Kelderman Air Ride

[DLoughery]

I finally got ahold of John up at Kelderman. They are mailing me some info. In the brief conversation I had with John he sounded like he was leaning toward the partial air ride system that retains your leaf springs. Anyone running this setup, and if so do you like it?



Thanks..... Doug

 

[rbattelle]

Question

Don't know if anyone knows this info (I really should call Kelderman, but don't want to waste their time until I've got a little more info).



With regard to their 3" front lift system:

1. Does it include a track bar drop bracket?

2. Does it include a dropped pitman arm?

3. Do the new longer control arms bolt to the stock locations?

4. Does it include sway bar drop brackets?



Is any welding or major cutting of stock components required for installation?



-Ryan

 

[SRadke]

Ryan, I'm going to guess a little here so don't take me too seriously I'm basing my info on what I've heard and what was in my 5" kit.



1) Probably. The bracket is amazingly simple and I see no reason why they wouldn't just cut 2" out of mine and include it.



2) Probably. A drop pitman is almost a necessity for any lift to function properly.



3) I don't think the 3" kit comes with control arms, if it does than yes, they will bolt to the stock locations.



4) Really no idea on this one. Mine has them, and again... . it would be easy to make them 2" shorter.



Cutting or welding, no. Totally reversable. I suggest you call or email them to get the straight answers. They are great to deal with.



-Scott

 

[rbattelle]

Thanks, Scott!



Doing a bit more reading I discovered some say that the air ride is not really appropriate or meant for off-road use; that there is nothing holding the axle in place when it goes to full-droop. Is this true?



-Ryan

 

[SRadke]

That is true but it would not be difficult to add a pair of nylon limiting straps to prevent you from tearing the bags at full droop. That (tearing the bags) is all you have to worry about, everything is bolted in place where it would not move without a load. I've run mine off road a fair amount and though I can't compare it to a system like KORE's, I was impressed with the diffrence in ride quality from stock, mostly due to increased travel distance.



-Scott

 

[Digger]

How fast does the system move up and down?

 

[Punkineater]

How fast does the system move up and down?

Based on the demo that was on Xtreme 4X4 today in which they installed the 10" on a Dodge Ram Hemi... ... pretty damn quick. I was impressed.

 

[Digger]

Based on the demo that was on Xtreme 4X4 today in which they installed the 10" on a Dodge Ram Hemi... ... pretty damn quick. I was impressed.

I saw that also. I did see the Keldermann truck in Muncie last year and it didn't move that fast. Did they make some changes? Also I wonder if that wasn't some creative editing we saw on Xtreme 4x4.

 

[DLoughery]

I saw that also. I did see the Keldermann truck in Muncie last year and it didn't move that fast. Did they make some changes? Also I wonder if that wasn't some creative editing we saw on Xtreme 4x4.

I looked at the Kelderman 10 inch lift when I was at their shop a couple of weeks ago. I don't have the lift just the air ride. The basic principal is the same. The bags inflate much quicker than they deflate. Both systems are very heavy duty and for the most part use components off of semi's.





Doug

 

[DLoughery]

I saw that as well. It freaked me out when they said they were welding the mounts onto the frame. As many warnings as we've heard about drilling or welding the frame on the new generations. I wonder if all of the warnings have been over-hyped, or if the truck on the show will have frame failure somewhere down the road?



Doug

 

[Punkineater]

I saw that as well. It freaked me out when they said they were welding the mounts onto the frame. As many warnings as we've heard about drilling or welding the frame on the new generations. I wonder if all of the warnings have been over-hyped, or if the truck on the show will have frame failure somewhere down the road?



Doug

Exactly, my eyes got a little wide when they pulled out the welder. Everything I have read vehemently discourages from welding on the new 3rd gen frames.