Firestone Air Bags
Mountain Pass
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 133
Likes: 1
The best price I found was at Summit Racing. I got the leveling kit at the same time I paid $1000 for a new set of D-rated tires. I overload this thing on a regular basis and it always rides level and the tires are wearing very evenly.
Airlift sells bags for the Exp. and the auto-leveling kit for other applications. They say the two don't go together because these bags can only go to 40 psi but the pump will go to 100 psi. I simply added an adjustable, normally closed pressure switch to turn the pump off if it ever goes over 40 psi. I've had this setup for about 5 years.
And yes, I regularly tow a trailer with a fully-loaded truck and the bags are usually around 25 psi after leveling. I should have gone back and bought a drop hitch because my trailer is up much higher then it used to be.
If you want more details, let me know.
Airlift sells bags for the Exp. and the auto-leveling kit for other applications. They say the two don't go together because these bags can only go to 40 psi but the pump will go to 100 psi. I simply added an adjustable, normally closed pressure switch to turn the pump off if it ever goes over 40 psi. I've had this setup for about 5 years.
And yes, I regularly tow a trailer with a fully-loaded truck and the bags are usually around 25 psi after leveling. I should have gone back and bought a drop hitch because my trailer is up much higher then it used to be.
If you want more details, let me know.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 843
Likes: 0
I am also using airlift bags but using the sureset system with it. This has seperate switchs for each side in the rear and you have to set the pressure yourself. Once you set the pressure though the system will maintain it until you change it. I love the setup I have as I sometimes rent bobcats and the tonge weight on those trailers can be pretty high.
Hotshot
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 14,069
Likes: 17
From: Melbourne, Ky
I installed the firestone airbags on a couple of trucks, both dodges come to think of it. The one truck, it was great since it was loaded uneven. It was a work truck and one side was considerably heavier than the other. I ran a seperate air line to each airbag. That way I could level out the truck with the airbags. It drove great, but when you hit the brakes hard, you had to be ready to do some serious driving because the truck wasn't loaded evenly. The other truck I installed them on was for a guy that wanted some extra lift when he went to cut firewood. Couldn't tell you about towing with them.
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Fleet Owner
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 24,724
Likes: 74
From: Blue Hill Township
Well, you guys convinced me. I am going to order them from Summit today. I wish the springs weren't so soft in these trucks to begin with. Oh well. I'll post up pics of the truck and trailer before the air springs and after.
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Fleet Owner
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From: Blue Hill Township
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 133
Likes: 1
Cool. Let us know how it goes. Which kit did you to with? If you got the Airlift kit, it will come with 2 1-inch rubber spacers. I got 2 extras to get the bags nice and tight in the spring. I think this added a little capacity and Airlift will send them to you at no charge (call 'em directly).
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Fleet Owner
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 24,724
Likes: 74
From: Blue Hill Township
Cool. Let us know how it goes. Which kit did you to with? If you got the Airlift kit, it will come with 2 1-inch rubber spacers. I got 2 extras to get the bags nice and tight in the spring. I think this added a little capacity and Airlift will send them to you at no charge (call 'em directly).
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Fleet Owner
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 24,724
Likes: 74
From: Blue Hill Township
The bags came today and I got them installed. My set came with 2 rubber spacers for each side so I didn't have to worry about that. They were kind of a pain to get the bag into the spring. I was also having trouble getting the rubber spacer in there so I disconnected the shock and let the axle drop down even more and it was a piece of cake. We'll see how much better it handles the trailer now.
New User
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
The bags came today and I got them installed. My set came with 2 rubber spacers for each side so I didn't have to worry about that. They were kind of a pain to get the bag into the spring. I was also having trouble getting the rubber spacer in there so I disconnected the shock and let the axle drop down even more and it was a piece of cake. We'll see how much better it handles the trailer now.
J.