That does look pretty nice!

 

Ive spoken too doug (owner) a few times via email,about his suspension and he guarentees it for offroad,and when you look at the design its much smarter than airbagits,airbagits suspension you have too remove the front hangers for the rear leaves and remove the front sway bar,dougs you leave both on..
And also he now recommends accu-air for the control system,he suspose too update his site..
AccuAir - Air Suspension

Much better bet i think dave,a little more expensive,but much better system.

P.S he has a suspension for 2011 now..

 

That looks nice, but I don't want a lifted truck... I want the front leveled, with the rear being as high as a stock F350. What other options are there for stock height trucks?

 

Ya could send doug an email about want you want and see what he says..

 

That is what I am going to do; Accu-air and the Ultimate suspension! That is if it can be done without much of a lift. Thanks NKelly!

 

No worries dave..

 

Whatever you guys decide, if it is more then a few hundred bucks for air bags - ask all your questions including "what about after I spend my money"

 

Well after over a month of no help from firestone of sanluis rassaini.....
Firestone tech r4 thoughts and opinions.
Keep in mind this is all related to an install on a Ford 6.7 F-350 DRW, your mileage may vary.

First off, after the sale tech support sucks – period.
With some of the issues I have the flat out answer received from sanluis rasssani was that my application was a very small market share and didn’t justify their attention – and that was from Tony, the person you see in the r4 youtube videos. I have waited well over a month for some help.

I kind of get the impression this kit made engineered for the SRW’s and then adapted to the DRW’s. You just can’t lower the truck to level and keep the installation within the design parameters. Meaning, if the air bags are installed to the proper height the truck is about 2” over stock height.

The kit is well made and most everything fit well.
The instructions are just OK, you need to be able to figure some things out for yourself.
The kit is a difficult, time consuming install, and I would not recommend a do it your self. Get some help.
I saved all the old parts with the thought if I sold, traded or wrecked the truck I would remove it and install in the next vehicle.
I will never use one of these kits again, if you want air ride - look at Kelderman or Ultimate air and get a real air ride.
Before purchasing I tried working with S-R, firestone and the suppliers about leaving the supplied air system out. I had plans for a more robust compressor/storage. Even though the package is a “build to order” kit, there was no dealing with the change.

I have an air leak that I have narrowed down to the Height Control Valves, but is hard to verify.
The spring center pin not long enough to allow the parking brake cable to be secured.
The compressor comes on while driving, there should be little air change once the height is set, there is a delay with height change valve which is supposed to keep cycling to a minimum.
Compressor is a bit small for the task
The parking brake cable rubs the bag all the time, and there is no way to relocate due to the DEF tank.
The right side air bag is fairly close to the exhaust, and there was no supplied heat shield. Firestone did send out a heat shield for me to install.
The air bags wrap over the upper steel spacer and will most likely cause wear when collapsed
The right side brake cable has to be run through the brackets for the installation
I have had a hard time leveling the truck and have yet to get a straight answer from S-R on the proper procedure. Makes me wonder why there are two height valves. Most pickups really don’t need side to side leveling. OTR trucks use one valve for 2 axles/4 bags.

After a month’s use my side to side level has changed, with the right side dropping a bit.
If I level the truck I have the wrong bag height. If I hve the correct bag height the truck sits about 2” high.
Because of the design, the height control valves (HCV) are fairly close to the springs and are attached to the springs with links. All seemed well until I put 4 wheels and tires back on. The extra weight almost pulled the HCV off the bracket with a way too short-wrong angle link.

The rancho shocks are useless with the truck unloaded. See the video of the lack of dampening
Firestone Tech R4 Shock - fail - YouTube

This causes an annoying bounce and bad side to side wobble when backing out of my driveway on an angle. Feels like you are on a boat and just got waked.
The suspension has now developed an annoying squeak.

