Air Bag suspension

[JDShoemaker]

Hello All!:)
I have a 35 foot National, Sea Breeze, Class A, on a Ford F36 chassis. Travelling back and forth across our great country, many of the roads are beating my rig apart, one nut, bolt, screw, crack at a time.
I am looking at installing an air bag suspension.
I have talked to 2 dealers, and they can not tell me if and air bag suspension will give me a smoother ride. All they will tell me is that it will improve sway and tilt issues.

Can anyone tell me if air bags will smooth out the ride so that when we are travelling down a washboard highway we won't get our teeth knocked out!

Thanks for your time

[chuckftboy]

DSDP Don said it best. Save your money if you think air bags will fix bad roads. My last gas coach rode as good as my pusher on good roads but on roads like around Oklahoma City and parts of Louisiana, the coach will still rattle your teeth.

[DSDP_Don]

"tinmac".....I read it the same way....changed springs out for air.

"JDShoemaker"....I traveled those same roads as you a few months ago and my DP didn't do much better. Many need to understand that when a road is relatively smooth, a DP will glide along giving you a great ride. When the roads become war zones, like around major cities, the DP's ride jsut as roughly and feel every pot hole. There may be some 45' high end DP's that are a little smoother, but trust me, a DP feels the same rough roads. We hit interchanges around Baltimore that I though would take the front end off. I keep my tire pressure at a minimum and run the best shocks I can.

[xctraveler]

I guess Johnny G1 was so bound and determined to tell us what he did that he didn't bother to see it would be useless information in response to OP. But then there is a lot of that here - like this post.

[timmac]

Johnny G1 wrote:

timmac wrote:

Johnny G1 wrote:
I change out the springs and went total air suspension from Freightliner, not a simple job but can be done, get help from somebody that knows their work, not for the novice.

So you saying you redid your Ford suspension with only airbags suspension or bought a diesel motorhome.

Your sig shows you have a diesel motorhome ?

Where did it say it was a Ford chassic, total freightliner all the way if you know Newmar chassic's and yes it is a diesel mh, please read my sig.

But the OPer was asking about the Ford chassis and I thought that was also what you were referring to..

Your post sound like you got a air bag suspension from Freightliner and installed it on a Ford F-53.

[Johnny_G1]

timmac wrote:

Johnny G1 wrote:
I change out the springs and went total air suspension from Freightliner, not a simple job but can be done, get help from somebody that knows their work, not for the novice.

So you saying you redid your Ford suspension with only airbags suspension or bought a diesel motorhome.

Your sig shows you have a diesel motorhome ?

Where did it say it was a Ford chassic, total freightliner all the way if you know Newmar chassic's and yes it is a diesel mh, please read my sig.

[Goldencrazy]

I played a lot with three motorhomes and better ride. First tried Mor/Ryde. Didn't do much for me. Then Koni shocks. Big improvement.Then Kelderman, improved some. Then went to 38 foot gas coach-big improvement. I did all the tire things etc but the big thing was the greater weight of the coach. I think the smaller coaches don't compress the springs enough and Kelderman changes a spring on the front to a softer one. So I say Koni shocks and load your coach. It will ride better. The sumo springs or non springs make me curious.

[Kayteg1]

x2 on describing what we are talking about.
Air suspension and air helper bags are quite different animals.
I am big fan of air ride as the helper bags help me a lot while driving F450 flatbed. The truck empty could get airborne on freeway joints, while keeping 40 psi in air bags smoothed the ride quite a bit.
I am window shopping for new pickup for my Truck Camper and long time Ford driver is checking Dodge truck as they offer air ride from the factory, when Fords do not. Spending $70k on new truck only to put another $5000 in converting the rear suspension to air doesn't click very well.

[oldusedbear]

Dunno if I can give you a useful answer or not, but - -

First, we need to clear up the semantics. When you talk about an air bag suspension, I'm assuming that you mean a REAL air suspension and not the funky little bags that are found on many coaches that are primarily there to help you level it up some and maybe handle the weight. A real air suspension is going to replace some or all of the leaf/coil springs on your RV.

I have a fairly small Class C on a Ford E450 chassis. The ride was just awful - - a real bone grinder. I completely removed the rear leaf spring suspension and the Firestone air bags, and replaced it with a Reyco Granning suspension that has its own compressor, ride height adjusters etc. Cost about 3K for the parts and took me a couple of weeks to install it - - a BIG job for an old man. Then I installed new Koni shocks - - which didn't help all that much. Sent the Koni's back and had them revalved - - about 150 bucks each - - still not happy so by that time, the Koni FSD shocks were available and I installed four of them.

The coach now rides quite decently - - It was a lot of work and a lot of money, but I think it was a good investment.

Anyone who wants a complete writeup on my project can get one by emailing me at rhaag11@charter.net - - will try to answer questions too.

[xctraveler]

What Tinmac said. Weigh your coach and adjust the tire pressure for the axle weight according to the tire manufacturer's inflation chart found on their website. If you are running more than 10 psi above their recommendation you will continue to rattle your teeth. If that solves your problem you just spent less than $10 for the weigh scale and noting to adjust tire pressure.

If that doesn't help enough, try the next cheapest approach, not sure if that is shocks or airbag. I'm betting on tire pressure.

[timmac]

Johnny G1 wrote:
I change out the springs and went total air suspension from Freightliner, not a simple job but can be done, get help from somebody that knows their work, not for the novice.

So you saying you redid your Ford suspension with only airbags suspension or bought a diesel motorhome.

Your sig shows you have a diesel motorhome ?

[timmac]

I have air bags on my Ford chassis, mostly for the rear for my heavy trailer I tow, I keep the fronts at 20 psi and installed Monroe RV shocks and my ride is better but still not perfect, try changing out your shocks 1st for some that offer a softer ride, Bilsteins shocks can make the ride harsh, than move up to airbags.

Also what is your tire pressure, 80 psi is the normal for a RV your size, anything above 90 psi can ride hard.

[Johnny_G1]

I change out the springs and went total air suspension from Freightliner, not a simple job but can be done, get help from somebody that knows their work, not for the novice.

[viajante]

I installed the Kelderman air ride on the front. In my opinion the improvement was marginal. I would not do it again, I have heard that some folks have had success with Sumo Springs. Good luck.