Question about aftermarket airbags

[bondo303]

Since it is the off season over here, I have been looking around at mods for the truck and trailer. I have been looking at airbags for the rear of the truck. I understand that they help with sag but doesn't a properly adjusted wdh do this? I understand that if you have a heavy load in the bed, not towing, it will prevent the rear from riding on the bump stops, etc. But when pulling a trailer with wdh? When I was dialing in my hitch, everything had to be at certain heights, trailer level, truck back to stock height by transferring weight to the front, but if adding bags, wouldn't you need to re-dial in your hitch. So if everything is set up perfectly, then you add bags in the rear, add air to them, essentially lifting the rear, wouldn't the trailer be nose high? So would you need to redo the hitch settings. Also, how is the towing experience with bags in the rear? Is it worth the small investment? Experts chime in. Thanks.

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[Quantum]

My understanding is that the bags would help with bouncing.

You're correct that a properly sized WDH along with being dialled in correctly should eliminate the sag, as you're distributing the weight back to the front of the truck.

Some trucks though, still sag because the rake in the truck isn't sufficient due to people using leveling kits on their trucks, or other reasons.

I think I would forego airbags and get timbrens or sumosprings. From what I've read, they are effective when towing, but don't affect overall ride when solo. I think airbags, even when aired down, still affect ride...but I'm not 100% sure.

Sumosprings or timbrens replace your bump stops with a supportive cushioning rubber which act like airbags, but are static, in the sense that you don't need to air them up or deflate them when your towing or driving solo.

[ALJO]

I use the Airlift 1000 with around 30 lbs. in them when towing. Also use a 1200 lbs. round bar WDH setup. Combo drives smooth and level. Without TT I use 5 lbs. in the airbags which brings the RAM back to its original driving position. No regrets as the airbags will last and easy to install.

[bondo303]

Thanks for the replies. My set up right now is good. The only thing I think that I would change would be the tires as they are p rated. If I did enhance the rear, I would probably do a bump stop replacement like timbrens.

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[Ottawasteve]

Originally Posted by bondo303

Since it is the off season over here, I have been looking around at mods for the truck and trailer. I have been looking at airbags for the rear of the truck. I understand that they help with sag but doesn't a properly adjusted wdh do this? I understand that if you have a heavy load in the bed, not towing, it will prevent the rear from riding on the bump stops, etc. But when pulling a trailer with wdh? When I was dialing in my hitch, everything had to be at certain heights, trailer level, truck back to stock height by transferring weight to the front, but if adding bags, wouldn't you need to re-dial in your hitch. So if everything is set up perfectly, then you add bags in the rear, add air to them, essentially lifting the rear, wouldn't the trailer be nose high? So would you need to redo the hitch settings. Also, how is the towing experience with bags in the rear? Is it worth the small investment? Experts chime in. Thanks.

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Been using the Firestone airbag kit for towing for 3 years now, but I do not have any experience with Timbrens or other kits to compare to. I do see that Timbrens is now doing airbags so it would be interesting to hear their take on the advantages/disadvantages of their airbags over their other suspension systems. Some of the bump-stop products only engage upon severe compression of your rear springs and shocks whereas airbags will provide support at all levels of loading depending upon inflation.

The airbags should not be used to reduce sag while your WD hitch is engaged as this will defeat the purpose of the WD Hitch. Basically you want to have your vehicle leveled with your WD hitch and then snug up the airbags to support but not lift the rear of the TV. My setup works best with 35 psi in the bags and most with half-tons find that 35 to 45 psi works best when towing within the ratings of their TV.

Airbags are essentially an extra rear Heavy Duty shock that you inflate while towing. Mine are rated for 5000lbs at max inflation, which is hopefully more than you will need for towing your trailer. The airbags will prolong the life of your rear shocks and give you additional stability while towing if properly inflated. If the airbags are left inflated after you unhitch, the ride will be harsh enough to rattle your teeth on rough roads. When aired down to 5 lbs, they have zero impact on ride quality because your regular shocks are absorbing the bumps and controlling the ride quality. The airbags use a very small volume of air so they are very easy to inflate with any handheld cordless inflator.

[vcbice]

I have had airbags on a Tundra and used TImbrens on my Dodge 2500.

So, airbags were much better performance wise. I strongly recommend getting an on board air compressor setup as well. When aired down they do NOT affect the truck ride at all. The ride is same as stock. An advantage with the air bags is you can adjust the ride level of the truck so it is same as unloaded, which means your headlights point to the same place all the time. Not a huge deal unless you drive at night a lot. The other benefit of that is you maintain full suspension travel when loaded. This can be a big deal depending on the kinds of roads you travel.

The Timbrens are install and forget, and are VERY easy to install. But, mounted as instructed, your truck has about 1" of travel before the axle hits the Timbrens. You can feel that when driving around. So, unloaded the Timbrens do affect the ride of the truck. When loaded the truck rests on the Timbrens so they are acting on the load all the time. This also means your truck uses up at least 1" of suspension travel when loaded. Not a huge deal, but, it is different than the flexibility of airbags.

The other difference is that the TImbrens will never leak.

There are also other helper springs out there that might be better than these two for what you want.

[Quantum]

Anyone have experience with sumosprings or Roadmaster Active Suspension (RAS)?

[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by Quantum

Anyone have experience with sumosprings or Roadmaster Active Suspension (RAS)?

I had RAS on my old Excursion when I had a bumper pull. They worked really well


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[TCNashville]

I towed with Timbrens on my previous truck for 5 years. My WDH was properly dialed in but still had a lot of bounce. The Timbrens took care of that. I think a lot of the bounce was/is due to Ford putting a softer spring pack in the F-250. Above posters are correct in the fact under a no load situation even hitting a moderate bump you will feel it. I did like the ease of install and no maintenance of the Timbrens though and was willing to put up with a slight jar every now and then. Of course, the F-250's don't ride that great anyway. I have yet to tow with the new "17 F-250 but I did have the chance to hitch it up at the storage facility and dial in the WDH. BTW, backup cameras are the bomb! If I experience the same bounce as I did with my old truck, I'm gonna put Timbrens on this truck as well as it's even easier than my old truck. The plan is to have them on during the camping season and put the factory bumpstops back on during the winter. I've heard good things about the RAS system but at double the cost I'll stick with the Timbrens. I have no experience with the SumoSprings but they appear to be softer and would work great with certain applications but our trailer has 1400lbs on the tongue and I liked the stoutness of the Timbrens.

[nunyadamn]

Sorry if this was covered already - I switched from a 2005 Chevy duramax to a 2015 F250 powerstroke. The chevy didn't need anything - weighed on cat scale to setup WDH. The ford on the otherhand - it didn't matter how many washers I added (currently at 7 (eight is max)) on the equal-i-zer 14k hitch - it still had the nose high and I also set it up using the cat scale. It wasn't overly bad, but just a little too high in the nose making my lights slightly high. I thought I was doing something wrong or something and called equal-i-zer to verify. They were very helpful by the way.

I added air bags. I run them at 20psi when towing the trailer.

[bondo303]

All good points here. Thank you for the comments. If I do airbags, I am considering asam.

https://timbergroveenterprises.com/old-home/

Looks like a nice clean install, all brass fittings, no cutting either. They replace the factory bumpstops. It looks like they mount where the factory airbags would be, but I am not sure.

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[nwminnesota]

I have Timbrens I yet to feel them when unloaded. However mine sit 1.5" above the axle. Cheap easy and no maintenance and no risk of getting a leak.

2 friends of mine told me their air bags made the ride stiffer.