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kwlincoln's avatar
kwlincoln
Explorer
Mar 17, 2014

Am I the only one that doesn't like air ride suspension?

I bought a customer 4 wheel, 4-link air ride suspension from airbagit.com for my 2012 F350 and I'm not crazy about the ride. Have any of you gone with this system and what is your experience/opinion? I talked to the manufacturer and apparently I'm the ONLY one who has ever said they don't like the ride better. I find that hard to believe. You get a softer ride, but it also feels spongy to me.

Maybe I could spend some time playing with the shocks, but I wish I would have just left the truck stock. After much thought, I'm going to put all the stock suspension back on the truck. It won't be hard to do since it is completely a bolt on system. The bad part is that I spent over $4K for this system with all the bells and whistles. I hate losing hard earned money, but my truck costs a whole lot more and I want it the way I had it. The biggest draw back for me is that I'm back to not being able to fit in some of the parking garages again! Dropping your height by pushing a button is pretty handy. Also helps when hitching trailers.

10 Replies

  • I had to remove a two inch spacer on my bump stop and rework my upper bag mounts to get my system to ride correctly. My truck rides better with 30psi than it does with 20 psi. I had to adjust to get it where I can run the higher presser and still have the factory ride height.
  • Led 67 wrote:
    transamz9 wrote:
    I have this system on my 2005 Ram and mine is not spongy.

    What air bags do you have?
    How much air are you running empty?
    I do have Bilstein 5100 shocks.


    X2 on what transamz9 has said... After driveing and working on semis I have had a similar situation with a " spongy " ride which turned out to be a misadjusted ride hieght and, or shocks. carefully troubleshoot your system before you get drastic as 4K is too much to waste.

    Good Luck


    X3!

    I worked on Kenworth and Peterbilt air rides for years. My bet, you need to check your ride height when loaded, you most likely need more air.
  • transamz9 wrote:
    I have this system on my 2005 Ram and mine is not spongy.

    What air bags do you have?
    How much air are you running empty?
    I do have Bilstein 5100 shocks.


    X2 on what transamz9 has said... After driveing and working on semis I have had a similar situation with a " spongy " ride which turned out to be a misadjusted ride hieght and, or shocks. carefully troubleshoot your system before you get drastic as 4K is too much to waste.

    Good Luck
  • I have this system on my 2005 Ram and mine is not spongy.

    What air bags do you have?
    How much air are you running empty?
    I do have Bilstein 5100 shocks.
  • I am a fan on rancho 9000 shocks. you can try cranking them up and see if it helps. At worst you can dial them in to whatever you prefer after putting the stock springs back on.
  • I agree with the above. If the ride is "spongy", you need more dampening. I would give The Shock Shop a call and describe your situation and provide your empty and loaded weights. I guarantee the proper dampers (aka "shock absorbers") will correct your ride issue.
  • What shock do you have? How about an off road dual shock system?
    Although hate to throw good money at the bad.
  • I would give it time and set up the shocks differently. With the right shocks it should ride no different than stock.
  • mbutts wrote:
    I don't think you'd lose all your investment. Throw an ad on Craigslist and someone will snap up that kit from you.


    It is all heavy duty steel. I'm going to replace/repaint anything scratched and try. I had it powder coated black before they shipped it to me. The other good thing is that if fits a WIDE range of F250, 350 models because Ford hasn't changed their frames and there are a ton of trucks out there this will fit.
  • I don't think you'd lose all your investment. Throw an ad on Craigslist and someone will snap up that kit from you.