Lets Talk Air Ride Suspension

[Cliffman]

My 1 ton dually is kicken my a$$ on these concrete freeways so I'm considering going to a true "air ride" suspension Any body like to comment

 

[MY6EATSV8'S]

Go For It Cliffman!!!

 

[Turbo Thom]

I've considered the same thing but $ have interfered. I intend on doing it with the full beam/ bag , spring replacment system. I checked on the type that works in place of the bumper hitch. I,m thinking of using that type on my 3500. Gotta find the $$$$$.



. . Preston. .

 

[tgbol]

Check out Fleetco Products http://www.fleetcoproducts.com

I have seen the installation on a Ram with a 11ft Lance. Rode real nice. They don't make it for 4x4's Too bad because I would like to use it.

 

[LaserBob]

Air/Spring Ride for a Year Now

Hi to all,



I have had an air over spring ride for over a year now and I love it. I haul 2000 lbs daily in the back of my pickup. The gross weight with me on board is 8040 lbs. I designed and built the system with the use of over the counter parts. It works GREAT!



I have a 12 volt air compressor mounted under the passenger side of the cab on the frame rail. (Rubber isolated for vibration) I have two (overkill) Peterbilt air tanks mounted under the box in front of the rear tires.



I have a Neway height control valve mounted on the bottom of the box above the diff. It has a sensing rod going to the diff to give it load height info. I originally took two bottom springs out of the rear spring pack. I ran this way with about 60 psi average holding the load up. (I have a guage from a KW that has two needles. One senses the tank pressure and the other the bag load pressure. ) After several months of shock adjusting (Rancho 9000s), I reinstalled the third leaf down from the top in my spring pack. It handles the load very nicely now. It takes about 40 psi now.



With my load, you would think the pickup is empty at any outward appearance. The box is the same HEIGHT leaded or empty. You can feel the weight when you drive the truck. It just doesn't show that it is loaded.



The air compressor is available from several places, just do your homework. The air bags are the same and the hieght valve is available from any heavy duty truck dealer or parts supplier.



My partner has a 99 3500Quad Cab Dodge 4x4 with a welding bed and welder on it that has just the manual air bags on and they make a great improvement in the ride for him. his truck weighs 12060 lbs with him in the cab ready to go to work. His wife has a 99 PSD extd cab short bed that we put air bags on all four corners to give her the better ride. One leaf (bottom) removed from the rear springs. She thinks that it is great.



Good luck!

LaserBob

 

[Brandon]

kelderman... . nuff said

 

[Cliffman]

More info

Originally posted by Brandon

kelderman... . nuff said

Need more info Brandon. How about a web link

 

[maint.man]

Try www.ridetech.com ,These guys have got it toghether. I was just over there Friday, and they had a 00' 3500 that they had just done for Hot Rod TV. and it was pretty sweet. When they got done with it they could actually tuck the front tires in the wheel well. The truck rides great, and the GVW. is unchanged. Check em' out, they can do the rear only or the whole truck. Also you can order a kit from em' and D. I. Y. S.



P. S. I'm not affiliated with em' but I like their stuff

 

[NVR FNSH]

Diesel Dan installed National Springs custom leafs and was singing them praises. I'd be interested in hearing an update. Gotta be cheaper/easier than going to air ride.



Here' s the thread:

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=263711#post263711



Brian

 

[Cliffman]

Looks good. Thanks maint. man

 

[Shelby Griggs]

Re: More info

Originally posted by Cliffman





Need more info Brandon. How about a web link

I am not Brandon, but I do know him



Kelderman



Shelby

 

[RobG]

The Kelderman setup is nice if all you need is a simple Class IV 2" receiver. That won't work for me... I have a Torklift Superhitch so I can tow with my Lance camper.



The Ridetech one looks very interesting, but it's $1600 and frankly, it looks cheap.



The Fleetco one is supposed to work on 4x4's despite what their website says (I have an email from Fleetco saying so and including a part number for the Dodge 4x4 system), but it's $2000. It's also WAAAAY beefier than the Ridetech.



Before I spent $2k on the Fleetco, I decided to try the Roadmaster Active Suspension. I have it sitting here and with luck, I'll install it this weekend. Installation looks beyond easy... probably two hours max, taking my time... and most of that will be spent just jacking the truck up with my one good arm (broken collarbone now at eight weeks healing time, so it still slows me down).



If the Roadmaster setup doesn't make the thing ride significantly better, then it'll be time to get me a Fleetco setup once I can scrape up the cash.



Rob

 

[DBR]

We had the Kelderman Air Ride system installed on our ’01 3500 this summer and have had excellent results. The ride has improved tremendously. In addition, we were able to have the bed height lowered to a more reasonable and workable height for towing both our travel trailer and gooseneck horse trailer. When unloaded and running around with 20# of air in the bags, it runs nice and smooth. If I had to do anything over, it would be that I would have installed it myself, as the install is rather simple. For those of you who have driven on I-90 in South Dakota, the Kelderman smoothed out the jerking and the bucking caused by the washboard road. The same thing goes for I-70 outside of Omaha.

 

[QRTRHRS]

DBR,



When I pull goosenecks, I have trouble with throttle oscillation. You know what I mean, when the kind of forward/backward movement that you either have to back off or floor it to smooth out. Is this what your saying the Kelderman eliminated? Thanks.

 

[DBR]

The oscillation that I experienced with my '97 truck was due to the throttle linkage on the injection pump. I replaced the linkage with the TSB #? and everything is fine and dandy. The only downfall was the slow response of the cruise control. This was in my '97 5-speed.



The reason for installing it on the 2001 was to soften the ride and lower the bed roughly two inches, which provided more articulation clearance for our gooseneck horse trailer. The air-ride system also smoothed out rough roadways.



What year truck are you pulling with?

 

[QRTRHRS]

DBR, mines a 97'. I bought it used. It was supposed to have had that TSB done but if so, it did not help. I need to get into a dealer and have the hood TSB done. I plan on going over the CPL # with the parts man and or service manager to see what they say. In the two+ years I had it, never been to a dealer yet. Ha.



Clearence is no problem with my flatbed. The airride though has been on my wishlist a long time for overall ride improvement.

 

[DBR]

QRTRHRS,



If I remember correctly, there are two TSBs for the throttle response problem. The first one is just a spring replacement on the throttle linkage, which from my understanding does not work very well. The second is a replacement of the entire throttle linkage assembly, which is what I installed on my truck. There may be one other option that you could try, which would only cost you some time, and that is to remove your fuel plate to access your governor springs and back off one click on the tension. I noticed when installing Piers' governor spring set that backing off on the springs reduces throttle input sensitivity and RPM. It is worth trying... it sure beats paying $200 for a linkage assembly, which is not at all fun to install.

 

[QRTRHRS]

DBR, thanks. From looking down at the throttle area, I agree, it looks like another fun area to work on.

 

[Dane]

I sent an email to Ridetech asking about a kit for my truck, got the response today -



Hello Brian,

Do you have a kit to fit a 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4? I need a softer ride empty and still want to be able to take my Lance cab over camper on off road Baja trips...



Thanks...



Dane

===== Comments by -- email address removed -- (Brian Shaw) at 12/17/01 10:05 am

Sorry we have never done a kit for that truck. We could provide the bags but you would have to fabricate the bracketry to fit that truck.



Brian

 

[maint.man]

oop's

Sorry guys , only 2wds at ride tech. I did however talk to one of their guys tonight, and they are wanting to expand to cover the 4x4's also. I guess rome wasn't built in a day. I guess it's simply the fact that they started with cars / street rods, and the heavy trucks are a new thing for em'. Sorry again.