install.
Thanks!
 
So far so good. I just did 400 miles or so over the weekend on a trip. Just road mileage really. No off roading. But all seemed fine. I didn't really notice any difference at all and I was towing a small trailer as well.


Installation is easy. Remove the bottom bolt of the air bag and replace it with the cradle. A word of warning though. The cradles are generic. I had to replace the bolt that came with them with a shorter grade 8 bolt to make it mount up correctly.
 
OK, thanks very much for the information, really like your set up, did you ever do a build thread on your platform needed for the larger bed of the 4 door 1st gen tundra? Really like those trucks.
Thanks and happy camping!
 
I am running the Firestone airbags and Daystar cradles on my Tundra/Grandby. I removed my overload springs and replaced them with the Icon three leaf mini packs. I am very happy with the ride.
 
Squatch said:
You're welcome. It's one of the reasons I document stuff and take pics. I too get tired of the internet BS. Way too many folks acting like experts that have never touched a wrench. Gets folks in trouble sometimes. You have to sort the good info from the bad.

Not saying I'm right and that my solutions work for everyone. But I do realize that often I'm willing to dig into stuff others might not. So I try to post pics, show what I did, give my impressions. Then let other folks use that info how they will. Ultimately only you can decide what works best for you.
Click to expand...
Bluedog said:
I am running the Firestone airbags and Daystar cradles on my Tundra/Grandby. I removed my overload springs and replaced them with the Icon three leaf mini packs. I am very happy with the ride.
Click to expand...
Did you guys use Daystar part # KU09140BK ? From what the Daystar page suggest I tend to think it is the only product for this application

Thanks
 
I called them that's the only part they make for this application. Amazing, a small degree of self suffiency on my part.

Back to the originally scheduled program .....
 
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