Class C air bag suspension, anyone done it?

[Midwest Jeffk]

Looking to see if anyone has put airbags front and back on their class c. Had an old timer say he always did it on his class c's and wouldn't live without it. I have my hellwigs tightened down to 2 1/2" and tires at 80lbs cold. Let's just say when the road gets rough, you know it. However, it handles very nice with this set up. My hope is that air would take the harsh jarring out, without giving up handling.

[Jopopsy]

With the air suspension you can adjust it to suit you - so you can take some of the bump out. However don't confuse this for a nice spongy ride though - you're not going to get that either.

Plus for the Hellwigs - once adjusted you're done. Airbags need to be replaced from time to time.

I wouldn't see any reason to have both.

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by Midwest Jeffk

Looking to see if anyone has put airbags front and back on their class c. Had an old timer say he always did it on his class c's and wouldn't live without it. I have my hellwigs tightened down to 2 1/2" and tires at 80lbs cold. Let's just say when the road gets rough, you know it. However, it handles very nice with this set up. My hope is that air would take the harsh jarring out, without giving up handling.

I guess you can count me as one of the "old timers", my prior two units were a 1992 Gulfstream Ultra and a 2006 Chateau, both E-series Class C's. On both units I did indeed install air bags front and rear, but in both cases it was to restore the ride height and help keep them from bottoming out on the bump stops. Neither had any sort of helper springs such as the Hellwigs, the bags themselves were the helpers. Both units before bags would bottom out on the bump stops certainly creating a very jarring ride. In retrospect they both were likely over Ford's stated GVWR, the cutaway chassis then had less capacity than they do now. Both units had their generators and freshwater tanks on the driver's side, so that side's air bags had more initial air pressure just to level them out.

I would say the airbags made the ride somewhat better in both because they were not bottoming out as much and made the handing more predictable. Before air bags when the trucks would bottom out hard the handing would get very "interesting" for a few seconds, before settling down again when the road improved. But in my case the air bags did not "soften" the ride much. I did put Koni shocks on my 2006 after a few years, that did make things a little better yet. But if I reduced the air too much the bottoming and resultant erratic handling would be back.

I think anything one does to increase the total spring rate will likely make the ride somewhat more harsh. But if you are experiencing situations where the suspension actually hits on the bump stops, you may see an improvement in the ride with air bags.

[lonestarrpm]

What about SumoSprings instead of complete air bags.

I added those -- and 4 were ~$300 total.

I've yet to road trip with them yet, but I have heard good things.

Mike

[WinnieView]

Originally Posted by lonestarrpm

What about SumoSprings instead of complete air bags.

I added those -- and 4 were ~$300 total.

I've yet to road trip with them yet, but I have heard good things.

Mike

x2
A very popular inexpensive option for both class A and C motorhome chassis' since many of them are built upon heavy duty leaf spring truck chassis'.

Although not for all the exact same reasons or results that many owners add air bags, SumoSprings can help with issues when chassis bottoms out on the factory bump stops.

P.S. It's also a DIY job and can be done in an hour with a few common tools.

P.S.S. We have never added airbags but we did own a class A diesel pusher a few years ago with 8 factory airbags. And stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.

P.S.S.S. As also mentioned, a really good set of shocks such as Koni can make a big difference.

[Midwest Jeffk]

Mike, I never heard of sumosprings. Please let us know how they helped with ride quality. They sound like a great solution if they do indeed work.

[drk98]

I added the koni shocks on all 4 corners and that made a massive improvement in the ride quality.


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