rear airbag ride quality

[6_7_tow_rig]

I love the way my 2018 Ram 2500 Laramie rides with the rear coils compared to how my 2012 road on leaf springs. Will adding aftermarket airbags diminish the ride quality when empty? From the research I've done, it seems that leaving about 5 psi in the bags when running empty is the norm. Some say it makes the ride worse, some say they cant tell. What is your guy's experience?

[6_7_tow_rig]

camp-n-family wrote:

6.7 tow rig wrote:
I ordered the bags. Should be here Wednesday. They have a 60 day money back guarantee return so worst case scenario I will send them back.

Keep us posted on how they work out.

Installed them tonight. Installation couldn't have been any easier. I didn't use a lift, or take off the rear tires. Installed them right in my garage. Took about 2 hours total and that included running the airline through the frame so everything was nice and clean looking.

Took the truck for a spin with 5 psi in the bags and there was absolutely no discernable difference at all. Potholes, expansion joints all felt the same. I will hook up to the camper Friday afternoon for a weekend trip so I will see how they handle the load then. But for the time being unloaded ride quality has not changed at all. Thanks to all who helped.

[Groover]

Lynnmor wrote:

Groover wrote:


I had those on my F150 and they made the empty ride brutal to the point that my wife refused to ride in the truck until I took them off. I replaced them with 2000lb bags and the empty ride is much better. I would think that even on a 3/4 ton truck an extra 2000lbs of support would be adequate. The other thing that may have contributed to a rough ride was the dual channel pressure control. Not letting the air flow from side to side really made the truck roll more when when hitting a bump with one tire. When I put on the lighter bags I put them both on the same hose. I hope that you don't have an issue but just in case you have some ideas.

You do know that when not needed the air pressure can be reduced to 5 psi giving very little effect to the ride?

In desperation to save the trip took the fuse out of the circuit, unplugged the hoses to let all of the air out then put the hoses back in to keep dirt out. It was still barely tolerable. I also have another F150 with 5000lb bags and internal jounce bumpers still mounted and the back seat is almost unusable for people. Fortunately, it doesn't get used much for that. I am thinking that the internal jounce bumpers reduce the space available for air to compress into and make the ride rougher. Whatever, my experience is that the 2000lb bags give a much better ride and have enough capacity for most pickups. The only problem with them is that they are not compatible with a gooseneck hitch whereas the 5000lb bags with jounce bumpers are. We use the truck with them to pull a gooseneck horse trailer. I keep thinking about putting a ping tank on the airbags to soften the ride but just haven't found the time to do it. Freightliner thinks enough of that idea that ping tanks are standard on their motorhomes with air suspension.

[camp-n-family]

6.7 tow rig wrote:
I ordered the bags. Should be here Wednesday. They have a 60 day money back guarantee return so worst case scenario I will send them back.

Keep us posted on how they work out.

[Lynnmor]

Groover wrote:


I had those on my F150 and they made the empty ride brutal to the point that my wife refused to ride in the truck until I took them off. I replaced them with 2000lb bags and the empty ride is much better. I would think that even on a 3/4 ton truck an extra 2000lbs of support would be adequate. The other thing that may have contributed to a rough ride was the dual channel pressure control. Not letting the air flow from side to side really made the truck roll more when when hitting a bump with one tire. When I put on the lighter bags I put them both on the same hose. I hope that you don't have an issue but just in case you have some ideas.

You do know that when not needed the air pressure can be reduced to 5 psi giving very little effect to the ride?

[6_7_tow_rig]

I will take full advantage of the return policy if that's the case. I don't mind an hour or two of time to install/take out if need be.

[Groover]

Lynnmor wrote:

6.7 tow rig wrote:
Airlift load lifter 5000 with the internal jounce bumpers.

Good, now a couple of pointers. File sharp edges on the brackets, paint the parts if scratched from shipping as mine were and add air brake anti-freeze per instructions if you will be in freezing temperatures.

I had those on my F150 and they made the empty ride brutal to the point that my wife refused to ride in the truck until I took them off. I replaced them with 2000lb bags and the empty ride is much better. I would think that even on a 3/4 ton truck an extra 2000lbs of support would be adequate. The other thing that may have contributed to a rough ride was the dual channel pressure control. Not letting the air flow from side to side really made the truck roll more when when hitting a bump with one tire. When I put on the lighter bags I put them both on the same hose. I hope that you don't have an issue but just in case you have some ideas.

[cummins2014]

Lynnmor wrote:

6.7 tow rig wrote:
Airlift load lifter 5000 with the internal jounce bumpers.

Good, now a couple of pointers. File sharp edges on the brackets, paint the parts if scratched from shipping as mine were and add air brake anti-freeze per instructions if you will be in freezing temperatures.

Sharp edges, and scratched paint, thats a new one I haven't read about, but anything is possible.

[cummins2014]

6.7 tow rig wrote:
Airlift load lifter 5000 with the internal jounce bumpers.

Good choice, quality airbag, same as I am running. I have ran both the AirLift ,and Firestone, both I would recommend .

[Lynnmor]

6.7 tow rig wrote:
Airlift load lifter 5000 with the internal jounce bumpers.

Good, now a couple of pointers. File sharp edges on the brackets, paint the parts if scratched from shipping as mine were and add air brake anti-freeze per instructions if you will be in freezing temperatures.

[6_7_tow_rig]

Airlift load lifter 5000 with the internal jounce bumpers.

[rhagfo]

6.7 tow rig wrote:
I ordered the bags. Should be here Wednesday. They have a 60 day money back guarantee return so worst case scenario I will send them back.

Which bags did you order?

[Cummins12V98]

On my 11 Ram Dually I added PacBrake bags. I could not tell any difference running them at 5psi or not having them at all.

[6_7_tow_rig]

I ordered the bags. Should be here Wednesday. They have a 60 day money back guarantee return so worst case scenario I will send them back.

[nremtp143]

Another good option is do what I did and put on an onboard air system so you can change the ride quality whenever you want, empty or loaded and on the fly.