Suspension air bags

C

ColoradoGuy

Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2007
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Hi guys -- Put a new set of tires on the truck yesterday (went with Yokohama eight-ply) and while at the tire dealer, the salesman pointed out that my leaf springs are fully extended.

He suggested that I add air bags to bring my rear end up and to correct allignment issues. He wants $650 for this work.

Problem is, not a word was ever said to me about the possible need for this. I spent nearly an entire day at the 4WC factory in California when the camper was installed, and this issue was never raised. Why, I wonder?

In a previous thread I asked about the funky ride I get while traveling on certain concrete highways, but never on asphalt. Still have that probem. Would air bags correct this?

My truck is a 2006 Tacoma extended cab, outfitted with an Eagle shell. Probably have several hundred pounds of camping gear in it. The shell stays on the truck permanently.

Thanks for your advice.

Paul
 
Hey Mate

Because FourWheel Camper doesn't know how you are going to load your truck and camper, or how you are going to use it, they leave those decisions to us. You need a set of Pac Brake Air Bags. One question, DO YOU EAT FISH?, IF NOT, START TODAY.
 
I second what The Fisherman says.

Find out what air bags the tire dealer handles. There are three that I know of. Pac Brake Air Bags, Firestone RideRite, and Airlift system. You can do these install yourself if you feel you can or have the tire dealer install and work any problems later with them.

Certian Concrete roads will give a different ride than asphalt. The concrete is poured in slabs. Over time with the loading on the leading and trailing edges the soil will compact. This will give you the rocking feeling or bounce. Asphalt is smoother but concrete will last longer.
 
Having faced this problem with my previous truck, I had decided on supersprings over air bags. In our case the camper stays on the truck also, so I couldn't see why steel springs, adjusted once, wouldn't be just as functional and more reliable than air filled rubber bladders.

What happened instead? I was able to get a fire sale price on a heavy duty truck during the peak of the fuel hysteria. :thumb:

It's your mulah, your choice...
 
Paul,

I started with an added leaf on my Tacoma, then added Firestone Ride Rite Air Bags for more stability, leveling, and variability of ride. Now if either of them fail I can get home on the other, redundancy is always good. I installed my air bags, and I'm no great wrencher, for around $260.00 and 4 hours work.
 
I would second the supersprings.

Work great on my 96 dodge 1500 4x4 exteded cab short bed. Has hawk shell on it, weighs about 600 loaded without jacks. Stays on all year except when hauling composte or topsoil. Very nice ride on and off road now. Pretty much install and forget.

Good luck.

Dave in seattle
 
I chose Air Lift bags, I like the idea of being able to adjust the ride height when the camper is off. I bought them from:
http://www.jcwhitney.com

Current price is $183.

The install was very easy, but I have eyes on the tips of my fingers, YMMV. I would have installed the valves as license plate bolts, but saw that too late.
 
Air Lifts

Paul - I installed a set of Air Lifts and they've worked out well. You can adjust the amount of air based on the load your hauling; bigger load, more air, up to 100 psi. For around town when just hauling the shell, you can reduce the air pressure and improve the ride. When on the go, I carry a bicycle pump to make adjustments based on the type of terrain I'm traveling; simple. They have helped out with the bouncing I was experiencing on some road surfaces.

Ron
 
Thanks all

Once again I knew I could rely on the forum to produce great information. Thanks to all of you. I'm going ahead with the air bags, based on what I've learned here.

What I still don't understand is why this issue comes up now -- but was never mentioned by the 4WC sales crew. If I'm selling a product for your vehice that requires your vehicle to be modified to perform correctly, I'd feel duty bound to make that disclosure.

Anybody from 4WC care to respond?
 
The new Tacoma has a very soft leaf, it's bottom out easily even with just 500lbs in the bed.
I had AirLift before I switch to Firestone air bag, the bag placement for the new Tacoma from AirLift is not the best if the truck is really loaded, like mine, it kind of forced the leaf spring into a "s" shape. I need to run 85psi with AirLift and 25psi with the Firestone. The Firestone has a bigger air bag. You may or may not need new shocks depends on you preference. I switch to Bilstien 5100 for a little added control, my camper is aound 850lbs loaded.
 
fwc

ColoradoGuy:

Sales is sales--not engineering, not technical, not legal. One might argue they should know enough to ask about your truck and provide a heads up about possible future mods. Of course, the sales guys can't really be expected to know the load capacity of every variation of every vehicle manufacturer. Especially when you consider aftermarket mods. There are just to many variables.

We--consumers--must educate ourselves. This--and similar--forums are a great place to start! Also, reading the manufacturer's (i.e. Toyota's) literature is useful, too...

SB
 
I have talked to my tire guys about leaf springs and air bags. They said that although there is rear (truck, thank you!) sag, that technically there was no need.

