I'll insert comments next to each.
Baja Man wrote:
My truck (in my signature) does not have them and I was considering adding them.
1. What do they do besides lift rear of truck? That is the normal intent, to lift the truck when the original suspension does not do what it is you need it to.
2. Are they practical for use when towing a TT with a WDH? No, not really when it comes to your truck and camper. With your truck, when the WD hitch is set correctly, the truck will ride good. There is one other practical use I'll add below.
3. Are they really more for lighter duty trucks looking to lift rear of truck when adding a heavy tongue load? From my point of view, light truck or heavy truck using air bags to deal with a heavy TW trailer is not the best way to do this. Using a WD hitch is the better way for total truck control. The lighter truck can be in axle capacity issues real quick trying to use them to deal with a heavy TW trailer. Again use the WD hitch in place of the air bags.
4. Do any of you have them and can you share your experiences/thoughts about them? I'll type below on this one.
Thanks!
A question for you
5. What lead you to believe you needed air bags?
6. What problem are your trying to solve by using air bags?
Air bags on a 1 ton truck do have a place. As was mentioned, folks with heavy 5th wheel pin weights can use them to help level the truck out. This is unique to 5'ers with a heavy duty truck. The rear axle of the truck can handle the load, just the rear sag below level can be objectionable where a more level truck is better.
Another good use of these on a 1 ton truck is folks who have large varying bed loads in the truck while towing a TT. For example, a fellow camper with a 1 ton truck has a set of quads that fit over the bed. One trip he takes the quads, the next trip he leaves them home. This is a significant weight difference between the 2 trips.
While the WD hitch could be reset each time to make both combos work well, that can be a pain to do. So here the option of using air bags can fit well.
You start with setting the WD on the truck empty bed or whatever limited gear you have less the 2 quads. The airbags are aired down to just not pinch and break them. The WD is set correctly and the truck rides well. You record the truck heights with this loading.
Next trip, the 2 quads come. You hook up the WD hitch as normal and load 2 quads. Now the WD hitch is not optimized and the truck is sagging in the rear more. Now air up the bags to "only" obtain the same ride heights as when you set the WD hitch. The WD hitch is now back to being optimized, and the truck is back to riding where it was before. This is a lot easier then a WD hitch reset.
Basically when using air bags with a TT and WD hitch, the air bags help with large varying beds loads that do not require a WD hitch.
Hope this helps
John
2005 Ford F350 Super Duty, 4x4; 6.8L V10 with 4.10 RA, 21,000 GCWR, 11,000 GVWR, upgraded 2 1/2" Towbeast Receiver. Hitched with a 1,700# Reese HP WD, HP Dual Cam to a 2004 Sunline Solaris T310R travel trailer.
