Ok thanks Senix as that makes sense now.

 

Very good thread guys! I'm new to this forum as I have just purchased my first Ford Truck. We are planning to pull a 5th wheel Toy Hauler across the country with our F-250 and I was wondering if there was something available to help with the lift in the back of the truck. To my pleasant surprise this was one of the first threads I came across. I've looked at both the Firestorm and AirLift brands. Both appear to have great reviews but the AirLift appears to be a little more expensive. If you dont mind me asking, how much would you think is reasonable for the both the Air Bladder kit and the Compressor Kit from each of the respective companies? What would be reasonable to pay to have someone install these items? Thanks in advance! Really enjoying this forum.

 

Well I got a quote for over sized tank and compressor, air lift air bags, dual gages and install for around $1400. Seems high to me.

 

Seems to me my set came in at around 1K installed. I was under a time constrant so I had mine put on for me.

 

My firestone came with one gauge/dual needles(for each bag) and controls for each bag. I always hear you don't want to tie the bags together, otherwise it can sway pretty good. Keep them seperate and it'll keep things more stable.

 

Seems like I paid around $600 for the firestones. You can look them up on line and get a price. I had only the single guage. Installed my own. Wasn't a real big deal, a few hours and hand tools did the trick. A good shop should be able to do it for 3 hours labor. The time consuming part is running the little hoses and tying them down. I'd say $1000 installed would be fair. maybe another half hour labor and 10 dollars or so to put a piece of sheet metal under the pump. If cost is important, it's very easy to install the bags with the tubes running back to the rear bumper with a pair of air valves. You have to fill them with a compressor but the whole set up is around $300 and an easy DIY project. If you're not into that get one of the neghiborhood wrench heads to do it for a $100. Hope this helps

 

Well I'm going Monday to get one of them on order. Getting 1 more price to compare too and looking forward to trying out this new system.

 

I think I paid $250 for the airlift bags through Jegs. I ran the manual valve through a bottom hole in the license plate. I later added the compressor and gauge which I thought was another $200-$250. I did all the work myself in an afternoon and didnt even take the tires off the truck to do it.

I just got the single gauge. My thought is that I want the truck level with equal pressure on both sides. I dont tow a camper though, maybe their weight is really biased to one side which makes the dual gauge better. When I bought mine the guy told me that the dual gauge was intended for front vs back, not side to side. Im not arguing his point and dont mean to start a debate on that, but thats what he told me. I would call each company and ask their opinion on the single vs dual.

 

I removed the plate for the cigarette lighter 12v plug in the dash. The aux port for an Ipod is just below that. I still have another 12v source in the dash and another in the console so I had no problem losing this one to put the gauge there.

 

hey Senix what size tank did you go with? 2 gal or 5?

 

Stanley, Do you have pics of the compressor and sheet metal you installed? Would love to see them if you do as it might help myself and others determine how we want to install. Thanks!

 

2 is fine.

 

Sorry, no pics. All I did was mount the pump to the outside of the frame on the passenger side. As I recall the driver side had fuel and brake lines in the way. Passenger side was wide open. Once installation was complete and everything worked I went to Home Depot and bought a piece of sheet metal out of the hardware section. I'm thinking it comes in a 1 X 2 ft piece. Anyway I just installed that under the pump. I think I had to bend the edges to get something to bolt to the frame. Don't remember what I attached the outer edges to but there is something there. The results were good. The pump was protected from most elements and nothing was visibal unless you got under the truck.

 

@Stan - Good deal! Thanks for the clarification! That gives me a pretty good mental picture of your layout. Now if I can just get to put it to use in the next month or so.

With all the talk about compressors, where is everyone placing these on their truck? What are the benefits of the tank, over just having the compressor? What do you use the stored air in the tank generally?

 

I put my compressor on the fuel tank bracket right in front of the fuel tank.

air tank is important so that you have the required capacity to fill the bags or aux air for tires and stuff.