On the positive side, when I drop 3000+ pounds of pin weight on the hitch, the truck drops and comes back up to height and you barely notice the change.
On the road with the trailer the ride is better then it was stock but nowhere near what I was led to believe I would get with an air ride.
There is more, but this is what I recall for now.
So – no recommendation here for a DRW 6.7 Ford.
Stick with air bags only (you still get an air ride since the bags should always have 3-5 psi)

If you are looking to level the truck and get a smooth ride – this is not the kit

Expensive, difficult to install.
Minimal tech support after the sale.

 

So sorry to hear about all the troubles and lack of support, on a product that was suppose to be an improvement to the truck.

 

I had never seen various models of this suspension when looking for it in the past, but http://www.suspensionconnection.com/...FcXe4AodmSoq6Q lists various kits for specific vehicles. It sounds like you may have purchased an F-250 kit before they came out with the F-350 kit?

 

No, I didn't get the wrong kit.

Actually, when you order the "kit" you are getting 7 boxes a-la-cart. The boxes are picked for the specific application. Some boxes are the same, like the air control and weak rancho shocks. Some of the plates are the same across the same make platform, e.g. F-250/350. There are specific boxes though for the F-350 DRW, which was part of the delay myself and another member had. We had to wait until the parts were actually manufactured for the 2011+ DRWs.

 

Update one:

The supplied 9000 series Rancho shocks seemed pretty poor in the dampening department.
The shocks are tied into the air bags, low pressure, low dampening setting, you get the picture.

Anyway, I ordered a pair of the manual controls. Simple to install. Surprised to see some moisture behind the air connection.
With the manual controls you are advised to add a drop of oil to the shock before installing.

Initial setting of "4" with no load seemed to offer some improvement in ride.
I bumped it up to "8" for a tow. My trailer is 18-19K with 3K+ on the pin.
That ride was better then previous with the "air tuned" shocks.

What was surprising was that with no load and the shocks set to "8", the ride was pretty good. Best way to describe the improvement was comparing a no load to load ride.

 

Update two:

Friday afternoon, rush hour coming, about 140 miles from home and 180 miles from the campground, I pull into a rest stop to find out why my hitch is not responding (air ride with the AirLift wireless controller) and the truck feels like I am riding on the spring seats.

Takes some searching in the rain to find the hole in the air bag. It is not easy to hear air leaks with big rigs idling all around you.

Right side air bag is blown out and the the compressor just running continuously.
Not a happy camper to say the least. Tried some phone calls, only got voice mails.
Fired off an email to Firestone and Sanluis-Rassani requesting help and air bags.

Finally got through to someone who works for Firestone and they wanted me to remove the bags, take pictures, email and after receiving the old parts they would issue replacements.

That is certainly no good so I asked him to push it up the chain. I wanted bags "next day aired" to the campground if at all possible.

Did what I could to bypass the air bags and get the compressor running to at least get air in the hitch.
Didn't hear from anyone so we got off at the next exit to turn around. Planned on making a stop there anyway for trailer supplies.

Just as I committed to turn around and head home I got a call from Tony at Sanluis.

I have to give credit where credit is do.

By the time I started heading home, Tony and Brad from Firestone had located bags and already processed the shipping info to get the bags delivered to the campground!

A short conversation with Tony as to what I think happened and we are on our way back south to Southern Virginia for a week.
That was a rough ride.

The area we were in was not a "next day" location, so the bags didn't show up until Monday. Fortunately Tractor Supplies are branching out and I was able to get the large socket and thread sealer I needed to replace the bags.

Not easy in the 100 degree heat we had, but I got both bags swapped in about an hour.
The ride home was so much better.

I have my issues with this kit, but Tony (Sanluis-Rassani) and Brad (Firestone) really stepped up on this and we were able to enjoy our vacation, so I thank them for the efforts.

 

Nice to hear that it worked out ok. Nice of them to step up in your time of need.

 

Following your thread. But curious...about how many miles on the first bags? What do you think caused the leak? Poor materials...or ???

Again...just curious...and glad that you are back on the road with new bags! WOW...


biz