Kelderman or Firestone Ride Rite

[viajante]

I am looking to add some type of air bag system to my gas rig. I have heard about Kelderman and Firestone Ride Rite. Opinions please about these two systems or any others available. I would also like to know about the costs (parts and installation).

Also I would like to know how much space the compressor takes up.

Thanks much for any advice.

[Lipsb0ly]

Per your request, the cost to add to my freight liner m2 chassis was about $5k.

[Lipsb0ly]

I installed kelderman 2 stage air ride suspension on my 2012!jayco Seneca 37fs super c . I am very pleased with the results. I had it installed at the factory in IA. The folks at kelderman were great! Makes a big difference in the ride of my motorhome. It's fully automatic, so I can forget about it. Like someone mentioned, it does not help or hurt the load carrying capacity, it's strictly for ride improvement. I can't compare to the ride of a DP since I've never been in one, and can only say it made a big difference in my ride.

[viajante]

Goldencrazy wrote:
I had Kelderman on 2012 Winnebago Vista 30T. Very good. Now have it on front of 2015 Winnebago Sightseer 35G. Makes a real difference. Couldn't put it on back as the hot water heater was in the way. The front was the most important and it is a real improvement. I'm thinking about adding Sumo to rear. I wish the Kelderman was an option from factory.

I am also considering adding a Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer. Would the Kelderman system be in the way for installation of the steering stabilizer ?

[Goldencrazy]

I had Kelderman on 2012 Winnebago Vista 30T. Very good. Now have it on front of 2015 Winnebago Sightseer 35G. Makes a real difference. Couldn't put it on back as the hot water heater was in the way. The front was the most important and it is a real improvement. I'm thinking about adding Sumo to rear. I wish the Kelderman was an option from factory.

[s_N_s]

No comparison between the two products. As already mentioned the Firestone system is for leveling the Kelderman system is for an air ride system as on the DP's. Or at least close to it. I didn't notice which chassis you're on but if you go to the Kelderman site they have prices listed for the particular chassis and labor amounts as well to install the system.

[hanko]

check out sumo springs, heard good things about them

[Dale_Traveling]

Both may include air bags but they are very different. Ride Rite bags are more supplemental in nature to the factory springs while the Kelderman is basically a new suspension.

I installed bags and a compressor last winter. Some improvement but nothing worth writing home about. The compressor is about the size of a shoe box and the air tank I use is about 2 foot by 6" or so. Easy fit in an open area of the chassis frame. Where the bags helped most was giving a bit of lift to the rear of my coach which never looked level. I'm within the weight limits but the back end always sat a bit lower. Probably because all my liquid load (fuel and water) are behind the rear axle along with my largest storage bins.

Can't comment directly on the Kelderman but there are a couple of owners who made the change that seem to be very happy. Just a bit outside my budget and long range plans for the coach.