Air Suspension

[Diesel Nut]

Ok guys. Haven't seen a post quite like this so it's probably a good thing to start. Looking at putting air ride on at least the rear of my truck. Looking for good ride quality, plus the ability to dump the air to slide under my trailer. Done some research and heres what I got.



Air Lift - Primary air (now they call it Road Tamer) Traction bar style locationing arm mount to the front spring hanger and extend over the axle and mount the air springs aft of the axle. Been told it rides nice and is very rigid, as far as roll and such. Don't know how good I feel about limiting my rear suspension's ability to articulate. Cost for full system is around $2300.



Air Bar - Very similar to Air Lift, different manufacturer. Around same price.



Kelderman - Looking at 3 inch lift system (truck is lifted 2" now and other systems could work with this). Nice 4 link set up, but I don't know about ride, ease of install, and mostly, price.



Also wanted to know clearance form suspension parts to tires. My 265 70R19. 5 are very close to the springs, and if I have the space after air I may go to the 285, maybe. Anyways, tell me what you think. Private info or stuff you don't want to shout out, feel free to PM me. Thanks for your help guys.

 

[GCross]

Kelderman seems to be the industry leader, so if you want full air ride they're probably your best bet. Air will give the best overall ride, the guy that I drove for in the 70's installed full air ride on the trailers because we were hauling strawberries and the springs were beating them to death, so this is not a new concept. For load stability with some adjustment, I bought Firestone 5000# no-drill bags with the on board compressor to assist the springs, but they cannot improve the ride of an empty truck. One problem with adjustable height front suspension is that the alignment is only correct when you're at the height that the truck was at when the alignment was done, so the adjustment option is somewhat redundant.



-George-

 

[SRadke]

I'm not sure what to say without sounding like a preacher but I've been running one of Kelderman's full air ride systems for almost a year now. If you have specific questions about it feel free to post them, I'll do my best to answer.



-Scott

 

[650mphDiesel]

I am also interested in any info on air suspension. What I am mainly looking for is a better empty ride. I believe that most of the air systems will not improve empty ride but I thought I remember from a webpage (air-ride or ride-rite or something like that) claimed a 30 to 40% smoother empty ride. Any ideas out there? I have about 800 lbs in the bed and get a pretty good ride with that, but it sure is a pain to take it out when I am towing.

 

[SRadke]

Empty ride can be improove but it depends on what bag you use and how it is plumbed. The setup I'm using uses very large bags in the rear (8") and a surge tank to compensate for the extra size. Smaller bags would yield a better ride as would a larger surge tank. As Jeff Kelderman said to me "Where it really shines is under load"



-Scott

 

[GCross]

I am also interested in any info on air suspension. What I am mainly looking for is a better empty ride.

That was my objective also, I installed the Kore-Pace system during which time the top overloads were removed and that extra thick bottom leaf was replaced with the mini spring pack. I am adding Ride-Rite and compressor to compensate for the overload removal. Overall ride and handling is noticeably improved, unfortunately the concrete freeways with the raised expansion joints are still not as smooth as I was hoping they would be, but better than with the stock shocks and springs.



-George-

 

[Diesel Nut]

So far the opinionis Kelderman is the way to go. Ok, on that note, what size bags will yield the best ride empty (sort of. I have a steel flatbed with 2 tool boxes) yet still be able to be descently loaded down? Home much was the Kelderman? Also, is there no one out there with the other systems? I know I'm not the only one that will be asking these questions. Please, share the wealth of knowledge.



Maybe I should try a similar post in the hauling forum. . . .

 

[Cryppie]

From what I've seen, Kelderman is the industry leader (at least for our trucks) in true air suspensions. However, they are also on the upper end of the price scale, from 2-3K depending on how you want it set up. I don't see this as a bad thing, you get what you pay for is very true for suspensions. I didn't have the need or funds to go with Kelderman, so I went with Ride-Rites, 5 gal tank and Viair 400 compressor, control in cab. I also suffer from SoCal freeways, having a long bed quad cab truck, but I don't get beat to death nearly as bad as my '99. There's about a total of 30 miles of I-5 that have what I would consider moderate bouncing (turbulence). The worst for me is around San Juan Capistrano, it almost shakes fillings loose :{ I'd love to ride in a Kelderman rig, especially over the expansion joints down here, if it smooths them out, it would be worth it to my wife no matter what the cost :-laf

So, if you got the dough, go Kelderman, but if you're just looking for additional load carrying stability (not capacity, unless you plan further upgrades), I'd stick with a supplemental air bag type system. Oh, and no problem with clearance on my setup, 285's should fit.