What do you guys think about putting one off our trucks on some air bags. I'm just looking into the options here and want to know what has worked the best. I know that the reverse shackel works well and some better springs, but I thought it sure does sound nice to be riding on air. Isn't that really the best ride on air? Anybody have any stories or experience with air rides?

 

Barebackjake is on air at all 4 corners. I researched it a bunch a few months ago. It would be a great way to go but parts are exspensive once you start adding it up

 

Yeah, we talked about it not too long ago. I was seriously considering it for the rear of my new truck. Check out Kelderman's rear kit for our trucks, and they also can do a front kit.

Mine's not a daily driver, and I was doing it mostly for my wife's sake, so I decided at this point it wasn't worth the trouble and money. But, I'm still thinking about it as a possibility depending........

 

A true air ride or just helper bags Tim?

Cowboy Steve

 

yeah my truck is on air all the way around. it was the best thing i ever did to it. ill never have a truck on steel springs again.

yeah its definately not cheap to do. its about $3k in parts for the bars, pivots, bags, valves, ride hieght valves, fittings, hose, compressor, steel...........uhhhh what else

worth every penny though.

 

Pictures perhaps?

Cowboy Steve

 

i dont have any pics right now, im in the process of reworking alot of things to add some lift to it and change all the bushings from poly's to daystar superpivots. once its all wrapped up ill have a bunch of pics up.

 

Jake,

So you say it was well worth it. was that in the comfort department or versatility, and have you been able to tow with it yet. Just wondering if there are any draw backs to it besides the expense. I bet your wife sure appreciated the change. I was also wondering you had a parts list but where did you get them? I assum you put it on yourself, how hard was the install?

 

the ride comfort was one of the largest things, having the truck level with all loads which makes it handle better. being able to drop the foot on the trailer jack air down and drive out from the trailer. having the kneeling capability, i have about 150k miles towing with it. and i have a bale bed and cattle feeder on it alot in the winter. the only other drawback i can see from the cost was time of install and theres some more maintence, lots more fittings to grease and when the bushings get more worn they need to be changed. i ran through 2 sets of poly bushings in 150k, they got replaced more for the sleeves than the bushings. i bet if i had dom sleeves in it from day one i would have gotten 150k out of the bushings. i did put dom sleeves in the bushings instead of the rolled sleeves since the truck would destroy the rolled sleeves on the second replacement. yeah she liked it. the install isnt real hard its just a matter of making sure that everything is where its supposed to be. i built all my brackets tore the truck down, got all the axle and frame brackets tacked and or bolted on the truck. then i hauled it to the alignment shop verified axle placements were correct, caster and camber are correct. finished all the welds verified alignment. it takes alot of time i have probably 80hrs into all the fab work and install.

as for a parts list i have alot of them

4 firestone 1t14f4 reverse sleeve bags

20 daystar superpivots 2 with no stud, 8 with 1-1/8lh stud, 8 with 1-1/8rh stud, 2 3/4rh stud.

8 36" 1.5" .250 dom 1020mild steel tubes

2 42" 1" .250 dom 1020mild steel tubes for panhards will need insert for the studs on the bushings

i went through about 30sqft of 1/4" hot rolled plate for all the brackets, and gussets. back of the frame needs to be gusseted from just behind the bags to just infront of the bar attachment since design of the bags changed all the frame loading. the front not much gusseting is needed since the same frame for the 2wd and the spring and frame attachment is about the same as how i have it designed. i will have it all done up again here pretty soon i can get some pics up then.

as for valving i have 10 1/4" valves, 2 ride hieght valves lots of fittings and line, a air zienth compressor, handfull of switches oh i and know theres all kinds of stuff i have forgotten about.

i got alot of parts from suicidedoors.com and the other stuff i have gotten from the local big rig shop.

 

Wow Jake, that's impressive...and a ton of work! Did you save a lot of $$ building your own brackets ect? About how far can you lower or raise your ride height? Thanks

 

i can adjust the driveable ride hieght by 3" and 10" from aired all the way down to all the way up. its soooo nice not having to crank on the trailer jack anymore since i was having to do that almost every day.

on the brackets you pretty much have to make your own. theres really not a whole lot out there that can be made to work. theres alot of brackets from suicidedoors.com polyperformance.com ballisticfabrications.com that come real close and actually alot of the brackets i had on the truck from the initial build were from theese vendors but i was goin for a cleaner setup, and i just couldnt find anything i really liked, the brackets on the front axle are still gonna be the same since that was all custom up there.

 

Yea sure sounds like quite the install. One question you probebly just forgot was what was the total cost for you? I'm interested in learning more about the you system. I'm a metal fabricator for the Air Force right now so I would like to think that I would be able to do something like this, but it would sure help to see some pics of the brackets you made. Did you have any plans to follow or did you just wing it after buying a bunch of parts? Thanks for all the info. I cant wait to see how your turned out then maybe I can get an idea on my future project.

 

BB Jake, Does that mean you can only have 3" or 10" or everything in between. Either way I'm loking into it just for the ride improvement. Adjusting the ride height it a bonus.

 

jim-

the bags limits are 5" minimum hieght, design position range from 9.5-12" and max useable hieght 15"

your normal driving should be within the 9.5-12" range that what hieght the bag is designed to be used at to minimize bottoming and over extending. i suppose you could drive out of theese ranges but from what ive learned its not reccomended it can shorten the life of the bags. the available amount of suspension travel is 10" i put some rods on the suspension and put orings on them to see what the normal travel usually is and drove it and for most road driving it was using about 6" of travel. when im out off road like on the ranch i have seen 9" of suspension travel. i do run limit straps to limit the bag lenth to 15" the only time i have hit the bump stops is when i air down. the bump stops are set so the bags are at 5.5" so its on the bump stops before the bag pistons hit by a 1/2" and there a progressive stop according to daystar the wieght of my truck shouldnt be able to compress the stops more than a 1/2" im not real worried about the bottoming since air bags are a progressive spring which will increse spring rate through the stroke. i dont know if i mentioned it in the previous posts but you will need larger sway bars im runnin a 1.5 front and 1.25 rear, im blankin on what size arms right now.

hmm what else am i forgetting....

 

Your forgetting what you do when your sled pulling. Im sure the power transfer to the rear axle thats ridin on air would cause some axle wrap issues. How do you resolve this?

Cowboy Steve