Air bag differences

[TJJEEPER]

I've installed a couple of sets of air bags and thought I'd give my biased opinion.

As it turns out, both kits I installed would fit both of the trucks I've installed them on.

First set was the Firestone Bags. Ride Rite 2299 no drill bags with the Standard Duty Dual Command.

This went on my 2006 2500 4X4 short box Quad Cab. The install was pretty easy and it was truly a bolt on install. Careful routing of the air lines is necessary to keep away from pinch points and the exhaust. I used the clutch blank off plate to get everything into the cab.

The Firestones would lift the back of the truck ~ 2 1/2" inches when inflated to 80 lbs empty and had no problem leveling my 27 1/2 foot toyhauler at 60 lbs.

I moved this to the frame due to the noise but you get the idea.

and the control (speaker was for my ham radio)

I traded this truck in for a 2010 3500 DRW 8' box 4X4 and installed the AirLift bags. Mostly because of a $100 rebate for the bags and compressor.

This kit was the Load Lifter 5000 and an onboard air system for airing up tires and such as well as inflating the bags. The compressor kit was AirLift Quick Shot 25690 with an upgraded compressor (100% duty cycle instead of 30%)

The kit is a bit more complicated but the springs mount more or less the same as the Firestones. No drilling and all bolt on but more parts. This kit isn't quite as idiot proof and the Firestone. You DO have to read the directions COMPLETELY or you'll do like I did and do it twice :-laf

The MAJOR difference is the height of the lift. The Airlift bags only raise the truck ~1" at 80 lbs. I was a bit dissappointed because I do go offroad and the additional distance for the front jacks on the 5th wheel would have been nice. However the AirLift bags do level the truck nicely with a little forward rake to the truck. I really don't need them on the 3500 but it does allow me to keep my headlights down and adjust the ride quality a bit.

The bags. The grey bracket is the B&W Goose Neck.

The Compressor mounted on the skid plate cross member. (continued in next post).

I don't know how I got this picture in there and I can't seem to delete it.

 

[TJJEEPER]

Air Bags part two

The Air Tank and air access point

The control panel. The little switch in the upper left is to turn on and off the compressor.

Air bags are nice for many reasons, not just the lifting of the back of your rig. They can really make a difference when you're on the Interstate and you get the big section bumps and the rig tries to saw horse on you.

I hope someone finds this useful. I can always answer any questions.

Greg

 

[Bob V]

Nice write up. From the looks of the load Lifter (Air Lift) kit I think that is the same as the Pac Brake kit.

 

[TJJEEPER]

Bob, I had a Pac Brake that I installed on the '06. The tank that came with the Pac Brake was less than 1 gallon and the compressor was less than a 100% duty cycle. This was about a 2 gallon tank and I upgraded to a 100% duty cycle compressor.
I'd sure like to mount the compressor under the hood but the 6. 7 has no room for this size.

 

[Bill Stockard]

I noticed your Air Lift air bag sits off set on the bottom mounting bracket on the axle. The Air Lift air bags on my '03 dually fit in the same manner. After about 30k miles of hauling a heavy slide in truck camper over rough highways, the base plate on the driver side air bag bent throwing the air bag out of line. If I had continues using it, the air bag would have failed. Hopefully, you won't have the same problem.

Did your previously owned PacBrake air bags mount offset on the mounting bracket in the same manner? I had thought about trying PacBrake air bags. I still have have the Air Lift on board air compressor and in cab controls/gauges.

Bill

 

[TJJEEPER]

Bill, the previous bags were Firestone and no, the lower bracket fit the entire base of the bag.
If I had it to do over I would have gone with the Air Lift compressor set up with Firestone bags.

 

[TJJEEPER]

Here's a better picture of the lower Firestone mount
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