That said I was leaning for Hellwig air bags, bolt on install for my truck. Improved ride and for leveling. But now am looking at a heavy duty pick up for changing needs.:thumb:
 
You are making the right move. If you need to haul more than your truck is designed to haul, get a heavier truck. I am not sure what kind of rear axle Toyota is using in your truck, but their running gear used to be nice copies of Ford stuff. By the way, for a half ton truck, a Ford 9 inch rear axle is hard to beat and that is why NASCAR uses them in their race cars.

I have a standard GM rear end in my Chevy half ton. The roller bearings run directly on the axle, which is not particularly a heavy duty design. It works fine as long as you don't overload the truck. If I beefed up the springs on my truck and started hauling a whole ton, instead of the half ton it is designed to haul, I would be taking a risk with axles and bearings designed too light.

There is more to a truck's hauling capacity than springs. Some of these guys that post here are really offroaders with standards of performance that go far beyond simply "getting out there". Another thing to keep in mind if your truck feels a little spongy with its max load. Slow down! You will save gas too.
 
Hello ColoradoGuy

Yes, it probably should have been brought up during the sales process.

Back in the days, not all of the small trucks needed the helper springs or air bags when running around with the shell pop-up style campers.

But we are seeing more and more these days that customers with the small trucks will usually want to install over-load springs / helper springs / or air bags to help the truck carry the camper better.

The new Toyota trucks are being made to ride soft and smooth when they are empty. But because of this, the trucks don't carry as much weight as they used to.

Please let em know if you have any other questions.

I would be gald to help in any way I can.

(but it sounds like the people here on the forum have already provided you with some solid advice to get you going).




.
 
CO Guy
I just put Airlift Airbag on my K5 Blazer w/ FWC installed. I have a 4" lift w/ 35" tires. So on canyon roads, there was a little side to side swaying going on, to put it mildly. After the Airbags were installed. there is a huge difference in stability and adjustability. JC Whitney is having a sale until Aug 28th on Airlift Airbags. I paid $146.00. with lifetime warranty, free shipping and free t-shirt. I guess you could wear it while installing Airbags. Took me about 4 hrs to install. I had to cut away some on the bump stop bracket for my system. Can't go wrong with that deal. Good luck with your decision.
 
thinking of putting a set on a 2005 Tundra

Anyone with specific experience of airbags on a DC 2005 Tundra? Also, I went to the JC Whitney site and didn't see the sale price mentioned in the earlier post, they were still $184. Is a special sale code required? I plan on putting on an add-a-leaf spring in addition to a set of airbags because the truck is usually loaded with close to 500# of tools if the camper is not going to be on it and 1200# when full loaded with gear. Yep, I like me toys;) rick
 
In a previous thread I asked about the funky ride I get while traveling on certain concrete highways, but never on asphalt. Still have that probem. Would air bags correct this?
Paul

The only way you will change your ride over this concrete is to change the wheelbase of your vehicle. It's like PVSYOY said, concrete is poured in slabs. But your can get this bouncing as soon as the road is open, you don't have to wait till the concrete settles. PITA. Sometimes a different speed can reduce amount of bounce.

I had Roadmaster springs on my Tundra. They seemed fine for a couple of years and then seemed to not be as effective. They were never as good as the Firestone airbags I have on now. Used them last weekend in the UP for the first time and they worked great. Took longer to get the old Roadmaster springs off then it did to mount air bags. If you use in cab controls, which would be great, they double the cost and probably triple installation time.
 
Anyone with specific experience of airbags on a DC 2005 Tundra? Also, I went to the JC Whitney site and didn't see the sale price mentioned in the earlier post, they were still $184. Is a special sale code required? I plan on putting on an add-a-leaf spring in addition to a set of airbags because the truck is usually loaded with close to 500# of tools if the camper is not going to be on it and 1200# when full loaded with gear. Yep, I like me toys;) rick

Ricardo,
I'm running Firestone's on my 06 DC Tundra, huge difference, especially when heavily loaded. IMO they are definitely the way to go. Welcome to the board.
 
Anyone with specific experience of airbags on a DC 2005 Tundra? Also, I went to the JC Whitney site and didn't see the sale price mentioned in the earlier post, they were still $184. Is a special sale code required? I plan on putting on an add-a-leaf spring in addition to a set of airbags because the truck is usually loaded with close to 500# of tools if the camper is not going to be on it and 1200# when full loaded with gear. Yep, I like me toys;) rick

I just put them on my 04 DC, work great. About 55-60 lb with Hawk on. About 10 lb with cap and 200-300lb's of tools.
 
Firestone bags for 5 years

I have added leafs for different trucks and the suspension never was as smooth as the original suspension and almost always was harsher unless really loaded. With the firestones I keep the camper on all the time and air it down when empty and add a little when loaded. The ride is always perfect
 
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