Cummins12V98
on the road
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Joined: 06/03/2012
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"I was told that they not only help with towing but can also help to save gas when towing?" WOW that's a new one!!! UH don't think so.
Now if your truck sets "LEVEL" all hooked you are golden. I will bet you have "P" LOAD RANGE TIRES. Change out to "E" load range tires and inflate based on weight plus 5 psi rear and 10 psi fronts.
2015 RAM LongHorn 3500 Dually CrewCab 4X4 CUMMINS/AISIN RearAir 385HP/865TQ 4:10's
37,800# GCVWR "Towing Beast"
"HeavyWeight" B&W RVK3600
2016 MobileSuites 39TKSB3 highly "Elited" In the stable
2007.5 Mobile Suites 36 SB3 29,000# Combined SOLD
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S Davis
Western WA
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Joined: 08/11/2005
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A lot depends on your springs, are the overloads engaged when loaded up? One thing is if your springs are too weak and you have to pump the bags up so much to level the truck that you unload the overloads you will be bouncing down the road.
I see a lot of people asking what pressure to inflate their bags to and it all depends on your individual set up/ how much support is needed and when your set up lifts off the overloads. Probably will not help with sway.
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bob213
Fresno, CA
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Joined: 12/09/2007
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I put a leveling kit on my 2005 GMC 2500 purely for the look. Afterwords I would get sag when hooked up which I never had before. To fix that I put on Airlift airbags with the bump-stops. Now I'm level, no sag, and best of all when I hit a dip or bump I don't bounce for 500ft afterwards. Mileage increase..no way!
You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality – Ayn Rand
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IdaD
Idaho
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Joined: 08/06/2014
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I like Timbrens better than airbags for the simplicity and price. Functionally they do the same thing, and yes they help with carrying weight.
2015 Cummins Ram 4wd CC/SB
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wanderingbob
monticeeo, fla
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Joined: 07/26/2012
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Less than $200 , you can put them on yourself . I like them as I routinely drag 3 different trailers . A trailer with torsion springs needs to be hauled level . I can raise the rear of my truck to level which ever trailer I hitch to .
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aftermath
Washington State
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Joined: 09/18/2005
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If you have a weight distributing hitch and can't get it level you are either grossly overloaded, or you don't have it set up correctly. If you are overloaded, air bags will NOT help this. Take a look at this video. I saw it a long time ago and it explained it pretty well to me. Yes,if you have a very sturdy tow vehicle, air bags can level things for you. They will never "increase you towing capacity" as someone has stated.
Air Bags vs Weight Distributing Hitch
2017 Toyota Tundra, Double Cab, 5.7L V8
2006 Airstream 25 FB SE
Equalizer Hitch
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theoldwizard1
SE MI
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Joined: 09/07/2010
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2112 wrote:
Replacing the P tires with LT tires helps with stability as well.
THAT makes a HUGE difference !
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BarabooBob
Baraboo, WI
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Air Ride (or air bag) suspension kits do not increase your load capacity. They may level out your truck but the capacity is the same. Capacity is determined by tires, axle rating, weight of the empty vehicle, accessories added.
This is all determined by the factory and their engineers. Look in the door frame to find out what your particular truck weight capacity is and get the truck weighed when empty, when loaded with passengers, and with the trailer hooked up with passengers and a full fuel tank.
Bob & Dawn Married 34 years
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2112
Texas
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theoldwizard1 wrote:2112 wrote:
Replacing the P tires with LT tires helps with stability as well.
THAT makes a HUGE difference ! Yea, I was surprised how much changing truck tires made on truck wiggle while towing a 35' long TT.
2011 Ford F-150 EcoBoost SuperCab Max Tow, 2084# Payload, 11,300# Tow,
Timbrens, PullRite SuperGlide 2700 15K
2013 KZ Durango 2857
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Cummins12V98
on the road
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Tell that to my RAWR of 9,750# with wimpy leaf springs. Without the bags I would have the capability of a small size pickup.
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