Camper Air Bags??????

[Paul Holbrook]

Have just bought a 01 4x4 QC witha 5spd and the camper and tow packages. Plan on hauling a rather light camper with some off road, back country travel. Camper dealer wants to install air bags but I wonder if I really need them as I already have the camper package????

 

[Deezul1]

How light is fairly light? 2000lbs should be ok. I had air bags on another truck with a 3200 lb camper on it and loved them, gave very much improved stability in corners. Try the camper and if it makes the rear more than about 3inches lower than the front get the bags. Even 3 in may be a little much.

 

[JRG]

I AGREE WITH DEEZUL!!



JRG

 

[JAnderson]

I haul a 2300lb dry weight 8ft camper on mine with the same setup. Does ok but I am going to get some rancho 9000's. When it rocks it takes a while to stop. Dont believe this justifies air bags so I am pretty sure the 9000's will be enough. My truck still does not even sit on the overloads even when I load up the camper at around 3000lbs.

 

[wedodgediesel]

find that piece of paper that comes with every truck outlining the weight limit(carrying capacity) and center of gravity limits of your truck, if your camper is within the weight limit then it's up to your personal preference, but if the weight is over the weight limit I'd get the air bags. I brought an Lance 1061 camper in January which weighed in at 3400 lbs and truck was rated for 2780 lbs. , the dealer tried to talk me out of getting the air bags(believe it) but I didn't want DC to have the excuss I over loaded the truck. The air bags give the truck the stability that makes driving a pleasure.

 

[DocStressor]

The purpose of the airbags has less to do with sway and stability and more to do with steering. When you exceed the load capacity of these trucks, there is so much weight on the rear wheels that the front begins to "float". What happens is that you get an oversteer situation and the truck tracks poorly. If my airbags are not inflated properly, I can't keep the truck in a traffic lane at 55 mph. By pumping up the airbags, you raise the rear end higher than the unloaded position and this distributes more weight to the front axle and restores control.



Based on a couple of years of reading this board, it seems that airbags don't seem to be necessary on the 1-tons. But if you have over 2000 lb loaded on a 3/4 ton truck, you probably want airbags. The downside of airbags: You have to keep 10-15 lb of air in them when empty and this causes the rear end of an unloaded truck to hop a bit more than stock.

 

[Deezul1]

I fully agree with Lee Weber about the steering benefits of the added height from airbags but that is in addition to the very real benefit in handling. My truck with a 11 1/2 foot camper at 3300 lbs or so was a LOT more stable in corners and cross winds.

 

[DocStressor]

I didn't mean to imply that they don't help overall stability, just that the steering was the main issue. BTW, if you want to stop the side to side sway in turns, try a set of Rancho 9000s set at #5 in the back AND the airbags. Handles like a sportscard (well almost ).

 

[Ron Bissett]

Originally posted by wedodgediesel

find that piece of paper that comes with every truck outlining the weight limit(carrying capacity) and center of gravity limits of your truck, if your camper is within the weight limit then it's up to your personal preference, but if the weight is over the weight limit I'd get the air bags. I brought an Lance 1061 camper in January which weighed in at 3400 lbs and truck was rated for 2780 lbs. , the dealer tried to talk me out of getting the air bags(believe it) but I didn't want DC to have the excuss I over loaded the truck. The air bags give the truck the stability that makes driving a pleasure.

If the camper weighed in at 3400lbs and truck was rated at2780 , you are over loaded . and DC will shake a finger at you. No matter what you put on to help with the load bags, springs, after market items to help with load . Over the rate is overload . We know the trucks will and do haul more than DC rates them , but when it comes down to a situation of who pays in accident with a over load in question guess the one it will be. Just a thought. Ron in Louisville Ky

 

[MUDDY]

some time back i checked into some air bags. i take my camper far out into the hills into rough places where suspension travel is needed. you get one tire up on a rock and the oppisite side down in a hole and there is a lot of travel. a lot of space between the axle and the frame at full droop.



it was recomended to me to not go with the air bags because of the limited travel of the bag and at full droop it would pull them apart.



so far i cant find any bags with long travel.



if i was a highway runner, i would go for the bags, but not for off highway travel.





mm

 

[JohnMcIntyre]

The scales don't lie!

12,500 pounds all up weight on the CAT scales last time I checked in New Jersey in April this year - just under 5k on the front axle and 7. 5K on the rear with truck and slide-in camper.



The Firestone airbags, Rancho 9000s all round with appropriate settings loaded/empty plus the Rickson 19. 5s tires/rubber makes a good set-up. The Roadmaster kit helps the handling tremendously when the camper is not being hauled and the bed is lightly loaded or empty. This set-up inspires confidence and we covered 6,000 miles before shiping over to Europe.



Check the sigfile below for all the necessary links guys.

 

[Dane]

Paul, I do off road camping in Baja with a Lance lite cabover on my 2001 4x4. The weight loaded is around 1900lbs. When I set the camper in the bed it didn't even compress the rear suspension enough to make the back of the truck to level with the front, so I thought "no problem". There was a problem however, and it was sway around corners, over ruts and other off road stuff. Air bags really helped cure this. I don't have the overload springs or rear anti sway bar. I like the way the air spring works better than the metal overloads, plus I can deflate the air bags when not in use. I don't use a rear swaybar as I want all the rear suspension articulation I can get off road for traction. The factory limited slip in the rear diff works great in dry off road conditions. I also added Roadmasters in the rear with Bilstein shocks all the way around. The Cummins Ram is a great 4x4 truck for off road cabover camping imo! I run 80lbs in the bags, drop the air pressure in the tires till the side wall starts to bulge, take it slow and enjoy the ride

 

[MUDDY]

Originally posted by Dane

There was a problem however, and it was sway around corners, over ruts and other off road stuff. Air bags really helped cure this. I don't use a rear swaybar as I want all the rear suspension articulation I can get off road for traction.

dane.



i removed my rear swaybar for more articulation along with my front swaybar. the front made no noticeable difference in sway with the camper, however the abscense of the rear bar made a big difference in sway.



i checked on bags but it appears they are not long enough for decent articulation. i was told i would rip the bags apart with my long travel. this rig also has a 3 inch lift. 3 inch spacers in front, 1 1/2 inch add a leaf with 2 inch block in rear. also factory overloads.



between the lift and the fact that my camper sits on a flatbed with floating front mounts on a srw 2500 it makes the sway more noticeable.



i like max articulation and dont want to put the swaybar back on.

did you take measurements to see if the bags restrict axle droop with oppisite corner tires off the ground? if they did not restrict travel, how long are they and what brand?



TIA



mm