Suspension question

[Tailfins]

I've just placed a FWC Hawk on my 09 Silverado 1500. It rides pretty well, but there is a slight mushiness and because all the appliances are on the driver side of the camper the truck leans a little to that side. The truck has the heavy duty handling package and settles down to just about level front to back with the camper on it.

I want to level the truck side to side and beef up the suspension a little to take away that mushy feel. I've heard tell of Firestone Ride Right air springs (bags). Would that be my best solution, or is there something better?

Thanks

-- Dave R

 

[DLN]

I've been very happy with the performance of the Firestone Ride Rites on the Tacoma for both ride control and leveling, its a great way to go. I'm no great wrencher but installed them myself in four hours and saved about $250.00 on the deal.

 

[EdoHart]

Firestone Level-Rite for the front.

Firestone also makes a replacement front shock/airbag combination which I have on my 2500HD and I'm pretty sure they make them for the 1500. I'm very please with them.

 

[SunMan]

I have Firestone Ride Rite's too and am happy with their performance. Others swear by Supersprings. Another thing to consider is if your camper will be on full time or removed when not in use. Do a search on both items and you will find heaps of info. Good luck.

 

[davinski]

I've got a Dodge 1500 4x4 short bed with a hawk shell. Did notice the same thing with the mushiness and the longer i had the camper on, the more it sagged in the back....maybe I loaded more on it?!?!? Didn't really want to maintain airbags, liked the buy and forget advantage of the supersprings. I think about 300 installed if I remember. Stan and the folks at FWC seem to really like these.

Now, ride is nicer, stiffer, smoother. Truck is level. Never had a right/left sag problem, so can't comment. No maintenance. I take the camper off regularly for hauling stuff (mulch, topsoil, etc) and it rides nice.

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck.

Dave in Seattle

 

[Alex]

I've Firestone air bag as well. It works well, it may take some time at first to sort out the air leak if any, after that the system is pretty robust. I air mine to 25psi (in 85 degree air temp) and after 2 months it drops to 22.5psi (in 55 degree air temp).

 

[Kilroy]

I'm carrying a Hawk on my Tundra. I started out with Roadmaster springs, and they seemed to help pretty well. But after a couple of years things started to get mushy again. Seems the springs were wearing out. Put in Firestone air bags and couldn't be happier. Hardest part was taking the old helper springs off.

 

[MarkL]

Another vote for the Firestone Ride Rite Air bags. I installed a set on my 06 Dodge 2500 CTD and love the results. When I have just the camper (Hawk) installed, I run 5 psi and the ride is just right. When I tow my 7000# car hauler, I run them at 30 psi and the ride is great. They'd work great on your 1500

 

[Yukon]

Interesting. I have same bags and I find that on one of the bags I am losing around 1-2 lbs per day. I have done all kinds of testing and found no leaks. And, it only happens on one side. Other bag is solid.

 

[masterplumber]

Interesting. I have same bags and I find that on one of the bags I am losing around 1-2 lbs per day. I have done all kinds of testing and found no leaks. And, it only happens on one side. Other bag is solid.

I have the same problem but not quite as dramatic - maybe 1\2 - 1 lb per day. I've had them on for years & no change in the amount it loses. I don't drive this truck everyday so I just pump the bag back up before I leave & if we're on a longer trip I check it every few days. Other than that I love them.
Doug

 

[Alex]

Interesting. I have same bags and I find that on one of the bags I am losing around 1-2 lbs per day. I have done all kinds of testing and found no leaks. And, it only happens on one side. Other bag is solid.

Same thing happened to me. I replace all the compress fittings one by one to trace the leak. In my case it was the L fitting on top of the air bag.

 

[CJ8Rockcrawler]

I have the Firestone airbags on my Dodge as well. With the Lorenz suspension I have to run the bags at a higher pressure to handle the camper weight. I have played with the pressures back and forth a bit and seem to have it dialed in now with about a third more pressure on the driver's side to compensate for the heavier appliances, water, lp etc. My airbags seem to be holding pressure just fine... I've heard that most of the leaks tend to be from the hoses or the fittings. Most people don't seem to have problems with the actual bags.

Out of curiousity, are most people using the manual fill method or are they using one of the onboard controllers?

Kyle

 

[DLN]

Manual fill here, the controller would be nice but can't justify the expense for now. My air bags have almost zero leakage, maybe a pound or two a month, just lucky I guess.

 

[Alex]

Manual fill as well. Keep it simple and save some $ .

 

[masterplumber]

manuel fill, I have a CO2 tank mounted on the back of the camper already for refilling the tires so I ran the fill valves to existing holes on each side of the bumper
Doug

 

[Tailfins]

Interesting and informative replies. Thanks to everyone. My neighbor works in an auto parts department and got me a set of RideRites. If he's free this morning we'll be installing them. I'll measure the height at the rear as suggested for future reference. Only thing is, the tailgate is off. I don't know how much of a difference that would make. Probably not much.

 

[CJ8Rockcrawler]

I wouldn't worry about the weight difference with the tailgate off. Your measuring will get you close to the right pressures and you will customize from there as you see fit.

Kyle

 

[EdoHart]

I only have the front level-rites which have such a small air volume that using a press-on air gauge causes them to loose enough air that I have to air up again!

However, I knew I had a small leak and it took me a while to find it. When I cut one of the the hoses, I had left a very tiny bit on the end of the hose (about a 1/64" bur). When the end and connector with the bad cut was submersed in water it would release a tiny bubble about once every minute. For bags this probably a small enough loss that I could have lived with it, but I was having to air up the shocks every couple of days. A cut made with a razor blade seems to have solved the problem.

I still check them before a trip (which always means adding a little air just because of the loss that occurs as I screw on the pressure gauge), but I "think" I'm not loosing any more air.

 

[5 Speed]

Firestone bags on my Tundra for the past 5 years, aside from loosing a mounting bolt on the 500 mile dirt road from Fairbanks to Deadhorse, (didn't loose the bracket, just rattled around for a while) I only check the air every time I check my tires, usually every oil change and they have never lost air. I kept the bags single fill in each wheel well, so when the tires get air, it is right there, I can give different pressure if the load requires. By routing the air to just a few feet from the bag I think I kept it simple and have never had a leak. When cutting and routing lines, be sure to cut the hose as clean as possible and the fittings should not leak.

 

[cabezon23]

the lazy way

I installed the RideRite bags with the remote gauge and pump. The pump is a piece o crap and loud (it's installed behind the rear seat), but it does what it's supposed to do.
No leaks after 3 years, but a few weeks ago on a pretty rough "road" one of the bags got loose and broke the "L" connector off. As nice as it is to drive with working bags, it's really painful to drive on bad roads without them. Thank god for the bump stop extenders; I thought I would brake the frame or rip off the camper, but at the end we got back to the pavement in one piece.

So, my recommendation, check the bolts regularly.

Getting back to my installation; I connected both bags together, the compressor is behind the rear seats, gauges, compressor switch and deflate valve are under the dash board. It's expensive with all the parts, compressor and controls, but it has been working great and I like the ease of use.