Firestone airbags???

[roperteacher]

I was considering this mod to my 2007 2500 as I pull a pretty good sized horse trailer. What are your opinions?? Seems pretty reasonable at 250. 00 shipped to my door. Not going to install myself but will find a reputable shop to do it. Takes about an hour I guess. Anybody else using them? Thanks!

 

[jelag]

PacBrake is now starting of offer air bags with a better lower bracket system and for those who have their exhaust brake a kit that ties into their compressor... . check out their web sight... . Pacbrake Exhaust and Engine brakes

Installation is straight forward for those who wish to do their own... . It took us 90 min to do a nice job with an adjustable regulator and tie into the pacbrake air system... .

BTW- an air horn kit is now available... .

 

[mgoncalves]

I have a set on my Dodge. My only regret is not getting the compressor and in cab gauge also. Luckily, all we use the Dodge for anymore is camping, but it would still be nice to air down the bags when we want to go for a spin without the trailer.



I'm planning on adding a set to the Chevy, this time with the in-cab control for sure.

 

[roperteacher]

Would the compressor add quite a bit of additional expense??? How would it be powered? With the new electronics in these trucks I would hate to mess something up!! LOLOL But I do like the idea of in cab adjustments!

 

[JohnCooper]

Take a look at these from Carli Suspension:



Carli Long Travel Air Bags



From what I understand, the Firestone Airbag kit for the Dodge mounts in place of the bump stops and limits the amount of rear suspension travel (less than stock). The Carli long travel air bags eliminate any suspension travel loss. Maybe Bob4x4 will chime in here, he is very familiar with the Carli airbags. I plan on getting a set soon.

 

[roperteacher]

Thanks John cooper!!! Great to know!!

 

[surfbeetle]

I just bought Air Lift bags for my truck from JCWhitney.com They were 212. 00 then I searched online for "jcwhitney coupons" and found 20% off and got the price down to $170 and it was 196 delivered to my door. It's an optional extra 100 or 200 depending on which compressor model you want if you go that route.

 

[Regcabguy]

Take a look at these from Carli Suspension:



Carli Long Travel Air Bags



From what I understand, the Firestone Airbag kit for the Dodge mounts in place of the bump stops and limits the amount of rear suspension travel (less than stock). The Carli long travel air bags eliminate any suspension travel loss. Maybe Bob4x4 will chime in here, he is very familiar with the Carli airbags. I plan on getting a set soon.

I replaced the Firestone's with Carli's Long Travels and they are a major improvement. They are pricey and maybe overkill for your 2wd which probably doesn't see a lot of offroad useage. Firestone's are a good value. I never had the compressor setup and just added or subtracted air from the fill valves in the rear. No big deal!

 

[justme]

I replaced the Firestone's with Carli's Long Travels and they are a major improvement. They are pricey and maybe overkill for your 2wd which probably doesn't see a lot of offroad useage.

It would be nice if they published the price for the system. How spendy are they?

 

[Regcabguy]

Long travel price.

It would be nice if they published the price for the system. How spendy are they?

The price is $850. 00 which includes some extremely beefed up mounting brackets and a completely different bag itself as you can see from the photo. They mount inboard of the Firestone mounting position and the beauty is that deflated,they articulate fully. Do a search and Bob4x4 had posted some pics of his truck in action with the long travels.

 

[JHardwick]

I just paid roughly $1,000 to have the Ride-Rites, heavy duty compressor, tank and dual controls installed.



They advertise the dual control for a side-side application, but I used one side to the truck and the other side to the trailer.



I don't like the way that they ride without a load, even with only 5# of air in them ... ... ... ... but they shine with a load!

 

[SNoyes]

I've had good luck with the Firestone airbags. Have installed probably 5 sets of them. Seem to hold up, and they work great under load. Biggest thing for me is they help bring my headlights back down from pointing up into space.

 

[JDerrick]

I have the ride rites on my truck also. I have been pretty happy with them, and have not encountered any problems thus far. Most of my travel is having my load in the bed of the truck and not alot of trailer towing. But in either configuration they have been a good investment for the truck. I run about 35 to 45 pounds in them all the time. On and off road. Keeping in mind that my off-roading is not supper extreme mostly( such as was with my 99') dirt roads, and the occational two track in the mountains. The system is plumbed into my 100% duty cycle 3. 4 cfm@90 psi air compressor. The control with gage is mounted in the back of the truck inside of the camper shell. this configuration works out well for me, and made for a nice clean install.





JELAG Is the airhorn kit from PAC a studder tone or just a standard trumpet ???????? and where does it mount ?????Oo.

 

[JJPage]

RideRites, all the way, most bang for the buck.

 

[JHardwick]

I posted a pic here, of where I installed my controller.

 

[steved]

I have the ride-rites and have a couple things to add...



On a STOCK truck, they will not limit travel... the rear springs are far to stiff to allow full compression when "offroad"... the springs themselves are the limiting factors on a stock truck, not the airbags.



With 5psi, I can't tell they are even there... I normally run with between 7 and 10psi empty. I also like the fact you can level a load side to side...



I installed mine to haul my slide-in camper that weighs probably around 2500#s when loaded... it takes between 35 and 45psi to level the truck with the camper... and you don't lose the "factory" ride.



The only thing I will suggest is that you install new shocks if yours are even slightly "worn" as the air bags will cause an additional "cycle" when a quick deep rolling bump is encountered if the shocks are worn (I believe others call this the "pogo effect"??)... this seems to be non-existant with new shocks. When I installed mine, I also installed new shocks... and they were fine... now with 50k on the "new" shocks, there is a single "boing" after hitting a quick roller.



steved

 

[JimBob24]

Ditto on what steved said. I use mine to return to stock ride height when pulling my 5th wheel rv. It keeps my headlights from pointing up too much and blinding oncoming traffic at night. I use a small cordless air compressor and put about 60-65 psi when towing. With 5 psi and not towing I can't tell that they are even there. I haven't had a bounce problem with weak shocks yet because I only have about 6K on the truck.



Jim

 

[roperteacher]

My ride rites will be here tomorrow and installed on Wed... What is the consensus on PSI when UNLOADED and LOADED. I guess the loaded depends on weight. I will hook my trailer up and see what it takes to level the rig. But what do I do when Just daily commuting with the truck??? Thanks!

 

[JimBob24]

According to the instructions you should maintain a minimum of 5 psi unloaded to keep them from being damaged if you should "bottom out". Like steved said, you probably will not know that they are there at 5 psi. It doesn't take much to start lifting the truck when unloaded. 10 psi unloaded will give you a noticeably stiffer ride.

 

[JCrockett]

I just bought a set of these with the dual controler. Have an auto and trying to figure where to mount all this. I have the electric 4x4 controler, but I have switches installed next to it. The guage will not fit into my tripple pod overhead guage holder, brass barbs for the hoses stick out to far, And I have the Attitude mnitor mounted on the A-pillar. Running out of option for a clean install.



Anyone got pics with the dual controler installed?