After reading horrible feedback on the Airlift kits I went with the Firestone 2535 kit.

I finally installed these last night...the directions were so bad it took me a solid six hours to get everything installed. I didn't remove the wheels or jack the truck up, but I did drop the spare tire. The first side (passenger) took me 90% of the time, the driver side was quick; even trying to get the top bracket bolted up.

A few notes for the other DIYers.

Assemble everything by hand, I had to remove the passenger airbag at least three times because I used the wrong flat washers. Make sure you use a LARGE flat washer between the nut that secures the top mount bracket to the frame.

Don't forget the metal spacer (flat bar with a hole drilled through) that sits between the top mount and the frame.

When you assemble the lower cage, the instructions tell you to use the mounting hole position that yields a bracket that sits as close to the axle as possible. Then the instructions show a 2WD and 4WD diagram with the 4WD mounted in the middle position; this was incorrect and I had to use the very
bottom most mounting hole.

The lower cage uses four silver nuts and bolts. The airbag is secured to the lower cage using a similarly threaded brass colored bolt with locking teeth. I made the mistake of using a silver bolt to secure the airbag.

My truck has nearly 170k miles on it, the bump stops did not want to come out easily. I should have presoaked the top nut with PB Blaster from the beginning.
If you're going to install these and have the B&W hitch, it's a pain in the *** to get the bolt through the DEF bracket and through the frame all while trying to secure a nut which will be sandwiched between the B&W frame plate and the vehicle frame in a space only wide enough for the nut.

Make sure you rotate your airbags so the alignment pin clicks into place, it's a little tricky to get positioned correctly. It helped to grip the bag by the top metal plate versus grabbing the actual bag.

 

Nice job with those air bags and the write up!

I will be doing bags on my truck with the Ford 5th wheel prep package and onboard air this coming spring..

 

Nice work!.. that pic of the hose ends in the fuel filler area with the reflection of the parking lot is amazing.. like the thing is floating..

on the bag twist

>Make sure you rotate your airbags so the alignment pin clicks into place, it's a little tricky to get positioned correctly. It helped to grip the bag by the top metal plate versus grabbing the actual bag.

because the hose isn't attached, just squeeze the bag top & bottom together, rotates easy then.

 

Been there, done that. Nice write up. I too didn't have them aligned correctly and didn't get the click. When I got my '14 I removed them from my '11 with the intention of putting them on the '14 myself. After busting knuckles to get them out of the '11 I just decided to let the local hitch installer who was already installing my 5th wheel do it for me.

Now if I could only find the time to get my Viair system re-installed.

 

I sure hope I get better MPG with a floating truck!

Sorry, I missed a sentence regarding the alignment pins. This was on the passenger side, where there are two heat shields. The thickness of the two heatshield plates makes it a little more tricky to get everything aligned. Not difficult, just requires a little more patience!

 

Funny thing, I was dreading the bag install but am excited for the Viair. When you fab your own mounting hardware...things fit like you want them to!

 

Will the bags help the around town unloaded ride?

 

Not really. If I have any more than 5lbs of pressure in them while unloaded the rear end turns into a pogo stick. We lived in Wilmington, NC for a couple of years and I found this out the hard way while going across the Cape Fear river bridge...boing, boing, boing, boing....

 

Weird, I'm running 55# unloaded and it's no worse than before?

 

Wow really? Your not sitting higher then stock with that empty?If i were to put 55 in mine unloaded the rear end would bounce like a basketball and i would prolly bite my toungue off..
I only put in 45 when I have 2k in the back.
I put 62 when I have 14k fiver hitched up.
Weird

 

Yeah, that's insane that you're still riding like stock with that much air pressure. It doesn't take much air to raise my bed by several inches when unloaded. Towing my 16K 5th wheel I only need 45 to 50 pounds to get it level.

 

Thanks for the post "ng", I'm considering bagging the 350. The sag is pretty minimal so I go back n forth on the topic.
On your 2nd pic, the bag looks like it sits half-off the axle mount. I guess that's the way it's supposed to be tho since the mount bolts to the axle and spring perch and the top of the bag bolts into the jounce hole.
Nice work on the air-fill too!

 

Remember that the pressure you put in the bags when the truck is UNLOADED will increase linearly as more weight is put in the truck. IE 20 PSI unloaded can easily become 80 PSI when loaded...
So when you state the pressure you're putting in the suspension, it's helpful to know what the load was at that time.

 

Very true. I don't pre-inflate because either 1) I almost always forget and 2) if I did I'd have to raise the landing gear more and they don't like going that high.

 

Several of us have airbags on our 350s. I love them on mine and it's a dually. The Viair system is extremely nice. I did a write up on mine a while back and I know Sam did one on his. If you need ideas, here is a link to it https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...with-pics.html
I love the being able to adjust on the fly. Here is the first truck I put the system and bags on. I have a pic here of my air chuck under the rear passenger door so I can fill tires, floats or whatever. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...d-love-it.html