air bags

Cummins12V98 wrote:

travelnutz wrote:
If the OP says his truck drops 4" with the pin weight he should know as it's his truck and 5th wheel. Why do people question the OP anyway? All he asked for was suggestions on which airbags not told what other rigs drop.

We have Air-Lift Systems bag on our 2004.5 Chevy D/A CC LB 4X4 truck and they were installed in the summer of 2004. Never leaked or had any proplems and they work perfect. 65-70 psi with our 11'4" Lance TC on the back levels the truck and rides excellent. 55-60 psi level truck with our 29' Carriage Carrilite 12,840 lbs scale weighed with 2160 on the pin and the 100 gal aux diesel tank full in the front of the bed. Handles and rides great! Air bags are fully adjustable for any load carried. They not only level the truck but also give softer "air ride" on rough roads something the steel overloads or rubber etc over loads can't do. That's why OTR truckers use and swear by them and you see it displayed on the back of their trailers. Just about 150K on them and 10 years old this year. Up to 5000 lbs of lift at approx 500 lbs for each 10 psi added to the bags up to 100 psi on 2500 or 3500 size pickups. Some trucks do better than others depending on where the bag must be located. If too far towards the center of the truck as some trucks required in the past, they tended to add a tippy feeling if inflated too high for the load as in pivoting from the center. Best if located as far apart as possible.

The first truck I installed the bags on was a 1993 Chev 2500 350 eng (5.7) ext cab LB 4X4 and sold the truck in 2004 with 128K on it to an asparagus farmer we know to haul crops etc around and drive it across the state to his brothers farm in the thumb area of Michigan. We last saw the truck and talked to the farmer in Nov 2013 as we own property/acreage next to his farm and the bags are still on (20 years) and do not leak and the truck has just under 350K on it now. No scratches or dents when we sold it but it sure has them now and no rust yet thanks to the 2 sided galvanized sheet metal GM use on their pickups.

Either Firestones or Air-Lift should do the job for you. I prefer Air-Lifts.

I have basically the same truck. Mine sits level with 4,500# pin weight and does not need air bags. Sitting level is what it is supposed to do with a heavy load.

I would guess mine drops about 4". The first few inches are softer for a better ride.

JMHO

Sitting level and what the op wants are two different things, I prefer my truck to be at the same level as unloaded, reason for the airbags. To each his own , no wrong way or reason for airbags, he asked for opinions on a brand of air bag, nothing else that I read .