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Going to plan on adding air bags to the list. My truck already has air tanks, compressor and wiring inside the cab. Should I go with one's mounted on the leaf spring bracket, axle mounted Or does it not make a difference
Thanks
Going to plan on adding air bags to the list. My truck already has air tanks, compressor and wiring inside the cab. Should I go with one's mounted on the leaf spring bracket, axle mounted Or does it not make a difference
Thanks
From the experience of both above I would strongly recommend that the over leaf bags are the only way to go.
Thanks for the tag in an effort to let others learn from my mistakes. The link Wes444 provided goes to post# 161, the link below goes to post #1. This is the route I should have taken years ago, but at least it was minimal cost financially and time wise.
The credit goes to those mentioned in my posts though as they were an inspiration and guide through my adventure.
PO installed on leaf on mine. Been run on it for many years before i even got it.
Ran the air lines out to license plate frame and used the Schrader valves to hold the plate on.
Did you both have issues with the Airlift version of the axle mount which moved you away from this to the leaf spring mount? Did you feel the Ride-Rites will have the same issue? The Ride-Rites look to have pretty good mounting points and brackets as opposed to the the mount on the arm coming off the block which is how the Airlift is mounted.
Tim, I don't believe Wes444 had the over the axle mounts, but he will be along shortly to back that up.
As my thread details, I installed the AirLift over the axle kit in 2016 and never liked the style. I towed long distance and cross country with it adjusting the brackets many times. Last summer we were headed north with our 5th wheel and the IL roads just beat the brackets to death. I was tired of the mounting style and decided at that moment I would change it up.
I went to an over the leaf spring bracket, again as my thread details. This was a decision based on those that had gone before me and a couple of friends that I trust having the same brackets and the FTE'rs that went before me providing inspiration that I needed to make the change.
If you are referring to Ride-Rite over axle brackets, they may work. As I understand it, there is another type of AirLift over the axle bracket that FTE'rs like Z31Freakify have that is working great. If you compare their kit to the kit I removed, they are not the same and have some very different methods of staying in place. My kit was garbage... Though it "worked", it was in no way optimal and the over the spring kit is far superior. I believe Z31Freakify posted some pictures in my thread as well in order for us to see his kit and my removed kit side by side.
If you look closely at the pictures in the first post of my thread, you will see that the top bracket for the overload perch was not the problem. It was the bottom bracket that mounts to the axle tube itself and the one on the overload perch. I believe as the axle and springs articulated while traveling, the lower axle tube brackets would rotate.
I hope this helps and I know there are a lot of options out there, even from the same company. The choices can be daunting at times and this is not something you want to fail or be substandard in the near future.
EDIT: You can see in the picture below what I am referring to regarding the difference in kit hardware and where mine was failing. Z31Freakify is on the left and mine is on the right.
I picked up the ride-rite over the axle ones for a real good price with the compressor and wireless monitor. I installed them and thought it was a pretty solid install so I wanted to find out if I will eventually be headed to a different setup later. But your issues were with the air-ride and I can see them causing an issue due to where and how they are mounted.
I've had over the leaf air lift setup on mine for 5 years or so cwork great no complaints. Only problem I've had is had to replace compressor once. But that's it.
Another vote for leaf, and I ran my lines out the the rear bumper, there is a tab on either side of the rear bumper towards the back that is a perfect mounting spot. Trying to get to the holes above the license plate was a pain on my f250 with the truck camper mounted so I used the ones on the bumper this time and it is much easier to air them up/down now.
Another vote for leaf, and I ran my lines out the the rear bumper, there is a tab on either side of the rear bumper towards the back that is a perfect mounting spot. Trying to get to the holes above the license plate was a pain on my f250 with the truck camper mounted so I used the ones on the bumper this time and it is much easier to air them up/down now.
This is a good point to bring up and one I forgot to mention above! I too ran a "backup" line to the rear bumper in the event the onboard compressor failed. I would still have quick and easy access to inflating or deflating the air bags if needed.
Sounds like the other guys have you covered. But in my actual experience run far away from any of the over the axle mounts. Only go with the over-the-leaf mounts. I only wish I had done that from the start, but when I searched for compatible options on Air Lift site it pointed me to the over the axle type because my 5th wheel brackets. Don't go by that. Even with the 5th wheel mount, the over the leaf kits work just fine (will have to do some drilling, but no big deal). Thanks to Sous and others experience I finally switched to that route and so far I love it. It is a more solid setup. My over the axle mount started shifting/twisting (similar to Sous) with the hodgepodge flimsy bracket setup.
